So a lot of gay folks are upset this week b/c of that video of Shia Lebouf going around the web where he's drunk with his friends and tossing "faggot" around. And I'm one of them --- one of the upset gays, that is. Well, a faggot too... but not the kind implied.
It's not so much that he said the word Faggot. I actually don't get so riled up over that mess, cuz it's just a WORD and it only has the power that I give it. I'm not on the Word Police, trying to get it removed from the public vernacular. In fact, embracing derogatory words like Queer and NancyBoy and Faggot almost makes them ironic and powerless. Almost. What I DON'T like about what Shia says in the video is that he means it as an insult. He's antagonizing his friend by calling him a weak pussy, and of course, Faggot gets tossed in there too b/c to Shia, faggots/gays aren't real men. This is what I have the problem with.
My boy J @ work, who happens to be a big swishy queen from Queens, was saying that he doesn't think it's a big deal b/c it clearly wasn't said in a hateful way, or said to a gay man as an insult. For J, this would be crossing the line --- for a straight man to call a gay man a faggot. But I don't agree. It IS a big deal, not b/c I'm offended by the word itself but b/c I'm offended by the intent behind it. And the implication that calling someone a Faggot is a put-down b/c being a Faggot is a bad thing that a real man should be embarassed about. This is what's not cool about it and what an apology doesn't change. We see this attitude too often in young straight guys. They wanna be cool and hip and seen as open-minded, but when it all comes down -- is this really what they think?
Shia, let me say that I get it: you were young and showing off, getting rowdy with friends. I've said some FUCKED UP shit too in the inner circle and if somebody had filmed it and leaked it, I'd probably look and sound the way you do in your video. And I also will give you some slack b/c in truth, I don't believe you were being mailcious or hateful. But I hope you know better now.
Also? I'd be careful about pissing off your gay fanbase, cuz once you piss them off you lose them for good (see: Tom Cruise). And I'm sorry, kiddo, but with that nose of yours you're gonna need all the support you can get.
