Sometimes it's just fun to wake up in the morning. Like today. We got up, logged on to TMZ and saw a hilarious British commercial in which Mr. T goes ballistic (literally) when he sees a racewalker and fires a load of Snickers at him, shouting, "Speedwalking! I pity you fool! You're a disgrace to the man race!"
Good stuff. Unless you're the Human Rights Campaign. Then you think it "conjures up stereotypes of gay men" and you force Mars to stop running the ad.
The HRC apparently was offended that the man was "walking in an exaggerated manner" and that Mr. T felt the need to fire at him and tell him to "run like a real man."
We hate homophobia. There is absolutely nothing funny about it. But we could not find one part of this commercial that made us think this racewalker was supposed to be gay. Nothing. Maybe it's because none of our gay family members or friends are racewalkers, but we just didn't see it.
We love Mr. T because he "conjures up stereotypes" of ridiculous macho men and makes us howl while we hate them. We love to hate him just like we loved to hate Archie Bunker. He was a ridiculous racist, but the show was not. It was about racism (among other things) and it showed people exactly how ridiculous and detestable racism really is.
We send huge love to the HRC for working so hard to defend the rights of all gay people, even the ones who don't fit the racewalker stereotype.
But we honestly did not see homophobia in this commercial.
Maybe we are simply blind to it, like so many people seemed to be blind to the sexist references that attempted to detract from Hillary Clinton throughout her campaign. Jokes about her pantsuits, references to her emotions. As though she were a girlie-girl trying to get a manly-man's job.
Are we wrong about this commercial?
Convince us that we are and we'll send a donation to the HRC. Add your comments. Go ahead. Get some nuts.
P.S. After reading some of the comments, we decided we better show you this vid of *real* racewalkers. Watch how they move.
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Comments
Give me a break GAY people (I'm a transgender) there is nothing wrong with Mr. T telling this guy to man up!
It's like no one can even mention gay people or softies without this kind of ridiculous fight to stop an ad! Just like Ryan Secrest saying he is metrosexual NO! HE is gay not meaning a sexual preferance but bubble gum KissFM teenie boppin GAY! GET IT OVER HOMO'S! I'm subject to the sterytpes myself I now some things are not fair to us but we have other fights of equality besides Mr. T telling that fool to man up!
The commercial is more stupid than homophobic. It surely does not make me want to buy a Snickers.
Whether it is homophobic depends on who is watching it. As a gay, I see a gay male race walking (obvious body language) and I *could* laugh at it if it were actually funny.
If it were a hateful Bible thumper watching it and laughing, then it would be homophobic.
The only people who can apply and laugh at stereotypes are the people who fit the stereotypes. Kind of like the fat kid at school (aka me back in the day) making fun of himself first so that nobody else could get pleasure from doing it.
Who makes the rules about who can say what or apply which stereotype? Censorship is more dangerous than political incorrectness. It forces racists and homophobes into the closet where no one can criticize them and show others how wrong they are.
Thank you for your comments. One thing I did not say in the post is that the thing I would find disturbing about this commercial would not be the gay stereotypes, if they were indeed there, but the acting out of what could be construed as a kissing cousin to violent gay bashing. That does upset me when I think about it.
What is more ridiculous than the commercial and the campaign to stop it is this "race" as you call it for "racewalkers."
No gay man alive is that, um, gay. Learn to run, fool. Mr. T. was right.
The problem I have with this commercial is the implication that something "less than manly" or more feminine is bad and shameful. It's not like there's a disclaimer on this ad saying "btw this is just for men" so the end product is kind of alienating to the consumer base that doesn't come close to being Mr. T. Sure you might think that he's conjuring up "ridiculous macho men" and that it's simply amusing but that's not the message I get from it. For me it's saying there's only room for one type of male and you better step up and be it... and buy Snickers.
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