NEWS: Not So GLAAD About American Idol

CULTURE: Not So GLAAD About American Idol

American Idol is a guilty pleasure for millions of TV viewers (including me) - last Tuesday's audition show even drew a whopping 35.5 million viewers. But some of the comments that Idol judges made during those auditions have angered the gay-rights group GLAAD found two comments disrespectful, though they have not (contrary to some news reports) labeled the show "homophobic." The controversial remarks were made by Simon Cowell, who told one male hopeful to "wear a dress," and Randy Jackson, who asked another male whether he was a girl. In response, GLAAD has said:

bad joke alert!

*According to the link that second comment was made by 'Jackson'.

How did Clay Aiken escape Cowell's scrutinous gay-dar?

My mistake, I'll fix it.

Isn't Simon Cowell gay?

GLAAD is the biggest bunch of pansies ever to form an acronym, except maybe PETA. They have absolutely no sense of humor and bitch and moan about every little minor infraction. This is the same organization that blasted Basic Instinct for featuring a bisexual murderer.

Cry me a river.

am i supposed to laugh at the fact that you called GLAAD the "biggest bunch of pansies?"

Some people just aren't happy if they aren't bitching.

(dated 17th Sep 2002, from here: http://www.myvillage.co.uk/pages/celebs-simoncowell.htm


His gf Terri Seymour

[Edited on Jan 24, 2006 by TeeJay]

homophobia is a pattern of behavior...not a few remarks on a crappy television show.

Yes. The whole point of the first few episodes of that show is to insult the contestants in any way possible. And these remarks seem very minor to me. It just comes across as nit-picking.

I didn't intend for it to be funny, so I don't know why you would think you should laugh.

The problem is that just like any group that bitches and moans too often (many organizations are guilty of this) you eventually lose your relevancy, and your condemnations don't mean as much when it truly matters.

There's a difference?

[Edited on Jan 23, 2006 by Cash]

Im sorry, but the guy they were talking about when Randy asked him if he was a girl, LOOKED like a girl. My friend in Denver worked with him and his band mate thought he was a chick too.

*rimshot*

As annoyed as you might have been, I have absolutely no doubt that there were many people who were offended by that segment (which I saw as it was happening). Even I found it offensive. They were completely exploiting that contestant for shock value and comedy. And don't let me hear anyone say that he was "asking for it" because he dressed and acted in a feminine way. That's his choice.

I wonder how many of us would think, "well I wish the Civil rights movement had shut it's big mouth for a while back i nthe 60s and 70s"? It's up to groups like GLAAD to open up public dialogue about these incidents, which is just what they are proposing to do in this case.
This is especially called for when the negative portrayal of this contestant (Zachary, if I recall) is shown to millions of mainstream television viewers in a manner that makes it seem acceptable.

[Edited on Jan 23, 2006 8:55PM]

Aren't all the men involved in American Idol gay?

They do that every season with the people they invite to perform for the judges even though they can't sing. It's just as bad every time regardless of the reason the person is being mocked.

And I don't like the word homophobic (I mean it should mean fear of things that are the same, right?). I wish it'd get replaced by something better.

Well the boy that randy was refering to was quite femine, and he was wearing ALL girls clothes. I had to do a double take myself. The craziest thing was that the boy was complaining that everyone confused him or being a girl. Silly. The Cowell comment was rude, I was a little agro about it. The show is like a train wreck, you dont want to but you cant help watching.

And yet... it's perfectly okay to exploit immigrants for shock value and comedy?



[Edited on Jan 23, 2006 by _DictionaryGirl_]

Oh, please, he exploited himself.

Of course he did. All I'm saying is that they certainly didn't let him on that show because of his talent. I don't watch American Idol though, so I don't know if the person in question was a talented performer or not. Otherwise, it really sucks, but half that show is people being brought on to be humiliated for the amusement of the public. It's a Colloseum mentality that's never really left us.

And even if he didn't, what would have been wrong with an immigrant's rights group (or whatever) speaking up to defend him?


[Edited on Jan 23, 2006 9:13PM]

I'm sure that the kid on last Tuesday's show has been asked a thousand times a day for the past ten years whether he was male or female.

I was online chatting with someone (maybe the author of this article) when it first aired and it went something like this:

"What the hell?"
"I don't know."

Curiosity does not equal homophobia.