exactly. I am surprised all the parties involved didn't see that including Mike Breen who looks like an extremely responsible guy. There's nothing wrong with a fist bump, but there's something wrong with a fist kiss, although they are the same gesture (that's the gist of the commericial)
the funny thing is... GLAAD is stereotyping if you went up to one of your male or female coworkers and blew them kisses...it'd be kinda weird. there's no one here saying the situation involves homosexuality at all. it's only if you interpret it that way.
while i certainly don't think it was ESPN's intent, i can see the offense. using the word kiss and then saying it's weird and disgusting certainly gives a negative connotation to being gay. and i'm sure the "no one really thinks about it hurting anyone when they say it" type of stuff like this is the thing groups like gays or minorities (or any historically persecuted/denigrated group) really don't like. fighting the blatantly homophobic/racist stuff is easy because it's easy to identify and easy to make it look bad. but because things like this are seemingly so benign they go unnoticed and are still out there and make complete acceptance hard. so i can see why they'd get upset about the ad. it's hilarious. stuart scott - "how'd you get so many Q's?" shaq - "don't worry about it." edit: and lebron is a great pitchman. "the lebron's" commercials were great. i don't see how that can be debated.
HAHAHHAHA FUNNY.. especially when Shaq is like "NASH! give me a fist kiss.. AMARE! give me a fist kiss" LOL
I can't imagine the dialogue being the same if it was a female broadcaster instead of Mike Breen proposing the "fist kiss". Shaq isn't calling him a weirdo because he's calling a "fist bump" a "fist kiss". That is weird, sure, but clearly that's not the intent here. He's a weirdo because, as a man, he wants to share a "fist kiss" with him. This is made all the more clear when Shaq mutters "disgusting" at the end of the commercial.
Is it homophobic to consider homosexuality disgusting? I don't think it's clear that's what they're implying, but even if it was I thought everyone reserved that right, there alot of things that some people do with each other that i might find disgusting. ...and i'd say calling a fist bump a fist kiss warrants being called a weirdo.
Yes. I don't care if someone personally find homosexuality disgusting. It's when that disgust and contempt goes from their behavior to them as people that I have a problem. What this commercial will do is make an impression on a lot of people. Shaq thinks its disgusting for two guys to be express intimacy towards eachother. Shouldn't we expect kids to adopt that attitude as well, or have that attitude further ingrained in their minds, when a man of Shaq's stature says it? Doesn't that only serve to further ostracize gay people? And for what ... a cheap laugh? I think ESPN needs to be conscientious about these kind of things.
It was a joke! You ever had a friend do something disgusting, stupid or embarrassing , and you said, "Dude, get away from me!". You didn't really mean it that way.
Oh wow! It's a joke? My bad, I thought it was super serious and they just happened to catch Shaq on candid camera :| And yeah, of course I've been in similar situations with friends, but we didn't make a commercial about it. And again, I'm not upset by the commercial, but I can clearly see the reasoning that might lead to someone else being offended.
Before this is D&D material! I agree with this stance completely. Plus I didn't laugh at all. You'd only find it funny if you thought a guy kissing a guy was something weird. Replace "kiss" with "pump" and the joke loses all meaning. The punchline was Breen asking for a fist kiss and Shaq calling him weird. The whole point of it being weird was that it was between two guys. I can understand the perspective of those that are offended. Would you all laugh if it was a woman doing the "fist kiss?" If not then it's homophobic. I think it'd be a dumb ad with a woman or man, regardless, so I can see the perspective of it being not homophobic.
You don't have to be disgusted with a person to be disgusted with what they do. So, i honestly don't see how you can say it's homophobic. I guess anyone that's religious and thinks homosexuality is wrong is homophobic. You shouldn't have to agree with someone's sexual lifestyle (or whatever you wanna call it) to avoid being considered prejudice. I could care less if someone considered something i did disgusting. ...and I could care less what an athlete says or does when they're not playing. I didn't when i was a kid and i don't now. I would think i've failed as a parent if my children viewed Shaq as a role model for perspective on social issues. ...and I really think the intention was just to make a goofy commercial. I doubt they had homosexuals in mind.
Why are talking about intimacy? This is a commercial about an NBA player and an announcer, who have never been intimate with one another. Being they have no history of an intimate relationship, Shaq would think it was weird to start one. I think what kids will get out of this is that SportsCenter is on ESPN.
I know. The definitions vary. I'd say any irrational fear or repulsion towards homosexuality or homosexuals is homophobia. If a person has a principled problem with the lifestyle, I wouldn't call that homophobia. I don't think homophobia implies prejudice, but it can very easily lead to it.
