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| Ismail Merchant's 44-year gay relationship was mostly ignored by the mainstream media. | |
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By BRIAN MOYLAN
May 26 2005, 8:53 PM |
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Merchant Ivory Productions is synonymous with films that are rooted in ornate and authentic history. With the death of 68-year-old film producer Ismail Merchant on Wednesday, May 25, however, most mainstream news organizations are trying to rewrite history, or at least omit some of it.-IMG-
It is well known that the 44-year relationship between Merchant and James Ivory — who was the director of the film company’s like Oscar-nominated "Howard's End," "Room with a View," and "Remains of the Day" — was romantic as well as creative. This publication has previously reported that Merchant and Ivory were gay.
Among the major mainstream publications reviewed in advance of this article, the L.A. Times is the only one that explicitly states that the two were a gay couple.
"In a business where professional marriages last hardly any longer than personal ones," the newspaper reported this week, "Merchant's association with the German-born [screenwriter Rita Rawer] Jhabvala and the American Ivory, who was also Merchant's life partner, spanned more than 40 years and yielded as many movies."
The New York Times obituary doesn't firmly state this fact, but mentions that the men shared a house and lists Ivory Merchant's sisters as his survivors. Reuters and the Associated Press mention the two were "partners," but don't explain the extent of their partnership. A Washington Post story not only doesn't mention the pair's romantic connection, but also pulls a quote from an old interview the India-born Merchant gave about having a "crush" on an Indian actress. London's Daily Telegraph reported: "While he never married, Merchant maintained that he was in every sense 'a family man.' He had numerous nieces and nephews, and insisted that his relationship with Ivory and Jhabvala (both of whom had apartments in the same building as he) was identical to that of a family." Many reports list gay-themed movies "Maurice" and "The Bostonians" among their accomplishments, but none mention that the films address homosexual issues.
This isn't the first time in recent months when a major figure's sexual orientation was glossed over in an obituary. When noted literary scholar Susan Sontag died in December, her bisexuality was ignored in obituaries by the mainstream media.
At the time, in a column in the L.A. Times, gay author Patrick Moore wrote about the coverage of Sontag's death. "It seems that editors at what are, arguably, the nation’s most respected — and liberal — newspapers believe that one personal detail cannot be mentioned in even the most complete biographies — being a lesbian.” The New York Times responded that it didn't include the details because it couldn't ascertain exactly what Sontag's sexual orientation was, though she had previously gone on record about her same-sex relationships
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