Here is Eastbound & Down‘s Kenny powers on 3-D technology: “3-D is gay. Nobody wants to sit on a couch, wearin’ glasses, popping bubbles out of the air like some kind of fucked up Ray Charles.” This line aired on the HBO series this week. So far, nothing out of GLAAD, which had a big problem with Vince Vaughn, in Universal Pictures’ The Dilemma, saying pretty much the same thing about electric cars. And yet: When Kenny Powers says it, I laugh. When Vince Vaughn says it, I want to punch him. Somebody explain?
eastbound & down
Is It Kosher For TV Shows To Call 3-D Movies Gay, But Not For Movies To Say It About Electric Cars?
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Hilarious
” And yet: When Kenny Powers says it, I laugh. When Vince Vaughn says it, I want to punch him. Somebody explain?”
…?
Rob
You saw the Eastbound line in context. It was uttered by a character that you know is meant to be satirical. This is why removing the electric car line from the Dilemma trailer is a good idea (no context), but GLAAD is going too far by asking that the line be removed from the film itself.
jason
Kenny Powers is gay.
Daveny
I watch East Bound and Down and when I saw that ep this Sunday with my partner and I asked him the same question, why we gave Kenny powers a pass?. He said That it’s because Kenny Powers insults everyone not just Gays. I thinks that true. It’s the same for Family Guy. While I was a bit uneasy about hearing that, I understood the weird logic.
Pucifer
Unless you think gay people deserve to be called “lame,” “stupid,” or “sissified,” using the word “gay” to mean “lame” or “stupid” or “sissified” in any context is NOT funny.
kyle
look eastbound and down is a comedy that uses very vulgar language all the time. if u watch the show you know how kenny powers is. plus, it airs on sunday night on hbo so only a very selective group of people can watch it. what im getting at, is that its one thing to have it said on an adult tv show that not many ppl watch versus in commercials aon basic cable that everyone can see
Marcus M.
With Eastbound and Down you get context. You can laugh at that line because you know the character and how ridiculous he is. It fits with the characterization. With the Vince Vaughn trailer, there is nothing else to go on. It’s supposed to be funny simply because they used gay as an insult.
peter
There is something primal about sitting in a movie theater with hundreds of strangers and hearing them laughing at an anti-gay joke. It’s like some sort of public humiliation.
Unfortunately, it is also what passes for straight humor: “you see we’re straight, you know, and because we are superior and all, it would be a bad thing to be thought of as gay. So we’ll call things gay that don’t fit into our stereotypical idea of how things should be. Get it? yuck yuck.
Matt S
No, it’s not cool. It wasn’t really funny either. But the differences are many.
1. I’ve never heard of this show. GLAAD may not be aware of it either.
2. Vaughn’s “that’s gay” was prominent, it was the focus of the “joke.” This show’s was not. The character wasn’t even on screen when he said it. It had no connection to actual homosexuality at all. Vaughn meant “weak, unmanly.” That’s a slight against gays, no matter what you intend. This just meant “bad.” While that isn’t ideal, it’s further divorced from actual homosexuality, so it feels less offensive.
3. Most people, at least liberal people like most of us, see electric cars as a net good for society. I, for one, though am sick of 3-D. Everything has to be 3-D. I agree with this character. Who wants to wear those stupid glasses in a movie theater for 2 hours, let alone in your own home? Agreeing with his overall premise allows us to partially excuse his use of “that’s gay.”
Matt
Like someone said before you know how ridiculous the character is. Kenny Powers is an asshole. People already know this. If you don’t know this already then you haven’t been watching the show. He’s meant to be laughed at because he’s a pathetic jerk. In that way the line works.