[ad_1]
There are certain social graces that one should know before turning 50, and one would think that one of them would be not to use the homophobic insult “f * g”. In the case of the occasional, unintentional actor and provocateur Matt Damon, you’d be wrong.
In an interview with The Sunday Times published over the weekend, Damon appeared to reveal that it had only been a few months since he had stopped using the insult, after his daughter sat him down and explained to him why he should not. But since Monday afternoon, Damon has returned to the confession, with a long statement to Variety which revisits and clarifies the anecdote in question:
I explained that this word was used constantly and casually and was even a line of dialogue in one of my films as recently as 2003; she in turn expressed her disbelief that there ever could have been a time when this word was used without thinking. To my admiration and pride, she was extremely articulate about how painful that word would have been for someone in the LGBTQ + community, no matter how culturally normalized it was. I not only agreed with her, but delighted with her passion, her values and her desire for social justice. . . .
I have learned that eradicating prejudice requires an active movement towards justice rather than finding passive comfort in imagining myself as “one of the good guys.” And given that open hostility against the LGBTQ + community is still not uncommon, I understand why my statement has led many to assume the worst.
It’s a bit different from Damon’s interview with The Sunday Times, in which he says, “I made a joke months ago and got a treaty from my daughter. She left the table. I said, “Come on, this is a joke! I say that in the movie ‘Stuck on You’! ‘ She went to her room and wrote a very long and magnificent treatise on the dangerousness of this word. I said, “I withdraw the insult! ” Understood.”
The Sunday Times notes in his profile that Damon shared this story “as part of a larger conversation about changes in modern masculinity.” But if Damon thought that recently learning that f-slur was wrong as a middle-aged man was something to brag about, he had something else to come.
A wave of backlash and disbelief on social media almost immediately followed the interview’s post, and despite Damon’s latest statement, many continued to question the actor’s treatment of LGBTQ identity and media representation in the past as an extension of the interview. Damon’s own reference to his movie “Stuck on You” using f-slur as a “joke” seems particularly revealing.
Adrienne Lawrence, legal analyst and educator, tweeted about Damon’s comments: “If Matt Damon is using homophobic slurs at the table in 2021, you can’t tell me he doesn’t use racist slurs either. Bet. ” Damon has already faced backlash for criticizing casting practices aimed at promoting diversity in 2015.
“I have a ranch dressing that’s been in my fridge longer than Matt Damon has NOT used homophobic slurs and he sort of thinks it deserves praise for this Herculean effort,” Laurie Pohutsky wrote. , representative of Michigan House. Tweeter.
LGBTQ activist Charlotte Clymer wrote in a tweet that Damon’s big reveal is “Over 10 years ago, a little bit of stuff.”
“I want to know what word Matt Damon replaced f **** t with”, comedian Billy Eichner tweeted.
Some speculate that by telling the anecdote of his journey to ditch homophobic slurs, Damon may not have realized how offensive insult f is, or how controversial his story would be. So far, his attempt at back-tracking damage control hasn’t done much to calm the backlash.
Damon’s interview with The Sunday Times was part of a series of press appearances promoting his latest film, “Stillwater,” which is based on the real-life story of accused American Amanda Knox. and wrongly imprisoned for her murder. roommate while studying abroad in Italy. Knox has since criticized the film for taking advantage of her trauma, vilifying her and sensationalizing her story.
Somehow, Damon’s “Stillwater” promotional tour is working, because if we weren’t paying attention to him until last week, we sure are now.
[ad_2]
Source link