This post was pre-empted by my two-part young adult librarian panel. So, not exactly catching the wave of outrage toward Bret Easton Ellis, but something I wanted to post none-the-less.
I’ve had it with Bret Easton Ellis. I’m disavowing my fanhood, and will no longer buy his books.
I defend free speech, am pretty sympathetic and forgiving of human fallibility, and I don’t expect more intelligence from celebrities than I do from anyone else.
But Ellis went off on a ridiculously irresponsible tear, for which he has been totally unapologetic.
It started with his Twitter observations on the TV series Glee, and continued with his commentary on the It Gets Better campaign.
“why is it that every time I watch an episode I feel like I’ve stepped into a puddle of HIV?”
Then, in response to angry replies…
“Okay, okay, I get it. I’ll stop riffing on H.I.Glee…”
Later, on It Gets Better…
“I hate that s**t about ‘It Gets Better.’ It doesn’t. Retool it. Say ‘You Get Stronger.’ The narcissism of gays is out of f**king control…”
I rarely watch Glee, though I support the concept and am personally and professionally surrounded by Glee-heads (Gleeks?). And I respect thoughtful debate over It Gets Better.
But Ellis “riffing” on gay people being gross, diseased and selfish–from his platform, to his fans–is wrong. At this point, I don’t care if he has personal issues to work out. He’s not a 13 year old discovering social media for the first time. Talk about those issues in therapy.
Ellis is a brilliant writer, but as a person, he stinks. I wish I knew less about his personal opinions, but I do. There’s no turning back. To lay out money for his books just feels disingenuous.
He’s a complex, seductive kind of villain. I kind of want to root for him, and I do hope he gets his shit together. Maybe one day he’ll realize that his personal struggle—that squeamish, threatening feeling provoked by two guys kissing, singing showtunes or otherwise being ‘effeminate’—really does get better.
But there are plenty of other authors producing good stuff, while maintaining a professional public persona, doing what they’re supposed to do: keeping a boundary around their personal issues.
You tell’em, Andy!
Thanks for stopping by Lara. 😉
BEE is gay. He sucks guys cocks and I’m sure they suck his. He is allowed to have an opinion on the state of gay culture in America and lame-ass Glee for portraying homosexuals in such a stereotypically insulting way. And he’s right about the It Gets Better Campaign. It doesn’t get better, people are shit and always will be. But you do get stronger and learn not to worry about what other people think.
Hey Dan – Thanks for stopping by.
I think you’re right that BEE is allowed to have an opinion on Glee and It Gets Better. If his point was that Glee portrays homosexuals in a “stereotypically insulting way” as you say, I’d have much less of a problem with his commentary. I don’t agree with that assessment in this case, but minority portrayals (including gays) are always tough. There’s so few of them that they tend to grab the spotlight and carry the burden of representing all people in that minority. Some gay teens are effeminate and show tunes. I think Chris Colfer’s portrayal is realistic; but of course it doesn’t represent all gay teens.
Back to BEE though, what he said was middle school-level homophobia – Glee is “gross,” it made him sick to his stomach, he used a pun on HIV to make fun of it. So there wasn’t any criticism on the portrayal, just a statement that the gay content made him sick, like watching your parents kissing makes you squeamish when you’re ten years old.
I agree that not worrying about what other people think is really important!