I love movie politicians almost as much as I loathe real-life politicians. Barack Obama? Mitt Romney? Hillary Clinton? Newt Gingrich? Not for me. Nobody gets to the top of American politics without being in somebody’s pocket.
But politicians like “Independence Day’s” Thomas J. Whitmore, “The West Wing’s” Josiah Bartlet, and “Idiocracy’s” Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho? Those guys are leaders. The only person those great Americans have to thank for putting them in the White House is their screenwriter.
On the top of that list for me is Andrew Shepherd from “The American President.” My favorite moment from his faux administration was when he got ticked off at Senator Bob Rumson for making fun of his girlfriend and cut a bad-ass promo (wrestling term) on the Republican hopeful. The quote that always stuck with me went a little something like this…
“You want free speech? Let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil. Who’s standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs, that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours.”
Blam! For my money, that’s the perfect summation of what free speech should be.
You’re probably wondering, where is all of this coming from, Gordon? This has nothing to do with “Ghostbusters” or “Survivor” or the 2011 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals.
That’s true. But, there’s been a lot of talk lately about what people should and should not be allowed to say on the Internet. Can we complain about SOPA censoring the Internet one week and then try to stop “family values” Facebook groups from making homophobic comments the next?
I don’t think so.
Just like it’s my right to love “Ghostbusters” and “Survivor” and the 2011 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals, it’s their right to think their God doesn’t dig gay folks.
Is their way of thinking right? I don’t think so.
Should we try to convince them that most gay people are super awesome? Yep.
Should we stop them from speaking their minds? No. Never.
And worst-case scenario, if we can’t figure out a way to make them respect the LGBT community, it’ll be easier to point the a—holes out in a crowd.