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Notes -
The whole Dylan Mulvaney thing has been grimly amusing to me from the start, because I was familiar with Dylan during his days as a musical theatre performer here in San Diego. His Wikipedia page references that he performed in a number of musicals in San Diego, which is his hometown as well as mine; I think the first time I saw him perform was in a production of Spring Awakening at the Cygnet Theatre in 2013, although I can’t remember if that was before or after his performance in Bare: A Pop Opera. In both cases, he played the same essential character - an incredibly effeminate, fey, vulnerable gay teenager.
I believe I met him casually a couple of times since we were both in the theatre scene, though this would have been a decade ago and I don’t recall for sure. He has certainly always been extraordinarily gay - steeped in gayness! - ever since I became familiar with him, so I’m pretty confident that that part at least isn’t an act. But, being a working actor, especially in this day and age, is an incredibly cutthroat, sink-or-swim kind of life, and any edge you can give yourself - anything, genuine or fabricated, that can provide you with any sort of leverage or leg up over other actors - is a vital step toward fame and longevity. If you’re correct that he identified an untapped niche and ruthlessly pursued it, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least and would be entirely consistent with my experience of theatre people, and of late-in-life-transitioning theatre people more specifically.
The problem with an act like this is that if he ever slows it down, he’s going to be eaten alive. Andy Kaufman was faking and everyone knew it, so he could get credit for his creative work, and if he stopped doing something, nobody cared because it was an act. If Mulvaney stopped being as girly as he is, he’ll be crucified for crimes against wokeness.
Being crucified would hardly be a problem for an attention seeker - who wouldn't want to be high up on a cross on a hill where everyone can look at you? One could easily imagine him pivoting to being ex-trans, or Gays For Trump, or anything else that might keep eyes on him or her.
Speaking of shameless attention seeking- I recently saw that Milo Yianopolis (sp) was still doing speaking events, but now as a formerly gay totally straight born again christian. Probably the most insulting identity shift i'm currently aware of.
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