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Silver Screen
by Eddie Armani
Walt Disney Co. has been producing world class
entertainment for decades, and Hercules, the latest gem in their
crown, certainly continues the trend. They've also extended
partnership benefits to their gay employees. Because of these
gay friendly, progressive policies (which, thankfully, are not
limited to Disney, but are echoed by other large corporations as
well) they are paying a price. They are currently catching hell-fire
from Southern Baptists, who have called for a boycott of Disney.
In light of these events, the great line of Demi Moore's Ezmeralda
character from The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, "What does the
church have against people that are different?" seems eerily
prophetic.
On the way out of a drug store, I found myself in
conversation about this with the cashier when she said "Disney
supports some pretty weird stuff." Parroting the "shocking truth"
that she had been fed. "Well..., they're all for gay rights and gay
marriages and even have days at their theme parks where
everyone is gay and I just think that's awful." Now I make an effort
to practice what I preach, which is tolerance. Even though I realize
that everyone has the right to their own opinion, I wanted this
young woman to know that she was not exactly preaching to the
choir. She was instead choking on her own foot. But, how to put
it...?
Years of working as an activist on issues ranging from rape
to the rape of the environment have taught me quite a bit about
people and communication, therefore losing my temper and/or
letting it slide completely were never options. So with a smile I
simply said, "Well the only thing I think is awful is that prejudice is
such a wide spread problem. Since you obviously can't tell us
apart from anyone else, why shouldn't we be treated the same?" It
was clear from the priceless expression on her face that I had
made my point.
Less clear, at first, was why this person felt so impossibly
comfortable expressing such bigoted views to a total stranger. Is
prejudicial talk that much of an accepted norm? If so, why? The
more I though about this little exchange, the more I took myself
out of my own finite perspective and thought of all the other
bigoted remarks made the world over on a daily basis. Whether it
be because of a persons race, religion, sex or sexual orientation,
we've all heard inappropriate jokes in the work place and chosen
to remain silent in order to avoid an argument. It is precisely this
silence, even over the seemingly insignificant, that leads to a
climate hostile to minorities, and eventually one conducive to
violence. If bigots don't get the impression that we mind their
views, what else will they think they can get away with? Let's start
letting it be known to people who talk about the dumb women, the
lazy blacks, the greedy Jews, and the evil fags that we don't
appreciate it. We're not the ones who need to be ashamed of our
opinions. They are!
Maybe that's where equal rights will really come from -- not
from some government bureaucracy, but from people sticking up
for themselves and others. If everyone took some personal
responsibility for their own equal rights and simply started acting
as an equal, they would soon be perceived as such.
Southern Baptist, as backward as they are, are ironically
quite crafty. By perpetuating myths, such as homosexuals are evil
and women don't deserve control over their own bodies, much
less their own paychecks, they effectively distract people from the
real issues that effect everyone. They would like to keep all
minorities too busy to notice (much less fight to stop) drastic
changes that have already been enacted by Congress, such as
NAFTA and tort reform. Basically, these changes are designed to
funnel money and the ability to earn it away from the minorities
and toward themselves.
I'm not suggesting all is lost, or that anyone needs to be
militant. I'm saying that Southern Baptists are not the only ones
capable of sending a message. We also can send a loud and clear
message to any corporation or small business simply by
choosing where to spend our money carefully. And If money
talks, we can make our message deafening. Let's reward
companies like Disney and let them know that we appreciate what
they're doing. Know who your friends are and support them. If
that isn't a good enough reason to see Hercules I don't know
what is.
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