Zoolander 2 screenwriter 'hurt' by transgender petition

[stephaniec]

Zoolander 2 screenwriter 'hurt' by transgender petition

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/dec/08/zoolander-2-screenwriter-hurt-by-transgender-petition

The Guardian/By Benjamin Lee Tuesday 8 December 2015 06.56 EST 

"Actor and screenwriter Justin Theroux has spoken out about the controversy surrounding his latest film Zoolander 2, claiming that anger is being misdirected.

Theroux's script for the comedy sequel features a cameo from Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays an androgynous model called All. The character's appearance in the trailer, coupled with some provocative dialogue ("I think he's asking if you have a hotdog or a bun?"), has sparked outrage online."

[Dee Marshall]

I can understand his points but it just isn't appropriate for someone in a privileged position to make jokes at the expense of someone who isn't. I believe him when he says he was targeting people who make clueless statements, but that doesn't stop us from being collateral damage. I'm a big Cumberbatch fan and, honestly, I'm more upset with him accepting the roll. (Yes, I'm a "cumberb*tch".)

[Xerdazure]

Since I'm on my phone and links are a bit finicky I didn't click the link. I presume the information I needed was quoted. I might be a bit ignorant (I'm very new to the gender diverse community) but I don't see the problem? Zoolander is one of those vulgar comedies right? (Never seen it cause I thought it was, correct me if I'm wrong) If anyone thinks it's representative of any group of people they're idiots and movies like that tend to have characters turned eccentric and made exaggerated because it suits the genre and audience better. I'm a fan of Cumberbatch, I reckon no one can Sherlock like he can. I don't know where he stands on the gender debate but if he took the role he obviously thought it wasn't too bad. Honestly, I'm worried that the gender community (excuse my following language but this is what it'll look like to 90% of people at least who have a negative opinion of us already) acting butt-hurt about this seemingly insignificant, fictional, comedy character hurts our reputation more. We should have responded much more sportingly, made it clear that the character in no way represents us and let it slide. This way it looks like we're taking over and banning any interesting idea that could be interpretted badly. Unfortunately we aren't the only group picked on in movies, in fact, no group of people is safe from the sting of misrepresentation but most of the time it's left to its own because it's just a movie. I understand our battle is hard and particularly our media representation needs a huge make over if not for our reputation then for those of us coming into our gender and trying to find a base line only to find perverted, horrible examples but we have to be smart about what we open our mouthes against and how. I don't really like the idea of yet another misrepresentation that paints us badly but more often than not it's the way the community lashes out that pisses phobics off the most. Sorry if this offended anyone but I just wanted to present another side to the argument. (Sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes, I tried to proofread but it's hard to catch them all on my phone.)

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[Peep]

1. If the joke requires context to not be offensive it should not be in the trailer out of context (that's not the screenwriter's fault but it's not us he should be blaming)

2. He can write with the best intentions but any quotable line from the movie like that one will be used and abused by exactly the kind of person that the joke is supposedly about. Even if it's not necessarily offensive, it's irresponsible, and it's naive to assume no one would misuse your joke

3. Who cares if his feelings are hurt lol if you want to write risky comedy you have to take the risks and accept the consequences? It's not okay to ask your viewers to have a thicker skin and then be oversensitive yourself

[sparrow]

I don't agree with the petition.  Satire is important.  My wife and I have been watching a TV show called Community, which frequently features bigoted jokes about race, sexuality, gender, etc.  And every time, the character making those jokes is portrayed in a bad light.  I think this is a good thing.

Comedy is often the only context that taboo topics can be discussed openly.  When comedians "punch up," making fun of the oppressor, they're using their platform to educate the public in a way that nobody else possibly can -- they make sensitive issues like this approachable and fun; they can make people think about their actions and teach good morals without making people feel bad about themselves.

There's two kinds of transphobia: informed and ignorant.  There's no hope for informed transphobia -- those people are just going to keep on being ugly because they like punching down for whatever reason.  Ignorant transphobia is altogether different: people who giggle when they see a "dude in a dress."  Those people can be taught that their actions are insensitive.  It's best to do so without polarizing the situation and labeling them as transphobes -- that sort of conversation produces informed transphobes!  By satirizing transphobia, we can convert people who ignorantly express transphobic sentiments into people who (want to) refrain from doing so.

I had a conversation about privilege with some students a few weeks ago.  One guy thought I was trying to make him feel guilty by talking about hate that I've experienced in public spaces (very carefully avoiding the word microaggression, but clearly communicating the concept).  I assured him that I didn't want him to feel guilty, in part  by saying "now, if I heard you say 'look at that f****** tr***!', then I'd want you to feel guilty."  His jaw dropped and he said "no, I never said that!" and I agreed "No you haven't! So don't feel guilty!"  He was immediately on my side.  My statement was a deliberate choice: I came out to him as transgender in that moment, and I satirized the use of an epithet as an object lesson.  Comedy works.  It's one of the best tools we have.

On the other hand... complaining about being hurt by a petition written and signed by people you've hurt?  Not classy.

[stephaniec]

I personally don't get it , why bother if it's one joke , why bother putting it in a movie. Doesn't make sense. Unless it's spread out through the movie then there is definitely a very serious problem.  Your telling me that Stiller had no clue how offensive that is. In the Museum movie he seemed to go out of the way to make sure the Israeli people weren't seen the pets of the King of Egypt. I'm sorry , I won't comment anymore on this subject because I'm getting quite upset because I really like Stiller and his parents.