The director of The Dilemma, Ron Howard, has come forward with an explanation as to why he kept a controversial gay joke in his film.
The character played by Vince Vaughn tells a boardroom, “Electric cars are gay. Not homosexual gay, but my-parents-are-chaperoning-the-dance gay.”
Both GLAAD and Ellen DeGeneres complained that the comment would encourage homophobic bullying. In his defense, Howard said, “I was surprised [at the reaction] because it shows up on television all the time, its part of American slang and used with a non-sexual connotation. But then I thought about it and realized it was really being called into question out of context and based on advertising materials.”
The joke stayed in the film, but was later cut from the trailer.
Howard continued, “I was not going to take it out of the movie because I thought it informs a lot about the character and the fact that he is willing to say inappropriate things and make inappropriate choices and we have everybody reacting to it and that is what’s funny about it.”
Howard did consider that the joke’s inclusion in the trailer was problematic because it is “thrust upon” the audience without a “storyteller’s aesthetic.”
“I understood people using the opportunity to make a point and the studio wanting to remove it, but as it related to the movie,” he said. “I also didn’t feel it was appropriate to take it out.”
Fail.
Ignorant people who use “gay” as a synonym for “stupid” don’t realize what they’re doing. They’re taking something and attaching a further negative connotation in the minds of a closed-minded society. It’s demeaning, and I don’t think it’s funny at all. I hate people like that, and I hate fictional characters like that, too.
However, that’s not the worst part. He’s condoning hate through ignorance.