Jonah Hill on Calling a Paparazzo "Faggot"

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St3v3 said:
I have honestly never heard anyone use "faggot" as a derogatory term towards a gay person, it has always been a general insult like asshole. I'm not saying it's cool to fling it around, but as someone who plays a lot of online games the word has lost all impact.
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I applaud your ability to not only remain oblivious to a serious problem in our discourse and the broader issue of pervasive homophobia in society, but to maintain that there's no problem in the first place. Double bonus points if you're not gay.
 
ab.aeterno said:
Sorry to hear that man. I've managed to harden my heart enough from growing up online that it by itself doesn't prompt much but an eye roll, but people acting homophobic still pushes buttons. I play a lot of ESO now after forgoing MMOs for years, and I was taken aback by how vile chat got at times. Nothing like seeing people think you wanting to marry is akin to marrying animals to remind you that this shit ain't over.
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It's not a huge deal, just that little twinge of annoyance. I try to leave my childhood behind but sometimes it can be difficult to completely forget the past.
 
Sorry for ruining the fun straight people who like to toss it around with their buds. Those in the LGBTQ community will just try to toughen up!
 
Steve Youngblood said:
Right. But I've missed what stereotype we are talking about. If you're just randomly being called a terrorist, then I don't understand why. If it's because you're of Middle Eastern descent, then you'd have every right to be offended.
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Yes the reason they bring it up in the first place is because I'm of middle eastern descent but they are making fun of the stereotype that all middle Easterns/Muslims are terrorists because they view me as a person who couldn't hurt a fly (which I am!). It does bother me but it would have bothered me even more if this was on the national need with everyone's eyes on me or my group of people. But I have come to accept not everyone shares my views.
 
This is the podcast snippet I was talking about when I mentioned Todd Glass earlier. It's interesting because as I said Todd Glass is such a blue-collar, Philly, broad shouldered dude yet he remained uncomfortable with "coming out" for such a long time.

https://soundcloud.com/comedybangbang/290-todd-glass-james-adomian#t=26m27s

todd_glass3_20090716.jpeg


He actually criticizes people for not accepting that he wasn't ready to come out. Which is a form of pressure that as straight person I had never conceived of. But the point is that this big tough guy says that yes, equating gay with lame made it harder to come and accept himself even when it was coming from "kind, loving" people.




I post the link because I guess I never assumed that a smart, strong, understanding gay man would still take pain from calling something "gay."
 
St3v3 said:
I have honestly never heard anyone use "faggot" as a derogatory term towards a gay person, it has always been a general insult like asshole. I'm not saying it's cool to fling it around, but as someone who plays a lot of online games the word has lost all impact.
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The casual use and acceptance of a word doesn't divorce it from why it's an insult in the first place and the group it's connected to. Faggot is an insult precisely because it was used to demean gay people. Using it to insult someone didn't suddenly spring out of nowhere. The negative connotations were, and still are, already there.

If everyone suddenly started using nigger to call someone stupid would that be ok?

"I'm just saying he's stupid"
"I'm just saying he's an asshole"

It's weak.
 
FullMetalx117 said:
Yes the reason they bring it up in the first place is because I'm of middle eastern descent but they are making fun of the stereotype that all middle Easterns/Muslims are terrorists because they view me as a person who couldn't hurt a fly (which I am!). It does bother me but it would have bothered me even more if this was on the national need with everyone's eyes on me or my group of people. But I have come to accept not everyone shares my views.
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It's a perfectly valid response to roll with the punches. Despite being offended sometimes, maybe you find humor in these stereotypical jokes yourself sometimes. I've seen plenty of people who represent some minority make self deprecating jokes about stereotypes. I'd be lying if I said I never went to those wells myself ever. I do know that when I do, I try to make it absolutely clear that I'm more making fun of the stereotype itself.

But I think part of growing older and maturing is questioning whether or not I'm really as thoughtful as I think. Yeah, it's a bummer to be called out as bigoted when I think of myself as a thoughtful, open minded person. But I think it would be worse to carry on unwittingly hurting and/or annoying people when I think I'm simply being funny. And the fact of the matter is that I'll never know -- people in general will never know -- if these sorts of comments are never called out for fear of rocking the boat.

I understand that there's some pragmatic wisdom in advocating not letting stuff get to you. But it can also be counterproductive. To tie it back to an earlier post you made, the fact of the matter is that it's true no one class necessarily deserves more protection than the other. I don't think it's appropriate to call someone a faggot. Likewise, I don't think it's appropriate to call you a terrorist.
 
Seanspeed said:
What does being white have to do with this?

And where did I defend using the word? I stated multiple times that its wrong. I even made a disclaimer saying that I wasn't defending it because somebody might try and accuse me of that, missing the point. And yet here you are, STILL doing it. lol

Anytime a controversial subject comes up, too many people's brains just go into 'finger pointing' mode and forget to stop and think sometimes.
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I was really adding on to your point rather than opposing it, but being white always plays a role in this. White men have dictated the terms of society for about four hundred years now. They created the discrimination, they created the language, and they created the intent. That's all well and good, but they don't get to sit here after hundreds of years and now try to tell everyone else how to feel about it.
 
kirblar said:
What he's saying is a pretty typical American male experience when it comes to growing up with/around that word. He's not defending it, he's explaining why it's so difficult to eradicate, because the word triggers a different meaning for him even though intellectually he understands the problem with it.
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I dont know, if you're a grown man saying "fag" willy nilly, you are a manchild, douchebag or both.
 
I dont think I could handle being a celeb after watching the vid of him. It has got to get real god damn annoying having ppl following you and shoving cameras in your face all the time. Those people are real scum bags.
 
Those Todd Glass clips are great, thanks for those. I had only seen him on Getting Doug With High, didn't know he was gay and it was nice to hear it from his perspective. Might be good to share with my friend who happens to say "that's so gay" a lot.
 
Straights:

Please don't tell me how I should feel when you say faggot or use gay to mean stupid or try to argue that those words aren't actually offensive anymore. You don't get to do that. Thanks.
 
The word is still so amazingly common. To see someone apologize like this while fantastic is also kind of weird when I think about my everyday life at work and with friends where the word will pop up a couple times a week without comment. Much less than it was in High School, but still strangely common. Stopped even mentioning it to friends as they don't seem to give a shit. "Retard" is even more common. My mother went ape shit when I suggested she shouldn't use that word in the way she does. These are those kind of words that people use so often without thinking that it can be tough to stop. Don't know Jonah's personal journey through this, but at his age you think he would have solved that...
 
When you talk to someone, you are communicating via their interpretation of the words you choose. Full stop. Death of the author. Everyone has to be responsible enough to understand that if someone interprets a word as hurtful, then you should only use that word if you intend to be hurtful.
 
What is it with some straight and/or white people and the need to use words full of negative connotations? The you're-too-sensitive-card is being played a lot, but this has nothing to do with people being too sensitive, and everything to do with people being little cry baby bitches because they can't use a few words.

Every time you use that word in front of a gay person you remind them of the shit they go through in life, regardless of how you mean it. Congrats!

As for Jonah, he's a grown ass man and should have known better. Disappointing.
 
Whitechocolatekrispies said:
This is an ignorant view. If you can't accept that word meanings transgress and change frequently, then you're been just as ignorant.

Yes the word started off as a slur. Yes people use it as a slur. But many people absorb words in the context they are used. Not through the meaning behind them.

There are people who use it just as a word that has impact, not because it has a deep routed meaning.

So next time someone lets it slip, take a good look at who they really are before you immediately grab the pitchforks.
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Pankratous said:
21.

And to answer everyone else, the word faggot is not used to specifically target gay people here. We use it for banter, we call anyone it. If it is ever used in a derogatory manner, its always talking about a general asshole.
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"Hey man, I don't use nigger as an insult to black people, I just use it as a general insult to mean someone is an idiotic, subhuman asshole. Totally ok!"

What in the actual fuck at some of the idiocy ITT. The fact that you're using faggot, a derogatory term for gay people, as a general insult to mean "asshole," "jerk," or whatever, is exactly why it's terrible. When you use that word that way, regardless of who you're hurling it at, you are equating homosexuality with being something bad and undesirable. Stop it. It's exactly like saying something is "gay" as a way to say it sucks.

KHarvey16 said:
How the fuck do some of you get this so wrong? The fact that faggot and gay are used as general put downs makes it WORSE. It stems from a feeling that no one would ever want to be gay or be around anyone that's gay, and it's so terrible that simply suggesting you want to have sex with men is the worst insult most people can think of. Saying that calling someone a faggot isn't referring to them as gay is complete nonsense. Everyone knows what the damn word means and that's exactly why it's used that way. Even if you somehow missed what it means you're still using it because of those reasons whether you realize it or not.

What he's doing now is recognizing what he did wrong, owning up to it, apologizing and even trying to use it to educate. If even 1% of people reacted this way when they made a mistake the world would be an immeasurably better place, and he should be commended for doing the right thing.
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Exactly this. It's really not a hard concept to grasp people.
 
Art said:
As for Jonah, he's a grown ass man and should have known better. Disappointing.
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I think people are being a little hard on him. He grew up when calling stupid things gay, or calling assholes faggots was the norm, you know, the 90's. He was being antagonized and the word slipped out.
 
collige said:
I disagree. If the speaker's intent isn't homophobic AND the person on the receiving end understands that intent, I don't see the argument that that's perpetuating homophobia. To take your example of the child in the library, his family was obviously in the right to prevent him from using a potentially harmful word. But, if he were to say the same thing to a classmate who also has no idea what homosexuality even is, then how can one argue that they're perpetuating harmful trends in the vacuum of their conversation?
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The only situation I can think of where that would be the case would be within the narrow context of a relationship between two friends who are not using the word as an insult or to mean anything negative at all, and instead are using it as a sort of ironic reversal of homophobic attitudes. And yes, I think your example perpetuates harmful trends; I had no idea what a "faggot" was when kids started calling me it, and I was harmed by it.

You're right, we are nowhere close. However, the only way for "faggot" to ever mean anything other than "gay man" is for people to use it in some other way. But if you're arguing against that, then it sort of becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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I'm not arguing against people using it in some other way; I am arguing against the notion that this is actually occurring. I don't accept the idea that you can use "faggot" as an insult and change the social meaning of the word. All that succeeds in doing is creating a more hostile environment. If you wanted to talk about making "faggot" a word of endearment, that's different. But I see no evidence of that.

And I hardly think I'm the cause of this self-fulfilling prophecy. Rather, I think the barrier to your plan is a) the fact that some people continue to use "faggot" as a specific insult for gay people, b) gay people understand it as a slur, c) it is impossible to readily differentiate between an intentionally homophobic and a generalized insult "faggot." I don't think those barriers are surmountable, at least not in my lifetime.
 
Glad he made an apology. We all make mistakes, and it would be cynical to attack the person after they apologize.

I used to constantly say the word retarded. I now have a niece with Down Syndrome. She is 13 and unfortunately some kids are starting to be mean to her. They make jokes about short buses and use the word retard. The good news is she does have friends and they stick up for her.

Even adults have said stuff like "That is so retarded" when she is around. Not directed at her of course, and they probably don't even realize they are being offensive.

Unfortunately I'm sad to say it took a family member having Down Syndrome for me to realize how offensive I was being saying the word.
 
This part of the apology makes little sense to me

How you mean things doesn’t matter. Words have weight in meaning.
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Isn't it contradictory? Words have a meaning because we give them meaning, how you mean things certainly matters a whole freaking lot.

That's why "faggot" can be inocous in certain contexts, and the more accepted term "gay" can be awfully offensive in others.
 
Thanks to Jonah for being honest and willing to admit that the word is hurtful.

ivysaur12 said:
Straights:

Please don't tell me how I should feel when you say faggot or use gay to mean stupid or try to argue that those words aren't actually offensive anymore. You don't get to do that. Thanks.
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Now you're just being a gay thug about this. They have 'gay friends' and their 'gay friends' don't mind when they used the word.

.....

Please excuse me, I have a migraine from the eye rolling I had to do while typing the last sentence above because I hear/read it so often.
 
mantidor said:
This part of the apology makes little sense to me

Isn't it contradictory? Words have a meaning because we give them meaning, how you mean things certainly matters a whole freaking lot.

That's why "faggot" can be inocous in certain contexts, and the more accepted term "gay" can be awfully offensive in others.
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It's not the most articulate phrasing. But the short of it is that it behooves us to -- within reason -- be aware of how our words can be interpreted. If someone takes offense to something I've said, while it may be possible that they're being irrational and going out of their way to take offense where clearly none was intended, it's in my best interest to consider that what I'm saying may not be what others are hearing.
 
mantidor said:
This part of the apology makes little sense to me



Isn't it contradictory? Words have a meaning because we give them meaning, how you mean things certainly matters a whole freaking lot.

That's why "faggot" can be inocous in certain contexts, and the more accepted term "gay" can be awfully offensive in others.
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I thought he was saying his intent =/= culturally understood definition.
 
Steve Youngblood said:
It's not the most articulate phrasing. But the short of it is that it behooves us to -- within reason -- be aware of how our words can be interpreted. If someone takes offense to something I've said, while it may be possible that they're being irrational and going out of their way to take offense where clearly none was intended, it's in my best interest to consider that what I'm saying may not be what others are hearing.
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Your "words" vs. what you "imply". Given the nature of language it is expected that there are differences of understanding between individuals. It is hard to see that with just online wording. Body language plays a huge part.
 
This thread makes me sad. Not just because of the horrible replies waning away my faith in humanity, but because reading through it reminded me how much I used the term only a few years ago as a teenager.

On topic though; a very good response from Mr. Hill. Proper apologies feel good these days.
 
ivysaur12 said:
Straights:

Please don't tell me how I should feel when you say faggot or use gay to mean stupid or try to argue that those words aren't actually offensive anymore. You don't get to do that. Thanks.
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This x 1000000000000000000000000

The blasé and irresponsible attitude some people have towards this is mind numbing.
 
I am not a homosexual, so I can't pretend to know how that word affects them, but it at least seems that Hill's apology is genuine. Sure, maybe some of it is a PR move, but that's almost necessary given how very famous he is. People make mistakes, but a sincere apology can go a long way.
 
Interesting to see the general tone of this thread compared to the thread with the woman losing her shit in the parking lot with the black guy in the car
 
hbkdx12 said:
Interesting to see the general tone of this thread compared to the thread with the woman losing her shit in the parking lot with the black guy in the car
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It was basically the same shit yesterday. Sad to see that there's still any kind of discussion about defending the use of the word.
 
DopeToast said:
I am not a homosexual, so I can't pretend to know how that word affects them, but it at least seems that Hill's apology is genuine. Sure, maybe some of it is a PR move, but that's almost necessary given how very famous he is. People make mistakes, but a sincere apology can go a long way.
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Genuine? Lol, he's making sure his $$ flow doesn't stop
 
In my experience, the word was used as an insult more often 10-15 years ago, but as society has changed, so have the insults. Im not surprised if he just pulled it out of his list of cuss words without thinking , it could've just been a part of his teenahe years (as many of us are familiar with)
 
Is anybody else tired of living in a society where everything that is said offends somebody?

Racial slurs, or homophobic comments are wrong (period)... but we have to have thicker skin. If I had a dime for everytime I was offended I would be having lunch with Warren Buffet. its so frustrating to cut on tv and be unable to get away from Jonah Hill apologizing, or Justin Bieber videos that are like 5 years old.... or the Donald Sterling chic getting beat up... oh and by the way... I have to say this... that girl is not really that hot to begin with.
 
MrPressStart said:
Is anybody else tired of living in a society where everything that is said offends somebody?

Racial slurs, or homophobic comments are wrong (period)... but we have to have thicker skin. If I had a dime for everytime I was offended I would be having lunch with Warren Buffet. its so frustrating to cut on tv and be unable to get away from Jonah Hill apologizing, or Justin Bieber videos that are like 5 years old.... or the Donald Sterling chic getting beat up... oh and by the way... I have to say this... that girl is not really that hot to begin with.
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If an apology for using the word faggot is frustrating you then change the channel or turn off the tv.
 
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