Last night at a sold-out LA Gay & Lesbian Center gala that raised $1 million for homeless gay and lesbian youth, honoree Amy Pascal asked the industry to scrutinize its depiction of LGBT characters in film and television: “How about next time, when any of us are reading a script and it says words like fag, or faggot – homo – dyke – take a pencil and just cross it out”.Wow! A speech from 1970! How did this get delivered? I can't recall how many decades it has been since I saw a slur against homosexuals in film. Was it Cruising (1980)? And as for stereotypes: was it that long along that La Cage Aux Folles (1978) was regarded as a fabulously positive image?
From her speech:
The images that impacted me as a teenager had lasting influences on my entire life and I bet that is true for most of us. What we see in the media today affects everybody, whether it’s film, TV, radio, magazines or the internet. What the media says about your sexual orientation, and the color of your skin, and the shape of your eyes, and your ethnicity… what you look like, what you weigh, what you wear, how poor you are, how awkward you are, how educated you are, and how different you are… this stuff really sinks in. What we see teaches us about how to feel about ourselves and how to feel about each other.Let's see: violence in movies doesn't contribute even a little to the violence in our society...but negative stereotypes in films about homosexuals are a big problem! How does that work?
So, they don't want discrimination against gays, but they want discrimination FOR them with this shelter (how does one prove one is eligible?).
ReplyDeleteThe movies, and the entire entertainment industry, is filled with gays so she was preaching to an old choir. Just an ego boost.
ReplyDeleteIf they think this works, why not just eliminate gun violence from movies as well? Wouldn't that further a worthy goal of theirs? Wouldn't it save just one life?
ReplyDeleteI was going to say something on the order of, "Logs and specks, Clayton, logs and specks", but I'm with Robert Langham. A letter writing campaign (with physical letters) to every studio head (is that an antiquated phrase?) producer, director or scriptwriter.
ReplyDeleteMothers against Murder. If the movies can be uplifting they can be down-pressing, too.
If it saves one life -- It's for the children. Start out with agreeing with them about their fantasies over homophobia, then set the hook.
How can the movies continue to take blood money? As a result they have blood on their hands.