zopz wrote:Stewball wrote:I thought that was obvious, and your last phrase indicates you do to. It took me a while to realize that some people didn't notice, or pretended not to notice, the overwhelming gay theme that was obvious even in the previews--and it's that, not race, that's the Oscar PC issue I was highlighting.
Not really, since the whole thread has been about race.
Not because I inserted it. I just singled out due for PC reasons, which I thought were obviouse, and people started assuming that it was for race. Talk about prejudice.
This is an interesting case, I'd say, and if you had seen the film you'd end up being decidedly underwhelmed by the 'gay theme'. I don't see this as being too far away from the academy's established proclivity for both poignant and 'tasteful' (conservative) romance. One part might not be deemed so conservative, but the context is interesting (imagine if they were adults - their naivety transforms that situation into something more widely palatable I suspect). But it's a schmaltzy, faux naturalistic (like Before Sunset etc etc...) romance, not at all a big, gay campy, trashy riot. Still, we might be in a time when more mainstream critics can potentially enjoy brash, campy queer movies too, not because of political correctness, but because many people are not completely turned off by the idea of queer sex and can think it's fun (see Tangerine for a great example).
The preview showed a theme involving knee-jerk hatred, which is of course reprehensible. But one thing that's always pissed me off is the idea that a quick rejection of a homosexual advance is "homophobic". My genes are programmed for heterosexuality, which I think means we react with repulsion instinctively. I know I do, but that doesn't mean I'm making personal judgments, unlike a girl rejecting a guy which is judgmental, unless one of them is gay...or something.
But bottom line is, and I think it may have been deliberate on Jenkins' part, none of the contentious issues related to the film are loaded with political subtext.
That's entirely possible, but it was inserted by the Academy as part of it's agenda. The movie could be a masterpiece, but I just can't identify with the characters or see myself in that situation. There's never been a movie that is right for everyone.
I live on the left side of the fence for sure, but I also question the methods and attitudes of the left in this time, with their ramapant assholery.
Well said, and I could say the same thing for myself on the right, especially in relation right-wing theocratic rampant assholery.