Incredibly offensive


The stereotypes in this movie are horrible and perpetuate the outdated preconceptions held by so many intolerant and ignorant people. Their goal may have been to encourage understanding and appreciation of the struggles of both gays and straights, but they didn't need to go to the extremes of making the gay character a cooking, apron wearing, lisping queen while making the straight character an aggressive, boxing, rude, inconsiderate jock. The underlying premise of the storyline is good, but the execution was incredibly offensive!!

reply

Thats how I felt while watching it.
Being gay isn't- "oh, now I like to cook and wear pretty shoes"
And being Straight isn't "Oh, now I want to fight everything and dress badly"
It was a cute movie- if- they left out the stereotypes and just kept it with being unattracted to their partners and attracted to the opposite.
I wanted to enjoy this movie- but I felt myself getting annoyed with how the characters were portrayed more then anything else.

reply

Couldn't agree more with both of you. Obviously it was an attempt at comedy, but the moment the straight guy stopped to smell the roses and the gay guy was suddenly able to repair a car.. I just got annoyed.

The only gratifying scene was when Steve mentioned how he was still in love with his partner, despite not being attracted to him physically. I wish the movie would've explored this dilemma more instead of focusing on tired jokes and ridiculing overweight people.

reply

I couldn't agree more. You expressed everything that I was thinking during this movie. Why is it that people can't understand that sexuality has nothing to do with anything but who they are attracted to. I know plenty of gay men who love sports and could care less about fashion, and I know plenty of straight men who love musical theatre and love to cook. One's sexuality does not define who a person acts or what they do, it only applies to whom they want to do.

reply

[deleted]

I was able to watch without being offended, but I did see one huge flaw in the writing of this entire story. Once you do accept the comical premise that this "magical" change could happen, and make a huge impact on people, you have to admit that the change in these two individuals is quite UNEQUAL! The straight guy is miserable with his change and can't accept or be comfortable at all. He suffers the most discomfort, while the gay guy who begins being attracted to women is accepting of his own change. He is confused, but he does not detest himself in this change of attractions. The other character is clearly horrified that he finds himself in situations with men. He never really becomes attracted to ANY of the men he finds after him. The gay guy wants to PROVE by kissing the woman that he has indeed changed. The film was predictable in most ways and not all that entertaining, but the most obvious flaw is in the way this story is played out. Doesn't anyone else see this?

reply

This is indeed quite interesting. I didn't really think about it while watching the movie, but now that I do I realize that it might actually be a rather ham-fisted attempt at.. nuance? (oof, talk about an oxymoron!)

It's true, on first look there does seem to be an inequality to their level of change, however, I think it's all founded in their individual ability of acceptance. While your stereotypical straight guy would obviously have a big problem with suddenly being attracted to men, immediately plunging head first into denial and all that sh*t, I don't think it's too far fetched that the average gay guy would find it much less challenging to accept their newfound affinity for the opposite sex.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a definite 6 on the Kinsey scale myself and that would take some getting used to, but unlike straight guys (who probably just act on instinct.. or so I guess) we've all had to deal with our sexuality on an emotional level before so I think there's a whole different mindset that would make it much easier to adapt to the situation. Not to mention that I assume all gay people, at some point in their lives (if just for the briefest of moments), were cogitating about how much easier life would be if they were straight so.. maybe a tiny part of us would even be, dare I say it, relieved?

Now I'm not trying to insinuate that every gay person secretly wants to be straight, but I do believe that there's a reason these characters were showing a very different attitude to their swapping of sexual preference (even though the movie depicted it in an extremly simplistic yet exaggerated way).

reply