When Gay Rights becomes Postmodern Feminism
Well that was quite the hiatus.
Anyway, it's no secret that I devote a good portion of my space on this blog to talking about gay rights, perhaps not surprisingly as it's an issue that directly affects me on a personal level.
As such, this is a story I've been following with some interest. At first I didn't really care; I thought Mr. Washington shouldn't have used the word obviously, but I did not pay it much mind. But as the story continued to appear again and again on gay news sites and then in the mainstream media, I was forced to take notice.
Eventually, it turned into a full-on PC-fest, with Washington making the obligatory rounds with gay groups, going through the motions and promising to be more sensitive in the future, and blah blah blah. It's all a big show, of course. Washington is an actor, and actors market their public image. Essentially, even when they're not on set, they're still acting. Washington's apology was forced and meaningless, much like the apologies of Mel Gibson and Michael Richards after their infamous anti-semitic and racist slurs last year.
I thought that would be the end of it. He'd apologized, done the damage control, and moved on. But, in a chilling sign that the gay rights movement may be dilluting its morally correct position by going down the path of lunatic, post-modern feminism, some crazy things have happened. First I read this, which just blew me away. Make Washington's character gay? That wouldn't make sense within the show's continuity, something of which fans of the show are well aware.
It makes sense in a twisted sort of way. The PC Police want to control reality, so why should they not also want to impose their up-is-down, Orwellian vision of the world on fiction, as well? But to push this to even more absurd lengths, Washington has entered counseling (that's right) in order to understand why he said what he said.
Understand why he said what he said? He called someone a "faggot" in anger. It's not brain surgery, and you don't need $100/hour therapy to figure it out. I've used the word, in jest and in anger. It's only a word, and like all words, is meaningless without context. The important thing is not that he used the word, but whether or not he actually is homophobic, and quite frankly, that's none of our damn business. Leave this poor man alone!
If gay activists want to concentrate on homophobia in the entertainment industry, they may want to turn their attention to why this travesty of a writing decision was undertaken. (Read the story and the comments, they're quite illuminating.) I actually found the calls to retcon Washington's character into a faggot to be kind of ironic, considering that another TV character has so recently been retconned into a breeder.
Labels: feminism, gay, political correctness, television
posted by Ryan Ringer @ 1/24/2007 08:18:00 p.m.
6 comments
6 Comments:
I don't normally pay much of this any mind. But there is a bit more to it than your explanation.
Washington did get angry and basically out one of his cast members in a fit of anger a few months back - hence the "little faggott" comment. So back in October, it was bantered around a bit, including fellow actor came out publicly, probably to avoid the whole, "who's the gay one" charade that would have followed if he hadn't. Washington sorta apologized, everyone said all is fine and life went on.
Or so one would have through. Until last week when Washington went to the Golden Globes and a had an "it never happened, never really happened, I didn't call anyone a faggot" moment. Well, it had happenned. But suddenly now very publicly, with Washington even blurting "faggot" on national TV, on the red carpet, at an awards ceremony, he put cast members who had witnessed the incident - not to mention the gay actor - in awkward, "Did it or did it not happen? What do you think about Washington saying it never happened?" moments for the rest of the evening.
And, really for the first time since October, the gay actor basically confronted him on the fact that the incident had occured, and questioned why he would deny it.
So, the reality is that Washington is admitting that maybe he does have a problem with it, and is (I believe) making genuine effort to face the homophobia that seems to be causing these rather wacko outburts (by his own admission) and dealing with his fellow cast mate's hurt feelings.
I for one constantly roll my eyes at the supposed angst in Hollywood (one too many episodes of "The Real World" in my youth perhaps). But I would say the reason this story has had legs is because there is somethinng happenning on this particular set. In the end, it might be something good for those dealing with it.
Sorry for the typos in the last post. I'm beat.
I'm more concerned abot Dion sticking his foot in his mouth today (and I say that as someone who has been very impressed with him for a while - but the truth is he blundered big time today).
But having thought about this for a few moments, what I'd love to see is any primetime show dealing with a gay character and a straight character having to deal with an issue just like this.
It happens in real life, and people deal with it. Ultimately, we're all stuck here with each other anyway and learning to get along is part of the deal in this life.
Cheers - and good night.
You know, for once, I agree with everything you said. Apparently we've entered the age of "re-education."
Um, where's the postmoderism? Or the feminism for that matter? I get the feeling you're using these words without actually knowing what they mean.
As for feminism, I was imploring the gay rights movement not to go down the road of feminism, which is now just a parody of itself.
As for postmodern, I didn't want to say the modern feminist movement was a joke, because it wasn't.
John and Jim. Hmm... I didn't realize the whole story. But my point was not so much that Washington is a good guy - I don't know nor care, really - but that this just smacks of totalitarian re-education, which makes me nervous, especially in an era where the United States government is able to detain anybody indefinitely without reason and torture them.
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