Subscribe to Breaking NewsRuby-Sachs: Role Models – The most homophobic movie ever
This weekend I went to see the new movie Role Models.
I was excited. Paul Rudd is adorable and has an amazing movie track record and Jane Lynch might be the funniest woman in the world. The theatre was sold out and we were lucky to get seats anywhere near the middle and all the buzz in the theatre made it that much more exciting.
But within five minutes the first faggot joke happened. It was one in a long, long line of homophobic cracks throughout the movie. Every time one of the characters used the word “gay” or talked about being sodomized the entire theater erupted into laughter.
The high school couple three seats down were actually crying from all the hilarity.
The homophobic jokes were so common I have to assume they were purposely put there to make a point. And almost all of the offensive jokes were said by characters other than the two main “role models.” But if it was intended to make a point, I can personally promise that no one in the theater I was in got it.
The truth is that I am fed up with movies and television shows thinking it is ok to use homophobic language to get a laugh. While education programs are trying to teach high school and middle school students that using the word dyke is offensive, Paul Rudd (who co-wrote the movie) has a blockbuster where small children draw pictures of people anally penetrating a robot and anyone weird or different is “gay.”
If the purpose of Role Models was to expose the way we use homophobic language the writers and actors should have taken more care with the execution.
This is the humanity of an entire group of people they are playing with and their work made this viewer want to disappear once the lights came up and the credits rolled.
I absolutely hated this movie for this reason. What do these people think? I’m gay! Do I just let it go when they color the whole movie this way? And it’s not even like I’m proposing that the writers be pedantically politically correct, but doesn’t anyone–ANYONE–a producer, a director, a make up person–SOMEBODY ask at some point of the filmmaking process, if a gay person is sitting in the audience, will they enjoy this? Am I doing what I set out to do? Do I mean what I say? It was just beyond infuriating and I really wanted to enjoy the performances more because in general, I really like Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott, but I just couldn’t. I spent the whole time thinking about how gay I was.
ok…um…I just saw the movie. And all i can say is…it was hilarious. The writing was pretty good. The acting good. I liked the plot and the humor and the fact that they didn’t give a damn about being politically correct.
Yeah, they made some gay jokes. Sure, they used the word “fagot” a few times and made jokes a few times. But, it’s all in good fun. They don’t mean anything by using the word “fagot”. Yes, the characters might have used it offensively, but guess what? It’s now an offensive word that applies to everyone, not just gay men. It’s like the word “cunt”. Originally, that word was just about women, just an offensive word targeted towards women. Now, it’s an offensive word for EVERYONE! Not just women. So by using that word, you’re not offending every woman. You’re just offending the person you’re calling a cunt. “Fagot” has now reached that status as well. And if you don’t want that word to be offensive, then start using it. Start calling your friends “fagots” (and i don’t just mean gay friends…any friends) If you use the word to mean something good, then eventually it will catch on as something good. Also, go see the movie first. Don’t take some guy’s opinion of it. Especially a guy you don’t even know! So go see a movie, spend the 9 dollars and make your own judgment first! Otherwise, stop complaining.
and before anyone says i should try dealing with homophobia and gay bashing first, you can be quiet. I’ve dealt with a lot of gay bashing before. I’ve dealt with antisemitism (i’m also jewish). I used to hate it. Now, i’m usually the one making the jew jokes and gay jokes. If i can laugh at the offensiveness, then people will know that insulting me doesn’t work because i just don’t care and so they stop.
oh, and one more thing…you can’t be angry when they’re using “gays” as a joke by using the word “fagot” and making gay jokes because they also made the black kid an incredibly gangster, sex-crazed 11 year old. That’s using blacks as a joke too. So if you’re going to get on the movie’s case for the gay thing, also get on their case for the black thing.
I saw this movie and felt uncomfortable during it but felt maybe I was being too sensitive so I didn’t say anything and I stayed for the entire film. After the movie the first thing my straight friend said to me was… WOW that was pretty homophobic. The next day at work when I asked if anyone had seen it, without prompting they were like yea it was kinda “eh” and really homophobic.
I understand what Bruce is saying… but how are you suppose to “educate” a movie… really the only way is by not buying a ticket. It was really hard for me to sit there and listen to all these idiots in the audience erupt with laughter just because the characters said they word GAY. Half the time the things being said weren’t even funny unless you are homophobic and thats what bothered me. They were cheap jokes. Also they served absolutely no purpose in the film. You could have cut them out and it wouldn’t have effected the movie at all.
I used to REALLY love Paul Rudd but after i found out that he co-wrote this I’m very bothered and I really wonder if I’ll ever see another movie he is in.
TO Plastmatic5: There is a big difference between calling someone a Cunt and calling someone Gay. One is a body part and one is a person. Saying it applies to everyone and thus isn’t about a minority is pretty ignorant since the whole POINT of the put down is that you are saying that they are like a gay person. So being a gay person is SO bad that thats a put down. Wake up.
To plasmatic5,
That’s great if antigay insults don’t bother you, but they do bother a lot of other people. Each year, NGLTF conducts a study that documents the harmful effects of harassment on LGBT high school students. In 2007, researchers at the University of Illinois found that people who were frequently exposed to antigay harassment were more likely to experience depression, anxiety, and a long list of other symptoms – and it wasn’t just gay people who were interviewed. The American Psychological Association has issued a statement saying, in part, that antigay harassment may be responsible for the high rate of suicide among gay and lesbian youth.
The fact that the movie also demeaned black people doesn’t excuse its doing the same thing to gay people. It was wrong to demean either group. And Sandy is right – insulting anyone by calling them gay implies that it’s bad to be gay.
As to the suggestion that we should participate in harassment of our own group, that one is so far afield that I’m not immediately sure how to respond. Isn’t it obvious that more harassment means people will be more upset by it, not less upset? I know that’s true of me. If someone puts down gay people, tell them to knock it off. Explain that it’s like calling people the n-word, except that a different group is being targeted. Tell them there is evidence that harassment is responsible for high suicide rates among LGBT youth. A lot of harassers don’t understand the seriousness of what they are doing. Once they find out, most will listen to reason.
Finally, I suggest we complain, respectfully, to the studio that produced this movie – and don’t see the movie. Depending on their response, maybe we should also boycott the studio. We could also write to the central management of the theater chains that show the movie.
I didn’t realize that Paul Rudd co-wrote this movie, and I’d like to know if he also co-wrote the racist and antigay insults. I’d also like to know where Seann William Scott is with this.
way to eggagerate. Sounds like you need to see more movies before you call this one “the most”. Start with The Celluloid Closet.