Last week, Universal pulled their trailer for The Dilemma after Anderson Cooper complained about the scene in which Vince Vaughn says “electric cars are gay” (even though Cooper never mentioned the name of the movie and sort of misquoted the line in question). At the time, Universal said they’d already screened the trailer for members of GLAAD and gays in their marketing department and that no one had had a problem with it.
When the trailer debuted three weeks ago, complaints immediately came in to the studio and its marketing department. But Universal claims that’s when it called GLAAD again to “double check” there were no objections. The studio tells me that “only then did GLAAD say, ‘This is probably questionable. It’s not a major offense at all. But it’s best not to use it in the campaign so it avoids any questions.'” [Deadline]
GLAAD denies that, but whatever the case, they started to complain about it after the Anderson Cooper appearance. Universal altered the trailer to remove the line, but now GLAAD is taking it a step further with an online petition to have the “anti-gay language” removed from the final movie altogether. The line in the trailer was “electric cars are gay. …I mean, not homosexual gay, but but my-parents-are-chaperoning-me-to-the-dance gay.” Meanwhile, ThePlaylist reports that that line had been altered from Allan Loeb’s original script, which said:
“Not homosexual gay… but soft gay, unmanly gay, quiet and small gay” and that “if you’re a real man… you don’t want an electronic car.”
Now, I’m tempted to point out that it’s dangerous to set a precedent wherein what a movie character says has to be screened for PC language, and that if you squint, you might imagine that the point of the line was that the Vince Vaughn character is kind of an A-hole who talks too much and his mouth gets him in trouble, not that he’s a really good guy who never says anything vaguely homophobic, even by accident.
I might also be tempted to point out that referencing differences between different types of people has been a pillar of humor since it was invented, and always will be, and that pointing out differences isn’t necessarily “anti” one group, especially when the comment is directed at an inanimate object. I’m further tempted to note that making an example out of a thing like this to serve a political agenda is unfair to that thing’s unique attributes, sort of cuts against your argument against stereotyping in the first place, and is kind of the problem with the entire state of politics in general. I’m even further tempted to wonder if this is asking to further political correctness at the expense of realism, like demanding that a Klansman character only use the term “African-Americans.”
I’m tempted to do all these things. But I’m not going to. Not for an Allan Loeb script where probably the only purpose was to look like other movies you’ve already seen, a movie that probably contains no deeper meaning than, “haha, look, a fat guy dancing!”
Nope, go ahead and boycott the sh*t out of this one. I’ll choose my battles carefully, thank you very much.
“…and when they came for Kevin Jameses, I did not protest, for I was not a fat guy with my pants falling down.”
What crawled up their asses and died?
It’s really an insult to electric cars. Miatas are gay.
I honestly feel like there’s nothing more to say about this story that hasn’t already been said about Cam Gigandet
And what of the Suburu Outbacks?
Yeah, well, I think GLAAD should stop being so gay
“LGBT: 3D, Balls will literally fly at your face”
-Pete Hammond
He’s right. In my line of work, I see cars get rear-ended in the tailpipe all the time.
Outbacks are hetero-challenged.
So GLAAD had trouble making up their mind about whether to get really offended? That’s cool. I like mixed fruit.
If Suburu Outbacks are gay, shouldn’t they be called Inbacks?
They were originally called Suburu Wetbacks, but people complained.
Namely Eric Stoltz. Say what you will about his comedic sensibilities, but the man can write an angry letter.
It’s not necessarily that Outbacks are gay so much as they really don’t like having to shave their armpits and find that other Subarus really understand them in a way differently-built cars can never tap into.
I was going to accuse GLAAD of not having a sense of humor until I remembered they were talking about a Kevin James movie, which made my point moot.
They weren’t complaining about the name, but that they couldn’t fit their entire extended family in it.
Meanwhile, ThePlaylist reports that that line had been altered……..
That was the third time it was altered. The original line was:
“I mean, not Hugh Jackman giving Troy Aikman a shirtless back massage on a moped gay, but holy-shit-that’s-so-fucking-gay, gay.”
You know what’s gay? A bicycle with no seat.
OK, maybe not “gay” but certainly “bi”.
What about all the times movies use “nigger”? You never hear black groups getting their panties in a bunch.
Mel Gibson just proved stereotypes are wrong because there’s no way a pack of niggers could unite for a common cause.
Electric cars are slow, so technically they’re retarded.
Doesn’t matter if it’s a car or a host, the rule of thumb is the gayest anything is the one named Cooper.
[Steps out of line in gay pride parade wearing assless chaps and a unicorn horn]
Those fags are wicked queeah!
*pulls up in a Ford Ka* Gay cars, eh? *honks horn, drives off*
I just don’t understand this argument.
“They” have “Gay Pride”. Including parades and shirts and bumper stickers. They use the word Gay to describe themselves, which is basically saying “I am not “Normal/Hetero”, I am Gay. Different.”
So to me, the word just means “Different than the Norm”.
Sure, we may use the word Gay in a negative context, but what’s not negative about a “Gay Pride” parade that is full of floats in the shape of 30 foot long penises?
I have had horrible, horrible dreams resembling as much and I have to tell you, I don’t appreciate waiting in traffic while “The Manic Phallic” float makes it’s way down Sunset Blvd.
Penis.
Gay cahs will let ya put fahkin anything in theyah reahview.
damn… let me tell you, watch don rickles on youtube
he made jokes about everyone, and people laughed…
Electric cars want your junk in their trunk!
Electric cars will only play Lady Gaga and George Michael mp3s. Curious.
Yahoo’s headline about this last week used the term “gay slur” in the headline. So “gay” itself isn’t forbidden, but must be used in the currently accepted context. Saying that the line from the movie is a “gay” slur is OK, saying that I support “gay” rights is OK, but calling someone or something “gay” is not OK -unless that person (or thing) is, in fact, homosexual in person or design (Ellen Degeneres and her marriage certificate can serve as examples of both). So, my conclusion is that “gay” might be the only offensive, bigoted slur that is only received as such when NOT used according to its offensive definition. It would be like my obese friend being cool with me calling him fatty-fatty-two-by-four, but I sure as shit better not say that about the stud-walls in his house.
I have stud walls in my house. One is covered in photos of George Clooney, the other, Brad Pitt.
Rawr.
*sprints through room with pants around ankles*
FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGS!
At first The Mighty Feklahr was gonna let this slide, His views well documented in the previous post regarding this matter.
However, He is still riding high from His grande fartte fagaccino, out of pain pills, and stressed the fuck out, SO HERE WE GO!
*takes a final sip from His chalice of organic honey green tea from Honest Tea, organizes His thoughts, and prepares to constructively criticize political correctness*
If some shit-packing Jew faggot ever gets in His fucking face and tells Him to alter His language in any fucking way, He will pull out the little shitbird’s dead mother and fuck her on the star in the middle of the Dallas Cowboy’s field and cum on her back in a swastika pattern.
These little traitors to free speech will learn what real humiliation and degradation is when His Klingon army comes in, trashes their shoes, repaints their bathrooms, and beat up their grandmas. They will be hard pressed to hold a unity rally when their legs have been torn out and used as massacre devices (on gays).
Mark this Klingon well, you little fucking baktags. He, and people like Him are willing to play nice, but we don’t need a federal case out of you cum-gargling haDiBahs every time you feel “offended” by “questionable” material. If you keep pushing us, WE WILL REDEFINE what oppression and discrimination is until you are begging us to unfuck your situation with mercy killings.
Gay Hannibal Lecter has stud walls to keep in the hotties.
GLAAD is okay with flip-flops, just as long as you leave the socks at home- gotta keep it fab!
(ugh, I’m disappointed in myself for writing that)
With a satisfied look on his face, Anderson Cooper got into his non-turbo rainbow-roofed mini-Cooper and drove off to Cupertino to start the revolution.
Okay, I get that GLAAD is overreacting to a stupid situation, but the only thing more obnoxious is the self-righteous, “this is an assault on free speech.” This is two groups that no one gives a shit about, bitching about a movie that no one is going to see, and somehow we’re offended that they were bugged by a fucking word. If anyone pisses you off it should be the coward movie studio that caves when someone gets their feelbads hurt. Think Clint Eastwood would have changed his script if a Hmong rights group had complained? No fucking way, so if you’re pissed at what GLAAD said to a movie studio about a Kevin James movie, boo fucking hoo. This is not the time to make a principled stand, in short, when you freak out like that you sound like a fag fek. Keep it in your pants.
I don’t care enough about that movie studio or the shit it produces to be disappointed in it, retard. GLAAD is undermining its own credibility by throwing a girly-slappy lisping-hissy fit at a worthless shit movie, and being total fucking cunts for even doing it in the first place. Bravo, GLAAD! Way to go cry on Oprah then stand up to Vince Vaughn! YOU ARE AN HERO NOW.
In case I need to phrase it more sublimely, I feel it is pretty pathetic for GLAAD to target a D-class movie when there are more than enough legitimate gay-rights issues in public discourse that could use their attention. Trying to censor a movie nobody of consequence will be seeing (or retaining) is like an elevator in an outhouse, it just don’t belong.
Okay, that’s fair enough. I just live in the center or right wing indignation (Utah) and get tired of people pretending like pussies being offended is somehow an affront to freedom. Any decent movie studio would have laughed GLAAD’s mincing asses right out of their offices, and been totally in their right to do so. Sorry for my righteous indignation.
The mighty one’s number one fan,
Eek
Oh Fek that was beautiful.
Thank you for understanding, I also realize any semblance of rational thought is often lost in my hyperbolic ragefits. I acknowledge gays/lesbians/bi/trans as legally oppressed. Now, if I go off like that about Christians at any point, I will mean every fucking word.
They must have shot the scene with Queen Latifah at a different time. Wouldn’t her gayness cause her head to explode if she was in a room with such hateful speech?