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02/13/2008
Barber not gone, not more tolerant
Yesterday we wondered if maybe Matt Barber had taken leave from the Concerned Women For America. Well today we get our answer. And not only does Barber seem to still be employed by the conservative organization, he just might've ratcheted up his hostility to an even higher degree.
Matt has penned a new piece called "Unmasking the 'Gay' Agenda," wherein he projects his own team's strategy onto those who fight for gay rights by acting as if we are the ones who who use false terms, misrepresented ideas, and disingenuous tactics to achieve our goals. In said piece, the reader is treated to such brilliant analyses as this:
"With the aid of a willing mainstream media and a like-minded Hollywood, societal desensitization has been largely achieved. Blockbusters like Tom Hanks’ Philadelphia, the late Heath Ledger’s Brokeback Mountain, and television programs like Will and Grace and Ellen represent a modern-day fairy tale, creating a dishonest and sympathetic portrayal of a lifestyle which is emotionally, spiritually and physically sterile."
Right. You know, because movies wherein a character suffers from an eventually dies of AIDS (a struggle that leads to his job termination) or where two men are forced into the closet out of fear that being open would lead to their murder (which seems to been the case for one of them) -- those are nothing more than figments of our imagination, which we use to dupe the public. And successful gay New Yorkers or lesbian comedians -- clearly both are only existent within our fictional worlds. It's not that Hollywood has made strides over the years to accurately represent both the joys and tribulations of the LGBT picture. No, no -- it's all just a complex strategy to hide the gay community's horns from the public at-large.
::writer rolls eyes so sarcastically, he's sure Mr. Barber will next try and "unmask" my "dramatic ocular gesture" agenda::
But whatever, Matt -- we can take your take on our supposed "agenda." We're just glad to see you haven't left these so-called "culture wars." After all, we've always felt that your uniquely brazen turn with the anti-gay field does far more good for our side than your own.
Unmasking the 'Gay' Agenda [TownHall]
Your thoughts
Blockbusters like Tom Hanks’ Philadelphia, the late Heath Ledger’s Brokeback Mountain, and television programs like Will and Grace and Ellen represent a modern-day fairy tale
Modern Day?
Ellen has been off the air for ten years and Philadelphia was 15 years ago. The only thing that Bam Bam Barber's rant illustrates is that positive gay images in popular culture are few and far between.
Posted by: Timothy Kincaid | Feb 13, 2008 1:06:42 PM
Good point, Timothy.
Posted by: G-A-Y | Feb 13, 2008 1:09:22 PM
And let's not forget that some of us in the LGBT community were quite annoyed by shows like "Will & Grace." It reached a point where we were tired of shows that said it was okay for us to be a source of humor and entertainment, just so long as we remained perpetually single and virtual non-sexual.
And like Timothy, I noted that some of the shows and movies they mentioned were quite old. Thank goodness Barber doesn't know about TLA Releasing or Wolfe Video. Of course, their movies don't tend to make blockbuster status. In fact, I only find out about most of them because I occassionally scour my local video store for titles I've never heard of.
Posted by: Jarred | Feb 13, 2008 2:02:16 PM
Just out of curiosity, do these people stick to American media for any particular reason? British films like Wilde and Priest trump most of what they list. Oh. Wait. They operate on the assumption that America is the best country in the world, the only one founded on freedom, and all of Western culture. That ideal never existed in the first place—people and societies are far too complex. I believe that people like this fear the future and cling to the mouldering corpse of the past, interpreting the ooze coming from its lips as a sign of life. It’s quite triste.
Posted by: rightmelodie | Feb 13, 2008 4:04:14 PM
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