Gay Marriage makes for Good Movie, not Reality
June 12th 2009 15:37
As a woman, I'll be the first to admit that I can't stand beauty pageants. They're demeaning, they're silly, and they serve no purpose other than to flash America's obsession with beauty over brains. Now with that being said, yesterday, the now Former Miss California USA made a statement concerning being basically fired from the post after constant ridiculous news coverage. She feels, oh surprise surprise, that she was fired because of her comment against gay marriage. What does this have to do with a good movie you might be asking? Well, lets take for example the 2007 Adam Sandler/Kevin James flick, 'I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. When it opened in movie theaters, of course Sandler fans flocked to, not leaving out 'The King of Queens' fans either. The movie did extremely well at the box office and even with DVD rentals and sales.
When you take into consideration the possible percentages of gay viewers versus straight viewers, well who knows what you would come up with. But one thing I really loved and appreciated about the movie, through the silliness that is Adam Sandler, was that with the obvious prejudices against the idea of homosexuality and marriage stressed in the macho characters and their insurance scheme, by the end, we're taught a lesson of acceptance, humility, and even finding humor in one's own ignorance! This movie and others before and after it that crossed into mainstream acceptance, show us that it's okay and we're totally cool with homosexuals and them wanting to be married and have families, as long as it's only in a movie. Even with Television, the first show that comes to mind with this is 'Will and Grace', where America's viewing audience adored Will's struggle to find his true love with a man, outside of Grace, and Jack's crazy ultra femininity and sarcastic gayness! That was okay, because extreme homophobic citizens could simply tune out, or in the case with movies not purchase tickets.
When Proposition 8 was created and put forth on the ballots of every eligible voter throughout the country, America sent an astounding confirmation that it's okay for marriage and families and the civil rights for homosexuals as long as it's all fiction from a script. But in reality, no! I, personally, felt as if we'd only transgressed our racial divide to now including a marital divide, even in the face of rising divorce and annulment rates amongst heterosexual couples! But when it came up for vote again in California, CALIFORNIA of all places with San Francisco and L.A., cities welcoming sexual ambiguity and overall open-mindedness and was again shut down by unanimous vote, I was completely thrown for a loop! And then if that wasn't enough, if the wound hadn't already been ripped open again, salt and pure alcohol thrown on top, Miss California contestant Carrie Prejean espouses her belief, as a representative of her state of California, that she believe marriage should ONLY be between a man and woman. What the hell??
Now, don't get me wrong, I am a true believer of freedom of speech and the right to one's own opinions, but you best to believe that if I was competing for something such as Miss California, which means you'd be representing your home state and fellow Californians, the last thing I would have done was to use some silly pageant to voice my *political question that shouldn't be asked in a beauty pageant because we're not concerned with their personal views of the world because they are being judged solely for their beauty hence the name BEAUTY PAGEANT* opinion. I, instead, like a well trained contestant, would have instead worded my response as to not give any hint of my true feelings towards the subject over which I have no control over setting into law, thus still winning the crown and not becoming the poster child for homophobes across the country.
A simple "I believe marriage is a decision to be made between two people in love and their commitment to to each other" would have sufficed, thus only leaving to possibly offend hatemongers looking for some juicy reason as to why the answer is a vague attempt to not offend the "liberal left" or appease the ultra "conservative right". Either way, now her using the sorry excuse that her poor whittle crown is being taken away from her because she spoke her closed mind is just that, sorry! Unfortunately, this probably won't be the last we'll hear from her because I'm sure she'll end up with a talk show or as a news correspondent for some religious group or conservative news outlet that will flaunt her as their poster child for the permanency of Proposition 8.
If only life could be like the movies, like the lesson stressed by Chuck and Larry. Comedy is a great escape, but at what cost when we accidentally or intentionally mock the reality that awaits us outside the theater. When us heteros with homo friends can enjoy our marriages and families and civil rights, but have to stand idly by as they continue to fight just to be considered a part of the 'norm' in terms of their relationships. I hope the next Miss California and eventually on to the next Miss USA will take a lesson from Ms. Prejean and keep the politics out of their responses and just keep to smiling for the cameras!
When you take into consideration the possible percentages of gay viewers versus straight viewers, well who knows what you would come up with. But one thing I really loved and appreciated about the movie, through the silliness that is Adam Sandler, was that with the obvious prejudices against the idea of homosexuality and marriage stressed in the macho characters and their insurance scheme, by the end, we're taught a lesson of acceptance, humility, and even finding humor in one's own ignorance! This movie and others before and after it that crossed into mainstream acceptance, show us that it's okay and we're totally cool with homosexuals and them wanting to be married and have families, as long as it's only in a movie. Even with Television, the first show that comes to mind with this is 'Will and Grace', where America's viewing audience adored Will's struggle to find his true love with a man, outside of Grace, and Jack's crazy ultra femininity and sarcastic gayness! That was okay, because extreme homophobic citizens could simply tune out, or in the case with movies not purchase tickets.
When Proposition 8 was created and put forth on the ballots of every eligible voter throughout the country, America sent an astounding confirmation that it's okay for marriage and families and the civil rights for homosexuals as long as it's all fiction from a script. But in reality, no! I, personally, felt as if we'd only transgressed our racial divide to now including a marital divide, even in the face of rising divorce and annulment rates amongst heterosexual couples! But when it came up for vote again in California, CALIFORNIA of all places with San Francisco and L.A., cities welcoming sexual ambiguity and overall open-mindedness and was again shut down by unanimous vote, I was completely thrown for a loop! And then if that wasn't enough, if the wound hadn't already been ripped open again, salt and pure alcohol thrown on top, Miss California contestant Carrie Prejean espouses her belief, as a representative of her state of California, that she believe marriage should ONLY be between a man and woman. What the hell??
Now, don't get me wrong, I am a true believer of freedom of speech and the right to one's own opinions, but you best to believe that if I was competing for something such as Miss California, which means you'd be representing your home state and fellow Californians, the last thing I would have done was to use some silly pageant to voice my *political question that shouldn't be asked in a beauty pageant because we're not concerned with their personal views of the world because they are being judged solely for their beauty hence the name BEAUTY PAGEANT* opinion. I, instead, like a well trained contestant, would have instead worded my response as to not give any hint of my true feelings towards the subject over which I have no control over setting into law, thus still winning the crown and not becoming the poster child for homophobes across the country.
A simple "I believe marriage is a decision to be made between two people in love and their commitment to to each other" would have sufficed, thus only leaving to possibly offend hatemongers looking for some juicy reason as to why the answer is a vague attempt to not offend the "liberal left" or appease the ultra "conservative right". Either way, now her using the sorry excuse that her poor whittle crown is being taken away from her because she spoke her closed mind is just that, sorry! Unfortunately, this probably won't be the last we'll hear from her because I'm sure she'll end up with a talk show or as a news correspondent for some religious group or conservative news outlet that will flaunt her as their poster child for the permanency of Proposition 8.
If only life could be like the movies, like the lesson stressed by Chuck and Larry. Comedy is a great escape, but at what cost when we accidentally or intentionally mock the reality that awaits us outside the theater. When us heteros with homo friends can enjoy our marriages and families and civil rights, but have to stand idly by as they continue to fight just to be considered a part of the 'norm' in terms of their relationships. I hope the next Miss California and eventually on to the next Miss USA will take a lesson from Ms. Prejean and keep the politics out of their responses and just keep to smiling for the cameras!
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