Tonight Show Guests Made Uncomfortable By Taking Woodstock Gay Kiss
August 18, 2009
Last night on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, guest Demetri Martin talked about his role in the upcoming Ang Lee film Taking Woodstock and the discomfort he felt when he realized he would be playing a gay man and would have to kiss another man.At this point, guest Shaquille O’Neal scoots away from Martin on the couch and the audience and O’Brien begin laughing hysterically. Towleroad’s Andy Towle posted a rough transcript this morning:
MARTIN: There’s a scene in the movie where I have to kiss a guy, where I have to make out with this guy. (big laughter as Shaq moves away on couch) . Ang [Lee], the director said, listen, in that scene you have to kiss a girl first, and then you push her away, and then you kiss the guy. We can cast your girlfriend if you want….So the day comes, and I’m kind of dreading it but I’m like my girlfriend will be there so that’s cool. We do the first take. I kiss my girlfriend, I have to push push her away. And then I have to go really make out with the guy in front of her. And I hadn’t anticipated…
CONAN: The weirdness of doing this in front of your girlfriend.
MARTIN: And then, like eight takes later…we keep doing it over and over again. And it was weird cause it was like girlfriend, push her away, guy, oh yeah I want to kiss you, and then, okay girlfriend again…I had like 500 Altoids that night. I thought it would make a difference.
CONAN: It doesn’t really, I know.
The incident is especially unfortunate because we were beginning to see a change, following Brokeback Mountain and Milk, in the way straight actors approach gay roles and discuss same-sex intimacy in the media. Furthermore, O’Neal has proven to be an ally to the LGBT community in the past, even assisting in stopping a gay bashing four years ago.
As we reported yesterday, The Tonight Show also aired a problematic segment last Thursday which made fun of the transgender community. GLAAD has reached out to NBC regarding this incident. We will also be staying abreast of upcoming promotional appearances by the cast of Taking Woodstock.
Related Posts:Tonight Show Makes Tired Transgender Jokes
August 17, 2009
On last Thursday’s episode of The Tonight Show, host Conan O’Brien repeated his “Conan’s Tabloid Moment” segment and used the skit to make easy and unfunny jokes at the expense of the transgender community.
“Conan’s Tabloid Moment” typically involves O’Brien staging scandalous tabloid photos with the (false) intent of selling them to magazines to make a profit. In Thursdays segment, O’Brien began by posing at a strip club after a few drinks then wondered how to make the situation even more embarrassing for himself. At this point, a neon sign reading “Trannie’s” appears and the female strippers slap on fake mustaches.
Conan O’Brien has shown in the past that he is a comedian capable of making gay-themed jokes without resorting to cheap laughs and offensive slurs. This was most recently on display when he made fun of NBC’s Failing grade in the GLAAD Network Responsibility Index. Unfortunately, sensitivity to transgender issues is an area in which many comics frequently fall short. Not only is the term “tranny” offensive to the transgender community, the representation of transgender women as mustached men in dresses is a harmful misrepresentation.
GLAAD has reached out to NBC and is hoping to have an update to this issue soon.
Related Posts:GLAAD Network Responsibility Index Covered by The Tonight Show; SyFy Promises Change
July 30, 2009
GLAAD’s third annual Network Responsibility Index, which analyzes the quantity, quality and diversity of LGBT images on television, spread across the internet, radio and television following its release early Monday morning.
The Associated Press broke the story at 12:01am on July 27 and was promptly picked up numerous outlets, including popular blogs such as Towleroad, Socialite Life and AfterEllen. The story was also carried by major news outlets, including The Huffington Post, ABC News, USA Today, and Entertainment Weekly.
In print, The Hollywood Reporter ran a front page story on the Network Responsibility Index. The print editions of The New York Times and The New York Daily News also picked up the story.
GLAAD’s Senior Director of Media Programs, Rashad Robinson, was interviewed about the report by CBS Radio and KFWB in Los Angeles. On TV, CNN’s Showbiz Tonight and American Morning reported on GLAAD’s findings, but perhaps the most memorable (and hilarious) reference to the Network Responsibility Index came courtesy of Conan O’Brien on The Tonight Show:
TV Guide‘s Matt Mitovich also did an excellent job of covering GLAAD’s report. After his initial story, Mitovich reached out to the networks that received Failing grades in the Network Responsibility Index. Although most declined comment, SyFy’s executive vice president of original content, Mark Stern, touted several gay characters on upcoming series.
Ming-Na as Camille Wray in Stargate: Universe
From TVGuide.com:
“On Stargate Universe, one of the main female characters, we discover, is a lesbian and has a wife at home. It’s a pretty important facet of who that character is,” he says. ER alum Ming-Na plays intergalactic diplomat Camille Wray, while 24’s Reiko Aylesworth recurs as her wife.
Similarly the Galactica prequel spin-off Caprica has at least two main characters depicted as being in gay relationships. “[One] is a ‘goodfella’-type, and we discover in a nonchalant way that he is gay, with a husband,” Stern says. “It was very interesting to me to take what is traditionally a very heterosexual role in an organization that we think of as being extremely homophobic, and put a gay character in that world in a very normalized way.”
We commend SyFy for working to ensure the LGBT community is fairly represented in their original programming and hope that the other networks will take our recommendations to heart as well.
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