He who must not be paid attention

LOVE THIS PIECE BY Rich Juzwiak!

All that Perez Hilton shit nauseated my Monday. Forget about his turning assault into a plea for attention -- that's to be expected from someone who comes off like a Garbage Pail Kid translation of Madonna (as if there weren't one already). It's the "faggot" thing that bothers me. For all his complaining about being socked in the face, he shot himself in the foot before that even could happen. This fool, who's given a national platform for no particular reason beyond serendipity, goes and hurdles that word at another person as if it's something to be ashamed of. This, coming from someone who turned Carrie Prejean's worth-ignoring ignorance into would-be crusade for gay rights. This, coming after that crusade resulted in a showcase for his inarticulation and inability to win an argument with even a complete idiot who equated not welcoming girls to the Boy Scouts with not allowing gays to marry. That shit drove me crazy because he seemed oblivious to the obvious points (like something as basic as, hey, our values can change as a society as we learn more, particularly about the nature of homosexuality). I didn't write about it, nor have I written much about him in general (despite the very pronounced feeling of bile flooding into my mouth that he regularly produces), because if you say something disparaging about someone who has the same job as you and who's infinitely more successful (numbers-wise, I mean), you end up looking jealous, or at least of dubious motivation.

But I don't care about that at this point, because I couldn't be less jealous of him especially given the current circumstances. I just kind of want to throw up my hands (or in my hands) and call out this character, this persona, this online half-person for what it is: bad for the Internet, bad for gay people, bad for the world. I can't help but feel like everything would be better off without him. I know that's a harsh and extreme point of view and believe me that I paused before typing that to actually consider him and his contribution to society. I'd go as far as to say I racked my brain and I've still come up with absolutely nothing positive or pro-social that he has brought to the world, at least on a public level (and keep in mind that I'm not following his every move, so I could have missed an act of philanthropy or two). But not even the "entertainment" he provides is to be commended, as it ultimately lowers the very low standards of the Internet. Forget the rich and famous, if you are a human being, Perez Hilton makes you look bad, no MS Paint necessary.

And yesterday, that got me down. It's just like, what's it going to take to break this damaging enchantment people have with him? Does he have to hurt someone? Kill them? Actually ejaculate on them? Like, what? But as the day unfolded, it seemed like the overwhelming majority of people who gave a fuck to say anything about this nonsense were calling him on his bullshit. Certainly this was so at Gawker and ONTD (but that's to be expected) but also on Twitter (where Perez's look-at-me's made their debut this time). Kelly Clarkson, that little pop cherub, spoke out against his shit. And then GLADD issued a demand for an apology that summed up his error as succinctly as accurately as possible. It reads, in part: "These are vulgar antigay slurs that feed a climate of hatred and intolerance toward our community. For someone in our own community to use it to attack another person by saying that it is 'The worst possible thing that thug would ever want to hear,' is incredibly dangerous. It legitimizes use of a slur that is often linked to violence against our community. And it sends a message that it is OK to attempt to dehumanize people by exploiting antigay attitudes."

All this backlash gives me hope. We're doing the right thing. We're making ourselves look good. Way to go, everyone. Take back the Paint!

June 23, 2009 in Dumbness, Gayness | Permalink