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I can see it now, eh?

I love the way these homophobes try to lie their way out of their blatant bigotry, ya know? This Ramin Seetoodah guy tries to act innocent. Who does he think he's foolin?

"The point of my essay was not to disparage my own community, but to examine an issue that is being swept under the rug. Immediately, a number of gay blogs picked up my essay and ran excerpts from it out of context, under the headline that I was antigay. It went viral...Many of them said they hadn’t even read the original article (some of them did) but they all seemed to agree on the same point: that I was an idiot."

He obviously IS an idiot, eh? And then, believe it or not, he actually tries to get sympathy after his pathologically vicious brutalization of a poor gay actor (who he said was too obviously gay to convincingly play a straight role):

"Over the weekend, I became the subject of a lot of vicious attacks. I received e-mails that said I will be fired, anonymous phone calls on my cell phone and a creepy letter at my home....I was compared to Ann Coulter and called an Uncle Tom. Someone described me as a “self-hating Arab” that should be writing about terrorism (I’m an American, born in Texas, of Iranian descent)."

Bein a terrorist would be a huge jump up from bein a filthy, disgustin, mentally deranged HOMOPHOBE. Does he actually think anyone feels "sorry" for him?

"If you were pro-gay, you were anti-NEWSWEEK...I was sharing my honest impression about a play that I saw. If you don’t agree with me, I’m more than happy to hear opposing viewpoints. But I was hoping to start a dialogue that would be thoughtful—not to become a target for people who twisted my words. I’m not a conservative writer with an antigay agenda. I don’t hate gay people or myself."

This guy just doesn't get it, does he? His "honest impression" is precisely what makes him an intolerable homophobe. Of course he hates gay people. He criticized the performance of a gay actor didn't he?

That's what I thought. Q.E.D.

https://www.newsweek.com/2010/05/10/out-of-focus.html
 
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Wow, how homophobe of him.

Yeah, Clutch, and I'm just sick and tired of this kinda vermin infestin the Jazzfanz board, ya know? Imma git up in da mornin and write Jason a lil email. Imma volunteer my services as the head spy, informant, and investigator of the odious homophobic element on this board. I can gather evidence--I can frame a guy with the best of them, if need be. One way or another, this filth must be exterminated.

As a reformed homophobe my own damn self, I'm perfect for the job. I know the way this kinda scum thinks, how they act, how they scurry in dark places to avoid detection, and how they lie. I can spot a damn homophobe a mile off. Ya can smell em, ya know? They're devious, and almost as prevalent as people think. My estimate would be that between 95 and 98% of the posters on this board are homophobes. Most of them stay in the closet and diguise their intentions when in public, but privately they tell gay jokes and EVERYTHING!

I hope I git the appointment. I can't wait!
 
What point do you think I've missed?

People use the phrase "That's so gay" to describe situations that have nothing to do with being gay, but simply to express their distaste for a situation by comparing it to the situation of being gay. The implication, at least to me, is that merely being gay is distasteful.

I really can't even begin to fathom such a suggestion. How do you turn a description into an "insult?"

By using it to describe things that have nothing to do with the original item. Whether or not people are a fan of the blues has nothing to do with whether or not they are shallow thinkers. Using the first to express disdain for the second is taking a description and turning it into an insult.

Here again is the suggestion that your subjective opinion of sumthin determines whether or not that status is despicable and whether it is therefore demeaning to hold such a status.

Doesn't sound like me. Perhaps you see something as subjective that I see as objective, or perhaps you still don't see what I am actually discussing.

Why do people think that they have every right to DEMAND, rather than earn, "respect?"

Respect, as in esteem, should be earned. Respect, as in fair treatment, shouldn't need to be earned. Who has asked you to esteem something/someone you did not wish to?

The only way I can makes sense out of your statements, Eric, is to conclude that you in fact equate disapproval with "insult."

No, I don't. Hopefully, what I described above will clarify my position.

"In a Newsweek column titled "Straight Jacket," openly gay writer Ramin Setoodeh argues that gay actors rarely can pull off a convincing straight role...

He never heard of Rock Hudson? No doubt some research could pull up several others, people that a theater critic should be aware of.

Ya don't need no weatherman to know which way the wind blows. This gay writer is obviously "bigoted" and "horrendously homophobic." He gave less than exemplary marks to a homosexual acting friend of hers in a review.

The bigoted part was not giving a bad review. The bigoted part was attributing the poor performance to the actor's sexuality, as opposed to just being a bad actor.

Unless, you think you can provide a defense for the notion that gay men can't be convincing in straight roles.
 
Did you just call Rock Hudson gay, One Brow? I don't know or care who that is, but sounds petty homophobic.

Homophobe. Unless you meant he was stupid, then yer off the hoook!
 
The bigoted part was not giving a bad review. The bigoted part was attributing the poor performance to the actor's sexuality, as opposed to just being a bad actor.

Unless, you think you can provide a defense for the notion that gay men can't be convincing in straight roles.

So, you too readily and unhesitatingly slander this guy with the "bigoted" explanation, eh, Eric? I find the smugness startling, frankly. He says:

"Sean Hayes, best known as the queeny Jack on Will & Grace. Hayes is among Hollywood’s best verbal slapstickers, but his sexual orientation is part of who he is, and also part of his charm. (The fact that he came out of the closet only just before Promises was another one of those Ricky Martin “duh” moments.) But frankly, it’s weird seeing Hayes play straight. He comes off as wooden and insincere, as if he’s trying to hide something, which of course he is...It’s not just a problem for someone like Hayes, who tips off even your grandmother’s gaydar."
https://www.newsweek.com/2010/04/30/straight-jacket.html

I have no idea who this actor is, and I really don't care. But there are indeed types "who tip off even your grandmother’s gaydar." Apparently this guy is one of them, or at least that is how this guy sees it. Attributing an honest, objectively observable and verifiable, perception to bigotry is revealin of it's own blind bigotry. It's like me sayin that anyone who claims blacks are capable of being bad people is a bigot. An utterly stupid and agenda-driven claim with no factual basis whatsoever...counter to even cursory observation and common sense.
 
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People use the phrase "That's so gay" to describe situations that have nothing to do with being gay, but simply to express their distaste for a situation by comparing it to the situation of being gay. The implication, at least to me, is that merely being gay is distasteful.

By using it to describe things that have nothing to do with the original item. Whether or not people are a fan of the blues has nothing to do with whether or not they are shallow thinkers. Using the first to express disdain for the second is taking a description and turning it into an insult.

This is not a point I "missed." At the outset I said that aint even the point.

You still seem to entirely miss my point. You are talking about two different sides to this, as I was:

1. The factual (descriptive) status of being gay, and

2. The subjective evaluation, held by some, that "merely being gay is distasteful."

Two ENTIRELY different things, and I am merely pointing out that distinction.

If a guy is black, he is. Is that bad?

If some KKK guy thinks its bad, does that MAKE it bad?

How can you turn a objectively neutral description into an "insult?" Your disapproval of the status being described cannot make the status insulting.

You wish to control feelings of disdain, not INSULTS. You demand approval, not mere acceptance.
 
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Two different people make the same statement:

Martin Luther King: "John Jones is a black man."

Grand Wizard of the KKK: "John Jones is a black man."


Who, if anyone, is "insulting" blacks, or John Jones, here?

Now add this in:

Grand Wizard: I don't like black men.

Has the grand wizard suddenly "insulted" John Jones? Had he made the mere status of being black "insulting?" I don't think so. Homey don't play dat.
 
"... He comes off as wooden and insincere, as ..."

What does Hayes being wooden and insincere (the actual complaint) have to do with his being gay?

I have no idea who this actor is, and I really don't care. But there are indeed types "who tip off even your grandmother’s gaydar." Apparently this guy is one of them, or at least that is how this guy sees it. Attributing an honest, objectively observable and verifiable, perception to bigotry is revealin of it's own blind bigotry.

Do you think you can provide a list of features about a perception of being gay that are "honest, objectively observable and verifiable"? I think not. Is there any reason this is significant to Hayes's acting in the part? I don't see how.

It's like me sayin that anyone who claims blacks are capable of being bad people is a bigot. An utterly stupid and agenda-driven claim with no factual basis whatsoever...counter to even cursory observation and common sense.

If someone on this board claimed seeing a black person trying to behave honestly was weird, that it meant he was trying to hide something, or that he can't help tipping off your "blackdar", you wouldn't see that as bigoted?

For gay actors, why should sexual orientation limit a gay actor’s choice of roles? The fact is, an actor’s background does affect how we see his or her performance—which is why the Denzels or the Tom Hanks-es of the world guard their privacy carefully.

It’s not just a problem for someone like Hayes, who tips off even your grandmother’s gaydar. For all the beefy bravado that Rock Hudson projects onscreen, Pillow Talk dissolves into a farce when you know the likes of his true bedmates. (Just rewatch the scene where he’s wading around in a bubble bath by himself.)

So, it used to be that Hudson seemed sufficiently masculine in film, but now that author knows he gay, it changes the meaning of the movies for the author. However, this is not due to the feeling of the author himself, but due to the "honest, objectively observable and verifiable" features of Hudson's performance that only appeared after the author knoew Hudson was gay. Because the author is not a bigot, really. He just thinks gay men can't play certain certain roles in Hollywood unless they are in the closet, but if they are in the closet, they they are fine in those roles. Nothing bigoted about that position, in your view?

This is not a point I "missed." At the outset I said that aint even the point.

You still seem to entirely miss my point. You are talking about two different sides to this, as I was:

1. The factual (descriptive) status of being gay, and

2. The subjective evaluation, held by some, that "merely being gay is distasteful."

Before this post, I was not discussing either of those points. I consider the presence/absence of bigotry in the article to be a tangential issue. In fact, I thought I had explicitly said that I was not trying to discuss that. No one has said that you can't factually describe a person as gay, and no one has said you can't say you dislike gay men. Of course, since free speech is founded on the free exchange of ideas, if you make such a public proclamation, enduring the scorn of others is part of the deal.

Two ENTIRELY different things, and I am merely pointing out that distinction.

Neither, in and of itself, is what I have been discussing.

How can you turn a objectively neutral description into an "insult?"

Tone of voice, to start. When the habitual use of a phrase is accompabnied by a prevelant tone, you start to associate the phrase with the tone.

You wish to control feelings of disdain, not INSULTS. You demand approval, not mere acceptance.

I wish to discourage the casual association of antipathy with what should be a neutral term by getting people to control themselves.
 
Do you think you can provide a list of features about a perception of being gay that are "honest, objectively observable and verifiable"? I think not. Is there any reason this is significant to Hayes's acting in the part? I don't see how.

And what you can see sets the limits of awareness for others, that the idea? Eric, are you honestly trying to claim that no homosexual ever gives overt signs of his/her sexual orientation?


One Brow said:
If someone on this board claimed seeing a black person trying to behave honestly was weird, that it meant he was trying to hide something, or that he can't help tipping off your "blackdar", you wouldn't see that as bigoted?

You're totally confusin the issue. A black man might well do a poor job of trying to act Japanese. Not the least bit of bigotry in recognizing that.



One Brow said:
So, it used to be that Hudson seemed sufficiently masculine in film, but now that author knows he gay, it changes the meaning of the movies for the author. However, this is not due to the feeling of the author himself, but due to the "honest, objectively observable and verifiable" features of Hudson's performance that only appeared after the author knoew Hudson was gay. Because the author is not a bigot, really. He just thinks gay men can't play certain certain roles in Hollywood unless they are in the closet, but if they are in the closet, they they are fine in those roles. Nothing bigoted about that position, in your view?

Where the hell is the bigotry? If some transvestite plays woman in a movie, and manages to convince some that he is a woman, they will look back on the scenes differently if the true sexual identity of the actor is revealed (later in the movie, or just in public). This is "bigotry?" Go figure. The author here was making more than one claim in his piece. One was about a particular actor in a particular play. He then tried to discuss broader social issues and common perceptions. Don't confuse the two areas.

I have seen movies (can't name one offhand) where, in the movie, a woman was trying to pass herself off as a man. In the movie, everyone who encountered her was "fooled" and immediately assumed that she was a man. From scene one, it was nonetheless obvious to most that she was a woman, and the movie lacked all credibility from that standpoint. Anyone who claims that you cannot generally distinguish a woman from a man is blind. It certainly is not bigotry to claim that there are objective, observable differences.

One Brow said:
Tone of voice, to start. When the habitual use of a phrase is accompabnied by a prevelant tone, you start to associate the phrase with the tone.

Speak for yourself. Someone else's "tone of voice" does not generally lead me to make whatever subjective evaluation of a situation that I end up making, based on my own perceptions and values.

One Brow said:
I wish to discourage the casual association of antipathy with what should be a neutral term by getting people to control themselves.

Then you should quit denying that this is your true intention.
 
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I have seen movies (can't name one offhand) where, in the movie, a woman was trying to pass herself off as a man. In the movie, everyone who encountered her was "fooled" and immediately assumed that she was a man. From scene one, it was nonetheless obvious to most that she was a woman, and the movie lacked all credibility from that standpoint. Anyone who claims that you cannot generally distinguish a woman from a man is blind. It certainly is not bigotry to claim that there are objective, observable differences.

Crying Game.
 
Crying Game.


Yeah, Marcus, that was one where a transvestite was involved. A main goal of the movie seemed to be to shock people into re-interpeting their perceptions of prior scenes. For Eric, that would mean "exposing their bigotry," I spoze.

I have seen more than one movie with the "woman readily accepted as a man" theme. I have seen some where I had no idea of who the actor (actress) was, but it was obvious that she was a women. When character after character failed to see this, the movie lost all credibility, in that respect.
 
personally, I thought Robin Williams was absolutely brilliant as Mrs. Doubtfire.

and what was that movie with Dustin Hoffman, Tootsie? Playing a man playing a woman playing a man, or whatever.

well, maybe it just means that men are better at pretending to be women than women are at pretending to be men, who knows?
 
personally, I thought Robin Williams was absolutely brilliant as Mrs. Doubtfire.

and what was that movie with Dustin Hoffman, Tootsie? Playing a man playing a woman playing a man, or whatever.

well, maybe it just means that men are better at pretending to be women than women are at pretending to be men, who knows?

The problem is that in both of those movies you knew who the actor was and what the story line was. You knew it was a man playing a woman. Now, like Hopper was trying to point out, how many movies have you seen where you really didn't know that the actor was of a different gender than that of the part they were playing? If you went into a movie and either character from Tootsie or Doubtfire were the focal point and you were not in on the secret would you really believe that they were female?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lLDjFKtNl4&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgOIEGz7o_s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDFqnky32pk&feature=related
 
While I see the play review as tangential, I'm willing to discuss it in detail, if you like.

And what you can see sets the limits of awareness for others, that the idea? Eric, are you honestly trying to claim that no homosexual ever gives overt signs of his/her sexual orientation?

I claim that, outside of actual intimate contact with men, there are not signs that are "honest, objectively observable and verifiable", the standard you presented. Are you interested in defending your own standard?

You're totally confusin the issue. A black man might well do a poor job of trying to act Japanese. Not the least bit of bigotry in recognizing that.

On the other hand, a man of Japanese descent, raised in America, might also do a poor job of acting Japanese, while a black man rasied in Japan might do an excellent job. The differences would be a matter of knowledge and general ability, not skin color. I would be surprised you disagree. So, why should the standard be different for gay men playing straight roles. Most especially, why should Rock Hudson's acting be changed from being seen as masculine to being seen as effiminate simply because the actor was gay?

Where the hell is the bigotry? If some transvestite plays woman in a movie, and manages to convince some that he is a woman, they will look back on the scenes differently if the true sexual identity of the actor is revealed (later in the movie, or just in public).

You mean, a transvestite man actor plays the role of a woman throught the movie, and the movie needs to be reinterpreted based on that fact about the actor? I don't see why.

This is "bigotry?"

Yes. Feel free to find a non-bigoted reason to explain it.

One was about a particular actor in a particular play. He then tried to discuss broader social issues and common perceptions. Don't confuse the two areas.

The author himself related the two issue unnecessarily, which has been my point in the criticism of this article.

I have seen movies (can't name one offhand) where, in the movie, a woman was trying to pass herself off as a man.

I believe "Just One of the Guys" was a movie about a girl who wanted to play soccer on the boys team. It was based on "Twelveth Night".

Anyone who claims that you cannot generally distinguish a woman from a man is blind.

So, now you want to change from the distinction between gay and straight men to that between men and women, as though the biological differences are of similar scope and proportion?

It certainly is not bigotry to claim that there are objective, observable differences.

How is this related to the differences between gay and straight men playing a specific role?

Speak for yourself. Someone else's "tone of voice" does not generally lead me to make whatever subjective evaluation of a situation that I end up making, based on my own perceptions and values.

I agree, but I don't see how this is responsive to what I said.

Then you should quit denying that this is your true intention.

I don't ever recall denying it. Encouraging other people to control themselves is not the same as controlling them.

Yeah, Marcus, that was one where a transvestite was involved. A main goal of the movie seemed to be to shock people into re-interpeting their perceptions of prior scenes. For Eric, that would mean "exposing their bigotry," I spoze.

So, now you are using a male actor playing a male role, where the character in question pretended to be a woman, as an equivalent to a transvestite actor playing a woman, as an equivalent to a gay man playing a straight man?
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDFqnky32pk&feature=related


Heh, Marcus, if that is a woman in that vid (I didn't watch it all) then I'll be the first to admit that she does a purty convincin job of pretending to be a man.

Just curious--does anyone else get the impression that at least 95% of these competitive body-builders are gay?
 
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I claim that, outside of actual intimate contact with men, there are not signs that are "honest, objectively observable and verifiable", the standard you presented. Are you interested in defending your own standard?

No, I'm not interested in "defending" the obvious in some extended argument full of verbal equivocation and disingenuous assertions.

You stand by your assertions, and I'll stand by mine. I'm am confident that the average person immediately understands that your claims are obviously mistaken. If you want to claim that you have never had any reason to suspect that any homosexual is that, without first getting into bed with them, I'll even take you at your word. Just don't assume that everyone else is that blind.

Same with the rest of your post. I get the feeling, Eric, that you somehow feel obligated to defend, and "prove," the validity and accuracy of any and all claims made by what this author calls the "gay blogs' (or whatever he called them). I don't, and am hence not artifically constrained in the conclusions I allow myself to draw.
 
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