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Barbra Streisand and Larry Kramer have very different views on why “The Normal Heart” film didn’t happen
When Barbra Streisand issued a statement last summer applauding the overturning of Proposition 8, Larry Kramer pounced.
His anger at her for acquiring the film rights to his play The Normal Heart but never making a movie was well known but the scathing post he wrote on the actup.org website was really beyond the pale. It said in part: “Barbra Streisand is a hypocrite. If she had made my play about aids, The Normal Heart, in 1976, when she first acquired the rights, only to sit on them for a full ten years without filming it, she could have done something for gay rights when we were really in the sewer of death. But no, she chose to go off and make such vitally important and classic movies as Nuts and The Mirror Has Two Faces.
Barbra Streisand cares about gay rights as much as I care about spending a zillion dollars decorating a colony of houses in Malibu. As the mother of a son who is not only gay but hiv positive, she should be ashamed of herself.”
In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, Streisand has finally reacted publicly and said: “When he printed that diatribe on the web, I was very hurt by it, because it’s not true. I started to write [a response] but then decided not to do it. It was wonderful to read some of the comments from the gay community about this. They fought the battle for me. It was really lovely for all these people to come to my defense.”
So why did she not make the movie?
Streisand said Kramer was unwilling to allow adjustments that were necessary to make the script more cinematic. “I was using the best of [the play]. But there are certain things you do for film. Larry only wanted to use his screenplay. I couldn’t have my hands tied artistically.”
Kramer responded by saying that Streisand rewrote the script to make her character the star, marginalizing the gay characters who are at the center of the play. “She cut Ned’s part so much that when she offered the movie to a major star who had played the part on stage, he said, ‘I can’t play this. The character has no motivation anymore. She subsumed all of the motivations into her part, as the doctor.”
(EW said a rep for Streisand did not immediately reply to request for comment on Kramer’s remarks.)
Comments
(All comments are reviewed before being published, and I review submissions several times per day.)
Doug says:
Barbra Streisand did not get the rights to the play in 1976, since it wasn’t produced until 1985.
Max F Grump says:
Greg your readers should visit Barbra’s official site for additional detailed information on this matter. She has given years to the project and Larry has never made it easy for Barbra!
http://www.barbrastreisand.com/us/truth-alert/barbra-sets-record-straight-normal-heart
Scott K says:
The only “aids” in 1976 were Band-aids, Kool-Ades and Ayds diet “candy”. Well, and maybe “marital-aids”.
Larry should leave Barbra alone and get his facts straight if he is going to publically chastise someone.
MK says:
I have seen Larry in person and you can’t believe what he says, He doesn’t know what he says half the time. Knowing Babs Rep, She is a perfectionist and and if she didn’t think it was right to do, then she knows. Babs have never produced or directed a Bad film.
Vince says:
I believe Barbra’s explaination. She is the level-headed professional.
Marc Freden says:
It should have been the opportunity…experience…of a lifetime, especially for a gay man. To meet the one and only Barbra Streisand…OMG. But was it a dream come true or a nightmare? In his new book Marc Freden describes meeting, talking with or interviewing three of the most iconic women in Hollywood. In his chapter “The Good, The Bad & The Ugly”, Freden talks about an interview he had with Barbra Streisand…could she have rated Good, Bad or Ugly in Freden’s eyes. Well, suffice it to say, Freden believes he must apologize.
Marc Freden says:
It should have been the opportunity…experience…of a lifetime, especially for a gay man. To meet the one and only Barbra Streisand…OMG. But was it a dream come true or a nightmare? In his new book Marc Freden describes meeting, talking with or interviewing three of the most iconic women in Hollywood. In his chapter “The Good, The Bad & The Ugly”, Freden talks about an interview he had with Barbra Streisand…could she have rated Good, Bad or Ugly in Freden’s eyes. Well, suffice it to say, Freden believes he must apologize.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdTW6B3ocFA