I hope this is the right forum, it seems to me there is a debate here.
For those who don’t know, apparently GLAAD has some problems with the upcoming movie *Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back *, check the links here and here.
About the only good thing about this is that as a bisexual I now have some understanding of how Christians feel about fundies (those *!@#$ do not speak for me!!!).
I had read about this matter in the right wing press. They see it as an effort by GLAAD to blackmail the film company a al Jesse Jackson.
Well, If you read the comments from GLAAD and from Kevin Smith you’ll see that it’s slightly milder than all that, if only because Smith is probably the most gay-positive mainstream filmmaker there is.
Smith was pissed because the way the story was reported made it look like his * donation * was an admission of wrongdoing.
Where GLAAD has pissed me off is in taking the tack that they are trying to protect gay kids from name-calling.
“It’s for the * children * people, the * children *!!”
I seriously doubt that anyone * doesnt * get the joke when Jay introduces his “hetero life-mate” Silent Bob. Jay makes gay jokes for the same reason Banky did in Chasing Amy.
Kevin Smith doesn’t seem to have a problem with GLAAD, so I don’t see why I should, either. Hey, kudos to them for handling it in a dignified manner: no protests, no boycott, no attempt to alter the film’s content beyond a brief note during the end credits. They even bothered to watch the movie first!
I think the only depressing thing here is that GLAAD actually has a point. They know its satire, Smith knows its satire, we all know its satire. Unfortunetly, a significant percentage of the movie-going public won’t get the satire. Look at Beavis and Butthead.
Y’know, the dumbasses don’t worry me, it’s the people who think they’re not the dumbasses.
Of course we all need to be protected from our own ignorance. [sub] that was supposed to be ironic, how in hell do you do that roll eyes smilie? [/sub]
make that everyone and their dog.
It’s a forgotten art, at the very least. A lot of people have become thin-skinned in past years. It’s depressing.
We need a new Modest Proposal.
What exactly upset them-the “hetero life mate” comment?
If so, I have to say, that’s a reach.
I believe (the movie hasn’t come out yet, but the GLAAD people have seen it) that there are several gay jokes, Jay uses gay to mean lame, etc.
But, this is the fifth movie with these characters, and a recurring joke is that Jay is uncomfortable with his own sexuality.
For the record, Jay almost always introduces Bob as his “hetero life-mate”, that is part of the joke.
GLAAD is full of crap. I loathe cultural watchdogs who want to eliminate satire becuase it might confuse simpleminded people. Since when do we gay folk get a bye from being teased? One has to look at intent and Kevin Smith is very gay-friendly without the slightest animus towards us same-sex lovers.
In effect, GLAAD is saying that they should be able to judge what is palatable for society as a whole because the rest of us poor schlubs are too stupid to tell fiction from real life.
Next on FOX: When Fags Turn Fascist!
Yeah, people have to look at this in the continuity of all of Smith’s movies. In Dogma, when Jay tells Rufus the Apostle to tell him something about himself, he tells him, “You masturbate more than anyone else on the planet.” “Everyone knows that,” says Jay. So Rufus replies, “When you do it, you’re thiking about guys.” That’s why they end up in the strip bar where they meet up with Serendipity–so Jay can “prove” to Silent Bob that he isn’t gay. It’s a whole big ongoing joke.
My home state of Oklahoma has just decided to take * To Kill a Mockingbird* off of the school reading lists. Damnit, every real reader I know points to that book as the start of a lifelong love of reading.
A possible solution: all artist should have a cartoon of Mr. Mackey pop up and say “This is bad, MMMkay” whenever anything negative is presented in a story.
Most people didn’t get A Modest Proposal when it was published, either. The scary part is, not everyone who thought Swift was serious thought it was a bad idea…
For Odin’s sake, why? That is one of the best novels ever written, and an insightful Bildungsroman dealing with a child’s reaction to the injustice of institutional-ized racism.
Well, this is the same state that tried to ban that infamous kiddie porn flick * The Tin Drum *.
Well, those are the people we should cull and grind up into soylent purple.
I don’t think GLAAD was trying to eliminate everything. They just wanted a note at the end of the credits(like anyone ever stays long enough to read it).
From what I can see, GLAAD’s position seems to be that making a homophobic movie is alright as long as the check clears.
With all due respect to Kevin Smith, I think it’s unlikely he’ll clear more than twenty or thirty million with his new release. Planet of the Apes on the other hand had a record breaking opening weekend and is looking good to break the two hundred million mark. With this in mind, I’d like to put forth the following:
Most of the time, I forget that Glaad even exists. But every once in awhile they pop back in view and annoy me. I have had the displeasure of hearing Scott Seomin speak on the radio here in LA a couple of times, and both times the rationales that he brings up for what Glaad is ostensibly against have been fairly weak. The first time that I heard him speak, I don’t remember what it was about. The second time was during the entire Eminem Grammy’s controversy. While I am not big fan of Eminem, after hearing Scott argue against him on the air, I wanted to go out and buy his album just in spite. Glaad is way to thin skinned. Of course, I am bothered by anything that is an alliance against defamation, defamation of anything. But that is an argument for another thread. In closing, I am glad that most people ( I hope anyway) realize that Glaad and Seomin do not speak for most gay people, just a small percentage’s worth.
Jeeves