For years, this idiot insults conservatives and heterosexuals on network tv and anywhere else he can get time, then he makes a crappy movie, and he expects conservative heterosexuals, and heterosexuals in general, to go see it. He is a delusional twat.
shareThe weekend box office showed that even people in the LGBT community didn't show up. Why would they? The film is not a flattering portrait of the community as has been stated many times by honest critics. Your film can be raunchy and gross but if it's effectively endorsing things that are uncommon or even repellent to gay couples, then perhaps it's contributing to negative stereotypes.
The term fanbaiting has recently been thrown around a lot recently, but it perfectly describes what's been happening in Hollywood for several years now. It's when the studios call attention to their minority representation in a film in a way that's supposed to shield it from any criticism. If people don't go see it or don't like it, it's not because they had no interest in the film in the first place, it's because they are a bigot.
This type of tactic doesn't work when the people who the film was allegedly made for don't turn up. It's frankly quite bizarre that Hollywood can't produce a decent gay film because every attempt gets attacked from any and all sides. Independent and foreign filmmakers don't have a problem producing their own gay films that gay people actually want to see regardless of their politics.
The Birdcage was a fantastic comedy about a gay couple. Made $185M on like a $30M budget. It made fun of conservatives and liberals and gays and heteros but also showed the decency of each. People loved it and it manifestly captured an audience of all sexual and political persuasions. So, something else is going on with this Bros movie that cannot be attributed to bigotry and “attacks from any and all sides.”
shareI checked out general reviews as well as what gay audiences are specifically saying. The criticism coming from the right is fairly predictable, but there is a contingent of people within the community who are bashing this film because the lead is played by a white man.
But as a single Jewish man living in a big city who hasn't found love yet despite creeping on 40, this movie didn't speak to me either even though I tried to give it every benefit of the doubt despite the cringe trailer.
Billy Eichner's persona can best be described as Ryan Reynolds mixed with Kevin Spacey. There were messages in the film I could appreciate such as finding love and acceptance within yourself but the vast majority of it was about redefining gay love as something separate from heterosexual love. So at the very outset, it's preaching divisiveness and condemning those who want to live in committed relationships without any drama. The chemistry between the leads is lacking. I could buy these two as unlikely friends but not as sexual partners. The activist scenes seemed to border on caricature and yet we're somehow meant to take them seriously.
The scenes that had me laughing the hardest were when the main character was making fun of himself (the scenes of him arguing that Lincoln was gay before exasperatedly throwing his dummy in the closet was actually really funny). However, there wasn't enough of that. Throw in the gratuitous sex scenes where anal sex is overtly discussed and it's no surprise that people stayed away.
Thanks for this great summary and interesting perspective. I really appreciate you taking the time to do this. This is really why I still come back to MovieChat. You sound like a pretty reasonable and even-handed person.
shareObviously some people are homophobic.
shareHopefully your comment will sell a few tickets.
shareIt's reasonable considering the bitter and bigoted attitude of the director himself.
shareGay people are under no obligation to see every straight movie that's released as straight people are under no obligation to see every gay movie that's released.
shareHate generates hate.
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