Ron Howard: "Gay" Joke WILL Stay in "The Dilemma"

[Houseboy]

Stop Whinning? Just because you give 200K to democrats doesn't mean you can't be a homophobe..what have the democrats that have beein in the majority of both houses and the Presdency in that last two years done for gay rights (DADT and Gay Marriage)...oh ya....ZERO!!!!!!!

 

[EasyRory]

And I just bought an electric car ...

 

[CUMMINGS]

Oh, Richie Cunningham ... creator of the unrivalled "Arrested Development," you could have shown this character was an ignorant buffoon in any number of ways, but you went right for the cheap and easy laugh.

Yeah, it's not the most pressing issue in our world, it's just a movie.

Each of us can decide what are the big, medium, and small issues we want to fight against, so, just fight the good fight, and don't criticize others for seeing things differently. But I can imagine back to being 16 years old, and all the insecurities I felt over not being straight, how "abnormal" I apparently was, and sitting through that movie trailer in a theatre, and seeing the audience react "hilariously" to the comment.

 

[heroesnhunks]

I don't buy it. If they wanted the character to be mouthy and get himself in trouble with what he says there are a million of ethnic slurs they could have used. But didn't. Why? Because American society has deemed their usage off-limits. So he's picking a slur he thinks he can get away with.

I won't be seeing the movie. Not that I would have anyway. Had no interest before the controversy either. Seems boring. I think he's leaving it in the cause a fuss. Otherwise this movie would have come and gone without anyone noticing.

 

[80KGold]

Good! I'd hate to witness a time when artistic expression were obviously constrained by public opinion.

I'm gay. And I'm not hung-up about being so. But I don't want for people to be prevented from misusing the word "gay" any more than I want to be prevented from criticizing their stupid asses for misusing the word.

 

[herewego]

It is just a word. Don't understand how people can be so offended by something like this. It is a character in the movie. And the character is supposed to be an asshole isn't he? So it makes sense for him to say it. Just because the actor says it or a writer writes it does not mean that is how they feel. They are playing a role, and I am perfectly fine with it.

Words have power. FACT.

 

[eddielee]

We have to choose our battles carefully. This battle against the film's usage of the word gay is trivial. I don't find it particularly offensive in this case. I have no interest in seeing the movie, but not because of the gay joke.

 

[Jiffehman]

Just boycott the movie..or better yet..establish a "kick a ginger director day"

Oh, alright, so it's okay to mouth off at people of a different hair colour now isn't it...

Before you jump into the replies I'm joking. Get it? Joking.

I can't remember how we all got so sensitive. The fact of the matter is that the term "gay" is one in relatively high use among the kind of demographic this film is aimed at.

Don't blame Ron Howard for the jokes in the film. It might not be funny, but have you ever noticed how generally speaking writers are the ones who write jokes?

 

[doetim]

I'm very shocked that many are defending the use of the word "gay" because they think being politically correct is a worse crime than allowing our culture to continue to dehumanize a certain group of people through language. Every time a kid hears that expression he will equate "gay" with being bad or weird or not socially acceptable and that right here shapes his thinking about gay people and if he is gay himself there goes his self esteem! And people wonder why these young kids are committed suicide. If you think there's nothing wrong with using this expression then you are part of the problem. I am disappointed in Ron Howard.

 

[Houseboy]

Oh, alright, so it's okay to mouth off at people of a different hair colour now isn't it...

Before you jump into the replies I'm joking. Get it? Joking.

I can't remember how we all got so sensitive. The fact of the matter is that the term "gay" is one in relatively high use among the kind of demographic this film is aimed at.

Don't blame Ron Howard for the jokes in the film. It might not be funny, but have you ever noticed how generally speaking writers are the ones who write jokes?

LMAO...maybe you should go to bar in Compton California and call a black person by the N word, or to a bar in the south and call a white person a redneck , or in a club in east LA and call someone a wetback... Then tell your audience not to be "so sensitive" or better yet tell them you were just "joking,,get it?joking" ..and then see what happens..now do you get it??????

 

[tavares]

As a spiritual person who believes in Jesus Christ, I, personally, don't use the expressions "goddamn," "Oh, Christ," or "for Christ's sake!" I don't use them in casual conversation or even in my writing when I'm creating my own characters and the way they speak. I just don't. I feel more uncomfortable saying those expressions than I do swearing or even saying "Oh, God!"

However, The Boys in the Band is one of my absolute FAVORITE movies of all time in Queer Cinema, and "goddamn" and "Christ" are plastered throughout almost every line of dialogue in that movie. And I have no problem with it. I wouldn't want anyone to bleep or mute it out because I think the dialogue Mart Crowley wrote is absolutely genius and shouldn't be fucked with.

I know that it has no bearing on my spiritual beliefs at all.

I'm very shocked that many are defending the use of the word "gay" because they think being politically correct is a worse crime than allowing our culture to continue to dehumanize a certain group of people through language. Every time a kid hears that expression he will equate "gay" with being bad or weird or not socially acceptable and that right here shapes his thinking about gay people and if he is gay himself there goes his self esteem! And people wonder why these young kids are committed suicide. If you think there's nothing wrong with using this expression then you are part of the problem. I am disappointed in Ron Howard.

Did you ever think that you're part of the problem? You're encouraging the shame and dehumanization by essentially saying "this is how you're supposed to feel every time you hear that word!" Instead of saying "every time someone uses the word in this way, they're the ones who are ignorant," you're saying "every time someone uses the word this way, you should feel bad about yourself, and if you don't, you're part of the problem."

That's such a fuckin mixed message, trying to attach pride and shame to one word at the same time.

 

[terry751]

I'll just do Ron Howard a big favor by NOT seeing this film. Besides, the last good film he did was Parenthood in 89.

 

[pinoaguilar]

I will not see this movie.

 

[FanofFiction]

I have mixed feelings about this whole situation.

On the one hand, the joke doesn't offend me personally. It didn't make me laugh either though. But I was the director of a gay youth support group, and I know for a fact that this crap kills a lot of troubled kids.

It's absolutely terrible to be with kids who already hate themselves or have lost family and friends when they witness or hear bullshit like this. When you're in the mall or at a cafe and someone cracks a joke or remark like this- you see these kids hang their head and hear them wince... it's terrible!!

So because some people, including myself, are numb to insensitivity we should just allow the 'reality' of it to go on? If we applied that logic to the use of the word nigger in the 60's, wow. Can you imagine? A bunch of white guys running around calling their neighbors and strangers nigger just because censorship doesn't overrule courtesy? I'm personally rather glad I do not live in that world.

 

[PolterGUYst]

This is definitely not an appropriate time to be throwing around the term "gay" unless you're trying to make some kind of a point. It's going to hit a nerve due to current events and the surge of anti-bullying support resulting from those events. It's tasteless and insensitive to argue about the political correctness of using the term "gay" because frankly, people should have enough self-control to simply not use the damn word like that for the time being.

 

[doetim]

As a spiritual person who believes in Jesus Christ, I, personally, don't use the expressions "goddamn," "Oh, Christ," or "for Christ's sake!" I don't use them in casual conversation or even in my writing when I'm creating my own characters and the way they speak. I just don't. I feel more uncomfortable saying those expressions than I do swearing or even saying "Oh, God!"

However, The Boys in the Band is one of my absolute FAVORITE movies of all time in Queer Cinema, and "goddamn" and "Christ" are plastered throughout almost every line of dialogue in that movie. And I have no problem with it. I wouldn't want anyone to bleep or mute it out because I think the dialogue Mart Crowley wrote is absolutely genius and shouldn't be fucked with.

I know that it has no bearing on my spiritual beliefs at all.



Did you ever think that you're part of the problem? You're encouraging the shame and dehumanization by essentially saying "this is how you're supposed to feel every time you hear that word!" Instead of saying "every time someone uses the word in this way, they're the ones who are ignorant," you're saying "every time someone uses the word this way, you should feel bad about yourself, and if you don't, you're part of the problem."

That's such a fuckin mixed message, trying to attach pride and shame to one word at the same time.

Using the word "gay" to describe something being bad is not good no matter how you spin dude! I'm not talking about the fact that the word is being mentioned at all, there's nothing wrong with the word "gay" itself, it's the context in which it's used that will condition people to perpetuate the notion of gay as being not good, not cool. I'm not saying that people can't use it they just need to use it appropriately. This is like psychology 101, I think your argument is a mixed message. How is your way of letting people continue to use this word to imply something being bad going to work for gay people and their quest for acceptance and equality? Please explain!

 

[tavares]

I think electric cars are so bi.....

How dare you?!

 

[DirtyPuppyLA]

Did you ever think that you're part of the problem? You're encouraging the shame and dehumanization by essentially saying "this is how you're supposed to feel every time you hear that word!" Instead of saying "every time someone uses the word in this way, they're the ones who are ignorant," you're saying "every time someone uses the word this way, you should feel bad about yourself, and if you don't, you're part of the problem."

That's such a fuckin mixed message, trying to attach pride and shame to one word at the same time.

Damn, buddy, totally agree! There is such a victim complex in the gay community. We LOVE to play victim every time a movie doesn't end the way we think it should (Jack dying in Brokeback Mountain) or every time someone uses "gay" to mean "lame" in a movie. When does it end? When will we just shrug it off and not make it a big deal? It's not about us. It's about them. If someone says "gay" to mean "stupid," then we should point out their error and be done with it and not let it validate any story we have about being a victims. Change can only happen when WE change first. That's how we will shift mainstream, straight society, by being an example of an empowered community, not one full of martyrs and victims who crumble or feel hurt or get angry every time we see something we don't like in mainstream media. It starts with us. Empower yourselves, people! Be the change you want to see in the world.

 

[doetim]

Damn, buddy, totally agree! There is such a victim complex in the gay community. We LOVE to play victim every time a movie doesn't end the way we think it should (Jack dying in Brokeback Mountain) or every time someone uses "gay" to mean "lame" in a movie. When does it end? When will we just shrug it off and not make it a big deal? It's not about us. It's about them. If someone says "gay" to mean "stupid," then we should point out their error and be done with it and not let it validate any story we have about being a victims. Change can only happen when WE change first. That's how we will shift mainstream, straight society, by being an example of an empowered community, not one full of martyrs and victims who crumble or feel hurt or get angry every time we see something we don't like in mainstream media. It starts with us. Empower yourselves, people! Be the change you want to see in the world.

I think you and others who don't find anything wrong with this have somehow come to this conclusion because either the usage is so pervasive in our society to the point that you're immunized to it and/or because the consequences of it are too indirect and intangible for you to actually connect the dots. I'm on the opposite end of this argument and STRONGLY believe that it has to stop because it is damaging. We humans are psychological creatures and we learn by language and association and no one here is saying to stop using the word "gay", not at all. There should not be any value attached to the word "gay", it should not be a pride or shame thing, it should be just like any other word. To allow the continuation of the contextual use of the word "gay" to imply negativity is like defending using the phrase "that's so black" to imply something being bad.

 

[tavares]

Damn, buddy, totally agree! There is such a victim complex in the gay community. We LOVE to play victim every time a movie doesn't end the way we think it should (Jack dying in Brokeback Mountain) or every time someone uses "gay" to mean "lame" in a movie. When does it end? When will we just shrug it off and not make it a big deal? It's not about us. It's about them. If someone says "gay" to mean "stupid," then we should point out their error and be done with it and not let it validate any story we have about being a victims. Change can only happen when WE change first. That's how we will shift mainstream, straight society, by being an example of an empowered community, not one full of martyrs and victims who crumble or feel hurt or get angry every time we see something we don't like in mainstream media. It starts with us. Empower yourselves, people! Be the change you want to see in the world.

Thank you! You got exactly what I meant.