Mar 05, 2004  |  By: Steve Warren  | COMMENTS     

Gay was more than Oscar nominee Marcia Harden’s middle name last weekend. Charlize Theron’s “incredible” (her favorite adjective) performance as lesbian serial killer Aileen Wuornos in “Monster” was one of the few overlaps between the two Hollywoods.

Theron was honored by both the “haves” at the 76th Academy Awards, aired Feb. 29 on ABC, and the “have-nots” at the 19th Independent Spirit Awards, aired the night before on the Independent Film Channel and Bravo.

The other dual winners were Sofia Coppola for her “Lost in Translation” screenplay and Errol Morris for his documentary, “The Fog of War.”

Theron had been considered unbeatable for her physical and emotional transformation into Wuornos, a prostitute who was executed in Florida for killing six men, although some relatives of Wuornos’ victims complained the film made the character too sympathetic. She took home the Best Actress statue at the Academy Awards and Best Female Lead at the Spirit Awards.

The Academy also honored Tim Robbins as Best Supporting Actor for his role in “Mystic River” as a troubled man who had been raped by a pedophile when he was 11. Instead of making an overt political speech, Robbins urged victims of abuse and violence like his character endured to seek counseling and find solace in the fact that they had nothing to be ashamed of and were not responsible for what happened.

While Indie Spirit host John Waters made a bad joke about angry lesbians rioting backstage (“We’re here! We’re queer! We want an agent!”), Oscar host Billy Crystal joined in no less than three gags about same-sex marriages.

In one scene during the opening montage that inserted Crystal into nominated films, he woke up in bed with Bill Murray exclaiming, “We’re legal in Massachusetts!”

Later, Robin Williams posed with Crystal, quipping, “Look at us — a San Francisco wedding cake.” Finally, the punch line of a bit about beautiful women dreaming of being “Mrs. Billy Crystal” was a shot of Sir Ben Kingsley imagining himself as “Sir Mrs. Billy Crystal.”

In other gay Oscar moments, Australia’s Adam Elliot, winner for his animated short “Harvie Krumpet,” included “my beautiful boyfriend, Dan” among the people he thanked.

The tribute to those who died in the last year included director John Schlesinger and actor Michael Jeter, both gay. And Marc Shaiman, music director for the Oscars, is openly gay.

ABC also took advantage of its huge Oscar night audience to plug an upcoming “20/20” episode in which Barbara Walters interviews Kelli Carpenter O’Donnell about life with Rosie. The show airs March 12.

Created to honor filmmakers “who embody independence and who dare to challenge the status quo,” the Independent Spirit Awards were handed out Feb. 28.

The Spirit Awards recognized, at least with nominations, several of 2003’s best films, all of which flew totally or mostly under Oscar’s radar: “American Splendor,” “The Station Agent,” “Pieces of April,” “Thirteen,” “Raising Victor Vargas,” “Better Luck Tomorrow” and Gus Van Sant’s “Elephant.”

Coppola’s “Lost in Translation” won Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars, but fared better at the Indie Spirit Awards, taking home prizes for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor (Bill Murray).

In the first award at the Spirits, Judah Friedlander, playing gay Toby Radloff in “American Splendor,” lost for Best Supporting Actor to Djimon Hounsou, who played a man dying of AIDS in “In America.”

The comedy highlight of the Spirit Awards was the banter between Jennifer Aniston and Mike White, the son of gay Soulforce founder Mel White. The younger White wrote himself a memorable queer role in “Chuck & Buck” and also wrote “The Good Girl,” for which Aniston was nominated last year.