The Kushner/Spielberg adaptation of "West Side Story" is on the way, which inspires some thoughts-- -This musical was the work of four affluent gay white men. The men were: Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim, and Leonard Bernstein. The men (with the possible exception of Sondheim) were/are insufferable, and they fought a great deal. Sondheim was a Young Turk, and he had to be deferential to his elders. (Though this bothered him. Also, he wanted to be both lyricist and composer in his career. He wouldn't even get to do this on his *next* big project, "Gypsy.") -As gay men in an earlier era, Robbins, Laurents, Sondheim, and Bernstein were all contending with the Love that Dare Not Speak Its Name. And this is the best way to understand "West Side Story." It's about forbidden love. Easier to graft that story onto an undercooked racial-tension plot--than to tell the blunt truth. For this reason, I wonder if it's really a good idea...