Neil, if you want to talk with me about this...

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: E-mail me. I've said all I have to say publicly on the matter until I see how the whole thing pans out. : I'm happy to discuss things privately but please leave my name out of any future discussions on this board until I return in full effect, which I don't intend to do any earlier than Sunday. : I will say that this controversy is FAR from over and what has happened on this board is, if my feeling is correct, will be NOTHING compared to the field day in the open media. : If I'm wrong, I'll eat crow. I'll even buy him dinner and tickle his balls (since i know some smartass is going to register his name as crow just to respond to that). : -- i : i always feel like somebody's watching me : : Maybe I should let this go and leave it as a controversy for the last board and hope it goes away on this one. Unfortunately, we all know that this will hit the mainstream media and it will get much worse before it gets even a little bit better, and I'd really like to understand this position, so… : : : I support GLAAD. I kind of have to. : : uh… ok, I guess I'll let this one go. : : : I do not agree with the actions of President Seomin on this matter, assuming they are as Kevin related them. : : Ok, we long ago that we agree on this point to this extent. It's only on how he was wrong and what the full significance of it is, that we disagree. : : : I support Kevin. I do not agree with him on this matter. I believe GLAAD is absolutely justified in pointing out that the audience J&SBSB is targeted for is probably not sophisticated enough to understand the subtlety of his jokes. : : I believe they are as well… again, I haven't seen the movie, so I can't speak to this directly, nor have I at any point. : : I think that the people who have blindly defended the movie are being enormously foolish. Sure, we can say that based on our knowledge of Kevin over the years, it's reasonable to believe that he wouldn't purposely hurt a group such as that, but without having seen it and how it plays, there's only so much a reasonable person can say on the matter. : : : That does not mean Seomin is justified in using the occasion to get money and media attention without giving Smitty a chance to do something constructive for the cause. : : Absolutely. We've agreed on this since the beginning, too. : : : I can't explain myself any more, I just can't. We share precisely the same opinion but are going about it the wrong way. : : Yes, we agree on the fine points but disagree on the broader significance. : : : I don't think Kevin particularly needs or wants to deal with a *lawsuit* right now… : : Neither do I. : : I never suggested that Kevin himself or View Askew should pursue this in a legal forum, but I don't think they should back down from naming it what it is… or at least that we should. : : I did suggest the Miramax should, as they UNDOUBTEDLY have teams of lawyers that could cause enough trouble for GLAAD that they might find themselves in a position of finding a more decent human being to represent them in situations like this. Or perhaps they should simply focus on Seomin himself and publicly state that they don't have anything to demonstrate this "this fine organization" was part of a conspiracy to extort money from them. : : They could also easily hold off any public displays of it until October when the movie will already have succeeded, failed and taken the hits from the gay community and specific gay lobby groups that it's going to. : : That would obviously ultimately involve Kevin, but I think he could come up with a statement that said, "I dealt with Scott Seomin in the best way I knew how. I believed him to be a reasonable man with reasonable concerns and I tried my best to address them with him and work to satisfy them to the extent that they were reasonable. : : "Miramax has a team of lawyers who know considerably more about the law than me and they say that his actions against Miramax and possibly against me were illegal. I have no comment on this, except to say that I will do my best to cooperate with both sides for the best interest of justice, whatever that may be. : : "I hope this can end quickly, so GLAAD can focus its energy on working to support a positive image of gays and the gay community and not on defending the actions of one man working in their name." : : : … nor do I think riling up the fans is a good idea. : : I don't necessarily want the fans "riled up" exactly either, but I think it was the inevitable reaction to Kevin's telling the story on this board – or, obviously, to the story getting out to the fans here at all. No matter how respected Smalls, Dobbin or I are or how respected a united front of the three of us would be (or is), I hardly think we could calm this situation. : : Certainly, I voiced my opinion loudly enough that the supposed controversies over the PTA and Jon Favreau situations were insane. : : In one case, Kevin expressed that he didn't like ONE of a guys movies – and directly said he did like another – and suddenly there were people here on both sides that tried to demonize one filmmaker or the other. It didn't deserve 1/1000th of the attention it got. Especially from the people on this board. It was immature, reactionary and, well, pretty lame. : : In the other, a guy states his opinion on long-term filmmaking strategies that I personally think is stupid. He used Kevin Smith as an example, but as I've said, he could easily have used Kurosawa, Bergman, Cassavettes, Allen, Scorsese, Jarmusch, Coen or PTA. I think that's a pretty solid group myself, but Favreau can have his opinion, express it and it hardly speaks well of us to go screaming "Fuck Favreau! Who the fuck is he to have an opinion?!" Then we're reducing ourselves to the level of the PTA Zombies who came screaming for blood when Kevin said he didn't like MAGNOLIA. : : But my expressions of these notions fell on completely deaf and dumb (pun intended) ears. : : Perhaps I (or we) could have some small effect by not stating our opinions on the matter at all. : : Unfortunately, I have certain strong beliefs myself. : : One is that a person should always call something by its true name. I don't think calling this an honest misunderstanding or some other thing that I don't believe in my heart that it is, would benefit anyone here, and it certainly wouldn't benefit my spirit. : : And I believe that when people question or argue against one's belief, one should stand up and defend them in the manner that the "attack" comes. Your debate has been civil and I have attempted to reply with equal civility, but I can't simply allow you to dismiss my genuine beliefs as reactionary fanboy squealing, since this is simply not the case here. You can disagree but the times you've stated or implied that this argument is more about being a reactionary fanboy than having a reasoned and defensible opinion makes it nearly impossible for me to let it go. : : I also think that the most offensive and dehumanizing surrender is that of ones spirit and attitude, and I think that what chided Vincent for was not making that surrender. I can't stand with you on that ground. This is the View Askew board, levity and irreverence are part of our spirit and attitude. : : : However, I can't change your mind and this has quickly become just another occasion for people to hate me without listening to what I have to say. : : I don't hate you. If I hated you, I'd have moved on to calling you offensive names a long time ago, as I'm sure you know. I'm trying to explain my position and understand your position as well as I can. I wish it was working out a little better. : : Have fun!

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