Comments on: GLAAD Pushing Universal To Remove ‘Gay’ Joke From ‘The Dilemma’

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 00:14:16 +0000

Cut the entire scene? Because a character used a word in the same way that someone like him would almost certainly use it in the real world? Some people may like the idea of living in a society where nobody uses the word "gay" as a negative adjective, but we don't, and I think we all know that. And part of the joke–and I'm not claiming it's actually funny–is that he clarifies his use of the word isn't meant to refer to "homosexual gay". Are we seriously talking about removing the word from every movie made in the future? And I'm just curious, if his character said "Electric cars are retarded," would the same people be so outraged by it? I'm just saying, chopping the entire scene out of the movie seems to be a ridiculous overreaction.

By: cirkusfolk

cirkusfolk — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 22:15:23 +0000

Say what you want about the trailer, the film (no matter how terible it looks to begin with) should not be cut. I'm sure this is not the first film to use the word "gay" as a derogatery term, so should we go recut all the older films? If anything, the character's use of the term should just reflect on his character in the film (whether that means you like him less or more) just as a racist in a film would use racial slurs such as Clint eastwood did in Gran Torino. No Asians were screaming at that film being offensive. I'm sure a lot of people (whether you agree with them or not) would be offended by the sex scenes in Blue Valentine, but i bet you would shit your pants if they said they would cut them out to appease said people. Same thing.

By: sfsilver

sfsilver — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 15:10:16 +0000

The trailer may have been recut, but the offensive version was still playing in theaters over the weekend. I saw it Saturday at a screening of the "Social Network". It was actually the first time i had seen it and I was really taken aback by the slur. It is patently offensive, I don't even think it's a question.

I must say that I am a bit ambiguous however about whether the film should be edited. I hate censorship and homophobia at about the same level. I'm inclined to think we should use the film's offensiveness as a "teaching moment" and a touchstone of homophobic (and lazy) writing to be avoided by films in the future.