‘Smash’, ‘Amazing Race’, Anderson Cooper, Brett Ratner Honored At GLAAD Awards

COMMENTS (12)

• I’m all for forgiveness, but I smell a great PR machine at work. With all necessary kudos to Ratner’s work on the PSAs that I hope will have the desired effect on the straight community and teens, there are a lot of allies who have supported the gay community a LOT longer than Ratner and deserve this type of recognition.

  One year or so does not an ally make. And true allies don’t become allies out of a PR nightmare. That’s just not how it works. A true ally just IS. It’s not about works. It’s about being. It’s not just about the rallies and the parades. It’s about being with friends who are talking shit about gays and shuttin’ that shit down whether or not any are present. It’s about recognizing gays as people — good, bad and indifferent — instead of as a cause. It’s about being in the midst of a gaggle of gays and standing with them in the face of trouble from some homophobe with the chip of repression and/or intolerance on their shoulder.

  But I don’t fault Ratner. I’m sure he’s suddenly now all of these things and more. But it doesn’t make GLAAD look good and it diminishes the luster of the award itself.

  It’s like giving a watch to the classmate at the end of the school year who punched you in the face at the beginning of the school year just because he didn’t during the school year. Sure, he may have apologized because the teachers told him to and none of the other students would talk to him. Hell, he may have actually meant it. And sure, he checked in with you from time to time to make sure your face was healing. And though he started telling people you were actually a cool kid, where are the watches for the classmates who had actually befriended you long before the rest of the class?

  It’s a curious and premature choice on the part of GLAAD to honor Ratner in this way. Kudos is one thing, but a newly-created Ally Award is a slap in the face to the many of true allies who have really stood in the gap between the gay community and the straight community for several years or even longer. There’s a difference between allying with a community and being an ally. One takes a moment but the other takes years. And you shouldn’t award someone for the latter when they’ve only recently done the former.

  The list of recipients of comparable GLAAD awards such as the Vangard, the Golden Gate and the general Excellence in Media Award is riddled with people who have a known HISTORY of true alliance with the gay community (mixed in with some other curious choices, but none so much as this one). I can’t imagine we’ve run out of such people to honor.

  Comment by terrence — Sunday March 17, 2013 @ 9:40am PDT  Reply to this post

  • When has GLAAD ever looked good? They LIVE to present awards to obedient heteros.

    Comment by burrrbank — Sunday March 17, 2013 @ 2:03pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • As another gay man involved in the biz, I have to agree with most of the commentary about GLAAD and Ratner.
    My partner and I have heavily supported the organization for years. In recent years things haved gone off the tracks.

    Am not so sure we will open our checkbook as readily anymore…….

    Comment by Anonymous — Monday March 18, 2013 @ 7:00am PDT  Reply to this post

• Meaningless award presented by a bunch of whiners who’s only contribution to the film industry is to complain about gay jokes in films.

  Comment by Alex — Sunday March 17, 2013 @ 10:11am PDT  Reply to this post

• “people who have a known HISTORY of true alliance with the gay community” = propagandists

  Stick to the agenda, and they might give you a good-boy-fetch trophy that no one cares about.

  Comment by Obvious — Sunday March 17, 2013 @ 1:24pm PDT  Reply to this post

• So the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation rewards Brett Ratner for making a few meaningless public service announcements to rehab his image, but ignores his general and continued misogyny towards women. Way to go!

  Comment by Alison Wonderland — Sunday March 17, 2013 @ 2:00pm PDT  Reply to this post

• At the end of the day…cinema history will not remember Ratner at all. Chan and Tucker made the RUSH movies monies, not Ratner’s direction. X-Men is a fool proof franchise to fuck up economically; even though Ratner can’t do shit compared to Singer as director. So Ratner has his misogyny and his HWD buddies who surround themselves with “how great he is and they are” to himself. Have fun with that Ratman.

  Comment by mark georgeff — Sunday March 17, 2013 @ 3:49pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Ugh. Madonna is a pig and Smash sucks.

  Comment by cloey — Sunday March 17, 2013 @ 4:11pm PDT  Reply to this post

• In what universe is “Smash” the best drama series?

  Talk about no credibility.

  Comment by Miffy — Sunday March 17, 2013 @ 4:36pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Oh GLAAD why? Smash? Really? One of the biggest tv bombs in years and it doesn’t even portray gays,in any sort of positive way other than stereotypes.

  I had no,idea Ratner did penance….I mean PSAs. Guess they weren’t widely used/seen.

  Comment by JJ — Sunday March 17, 2013 @ 4:50pm PDT  Reply to this post

• This is impolitic but I’ll say it : re: Madonna dressed as a Boy Scout : that’s not an easy situation. It’s not about adults like the military and “don’t ask, don’t tell.” You don’t want to purge the priesthood of pedophilia only to drive pedophiles into scout leadership because the pickin’s in the culture look like they may suddenly be similarly easy to molesting altar boys. Letting kids be who they are is important. It’s the leadership (and the types of people it attracts) not the kids that are the problem in these all male mentor situations. I’m not saying gay = pedophile in the slightest. I’m saying pedophiles are pedophiles and that they perhaps pursue amplification systems that permit them to deniably pursue the activity; and that you don’t want your children to be the object of pedophiles’ sociopathic behavior patterns and machinations irrespective of your child being gay or straight.

  Comment by A Practicing Catholic — Sunday March 17, 2013 @ 6:47pm PDT  Reply to this post

• How can we save SMASH? Has quality Broadway show type songs lost all hope for the younger generation? The show is wonderful, the cast it wonderful, the songs are fabulous and so well-written and I was beginning to think TV has finally come of age. Perhaps a cable network will pick it up? I know it has a loyal following and my family look forward to it with great anticipation. Please, what can we do?

  Comment by Judy — Monday March 25, 2013 @ 11:38am PDT  Reply to this post