The incredible thing about this story in the LA Times is not that Newt Gingrich’s ringtone is ABBA’s “Dancing Queen.” No, the incredible thing is that Newt considers Mamma Mia to be “an amazing film.”
This is a man who wants us to believe that he is qualified to be the leader of the free world. And yet he says Mamma Mia — a baffling bastardization and straightwashing of songs that have been drag queen staples for decades — is not just worthy of approval, but “amazing.” Amazing!
It actually makes some sense: First he oppresses us by denying us our rights, then he oppresses us by supporting an the debasement of our culture.
Okay, sure, some people like Mamma Mia. Even some gay people.
How about we take this to the next level?
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But come on. “Amazing film”? Ringtone-worthy? Not a few bars from West Side Story? Cabaret? A Star is Born, for crying out loud? Too good for the freaking Sound of Music or My Fair Lady? They’re only on AFI’s list of the greatest movie musicals of all time, you know.
But no! It’s an “amazing film.” These words keep ringing in our ears, louder and more grating and discordant and wrong than anything we have ever heard, and that includes the soundtrack of Mamma Mia.
Kev C
Those sparkles really do have magic properties.
FrankLeeMyDear
What other adjective would you give this film that pretends that the major characters are really 20-years younger than what they really are?
I mean, really, how easy is it to believe that Meryl Streep had problems with her mother when she became pregnant at the age of 30?
How easy is it to believe that Christine Baranski danced around that beach without makeup covering up varicose veins?
How easy is it to believe that hairy-chested Pierce Brosnan can sing? (okay he probably couldn’t do that 20 years ago…)
It’s AMAZING!
Devington
Huh. I have the same ringtone as Newt Gingrich.
Awkward.
Mike
Watch it, the spirits of Agnetha and Anni-Frid will strike you down for such blasphemy…
CaliberGuy
I personally relay really like the movie, it’s fun, and the music is catchy, plus I think the cast worked well together. It’s on my list of favorite movies, now that its on Newts it dose seem a little embarrassing. LOL
Andrew
you know, that movie would have been ok if pierce brosnan never opened his mouth. everyone in that movie had passable singing talent except him. Jeez, all i wanted to do while watching that movie was for Meryl Streep to turn around and stuff her fist down his throat. kinky, i know….
Jeffree
I can’t wait to hear Newt’s review on “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”!
—gagging—
ZT
It’s an awful movie. Remember the “cougar” lady dancing and singing with that freaky-looking effeminate fuzzy-headed thing? Ugh. Bad taste in films there, Newt.
Elloreigh
“Mamma Mia — a baffling bastardization and straightwashing of songs that have been drag queen staples for decades”
“oppresses us by supporting an the debasement of our culture”
Last I checked, ABBA was not comprised of drag queens. Nor am I persuaded that they wrote those songs with the intent of them becoming the exclusive property of ‘gay culture’.
And no, this isn’t going to be an anti-drag rant. It’s not about that at all.
What it’s about is the revision of history that Queerty seems intent on practicing with this article.
I like Mamma Mia. It’f fine if others don’t – different strokes for diffrent folks, as the saying goes.
What is not fine is calling it a “bastardization and straightwashing” of the songs. These are not gay songs by a gay group. The themes contained therein are not specifically gay. The movie perhaps puts a different spin on them than we might, but that hardly amounts to “bastardization” or “straightwashing”.
Ir would be more accurate perhaps to say they’ve been gaywashed by their having been co-opted by ‘gay culture’.
So: If you were trying to be funny, I’d have to rate the attempt an EPIC FAIL!
You’re sharing the planet with straight people, and there are more of them than their are of us, which mean most of the songs are written by them, about them, for them. It’s rare and great when songs are more universal, and nothing wrong with us putting our own interpretation on those that are less so, either. But to pretend that the music of ABBA somehow belongs to ‘gay culture’ and that any one else’ enjoyment of it is somehow a sacrilege is a load of horse manure.
You’ve sunk to a new low. Maybe I’ll just have to go back to reading AfterElton.
Elloreigh
@Andrew: I’m with you on Pierce Brosnan’s “singing”. My ears are still bleeding.
MikeE
@Elloreigh: Bravo.
It seems the “new” Queerty isn’t so new after all.
There’s nothing wrong with either the play or the movie “Mamma Mia”. This entire “article” was uncalled for. It’s just as trashy and unneeded as the crap NOM puts out.
Dame Helga von Ornstein
It was reported in the Washington Post that Herr Gingrich has a $250K-$500K unpaid tab with Tiffany’s that he REFUSED all inquiries about.
I can see that old queen now strutting down the spiraling staircase in one of his many residences or hotels making wearing a diamond studded tiara and dress that would make Barbara Striesand’s entrance at the ball in Hello Dolly pale in comparison. No doubt Rush Limbaugh had the table where Horace Vandergelder would be occupying.
March ye hypocrite. May you and the rest of the gay, closeted right wing continue in your hypocrisy.
ZT
Elloreigh : I still think Mamma Mia is a dreadful film (didn’t see the play) but you’re right on with the rest of your post.