I grew up in the South but I started dancing in my twenties when I got out of the Air Force, and studying dance, you’re surrounded by gay guys all the time. You get to know them and you have to shift gears!”Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman, discussing “evolution” toward the gay community, in Newsweek. In the same interview, Freeman called the criminalization of marijuana the “stupidest law possible.”
Colin
A backhanded compliment based on stereotypes and shallow contact with gay people should never be seen as support.
Jay
@Colin: Whatever! All he said was that his career led him to have lots of interaction with gay people and in getting to know them he overcame whatever prejudices he may have grown up with in the south. He didn’t say all gay men are dancers or that all dancers are gay. He made a factual statement based upon his own experience. And if you think it’s a just stereotype that there are a disproportionate number of openly gay men in the fields of dance and theatre then you’re just plain wrong. Leave the man alone and stop attacking our allies!
Colin
@Jay: I don’t think “there are a disproportionate number of openly gay men in the fields of dance and theatre” is a stereotype. Where did I say that? I said his reasoning and his apparent “support” for gays is shallow and based on stereotypes linked with gay men.
Analog
Love Morgan Freeman!
Just ignore Colin. Ignore all bigots, they only bring you down to their level – and who wants to live in a swamp of obsessive irrational nutjobs like that???
Let them swim alone in their own tedious shit, where they appear to be quite happy…
B
While there is a stereotype that male ballet dancers are gay, that stereotype probably scares away some people who would otherwise enjoy it, creating enough of a self-fulfilling prophesy to increase the percentage of gay male ballet dancers to some extent.
hamoboy
@Jay: Don’t bother, you’re talking to the Grand Dragon of the KKK Gay Chapter. Nothing a black person can do is ever “good enough” to satisfy him, except maybe if they died.
LoveMorgan
And he said that he believes that man created God! Like my name says!!
Colin
Leave it to the angry, anti-white black rac ists to come into a thread and make it all about race.
triryche3
@Colin:
You’re making it about being stupid. Mr. Freeman said HE worked in dance & met some gay dancers. That IS NOT based on stereotypes but on HIS experience! If he said I’ve never been a dancer, there’s too many gays! THAT is a stereotype. Idiot.
As to Mr. Freeman, I’ve loved him since watching him on The Electric Company, along with Rita Moreno.
Cinesnatch
@Colin: He’s recalling vivid memories of gay interactions in the late 50s and early 60s in answer to a question that his attitude towards gays hasn’t changed much over the years, as he has always been open-minded to them.
Jay
@Colin: I honestly have no idea what you’re trying to say.
Colin
@Cinesnatch: We can agree to disagree on what he meant.
Jacob Woods
Goes to show that just getting to know someone who is different than yourself is certainly a great way to come and understand someone! Plus the comments on marijuana are totally necessary. It is such a waste of time for the police to be giving out misdemeanors and finding the dealers. Too much money spent. Besides, the tobacco and alcohol industries are just afraid of competition, so, they lobby it up and hire people to stigmatize weed in any way possible. If you have the money to fund research to find that weed is bad, that’s most certainly what scientists are going to find. Mhmm! Love you Morgan!
Adam
@Jacob Woods:
Absolutely! It’s all about environment. The cure to homophobia is proximity
hassia
@Queerty Are you so interested in having people clicking on your website that over-site is lost in the quagmire of want instead of quantity? Your readers complain all the time about the blatant racist comments from some of your commentators. However it would seem as if they have found fertile ground here,you get what you reap unless this is what you want.
jP
And now I have another reason to love his movies. Moragan Freeman adds a touch of classiness in his movies and it is nice to know he is cool with gay guys. See you on The Dark Knight Rises!
brad
@Colin – do you even know what a backhanded compliment is? I don’t think so judging from your poor comment.
Analog
Don’t forget, Morgan appeared in the opening night performance of Dustin Lance Black’s ‘8’.
hassia
Are you so interested in having people clicking on your website that over-site is lost in the quagmire of want instead of quantity? Your readers complain all the time about the blatant racist comments from some of your commentators. However it would seem as if they have found fertile ground here,you get what you reap unless this is what you want.
Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/morgan-freeman-is-totally-down-with-gay-guys-and-pot-20120718/#ixzz218x9r2kq
Hyhybt
“In the same interview, Freeman called the criminalization of marijuana the “stupidest law possible.””
—That’s a foolish thing to say. To a legislator, it would read as a challenge to come up with stupider ones.