When you read about the terror campaigns launched against people like Leslie Jones and Ruby Rose, it's easy to think of social media as a scourge. And it can be. But then I remember that a quality social network really does have value: Like when a "friend" really makes you think about something, or takes the words right out of your mouth.
This first example is more of the "thought provoking" genre, in the best possible way. On the one hand, Peter is right. There
are more important things right now than a Disney character. But never underestimate our ability to walk and chew gum at the same time. When you hear from someone like commenter David it really drives home how important it is for
us to be seen. But Rebecca is on to something, too.
Fred was having none of it, and his reasoning was sound -- on paper. The problem is, for so long ANYONE
wasn't allowed to play ANY role, no matter how good he, she or they were at it.
So where do we go from here? Yes, it is wrong that for so long LGBT actors have either had to remain closeted to work or not be considered for roles. And now that things are improving, it's important that we remain focused on the goal at hand. When I hear people freak out and say that if LGBT people want to play all of the LGBT roles, then only straight people should be cast in straight roles, it smacks of people whining about Black History Month by saying, "Why isn't there a White History Month?" (We're making up for a lot of lost time here, folks!)
What next: Should people with dyed red hair not be able to play redheads because they haven't actually lived the "ginger experience"?
But this topic isn't, pardon the pun, quite so black and white. Things don't change overnight. Sean Hayes played Jack McFarland (kind of a hybrid of the scenarios since he WAS a gay man playing a gay man, he just didn't feel comfortable admitting it forever). Neil Patrick Harris played a womanizer on "How I Met Your Mother." Matt Bomer played a charming (straight) thief on "White Collar." And Jonathan Groff played a gay videogame designer on "Looking" and a straight FBI agent on "Mindhunter." This is what progress looks like. But these are the exceptions to the rule. Still, it seems counterproductive to insist that ONLY people who fit the exact criteria of a character be allowed to play him/her/them -- as Fred said, there's a reason it's called ACTING. And Generation Woke excoriating filmmaker Kimberly Peirce 20 years later for using Hilary Swank to tell Brandon Teena's story in 1999's "Boys Don't Cry" is utterly ridiculous. (And for what it's worth, I thought Felicity Huffman was outstanding in "Transamerica.") How about we continue to pressure Hollywood to do better while also keeping in mind that major motion pictures about Dante Gill, aka Tex, probably won't get made at all with, say, Trace Lysette's name attached to the project instead of Scarlett Johansson. But that with continued vigilance, someday that will no longer be true.
This one I could have written myself -- especially when a D.C. cabbie repeatedly couldn't find my friend Ken's new house when I was already beside myself visiting my brother Bill when he was diagnosed with cancer. I don't want cab drivers to lose their jobs, but for f**k's sake -- it's 2018! I love going online and immediately feeling I'm not alone ...
Yesterday, coming back from JFK after a brief and exhilarating trip to Mexico City, I had a very grumpy oldtime NYC cabbie who had no idea where my address was but nonetheless had no GPS. I ended up insisting he follow my orders as I ran my own GPS from the backseat, nostalgic for the days when you could pour yourself into a cab, give your address and then stare blankly out the window instead of having to participate in a job you are also paying for. My cranky cabbie glared and said nothing as I tipped him $10 and bid him adieu, resisting the urge to tell him one more time that he should use a GPS app. And yet despite this I still support the news that NYC is capping Uber and other app services. All I could think about yesterday with my grumpy cabbie was the five old-school NYC cabbies who have killed themselves recently, their livelihoods put under by ride-hailing apps that I know provide income and flexibility for ordinary people but that also primarily make billionaires out of douche-y tech bros who think they are masters of the universe. I don't want to live in a word where endless, unregulated innovation and app-based "disruption" puts working people out of work and drives them to suicide, meanwhile creating new gig-based jobs that slowly eat away at our long 20th-century tradition of jobs that come with protections and benefits.
What's your take -- do you think the pros outweigh the cons of social media?
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