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| The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese |
© The Weirding, 2019
A rambling melange of pop-culture.
Showing posts with label homosexuality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homosexuality. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese
© The Weirding, 2019
Wednesday, October 09, 2019
Halloween Man Road to 20 Years Kick-Off Party
Commemorating 19 years and more than 100 issues of his original Texas comic book series, Halloween Man, creator, Drew Edwards, is throwing Halloween Man Comics' "Road to 20 Years" Party at Flamingo Cantina on Saturday, October 19th.
Proceeds will be donated to nonprofit groups, Girls Rock Austin and Outyouth.
Get your tickets now @ https://halloweenmancomicsparty.eventbrite.com.
© The Weirding, 2019
Thursday, February 15, 2018
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Monday, February 12, 2018
Monday, July 07, 2014
The Weirding Presents Hercules Against the Tyrants of Babylon
This week's movie is one for the ladies. And several men - even more men, once alcohol is introduced into the mix. ALLEGEDLY. And often.
This week, The Weirding Presents Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon! In a time when men's shirts were considered "gay," and women's shirts "mandatory," comes a tale like no other! We don't screen the movies ahead of time, so we don't know what it's about though.
Join us Saturday at 9:30pm CST on The Weirding @ YouTube for this mantastic classic.
You can also RSVP under the Events Page on the Google+ account or the Facebook Page.
© The Weirding, 2014
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Chicken
A national chain restaurant recently made the news when the CEO admitted that the company funded anti gay rights organizations. When the backlash came, Conservative pundits quickly asserted that it was a matter of "free speech" and those who were upset were being hypocritical.
Of course, the obvious complaint wasn't that this organization or the CEO responsible for it had no right to say whatever they wish, it was that what they are saying is bigotry. And it most certainly is bigotry. It is exclusionary and seeks to retard the rights of others, and that is bigotry. The KKK holds rallies all the time as a means of exercising their right to free speech.
Furthermore, this organization is funding political organizations that do not have the same rights as private citizens - organizations that seek to politicize these issues and change them systematically. That pretty much blurs the hell out of any line regarding "free speech."
To illustrate, if I say, "Being in a room full of black/gay/Jewish/etc. people makes me uncomfortable," that's my right. It's ugly and kind of narrow-minded, but if it's what I feel and want to express to others, so be it. If I fund organizations that seek to systematically make it so that those people are no longer allowed to be in the same room with me as a matter of law, then that's something else entirely.
© C Harris Lynn, 2012
Of course, the obvious complaint wasn't that this organization or the CEO responsible for it had no right to say whatever they wish, it was that what they are saying is bigotry. And it most certainly is bigotry. It is exclusionary and seeks to retard the rights of others, and that is bigotry. The KKK holds rallies all the time as a means of exercising their right to free speech.
Furthermore, this organization is funding political organizations that do not have the same rights as private citizens - organizations that seek to politicize these issues and change them systematically. That pretty much blurs the hell out of any line regarding "free speech."
To illustrate, if I say, "Being in a room full of black/gay/Jewish/etc. people makes me uncomfortable," that's my right. It's ugly and kind of narrow-minded, but if it's what I feel and want to express to others, so be it. If I fund organizations that seek to systematically make it so that those people are no longer allowed to be in the same room with me as a matter of law, then that's something else entirely.
© C Harris Lynn, 2012
Monday, October 17, 2011
Heroes' and Star Trek's Zachary Quinto Announces He is Gay
Actor Zachary Quinto announced that he is gay this weekend. Quinto is best known for his roles as Spock in the new Star Trek film, and rose to fame as Sylar in TV's Heroes. He can now be seen in American Horror Story, where he has a recurring role as a gay ghost.
© C Harris Lynn, 2011
© C Harris Lynn, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
It Wouldn't Hit Anything Useful, Anyway
On behalf of every halfway-sane person in and around the Nashville area, I don't give a fuck what Tracy Morgan says. Never have, don't today, and can't see that changing much in the future.
Thanks!
© C Harris Lynn, 2011
Thanks!
© C Harris Lynn, 2011
Thursday, July 08, 2010
On Chasing Amy
Apparently, liking Kevin Smith is now... out, or over (given the topic). It's not news to me, as even Smith and his View Askew monkeys revel in their 90's iconography, and have settled on making the Web their home. But while I enjoy the podcasts, I freely admit to enjoying Kevin Smith's older films. Jay and Silent Bob still make me laugh, even if I do so now with an eyeroll -- although Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back does not make me laugh, nor did it ever; Clerks remains one of my favorite films, though not "top ten" favorites, and Clerks 2 is far better than anyone is giving it credit for being (yet -- trust me); and I've watched Mallrats four or five times since it's been streaming. So it was that I went to Cinematical Movie Club to read some chick's review of Chasing Amy and figured out why no one likes Kevin Smith now:
He's a guilty pleasure many feel more comfortable dismissing as part of their errant youth, or the 1990s, in general. Recognizing Kevin Smith's cool as part of a bygone era is one of the steps to becoming an adult, I guess. Well, that and it's still the Wild, Wide Web in which anyone can become Somebody, if they just dream, and Kevin Smith is a threat to many in that regard. But that isn't what this post's about.
In her retro-review, this aging hipster says, as imperfectly as her grammar allows, "...consider Kevin Smith's audience. If not written by Smith and featuring the faces of View Askew, how many of them would have forked over the cash to see a film frankly discussing homosexuality, race, and tolerance?"
I find that derogatory to the point of incitement, but I can't really tell if the writer (is it writress?) meant it as such, or if she's just as clueless as her Engrish teacher most certainly were. Regardless, she does a decent job of pointing-out how sexually immature the 1990's male was, but she's a girl. Besides, her good points would fall flat even if she hadn't lead with such a ridiculous notion, so allow me to provide the real story of sexuality, both male and female, in the 1990s:
Comic books sucked, because all the good artists left Marvel only to learn they didn't know shit about business; movies sucked because Hollywood had developed a solid formula for every genre, brand, star, and idea, and refused to waver from it; and music sucked because some moron shot himself, so everyone on the radio was whining about that, while everyone else was raving til dawn because they might as well shoot themselves -- because life sucked, art sucked, and everything was just a big waste of time, anyway. "Whatever" was the catch-phrase, with the inflection on the first e -- as in, "Whatever!"
"That guy who sings that song about teen angst shot himself!"
"Whatever. I don't even know what that is."
Eventually, it became "Whatev," because life was that short! Kentucky Fried Chicken became KFC and everyone was like, "Whatev." But I digress...
It all most certainly was immature, but everything was -- on every level, and by everyone -- and being gay was nowhere near as "normal," nor as complacent, as even the famously ribald Chasing Amy makes it seem. There was still a lot of prejudice toward homosexuality, but it was primarily aimed at gay men. Gay girls got a pass because it was hot. They kissed on TV and everyone tuned-in. "Whatev! Of course I watched it! What are you, gay?" Sexuality became the de facto way to rebel -- against your parents, against your social set, against society in general -- it's what made porn mainstream (well, that and the VCR). Before the 1990s, people who worked in porn were not bodybuilders and models. But being gay remained something most young people were flirting with well after the WWW made pornography a big whatev, because it was dangerous.
The '90s were a time of extremes and you didn't just do something -- you had to commit to it or you were a "poser" -- and after death metal, the Information Superhighway, gangsta rap, and Faces of Death, there wasn't a whole lot of extreme ground left to cover. But for as deadly as the Compton streets were, extreme sex and sexuality was not for posers; it was the time of AIDS, and all other STDs and sexually-related everything fell, not just to the wayside, but completely off the map.
Being gay wasn't just about flaunting your sexuality or sexual identity, nor about becoming an adult capable of making your own (bad, usually) decisions: It was about daring to be gay with AIDS. It was one way anyone could dare the world and face the worst, even if only in their own minds -- or that of their friends' and family's. This all resulted in a, hopefully, short-lived phenomenon called "bug-chasing." I'll let you look that one up for yourselves.
We can argue political climate, failing educational systems, and bullshit ourselves, but at the heart of it, we were a generation raised to believe we could be anything we wanted to be, if we just dared to dream.
Only to find out we could not.
So? So what!? Whatev! Sexuality became the one way to stand-out, to stand-apart -- you know, without having any discernible skills, talents, or ambition -- and being gay was just as much of a suburban 90's fad as those damn Beanie Babies. Take it from me; I run a blog on pop-culture!
I also happen to have been there (got the T-shirt -- yep, '90s), and I'm a decent critic, and Chasing Amy may have meant whatever that chick says to her, but it wasn't really about those things:
It was a frank discussion about what I've just told you, by way of those things; Chasing Amy was not about a lesbian finding love with a man, it was about a young girl who was confused by her own sexuality, and even more confused by her sexual identity. After all, how could she be a lesbian without all her lesbian friends; if no one recognized her as a lesbian, then who -- or what -- was she, exactly? And why, or to whom, did it matter? And did she still matter if her sexuality didn't?
That's what most of the 1990s was, part and parcel: A generation of young adults who learned that just really wanting to be winners wasn't enough, no matter how much they really wanted it. So we had to learn to be ourselves. The hardest lesson was learning that we couldn't just be astronauts or supermodels, but the biggest part of that lesson was learning that one drug-addict's suicide didn't define us artistically anymore than whom we slept with did socially (or sexually, when you get right down to it), and Chasing Amy was about that.
Cynics will say the 1990s were about "learning to settle," and maybe they were for some, but they were also about learning to let go of everything we'd been taught -- not what we'd been promised, so much as what we'd been told to expect -- what we had been told we could achieve without having the proper skills set, talent, drive, or money (mainly money). And politics, failing social and educational systems, and all manner of other factors most certainly did play into it, but defining what words like "sexuality" and "sexual identity" mean was what most people took from the 1990s -- not because of Anita Hill or Bill Clinton (though those were the headline acts), but because our sexuality was one of the few things we could control, despite lacking the money or ambition needed to develop a skills set.
Unfortunately, it became the thing by which far too many defined themselves; sexual identity soon took on too much weight, too much "meaning," and entire ideologies and social strata were developed around them, with damaging consequences. (Did you look-up "bug-chasing" yet?)
SPOILERS
Chasing Amy is not at all about a lesbian who finds True Love with a guy, then settles for a less compatible (but equally gay) mate; it's about the sexual journey of one girl. Plain and simple. That it ends the way it does is a fitting way of saying that said girl had not, at that point in her life, come to the end of that journey. Alyssa's failure wasn't that she'd found True Love with a man, nor even that she'd let it slip through her... fists; her failure was that she'd allowed her sexuality to become the thing which defined her -- the one and only thing. Her comic book was about gay love, all of her friends were gay, she sang and hung-out in gay bars, and she became a gay icon to her gay fans.
Except that Alyssa wasn't as gay as she was Alyssa, and she lost sight of that.
That Holden and Alyssa's relationship defined the people around them just as those people defined Alyssa and Holden's relationship and, in the end, all of the characters were changed because of it, is a story and structure thing, not a philosophical one. That no one took any drugs was most likely a studio thing, because everyone took drugs in the '90s.
How do you think the whole sex thing got started? Rebellion!? Whatev! How immature.
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
He's a guilty pleasure many feel more comfortable dismissing as part of their errant youth, or the 1990s, in general. Recognizing Kevin Smith's cool as part of a bygone era is one of the steps to becoming an adult, I guess. Well, that and it's still the Wild, Wide Web in which anyone can become Somebody, if they just dream, and Kevin Smith is a threat to many in that regard. But that isn't what this post's about.
In her retro-review, this aging hipster says, as imperfectly as her grammar allows, "...consider Kevin Smith's audience. If not written by Smith and featuring the faces of View Askew, how many of them would have forked over the cash to see a film frankly discussing homosexuality, race, and tolerance?"
I find that derogatory to the point of incitement, but I can't really tell if the writer (is it writress?) meant it as such, or if she's just as clueless as her Engrish teacher most certainly were. Regardless, she does a decent job of pointing-out how sexually immature the 1990's male was, but she's a girl. Besides, her good points would fall flat even if she hadn't lead with such a ridiculous notion, so allow me to provide the real story of sexuality, both male and female, in the 1990s:
Comic books sucked, because all the good artists left Marvel only to learn they didn't know shit about business; movies sucked because Hollywood had developed a solid formula for every genre, brand, star, and idea, and refused to waver from it; and music sucked because some moron shot himself, so everyone on the radio was whining about that, while everyone else was raving til dawn because they might as well shoot themselves -- because life sucked, art sucked, and everything was just a big waste of time, anyway. "Whatever" was the catch-phrase, with the inflection on the first e -- as in, "Whatever!"
"That guy who sings that song about teen angst shot himself!"
"Whatever. I don't even know what that is."
Eventually, it became "Whatev," because life was that short! Kentucky Fried Chicken became KFC and everyone was like, "Whatev." But I digress...
It all most certainly was immature, but everything was -- on every level, and by everyone -- and being gay was nowhere near as "normal," nor as complacent, as even the famously ribald Chasing Amy makes it seem. There was still a lot of prejudice toward homosexuality, but it was primarily aimed at gay men. Gay girls got a pass because it was hot. They kissed on TV and everyone tuned-in. "Whatev! Of course I watched it! What are you, gay?" Sexuality became the de facto way to rebel -- against your parents, against your social set, against society in general -- it's what made porn mainstream (well, that and the VCR). Before the 1990s, people who worked in porn were not bodybuilders and models. But being gay remained something most young people were flirting with well after the WWW made pornography a big whatev, because it was dangerous.
The '90s were a time of extremes and you didn't just do something -- you had to commit to it or you were a "poser" -- and after death metal, the Information Superhighway, gangsta rap, and Faces of Death, there wasn't a whole lot of extreme ground left to cover. But for as deadly as the Compton streets were, extreme sex and sexuality was not for posers; it was the time of AIDS, and all other STDs and sexually-related everything fell, not just to the wayside, but completely off the map.
Being gay wasn't just about flaunting your sexuality or sexual identity, nor about becoming an adult capable of making your own (bad, usually) decisions: It was about daring to be gay with AIDS. It was one way anyone could dare the world and face the worst, even if only in their own minds -- or that of their friends' and family's. This all resulted in a, hopefully, short-lived phenomenon called "bug-chasing." I'll let you look that one up for yourselves.
We can argue political climate, failing educational systems, and bullshit ourselves, but at the heart of it, we were a generation raised to believe we could be anything we wanted to be, if we just dared to dream.
Only to find out we could not.
So? So what!? Whatev! Sexuality became the one way to stand-out, to stand-apart -- you know, without having any discernible skills, talents, or ambition -- and being gay was just as much of a suburban 90's fad as those damn Beanie Babies. Take it from me; I run a blog on pop-culture!
I also happen to have been there (got the T-shirt -- yep, '90s), and I'm a decent critic, and Chasing Amy may have meant whatever that chick says to her, but it wasn't really about those things:
It was a frank discussion about what I've just told you, by way of those things; Chasing Amy was not about a lesbian finding love with a man, it was about a young girl who was confused by her own sexuality, and even more confused by her sexual identity. After all, how could she be a lesbian without all her lesbian friends; if no one recognized her as a lesbian, then who -- or what -- was she, exactly? And why, or to whom, did it matter? And did she still matter if her sexuality didn't?
That's what most of the 1990s was, part and parcel: A generation of young adults who learned that just really wanting to be winners wasn't enough, no matter how much they really wanted it. So we had to learn to be ourselves. The hardest lesson was learning that we couldn't just be astronauts or supermodels, but the biggest part of that lesson was learning that one drug-addict's suicide didn't define us artistically anymore than whom we slept with did socially (or sexually, when you get right down to it), and Chasing Amy was about that.
Cynics will say the 1990s were about "learning to settle," and maybe they were for some, but they were also about learning to let go of everything we'd been taught -- not what we'd been promised, so much as what we'd been told to expect -- what we had been told we could achieve without having the proper skills set, talent, drive, or money (mainly money). And politics, failing social and educational systems, and all manner of other factors most certainly did play into it, but defining what words like "sexuality" and "sexual identity" mean was what most people took from the 1990s -- not because of Anita Hill or Bill Clinton (though those were the headline acts), but because our sexuality was one of the few things we could control, despite lacking the money or ambition needed to develop a skills set.
Unfortunately, it became the thing by which far too many defined themselves; sexual identity soon took on too much weight, too much "meaning," and entire ideologies and social strata were developed around them, with damaging consequences. (Did you look-up "bug-chasing" yet?)
SPOILERS
Chasing Amy is not at all about a lesbian who finds True Love with a guy, then settles for a less compatible (but equally gay) mate; it's about the sexual journey of one girl. Plain and simple. That it ends the way it does is a fitting way of saying that said girl had not, at that point in her life, come to the end of that journey. Alyssa's failure wasn't that she'd found True Love with a man, nor even that she'd let it slip through her... fists; her failure was that she'd allowed her sexuality to become the thing which defined her -- the one and only thing. Her comic book was about gay love, all of her friends were gay, she sang and hung-out in gay bars, and she became a gay icon to her gay fans.
Except that Alyssa wasn't as gay as she was Alyssa, and she lost sight of that.
That Holden and Alyssa's relationship defined the people around them just as those people defined Alyssa and Holden's relationship and, in the end, all of the characters were changed because of it, is a story and structure thing, not a philosophical one. That no one took any drugs was most likely a studio thing, because everyone took drugs in the '90s.
How do you think the whole sex thing got started? Rebellion!? Whatev! How immature.
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
Memphis' Bellevue Baptist Church Takes Page from Westboro Baptist Church's Bible
The coach of a women's softball team in Memphis, TN claims the Bellevue Baptist Church threw her team out of their league when they discovered she is a homosexual. Jana Jacobson said the officials from the Bellevue Baptist Church barred her team from playing because she leads a "deviant lifestyle."
Jacobson says both straight and gay athletes comprise her softball team, and they registered, paid the fees, and attended an orientation (ha!). Bellevue Baptist Church officials later called her for another meeting in which her sexuality was questioned. When she admitted she was gay, she was told her team would not be allowed to play in the Memphis, TN church league.
A Bellevue Baptist Church spokesperson refused to comment on the matter with a reporter from USA Today.
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
Jacobson says both straight and gay athletes comprise her softball team, and they registered, paid the fees, and attended an orientation (ha!). Bellevue Baptist Church officials later called her for another meeting in which her sexuality was questioned. When she admitted she was gay, she was told her team would not be allowed to play in the Memphis, TN church league.
A Bellevue Baptist Church spokesperson refused to comment on the matter with a reporter from USA Today.
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Glee's Jane Lynch Weds Longtime Girlfriend
Jane Lynch, best known as the William McKinley High's glee club's arch-enemy, Sue Sylvester, married her longtime girlfriend, Lara Embry, Monday. Though the couple live in California, which does not recognize gay marriage, they were joined at the Blue Heron Restaurant in Massachusetts. Both women wore suits for the ceremony.
An employee of the restaurant's said they had been planning the event for months and the staff was very excited to be involved.
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
An employee of the restaurant's said they had been planning the event for months and the staff was very excited to be involved.
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Hunting Lobby Attacks Bluewater, DeGeneres for Supporting Humane Society
When Bluewater Productions president Darren Davis received a call from a Walter "Bud" Pidgeon, president of the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, demanding he withdraw the new Female Empowerment: Ellen DeGeneres issue because of her support of the U.S. Humane Society, the Washington-based publisher thought it was someone playing a joke. As e-mails flooded Bluewater's server from USSA's members castigating him for "elevating" gays, supporting "less than acceptable lifestyles," and for honoring Ellen's request that issue proceeds go the to U.S. Humane Society, he quickly discovered Pidgeon was a real person and had in fact called upon his 3 million members to take action against Bluewater.
"Being the subject of a Bluewater issue has become quite the celebrity 'get' with the attendant national publicity," said Bluewater publisher Darren Davis. "We hear from A-list publicists every day pitching one celeb or another." Davis explained that the subject of each issue, if they choose to participate, gets to select a charity and 1/3 of the proceeds go directly to their nonprofit of choice.
"Ellen chose the U.S. Humane Society," said Davis, "an animal rights organization she has supported for years."
In a letter demanding Davis take immediate action, Pidgeon explained the USSA's objections - including the U.S. Humane Society's campaign to ban dove hunting and their seeking regulation of dog breeders. Pidgeon followed-up with a release to the group's 3.1 million members asking them to contact DeGeneres and Bluewater and share their outrage.
And contact Bluewater the USSA members did. For example, one email expresses outrage for supporting the Humane Society, which the writer alleges is "headed by vegans." Another writes "I am amazed that a comics publisher would elevate a person of 'DeGenerates' [sic] background... Children are the readers of comics, and they do not need indoctrination into less-than-acceptable lifestyles..."
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
"Being the subject of a Bluewater issue has become quite the celebrity 'get' with the attendant national publicity," said Bluewater publisher Darren Davis. "We hear from A-list publicists every day pitching one celeb or another." Davis explained that the subject of each issue, if they choose to participate, gets to select a charity and 1/3 of the proceeds go directly to their nonprofit of choice.
"Ellen chose the U.S. Humane Society," said Davis, "an animal rights organization she has supported for years."
In a letter demanding Davis take immediate action, Pidgeon explained the USSA's objections - including the U.S. Humane Society's campaign to ban dove hunting and their seeking regulation of dog breeders. Pidgeon followed-up with a release to the group's 3.1 million members asking them to contact DeGeneres and Bluewater and share their outrage.
And contact Bluewater the USSA members did. For example, one email expresses outrage for supporting the Humane Society, which the writer alleges is "headed by vegans." Another writes "I am amazed that a comics publisher would elevate a person of 'DeGenerates' [sic] background... Children are the readers of comics, and they do not need indoctrination into less-than-acceptable lifestyles..."
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Ricky Martin Comes Out of the Closet - Rundown SHOCKED!
International music sensation, Ricky Martin, revealed his homosexuality to the world via a post on his website earlier today. Martin's sexual preference has been the butt of many jokes over the years - most of which are better than that one - so his announcement ends years of speculation by... well, every, living thing in the known universe.
Martin, who initially rose to fame as a member of the international boy-band, Menudo, said revealing his sexuality to his fans, "...fills me with strength and courage. Today is my day, this is my time, and this is my moment."
Martin is a Grammy-award winning singer whose first English single, Living la vida Loca, climbed to #1 on music charts around the world - including the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Japan, Mexico, and many, many more. Ricky Martin has sold over 60 million albums worldwide; played the lead in Les Miserables on Broadway; landed a recurring role on daytime soap opera, General Hospital; started his own non-profit organization to benefit efforts to end child trafficking, as well as other charitable efforts; and has been named one of the most beautiful people in the world by People magazine - twice!
And Ricky Martin is gay.
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
Martin, who initially rose to fame as a member of the international boy-band, Menudo, said revealing his sexuality to his fans, "...fills me with strength and courage. Today is my day, this is my time, and this is my moment."
Martin is a Grammy-award winning singer whose first English single, Living la vida Loca, climbed to #1 on music charts around the world - including the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Japan, Mexico, and many, many more. Ricky Martin has sold over 60 million albums worldwide; played the lead in Les Miserables on Broadway; landed a recurring role on daytime soap opera, General Hospital; started his own non-profit organization to benefit efforts to end child trafficking, as well as other charitable efforts; and has been named one of the most beautiful people in the world by People magazine - twice!
And Ricky Martin is gay.
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Female Force: Ellen Degeneres
 |
| Female Force: Ellen Degeneres |
Female Force: Ellen DeGeneres, scheduled for a March 2010 release, follows the comedienne from her youth in Louisiana, through the endless smoke-filled comedy club circuit, to her breakthrough sitcom, and finally through her role as an Emmy-winning daytime talk show host.
“People forget what a groundbreaking talent she is and that fame did not come overnight,” said Bluewater president Darren Davis. “But through all her highs and lows, she managed to stay true to herself and prove that she is a female force.”
The issue, written by Sandra C. Ruckdeschel and penciled by Pedro Ponzo, also delves into Ellen’s personal life as an openly gay performer and an advocate for gay rights. “It is part of whom she is and any telling of her story without acknowledging the importance she places on her identity would be disrespectful to her accomplishments,” said Ruckdeschel.
According to Davis, fans of Ellen will be able to revisit several of the entertainer’s most iconic moments, including her 1986 appearance on the Tonight Show, the 1997 episode of her sitcom where her character announces she is gay, her entrance as host of the 2006 Oscars, and even her “trademark” dance moves. It evens covers the recent announcement of Ellen joining the judging panel for American Idol.
The suggested retail price (SRP) for the upcoming trade paperback is $3.99.
© C Harris Lynn, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
On Adam Lambert at the AMA
I saw the "censored scene" of Adam Lambert's performance at the American Music Awards without realizing it. I was in another room and I literally happened to peek-in at the exact "Big Moment," where he ground his crotch into a dancer's face. I wasn't really paying attention, so I don't know how long it went on, but what I saw wasn't really offensive, just silly. I don't know that I would personally have been offended by it, either way, so... whatever.
The controversy revolves around three, specific acts: the "simulated oral sex," Lambert open-mouth kissed his keyboardist, and he supposedly flipped-off the audience. ABC censored the "simulated oral sex" bit when it broadcast the show on the West Coast. Lambert called that "discrimination," based on the fact that no one censored Britney Spears and Madonna's kiss at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. Barbara Walters agreed with him when they discussed the matter on The View the following day. He does have a point.
Lambert also compared himself and his performance to artists such as David Bowie and Alice Cooper, and he mentioned "the 70s," specifically. Except that, when those guys did it, they actually were breaking ground. Further, their point in doing it was the show; their androgyny and actions were meant to intrigue -- to raise questions, not make statements. There is nothing artistic about homosexuality -- it's just a sexual preference.
Lambert admitted his performance was meant to be shocking, and that he thinks that shock factor is part of the entertainment. No one else seems to buy it, and many admitted (and alleged) homosexuals have castigated his nonsense in the comments across the Web. Lambert wasn't breaking ground and acting-out sexually isn't necessarily artistically shocking.
I never thought Adam Lambert could sing; I always thought he was a hack "stageplay singer" - someone who sang "theater-style." I had the lead in several highschool musicals, but I can't really sing, and that's what I have always thought of Adam Lambert. He and the press are eagerly pushing this whole "openly gay" thing, yet most of the homosexual community who bothered to respond online have called his performance and marketing package damaging to the community and "openly gay" movement.
What Lambert is doing would have been HUGE in the 1970s, but it never would have made it to primetime TV. There's nothing laudable about that, that's just history. Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Prince, Madonna -- what those people did was break ground and shock through their art; what Adam Lambert does is just... gay.
© C Harris Lynn, 2009
The controversy revolves around three, specific acts: the "simulated oral sex," Lambert open-mouth kissed his keyboardist, and he supposedly flipped-off the audience. ABC censored the "simulated oral sex" bit when it broadcast the show on the West Coast. Lambert called that "discrimination," based on the fact that no one censored Britney Spears and Madonna's kiss at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. Barbara Walters agreed with him when they discussed the matter on The View the following day. He does have a point.
Lambert also compared himself and his performance to artists such as David Bowie and Alice Cooper, and he mentioned "the 70s," specifically. Except that, when those guys did it, they actually were breaking ground. Further, their point in doing it was the show; their androgyny and actions were meant to intrigue -- to raise questions, not make statements. There is nothing artistic about homosexuality -- it's just a sexual preference.
Lambert admitted his performance was meant to be shocking, and that he thinks that shock factor is part of the entertainment. No one else seems to buy it, and many admitted (and alleged) homosexuals have castigated his nonsense in the comments across the Web. Lambert wasn't breaking ground and acting-out sexually isn't necessarily artistically shocking.
I never thought Adam Lambert could sing; I always thought he was a hack "stageplay singer" - someone who sang "theater-style." I had the lead in several highschool musicals, but I can't really sing, and that's what I have always thought of Adam Lambert. He and the press are eagerly pushing this whole "openly gay" thing, yet most of the homosexual community who bothered to respond online have called his performance and marketing package damaging to the community and "openly gay" movement.
What Lambert is doing would have been HUGE in the 1970s, but it never would have made it to primetime TV. There's nothing laudable about that, that's just history. Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Prince, Madonna -- what those people did was break ground and shock through their art; what Adam Lambert does is just... gay.
© C Harris Lynn, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Chastity Bono Becoming a Dude
A spokesperson for Chastity Bono, daughter of Cher and Sonny Bono, said the gay rights activist is undergoing a sex change operation to become a man. According to the spokesman, Chastity Bono began the process earlier this year.
Bono is 40-years old and went public with her sexuality some 20 years ago. Since then, she has written two books detailing her experiences and now works for GLAAD - the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
© C Harris Lynn, 2009
Bono is 40-years old and went public with her sexuality some 20 years ago. Since then, she has written two books detailing her experiences and now works for GLAAD - the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
© C Harris Lynn, 2009
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Wanda Sykes Announces She is Gay
Comedienne, Wanda Sykes, announced she is "proud to be gay." She said the passing of Proposition 8, opposing gay marriage in California, led her to be more outspoken about her sexual preference. She surprised a gay rights rally in Las Vegas with her appearance and announcement.
"I was just living my life, not necessarily in the closet, but I was living my life. Everybody that knows me personally they know I'm gay. But that's the way people should be able to live their lives," Sykes told the rally, adding that Prop 8 made her feel "attacked."
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
"I was just living my life, not necessarily in the closet, but I was living my life. Everybody that knows me personally they know I'm gay. But that's the way people should be able to live their lives," Sykes told the rally, adding that Prop 8 made her feel "attacked."
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
Monday, November 03, 2008
"True Blood Hates Gay People?" - Really!?
I came across this piece on i09, suggesting that True Blood hates gay people because the vampires are nothing more than thinly-veiled metaphors for homosexuals and the homosexual lifestyle.
Now, one of the problems with anything like this is that homosexuals and sympathizers hate to admit there really is such a thing as the homosexual lifestyle. They should be; that alone does more damage to the acceptance of homosexuals in the mainstream than anything any bigoted hillbilly or right-wing zealot could ever say. Single heterosexuals certainly go to clubs and bars - many of which are quite unsavory and most of which are (at the bottom of it all) dedicated to sex - but the homosexual lifestyle really does promote carefree, irresponsible sex with multiple partners. And while many disagree with that on moral grounds, a lot of us disagree with it simply because it is dangerous! "Live and let live" and all that, but at the end of the day, this "lifestyle" is very real and damages the idea that homosexuals are no different from heterosexuals.
So, if we accept there really is something called the "gay lifestyle" and that most people - even many within the gay community - disagree with it, we can accept how some people might see True Blood as an allegory for homosexuality. Add to this the fact that Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire really is an allegory for homosexuality, and is (by far) what constitutes most of modern day's vampire "lore," and the idea gains a few legs. Except that it's stupid and baseless.
As commenters on the article note, it is rife with factual errors. Further, it reads as though the writer might have seen only a handful of episodes, or even just disconnected scenes! The author stays singularly focused on this baseless idea (odd for a "rant") yet offers no support for it.
True Blood is, at the end of the day, a retelling of the modern vampire mythology. It is, as one commenter correctly puts it, a "what-if" scenario - not an allegorical construct. Uncanny X-Men was pointedly an allegory for outcasts of all stripe; True Blood is far more concerned with larger political matters.
In fact, that is the strength of its allegory: True Blood hates the permissive, politically-correct atmosphere of current America, not "gay people" or "ghetto people" or anyone else. The author correctly notes that the vampires deserve the fear and hatred they face, but completely misses the idea behind that. What it is saying, on this level, is that we shouldn't have to "accept" literally any and everyone (thing) just because they happen to be different!
Set against the backdrop of the ultra-Conservative Hell of the American South, this is made patently clear! Those who blindly accept vampires find themselves preyed-upon and there is no question as to the fact that they are being killed because of this - the question is who (or what) is doing the killing.
At any rate, True Blood is a fantastic show which actually succeeds on every level: it really is scary, it really is dramatic, it really is funny without being comedic, and one hour flies by far quicker than you would like. I highly suggest anyone who takes issue with it bother to actually watch it for a while before... bothering to take issue with it.
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
Now, one of the problems with anything like this is that homosexuals and sympathizers hate to admit there really is such a thing as the homosexual lifestyle. They should be; that alone does more damage to the acceptance of homosexuals in the mainstream than anything any bigoted hillbilly or right-wing zealot could ever say. Single heterosexuals certainly go to clubs and bars - many of which are quite unsavory and most of which are (at the bottom of it all) dedicated to sex - but the homosexual lifestyle really does promote carefree, irresponsible sex with multiple partners. And while many disagree with that on moral grounds, a lot of us disagree with it simply because it is dangerous! "Live and let live" and all that, but at the end of the day, this "lifestyle" is very real and damages the idea that homosexuals are no different from heterosexuals.
So, if we accept there really is something called the "gay lifestyle" and that most people - even many within the gay community - disagree with it, we can accept how some people might see True Blood as an allegory for homosexuality. Add to this the fact that Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire really is an allegory for homosexuality, and is (by far) what constitutes most of modern day's vampire "lore," and the idea gains a few legs. Except that it's stupid and baseless.
As commenters on the article note, it is rife with factual errors. Further, it reads as though the writer might have seen only a handful of episodes, or even just disconnected scenes! The author stays singularly focused on this baseless idea (odd for a "rant") yet offers no support for it.
True Blood is, at the end of the day, a retelling of the modern vampire mythology. It is, as one commenter correctly puts it, a "what-if" scenario - not an allegorical construct. Uncanny X-Men was pointedly an allegory for outcasts of all stripe; True Blood is far more concerned with larger political matters.
In fact, that is the strength of its allegory: True Blood hates the permissive, politically-correct atmosphere of current America, not "gay people" or "ghetto people" or anyone else. The author correctly notes that the vampires deserve the fear and hatred they face, but completely misses the idea behind that. What it is saying, on this level, is that we shouldn't have to "accept" literally any and everyone (thing) just because they happen to be different!
Set against the backdrop of the ultra-Conservative Hell of the American South, this is made patently clear! Those who blindly accept vampires find themselves preyed-upon and there is no question as to the fact that they are being killed because of this - the question is who (or what) is doing the killing.
At any rate, True Blood is a fantastic show which actually succeeds on every level: it really is scary, it really is dramatic, it really is funny without being comedic, and one hour flies by far quicker than you would like. I highly suggest anyone who takes issue with it bother to actually watch it for a while before... bothering to take issue with it.
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Lindsay Lohan's Gay, Too
It's just that kind of night, huh?
Never one to be upstaged, Lindsay Lohan apparently confirmed that she and Samantha Ronson are dating, and have been for "a very long time" when she called-in to syndicated radio show Loveline Monday night to discuss the plane crash involving Travis Barker and DJ AM. Their relationship has been the source of much gossip regarding its nature. Lohan added fuel to these rumors with cryptic messages on her MySpace blog, as well as public statements aimed at her father. Samantha Ronson is apparently related to someone who once slept with someone famous... or something. Oh, and she plays music - not like a musician, but like anyone else does in their car.
Given recent events, The Rundown has officially instituted a Tom Cruise Watch.
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
Never one to be upstaged, Lindsay Lohan apparently confirmed that she and Samantha Ronson are dating, and have been for "a very long time" when she called-in to syndicated radio show Loveline Monday night to discuss the plane crash involving Travis Barker and DJ AM. Their relationship has been the source of much gossip regarding its nature. Lohan added fuel to these rumors with cryptic messages on her MySpace blog, as well as public statements aimed at her father. Samantha Ronson is apparently related to someone who once slept with someone famous... or something. Oh, and she plays music - not like a musician, but like anyone else does in their car.
Given recent events, The Rundown has officially instituted a Tom Cruise Watch.
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
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