The N's Instant Star, which launched its second season just last week (Fridays at 8:30 pm/ET), picks up where the cheer- and tear-filled finales of American Idol leave off, chronicling the travels of Jude Harrison, a young reality-contest champ suddenly thrust into the spotlight and the discord-filled world of pop music. TVGuide.com swapped e-mails with Star's star, Alexz Johnson — currently in Germany promoting Final Destination 3 — to find out if Instant exposure has affected her.
TVGuide.com: Who put the "z" in Alexz and why? Is it one of those Canadian things I'll never understand, like metrics and poutine?Alexz Johnson: My mom and dad put the
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Question: First, congrats on your great column. My weeks always start and end with you. I wanted to get your feeling on the representation of homosexuality on TV shows lately, because I feel that we've reached a turning point. I think that after a short period of (needed?) overexposure, with every show having a gay character and shows like Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Queer as Folk, we are actually moving toward equality between gay and straight characters. For instance, I know that a lot of gay people have ground their teeth at Andrew being gay and evil on Desperate Housewives, but I actually believe that this is a good thing: We've got past the dichotomy of, on the one hand, the political correctness of the gay guy who's a great guy with no sexuality (Will & Grace) and, on the other hand, the cliché of the gay guy with nothing but his sexuality (Queer as Folk). Finally gay characters get to be something else than "just gay." They are handled the same way as straight characters ...
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Question: What does it mean when a movie is a "cult classic"?
Answer: It depends on who's saying it. The term "cult movie" was coined to describe films whose appeal was limited to a small, but often deeply devoted, circle of fans. It's now often used as though it were synonymous with "weird" or "I don't get it, but lots of people do." The term "classic" should be applied only to films that have stood the test of time, which is why the phrase "instant classic" makes me clench my teeth. Anyway, what "cult classic" should mean is a movie whose appeal to a limited but passionate audience is unabated. El Topo (1971) is a bona fide cult classic. Reefer Madness (1936) isn't: If millions of college students think Reefer Madness is hilarious, it's not cult any more.
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