Pride

I used to be someone who would argue on the internet. I felt that if I used the right analogy I would get through to people… Those days are long gone for me. People arguing on the internet aren’t there to learn, they are there to argue their point, myself included. For my own peace of mind, I had to let that go. There are still PLENTLY of times I see stupid people making stupid arguments, but I just read it and then go about my day. Maybe I’ll start blogging about it instead.

The other day I saw a video from a musician I used to follow. She used to be in a girl group, but she is a born again Christian… like super Christian. It seems pretty clear that something happened to her (I won’t presume what) and Christianity has been her coping mechanism. I almost feel bad for her… but she spews hate in the guise of Christian love (and those are the worst kinds of Christians, in my opinion). So, she makes this video about Pride month, but she is saying how wrong it all is. The thing that got me is when she started talking about people who transition and de-transition and how it can lead to suicide. The mental gymnastics some people do is truly Olypmic worth. So… we are considered about the suicide rate of individuals who transition and de-transition (not that we shouldn’t be)… but not worried about the suicide rate of kids and young adults seeing videos like hers telling them that being who they are is wrong, a sin, and going to result in them burning in Hell for all eternity?… Sure, Jan.

She also brought up drag queens performing in venues that have kids. I’m not sure how this became a big topic, actually, I have an idea. I think it is absolutely something to take people’s minds of the recent school shootings. Lets protect the kids from… drag queens, but lets keep the guns. Make it make sense. It’s grooming kids… but asking toddlers if they have a boyfriend/girlfriend isn’t… taking little boys to Hooters isn’t… Again, mental gymnastics.

The thing that prompted this blog today was a post where Tom Hanks stated he wouldn’t play a gay character today and he believes gay actors should. There was a bunch of arguing in the comments. Now, I don’t want to flat out say that I’m right and they’re wrong… but I will say I have a more nuisanced approach to the matter. See, once upon a time in college, I had this GREAT professor. He taught several courses, including Screenwriting and Race & Gender Studies. For my degree, Race & Gender Studies was required (and honestly, I think this is something that should be required in high school AND college). I couldn’t take his course, which I was extremely upset about, but I got to take a Sci-Fi Culture & History (I don’t remember if that’s the exact name, but let’s just go with it) class and he brought his Race & Gender Studies into it when we had discussions. Something I learned from him is we can’t look at things in a vacuum, and I feel that often times, especially when it comes to arguments about race, gender, sexuality, people are arguing as if we’re in a vacuum… whether they intend to do so or not.

I’ll give an example. Someone in the comments said something along the lines of, “Oh, so if gay actors should only play gay characters, does that mean straight actors can only play straight characters?!?” In a vacuum, they would not be wrong… but we don’t live in a vacuum. Until recently, it was pretty tabboo for an actor to come out in Hollywood, so they were had no choice but to play straight roles (and there weren’t really gay roles anyway.) You can’t make such an argument without taking history into account (at least not if you want to make a good argument.)

What I interpret Hanks is saying is, I don’t want to take an opportunity from a gay actor, and I think that’s a noble thing. He’s Tom freakin Hanks, he has his pick of roles, if he even wants to continue acting. A straight actor moving aside for a gay actor could potentially open doors that gay actor might not have been able to open. Not to mention, when a straight actor plays a gay character, they are always told how “brave” they are. Look, in a perfect world, we could be like Scarlett Johansen and play any race and any tree we want… but we don’t like in a perfect world, so until things are more equal, I absolutely think straight actors shouldn’t play gay characters, but gay actors can play straight.

I have a lot of thoughts on race and gender… but I’ll get into that in another post.

To wrap up my original thought (sorry, tangents) I wish people were more honest about their hatred. I don’t want to say I’d respect it… but it would be refreshing. I don’t want to hear the bullshit about “love the sinner, hate the sin”, “I just don’t agree with that lifestyle”, “think of the kids!” Just say you hate gay people, because that is the subtext. Also, I implore those who argue online to use that internet access to do research, because a lot of times people argue as if they are an expert on a subject when they have very general (at best) knowledge of it.