Billy Eichner’s upcoming movie “Bros” could do lots to educate straights about romantic lives of gays

I kind of don’t mind that Bros isn’t coming out until Sept. 30 if it means I’m going to get terrific interview with Billy Eichner leading up the the release.

In a new article on RollingStone.com, Eichner shares how he had to educate the film’s director and co-writer Nick Stoller about gay men.

“We have our own rules about what’s ethical or not ethical, in terms of dating and commitment and monogamy,” Eichner says. “And two men together is a very unique, specific romantic situation. Because yes, we’re gay. But, as I often tell my straight friends, we’re still men. I think straight people think we’re basically women. We are men! I always say to my straight male friends, ‘Think about all the weird, fucked-up male shit you have in your brain about sex and monogamy and being vulnerable. Now times that by two.’ That’s going to be a very complicated situation, and we’ve really never seen it explored.”

“I’m in my forties,” Eichner adds. “I look around at movies in general — about straight people, about gay people — especially comedies, and say, ‘Where are the adults?’ I grew up with those great James L. Brooks movies and Nora Ephron movies. They really made me fall in love with movies. And they have disappeared entirely.”

The Covid delay allowed for extra time in the writing process, which had the occasional speed bump.

“Nick has been in a marriage a very long time,” says Eichner. “Marriage and family, in the very heteronormative sense, is very, very important to him. Whereas gay men make up our own rules, we create our own families. The one time I got mad at Nick, and I hope he’s OK with me saying this, we were thinking about Bobby’s arc in the movie, and he said to me, ‘If you’re 40 and you’re single, there has to be something wrong with you.’ And I exploded. I got so mad! I think that’s an old-fashioned notion even for younger straight couples. They’re polyamorous and they’re this and they’re that.”