Universal has pulled the trailer for The Dilemma after CNN’s Anderson Cooper went on The Ellen Degeneres Show to complained of it’s use of the word gay.
“There was a preview of a movie, and in it, the actor said, ‘That’s so gay,’ and I was shocked that not only that they put it in the movie, but that they put that in the preview. They thought that it was OK to put that in a preview for the movie to get people to go and see it,” said Cooper. “I just find those words, those terms, we’ve got to do something to make those words unacceptable cause those words are hurting kids.”
In the trailer, Vince Vaughn’s character pitches the need for a more manly electric car by claiming that “electric cars are gay. Not homosexual gay but, you know, ‘my parents are chaperoning the dance’ gay.”
The word is used without any malice. The joke isn’t at the expense of homosexuals, rather the pitchman’s inartful use of the word to which his audience clearly takes offense. Hence, his explanation of exactly which variety of gay he’s talking about.
Universal says they “showed the trailer to gay groups like GLAAD and gay executives here and gays in our marketing department and no one was offended and everyone had a positive response.” It seems Cooper is so tight with the gay community that he changed their minds.
