Posted by B. Buster at spider-we042.proxy.aol.com on July 31, 2001 at 22:57:20:
In Reply to: Some bad, bad news concerning me and GLAAD posted by Kevin on July 31, 2001 at 17:52:15:
: Anyway, I told Scott all of this during the course of our conversation, and asked what we could do to allay his (and GLAAD's) fears. He said he'd be asking Miramax to make a substantial donation to the Matthew Shepherd Foundation (Matthew Shepherd is the Wyoming student who was beaten to death for being gay in one of the worst hate crimes in recent memory; the Foundation's aim is to educate the public on the dangers of homophobia). I said I'd be happy to make a donation as well, as it's a great cause, and one I believe in strongly. He asked how much I'd like to donate. I queried how much he intended to seek from Miramax. He said two hundred grand. I admitted I don't have pockets as deep as Miramax. He suggested I donate ten grand, and I said "Done."
Good cause or not, this sounds like extortion to me. Extortion in the name of charity, but extortion nonetheless. Obviously, this guy's job is to troll the mass media swamp looking for anything he can take offense at and then broker some sort of backroom deal to stave off whatever little fuss his organization can kick up in the media. Also note that this is only ONE person. Just because he's given himself a fancy title (shades of Professor Griff?) doesn't mean his opinion counts anymore than the next person's. Hell, he can't even write an effective business letter. You got stung, Kev, plain and simple.
: We spoke further about how important a film he thought 'Chasing Amy' was, and he informed me that if he'd been at GLAAD at the time the film came out, he would've given it a GLAAD award. It was nice to hear, as I was always kind of bugged that we didn't receive much GLAAD attention on 'Amy', considering how pro-gay the flick was. He said he wanted to meet me in person to shake my hand, and I invited him to the office on Tuesday to do so, as well as pick up his check. I bid him adieu, and thus ended a very friendly conversation that resulted in a couple of guys enlightened as to one another's feelings about some potentially thorny issues, as well as the Matthew Shepherd Foundation being ten g's richer.
This is why our cultural climate is such a joke today. One idiot under some banner can make a few phone calls and all of sudden there's a "controversy." And lazy so-called journalists play right into their hands. Pathetic.
: But most importantly, *I* don't feel the film's homophobic. I would never (nor could never) make a homophobic film. I'm not that guy, and here's why: I grew up fat. Even though I'm a white male, being fat my whole life still puts me in a minority category as well, and has made me the butt of jokes my entire life. Trust me - I know how hurtful or damaging it can be to be called a name or two. The last thing I'd ever want to do would be to mock others for who they ARE (except Ben Affleck; I can mock him incessantly and never feel guilty about it, because a) he's my boy and it's done with affection, and b) he's Affleck, for God's sake).
Not a good analogy, Kev, considering recent statistics. The fatsos are gaining on the anorectics. Before you know it, chubby chicks in porn won't be such a novelty.
: When the hell do I get to make a movie that some special interest group won't demonize? I sweat - it's like all that's left is to walk that thin, boring line down the middle that makes for really bland cinema. Because no matter what you do and say, no matter how good your intentions are, sooner or later, you're going to offend SOMEBODY.
This is the heart of the matter. The only thing that doesn't offend anyone is bland pap. Anything that exhibits any sign of life will offend someone somewhere. If you're going to put something out there for public consumption, you've just got to live with this fact.
b. buster