How do you use the word “gay” in today’s society? It’s the big question after Anderson Cooper got upset over a joke in the trailer for Universal’s The Dilemma featuring Vince Vaughn’s character referring to electric cars as “gay” followed up by saying “not homosexual ‘gay,’ but my parents are chaparoning the dance ‘gay.'”
Cooper’s response to seeing this while talking to Ellen Degeneres was to say, “I just find those words, those terms, we’ve got to do something to make those words unacceptable cause those words are hurting kids.”
No matter how you respond to Cooper’s take on things, it’s causing a stir, and it has me wondering how far is too far and what exactly is offensive? Considering this post brings the new red band trailer for I Love You Phillip Morris it allows me to bring up a headline I wanted to address about a week ago, but couldn’t find much of a way to bring it up.
Over on USA Today, columnist Ann Oldenburg uploaded the poster for I Love You Phillip Morris with a headline that read “Jim Carrey finds gay love in ‘I Love You Phillip Morris’“. You see, he doesn’t just find love, he finds gay love, because there is a difference? Oldenburg’s blog post even points to an article at LezGetReal in which Natasia Langfelder writes about the poster saying, “I love it, it’s sweet, it’s pretty, it’s gay.” Wait, wait, wait… It’s what? The same site discusses the controversy over The Dilemma with Bridgette P. LaVictoire saying, “This, however, is not a joke about being gay, but rather simply uses homosexuality as a derogatory put down without any real hilarity or joke to put behind it.” Now I’m confused.
So what’s the difference between these usages of the word “gay”? Negative or not, it would seem Vaughn’s character’s description of electric cars in The Dilemma and Langfelder’s description of the I Love You Phillip Morris poster are using the word “gay” in the same way, only one is deemed derogatory while the other is … what? Loving? Either way it is using the word in the exact same way.
Of course, this all comes at the same time the media has been highlighting a rash of violence against gays as well as the back-and-forth concerning the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. However, is comparing a comment referring to electric cars as “gay” to hate crimes an appropriate one?
If anything, at least the conversation is being had and equal treatment is being sought, but it just seems like some corners are reaching and when that happens it can sometimes cause an even stronger push back from the other side. Personally, hate crimes are deplorable and I am not a fan of “don’t ask, don’t tell”, but at the same time all the examples I’ve referenced above don’t come close to registering in comparison.
Sure, I’ll say GLAAD has a point and the joke in The Dilemma trailer would have probably been better left for the movie itself and not used in the film’s promotion, but let’s chalk that up to an error in judgment and move along. I’m pretty sure Universal, as well as every other studio, has learned a lesson… that is unless the offended party believes the trailer actually meant to offend… do they?
Anyway, that’s one long intro to the red band trailer for I Love You Phillip Morris, which Roadside Attractions will release in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco theaters on December 3 and, despite a long road to theaters, is said to have what may be Jim Carrey’s best performance to date. You can get more information on the film right here and watch the certainly not safe for work trailer directly below.
I Love You Phillip Morris is the improbable but true story of a spectacularly charismatic conman’s journey from small-town businessman to flamboyant white-collar criminal, who repeatedly finds himself in trouble with the law and on the lam, brilliantly escaping from the Texas prison system on four separate occasions – all in the name of love.
Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) leads a seemingly average life – an organ player in the local church, happily married to Debbie (Leslie Mann), and a member of the local police force. That is until he has a severe car accident that leads him to the ultimate epiphany: he’s gay and he’s going to live life to the fullest – even if he has to break the law to do it. Taking on an extravagant lifestyle, Steven turns to cons and fraud to make ends meet and is eventually sent to the State Penitentiary where he meets the love of his life, a sensitive, soft-spoken man named Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). His devotion to freeing Phillip from jail and building the perfect life together prompts him to attempt (and often succeed at) one impossible con after another. Told with an uncanny sense of humor and a lot of heart, “I Love You Phillip Morris” is an oddball tale of what can happen when the legal system, a daredevil spirit and undying love collide.
I Love You Phillip Morris is an oddball tale of what can happen when the legal system, a daredevil spirit and undying love collide.
