A few weeks ago, the big controversy was GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, petitioning to have the “electric cars are gay” line removed from The Dilemma.  While no one wants to die on the hill of defending a bad joke in an awful-looking Allan Loeb movie, it was a transparently BS publicity movie on GLAAD’s part, since they’d already seen the trailer and said nothing about it, and only decided it was worth their moral outrage after Anderson Cooper brought it up on Ellen (and never said it should be censored, by the way).

Perhaps feeling overconfident after getting the “gay” line pulled from the Dilemma trailer (but not the movie), GLAAD decided to set its sights on Glee for their use of the word “tranny” in their Rocky Horror-themed episode.  That’s right, an organization dedicated to preventing discrimination against gays went after GLEE and ROCKY HORROR.  The NYDailyNews caught up with original Rocky Horror star Susan Sarandon, and even she thinks GLAAD needs a fresh cup of shut the f**k up.

When we caught up with Sarandon, she said the controversy puzzled her. “What should they have said?” she asked, adding that she knew plenty of people who proudly called themselves “trannies.” GLAAD, she said, was “getting like PETA – way out of control.”
GLAAD spokesman Richard Ferraro responded by reiterating his organization’s objections. “The word ‘tra—y’ has become an easy punch line in popular culture,” he wrote in an email, “and many still don’t realize that using the term is hurtful, dehumanizing and associated with violence.” [NYDN]

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GLAAD raised a big stink about Vince Vaughn’s “electric cars are gay” line from The Dilemma only after Anderson Cooper mentioned it on Ellen, but they were successful in getting the line pulled from the trailer.  GLAAD then demanded that Universal remove the line from the film entirely.  In a rare show of balls from Hollywood, director Ron Howard says the line stays.

“I believe in sensitivity but not censorship.”
“Our lead character of Ronny Valentine has a mouth that sometimes gets him into trouble and he definitely flirts with the line of what’s OK to say. He tries to do what’s right but sometimes falls short. Who can’t relate to that?” Howard asked. “It is a slight moment in ‘The Dilemma’ meant to demonstrate an aspect of our lead character’s personality, and we never expected it to represent our intentions or the point of view of the movie or those of us who made it.”

“I defend the right for some people to express offense at a joke as strongly as I do the right for that joke to be in a film,” Howard said. “But if storytellers, comedians, actors and artists are strong-armed into making creative changes, it will endanger comedy as both entertainment and a provoker of thought.” [CNN]

For a guy directing an Allan Loeb movie, he makes a lot of sense.  Meanwhile, GLAAD’s president had this to say:

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"Hooked one!"

Last week, Universal pulled Vince Vaughn’s “electric cars are gay” joke from The Dilemma trailer after Anderson Cooper criticized a misquoted version of the line in a discussion about gay bullying on Ellen.  Then this week, GLAAD, who hadn’t said anything up to that point, piled on, starting an online petition to get the line pulled from the movie altogether.  Today, Vince Vaughn, who just happened to be walking by eating an ice cream cone, gave his statement on the matter.

“Let me add my voice of support to the people outraged by the bullying and persecution of people for their differences, whatever those differences may be. Comedy and joking about our differences breaks tension and brings us together. Drawing dividing lines over what we can and cannot joke about does exactly that; it divides us. Most importantly, where does it stop[?]” [Deadline]

Unnecessary slippery-slope argument at the end there aside, I have to agree with him.  If it’s equality you’re after, gays are going to have to get teased and stereotyped in popular culture as much as straight white men.  That just comes with being part of the conversation.  You have to be able to differentiate between playful teasing for the purpose of humor and a guy yelling “f*g” and throwing a brick at your float.  That said, it’s dangerous that Vince Vaughn is neglecting another important issue.  Doing films with Kevin James divides us.  It draws dividing lines between people who think that “fat-guy-dancing” shtick is still funny and those of us who were tired of it before Chris Farley died.  It turns brother against brother, wife against husband, child against parent — a house divided against itself cannot stand. This Union cannot endure permanently half stupid Kevin-James-pants-falling-down-joke-loving and half intelligent.  But I stand before you today to promise that if we stand firm, we shall not fail.  Wise counsels may accelerate, or mistakes delay it, but, sooner or later, the victory is sure to come.

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. 
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Set to premiere at the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival is a flick called Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives.  If you’re anything like me, you’re probably thinking “Well Hot Tub Time Machine, that is a fantastic title!”  But if you’re an anonymous assh*le on the internet, you’re apparently thinking, “Boo!  This movie I’ve never seen may offend me by treating its subject without the kid gloves outlined in the handbook of PC Fascism!”

The film is described as a “campy homage to the exploitation films” in which “a group of transgender women are violently beaten and left for dead,” but then “the violated vixens turn deadly divas.”

That summary alone was enough to prompt many angry comments at the tribecafilm.com Web site. One commenter who gave her name as Marie wrote, “This movie trivializes people dying for being who they are. You need to consider whether you want to be remembered for such transphobic trash.” Another commenter named Margaret B wrote, “I can’t imagine a more offensive film to denigrate and demean a minority group [really? you have a sh*tty imagination. -Ed]. Please remove this film from your line up.”

GLAAD has made the same demand of the Tribeca festival. In a statement, the alliance said, “The film, its title and its marketing misrepresent the lives of transgender women and use grotesque, exploitative depictions of violence against transgender women.” The alliance added that Mr. Luna and the festival “have refused to take responsibility for the problematic content and offensive marketing of this film,” and urged its membership to contact the festival and demand that the film be pulled from its schedule. [NY Times - thanks to Brian for the tip]

Shame on you for listening to these jackasses, GLAAD (who had earlier cooperated and consulted on the film, according to the one of the actors).  This bullsh*t has to stop.  Whatever your minority demographic, do them the respect of treating them like adults and quit acting like they’re some rare comic book that you have to leave inside the plastic.  Acting like no one’s allowed to have a little fun with your group doesn’t create respect, it creates resent.  And way to declare war on people who are probably on your side and just have a better sense of humor.  Very helpful.   FYI, I’ll be seeing this just to spite you.  And because that chick in the poster is pretty hot.

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