I've been away for a while and I do apologize for that. It's been pretty busy around here, and it's best to present them in an alliterative form. Let's follow the letter F:
*Film*. I shot my day on the horror movie this past Friday. While my death scene was taken away from me, it was pointed out by some friends that this does open up my role for the sequel. We'll see. My remaining one long scene involved me prepping two dead bodies, both played by two of the main actors in the film. As they laid on cold stainless steel gurneys, I had to use a rigged fake scalpel to cut into them that had blood coming out. This being a low-budget film, the rigging of the fake blood didn't quite work most of the time and indeed came apart during a lot of takes. But we did manage to make it work.
*Finances*. I started back to work at Urban Basic Cable Competition Show on Monday. It's almost like I'd never left -- most of the gang of co-workers are back, with the addition of Miss Katie to the mix. The show is what it is, and that's plenty okay in my book. It's a good solid paycheck and a 40 hour work week, which is rather rare in reality tv.
*Fa***t*. Even though other people have chimed in about the Isiah Washington/T.R. Knight brouhaha, I thought I'd weigh in as well. Frankly, the word Isiah Washington used is offensive -- period, end of story. There is no other way around it. It's up there with the N-word and the C-word (rhymes with hunt), as far as I'm concerned. This whole thing is totally reminiscent of Mel Gibson's and Michael Richards' outbursts as well. We all think some horrible, nasty thoughts in our life. Everyone at one point or another has had a racist or misogynist or homophobic thought cross their brains. It's another thing to actually say it. Being gay is not a choice; being a homophobe and using homophobic terminology is. It comes down to a phrase Tom has used many times: if you own it, you can use it. This means that if it's a bunch of gay men who are using it, that's okay, 'cause it's theirs. Same thing about the N-word and African-Americans. It's about context, like I said previously about the use of the word f****t in the play that I bailed on.
The context that Isiah Washington used the other F-Word was out of malice the first time around and self-interest in the second. What prompted him to use the word the second time around was a simple question asked by E!Online's Ted Casablanca: Aren't you guys happy to move on from the choking incident earlier (meaning the first time Isiah Washington called T.R. Knight a f****t)? A simple answer to that question is "Yes, we are." It was a yes-or-no question. And yet, Isiah Washington decided to try to deny the incident ever happened after he had already confessed to saying it.
The outrage that has come out of all this has made Isiah Washington apologize again and, apparently, go into treatment. Both Michael Richards and Mel Gibson have also sought treatment as well, with the latter going to rehab for alcoholism. While I'm all for forgiveness, this still makes me weary of... well, all of them. It is an open secret that there are a lot of gays, Jews and African-Americans in the entertainment industry, so to have all of this vitriol come out lately is a bit dumbfounding to me. If you really don't like these specific sets of society, then why work in this industry in the first place? That would be like me saying "I hate Christians" and then go work in Nashville. Or for TBN. Or for NASCAR. Makes no sense to me whatever. (And, as a side-note, I obviously do not hate Christians.)
As all of the outrage over Isiah Washington's comments has been indignant responses around L.A., this town has come to also celebrate a film where the use of this word (and others similar to it) is being applauded and celebrated. I watched The Departed on Tuesday night, and there is the word again -- along with "cocksucker", "fag" and other homophobic terms. So why is Isiah Washington bearing the brunt of this righteous indignation and nothing has been said about The Departed? I honestly don't know. The movie deals with mobsters, gangsters and blue-collar cops, so the eventual arguments are 'Well, that's how people talk in this setting'. Really? I know a bunch of blue-collar folks who don't use homophobic terms and find them insulting. To me, it makes the characters who say these terms as assholes and therefore are completely unsympathetic. Think about it: if you were watching a 2 hour 45 minute film about mobsters and cops and all of the characters were dropping anti-Semitic or racist comments very often, you wouldn't like them either. So why sit through a whole movie of it? Even the protagonist in the movie, the one character you actually like says "faggot" when taunting his main rival at the end of the film. Why is this okay? Why?
Unfortunately, I can't say this isn't the first time I've sat through a Martin Scorcese movie where I've had this feeling. At least with Taxi Driver (which in my opinion is still his best work), Travis Bickle's homophobic comments are kept to the barest of minimums. There are two very nelly queens in Mean Streets that get thrown out of cab by Robert DeNiro that's done for comedic effect. But Raging Bull? HATE. I watched this in my Film History class in college and almost walked out because the homophobic comments were so plentiful. Sure, it's a technically well-made film. Yes, the acting is spectactular. But after sitting through lines like "You punch like you take it up the ass", I just wanted the damn thing over. In Vito Russo's book The Celluloid Closet, he recounts a tale of a gay actor in After Hours who refused Scorcese's direction to make the character a flamey stereotype. Instead, the character comes off as more three-dimensional and lonely, which gives the scene between him and lead Griffith Dunne more poignancy.
Scorcese's rather homophobic track record can be explained away (partially) due to the times. Mean Streets was in the early 70's, and After Hours was mid-80's. Raging Bull was a period piece back at a time where being gay out in the open was almost a death sentence (and in some parts of the world it still is). But The Departed is a 2006 film set in the present. In this day and age, frankly, Scorcese, his screenwriter and producers should seriously know better. Get with the times, people.
I just hope that out of all of this people will use the term (and those similar) less. It's not being politically correct: it's correct, period.
Amen. Bigotry exists. That doesn't mean we have to celebrate it. Maybe he wanted all his characters to come across has unsympathetic and reprehensible. I gotta think there's better ways to do it. And why in God's name would you do that, anyway? Why make a movie in which all the characters are unlikable? Where's the investment? But then, I'm one of those people who thinks Scorcese is over-rated. Big time.
Posted by: katie d | January 30, 2007 at 11:10 PM