I'm not saying "We" humanity are in our nature mean-spirited, but just as an individual psyche might me a microcosm of society and the zeitgeist of any group there are individuals who are abhorant. The sort of bully who focuses on outing and humiliating the schoolyard gay kid or tomenting others who seem "different" or vulnerable I have not seen grow up and change with new information. I know too many Bullies who have at best grown old and less able to bully, but they channel it different ways. I'm not sure they reform. Campaigns to "educate" either preach to the converted or to the culprits who will laugh it off and mock it and continue in one form or another. I think with this the focus has to be more about how students and even teachers, parents and finally employers are equipped to deal with bullies in general. Even with strict regulations it took our construction site at MLG months to get rid of a toxic foreman, a racist, even after he assaulted another boss.
I'll be honest that I roll my eyes when for example GLAAD scolds Jerry Lewis for using the word fag and doing a swishy physical thing about tennis or something. As if his core Rat Pack fans care. On the other side of the fence I laughed out loud in shock when I was watching a Kevin Pollack Chat Show episode on youtube and he opened with an obligatory "Happy Gay Pride" reference and them stared in silence at the camera with a bored smack. I had been pretty sure that kind of thing was just not allowed to be done anymore - somebody pointing out his own insincerety with something obligatory.
I like Ellen DeGeneres and I believe her heartache over a gay teen suicide - even though her heartfelt address to camera about the dog that was re-gifted to the wrong owner got a little more air time. And my reaction to her interview with TR Knight was that he was a crybaby and the much-publicized Issiah Washington deal left people asking why newspapers refer to faggot as the "f-word" when we already have a perfectly good "f-word." And when "The Hanging Garden" was making waves in Canadian film (among critics anyway) I thought it was absurd. This guy was afraid of (I think) his father knowing he was gay so he tried to hang himself as a teen?
I think the hype of this may pathologize gay teens even more. Like, "I suppose I'd better speak to you in a gentle tone so you don't kill yourself" which would be a new style of bullying. ALSO, frankly, why can't the "closet" be seen as a valid phase for them? There are a number of people I went to High School with who are now gay or lesbian. Most teens don't really know what they want to do for a living and only some idea WHO they want to do. There seems to be a myth that people should self-actualize even when they are dependant.
Possibly exploiting the tragedy of suicide either due to simply being gay or also having a psychological disorder - is less effective than the example given by Sir Ian McKellen, Neil Patrick Harris, Jane Lynch (the only Glee cast member who doesn't belong on DeGrassi or some Afterschool special) and Tom Hardy who has taken over the role of Mad Max. But even then (getting back to that closet idea) how firmly established are some of these brave people before they are out? Either for being gay or for having done tabu things. Would they have been better off being in-your-face in high school? Growing up is fine, but I think inadvertently there is a form of bullying coming at TEEN gays from their own circle of support.
As far fetched as THAT might seem, look at the inherent cruelty of groups that make it their mission to "out" movie stars who are ostensibly straight. That is high-end bullying. The conceit is "be a role model - the gay poster child - or else." Jodie Foster was badgered for years, and tured in some good performances she might not have gotten had a lesbian identity coopted her PR exposure. When Anne Heche was cast in Six Days, Seven Nights, and the Ellen relationship story broke the studio was determined to recast since the film had a rom-com element. If Harrison Ford hadn't put his foot down on principle, she would have been recast. (would be a great story if the movie was any good) Tom Cruise or Keanu Reeves - I don't pretend to know anything about them personally and I don't care what they may or may not have done. It should be their own business. There are plenty of successful bi people like David Bowie that could be held up instead of potentially damaging someone's action hero career.
That's an example of what may be called "liberal Hypocrisy." There are some people who may be well-meaning in defending a teen who has been outed and goes to commit suicide, yet many of that same core group has a sense of entitlement to force actors and celebrities to be "honest" about their personal life and questions that they have no business asking.
Most of this blog is re-used and recycled from a reply to a friend who is an activist for gay issues. I tend to take the Devil's Advocate stance on a lot of issues, and either that points to leaks in the proverbial boat or it's a mean slap in the face my me depending on your estimate of my nature. I'm in favor of gay marriage and gay adoption, but I'm against hyper-sensitive media run by fear of lobby groups. It's like the difference between 60's Star Trek and Next Generation - it was brave to have a multi-racial cast in the original. But even as PC as Star Trek generally is, the aggressive Klingons are usually played by black actors and the money-grubbing Ferengi are usually played by a Jewish-sounding actor. Some might complain that (apart from an episode of the on-line fan-made version) they haven't directly dealt with a gay character. Trills are paracites that can take over either a male or female host, but I'm not sure that would be held up as an example. This reminds me of the 60's writer whose body of work was very socially conscious and yet he never took on a black character. His reason when asked was that he didn't want to be "forced to write Sidney Poitier." No slight against the great actor, but it is true that once you HAVE TO write a character a certain way to appease an interest group then there's no point.
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