Scotticher, I’m not going to even touch that other message board. or what they think is homophobic. I like the Dope and don’t know why she bothers with anywhere else.
Thanks for the explanation, Mitch. I pretty much disagree with all of it, though. I mean, yeah, what I’m doing can be seen as bullying… as much as a some hourly wage slave can possibly bully a multimillionaire international movie star. I’m sure Tom Cruise goes home everynight and cries himself to sleep on his enormous pile of Ferraris because of stuff like this.
Regarding your longer dialogue, the flaw I have with it is that the offended party in it starts off from a position of innocence and open-mindedness, and is hounded unfairly. I don’t think that Cruise is starting from any such position. He’s the celebrity frontman for an organization that teaches that homosexuality is a mental defect that they can cure. That right there is a severely homophobic attitude, and nothing Cruise has ever said has indicated that he disagrees with it in anyway. Further, I don’t see where he was ever good natured about the rumors. I think a better example would be something like,
MILLER: Oh comoffit… you know. I seen the way you look at him.
CRUISE: I AM NOT GAY! <Beats Miller with a tire iron>
Generally speaking, I am opposed to outing people against their will. But Cruise’s response to rumors about his sex life was entirely, even violently, over the top. It (among other things) makes him a dick, in my book, and considering that I am pretty much powerless to affect him in any other way, I’ll settle for calling him something that I know he absolutely hates to be called.
Oh, and word to the wise. This:
is pretty dangerously close to trolling, and could get you banned. Which would be a shame, as you seem a pretty bright guy who could be a good addition to the board.
You know, I used to have an album by Mitch Miller and his Gang, at it was gayer than Barbra Streisand’s entire body of work.
Put your lallies up, ducky!
Which demonstrates excellent judgment, dear. 