Posted by John Walker at acbd85db.ipt.aol.com on August 01, 2001 at 19:02:33:
In Reply to: Another letter posted by ChrisP on August 01, 2001 at 14:04:32:
: While I am sure this is not the first, nor will it likely be the last email you receive on this topic, I believe it important to provide another viewpoint. So here goes.
: Having grown up in Laguna Beach, CA, I was raised in a town where I was constantly exposed to people of diverse sexual orientation. For the better part of thirty years I have had the good fortune to have many gay friends, most of which I would consider close and not just simple acquaintances. In general, most of those friends have been some of the funniest, most compassionate, and tolerant people I have ever known. So it was with a great deal of disappointment to hear of your dealings with Kevin Smith on his new Jay & Silent Bob movie.
: You see, over the course of these friendships, one thing has always struck me about the struggle my friends have endured. Their strength has always been in their ability to relate to others with humor. To me, their plight is no different than the struggles other minorities have faced throughout time, to find a common ground with those who don't understand them while at the same time not sacrificing the essence of their own identity. That being said, I know that the way most of my friends have managed to accomplish this is to find humor in the absurdity of what so many people perceive to be our differences. Those, differences, when examined closely, usually serve to prove how much more similar we really are. It is really a simple irony that, when presented in the proper perspective, helps to bring us closer together. At least that has always been my experience.
: Now, while I have not always agreed with GLAAD's stances on various issues, I have always thought of myself as a supporter. I believe that the basis for your fight is right and your heart is certainly in the right place. But in the case of this movie, I felt the need to speak out.
: I believe that over the course of Kevin's films, he has done incredible things to remind us all about the very thing I was talking about before. We are all more alike than we are different. Granted, Kevin's message is delivered in an unconventional way. But the importance of that message was certainly not lost on me throughout his career. In fact, I believe that whatever enlightenment I may have experienced with regard to gays in my life was only strengthened by the messages in many of his films.
: I believe in order for people to come to grips with things they are uncomfortable with, it is important to ease them into an acceptance by showing them how it relates to them. You say you are concerned with the message that Kevin will send the core audience of adolescents and young men with this movie? Well, I ask you, what better way to get across just how unfounded their fears are than to show them how absurd people who think like them are? I mean, much of the dialog in Kevin's movies revolves around people saying things that a lot of us think but never share with others. Like the scene from Dogma Kevin discussed where Chris Rock's character tells Jay that he thinks about men while masturbating. I don't think this kind of dialog serves to demonize those who have done the same. Rather, it provides a deeper understanding of just how complex each and every one of us are and how Jay's continued gay-slandering jokes are really just a deeper reflection of his own insecurity with himself and not others.
: God, isn't it better to show the audience that this guy they relate to on some bizarre level is usually just a misguided fool? Sure, the method used to help get the audience to that conclusion can seem juvenile at times. But that is really the message contained therein. This behavior is not appropriate, and you would have to be as big a buffoon as Jay not to understand that!!!! I sure don't view Jay as some kind of hero. Anti-hero perhaps, but even on that level it is more of a train-wreck appeal than anything else. I don't watch Jay to study and emulate his ways, I watch him because his behavior is so absurd that I would hope to never do those things he does.
: I do not begrudge you for your opinions. On the contrary, I believe your is a cause worth fighting for. I am just not so sure that you are placing your efforts in the right place by attacking Kevin. In his own, unconventional way, he is fighting the same fight you are. And his methods, like your own, have their own merit. You, in all likelihood, are not going to reach the audience Kevin speaks to with your direct approach. Just as his methods might not be best suited for addressing those who are already sympathetic to your cause.
: Ultimately, and beyond any of this is the simple truth that the movie is just about humor. And what you find funny I might not. But we should be able to disagree without invalidating one another's existence. After all, I know many other movies that do not only take potshots at gays but are mean-spirited in the manner in which they do it. I don't think Kevin does that at all. Please, dig a little deeper and try to get at the substance that really does exist below the surface of this movie. I am certain you will find that this movie does more for tolerance than anything else.
: Thank you for your time.