Are Electric Cars Gay, or is Vce Vghn an Idt? Or, Both? | Vany Fair

Contents:

• “ELECTRIC VEHICL ARE GAY”
• RON HOWARD: "IF I'M NOT ALLOWED TO LL ELECTRIC RS 'GAY,' ENDANGERS EDY"
• ARE ELECTRIC CARS GAY, OR IS VCE VGHN AN IDT? OR, BOTH?BY BRETT BERKOCTOBER 11, 2010SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEUNIVERSAL PICTUR FOUND SELF ON THE RECEIVG END OF A STEAMG PILE OF PK RAGE THIS WEEK, WHEN BOTH THE SILVER FERRET, ANRSON COOPER, AND THE GAY AND LBIAN ALLIANCE AGAST DEFAMATN (GLAAD) TOOK TO TASK FOR A PEJORATIVE E OF THE WORD “GAY” THE TRAILER OF S UPG MOVIE THE DILEMMA. IN THE CLIP—AND, ONE SUPPOS, THE RRELATIVE MOVIE—A CHARACTER PLAYED BY BOX OFFICE-KRYPTONE VCE VGHN IS DISCSG NSUMER PERCEPTNS OF ELECTRIC RS AND SAYS “ELECTRIC RS ARE GAY.” HE THEN GO ON TO QUALIFY, PILG SULT ON JURY: “NOT HOMOSEXUAL GAY. BUT MY-PARENTS-ARE-CHAPERONG-THE-DANCE GAY.”SHUDR. AT A TIME WHEN NUMERO STARS, PSDO-STARS, AND NOT-FOR-PROF ANIZATNS LIKE THE GAY LBIAN STRAIGHT EDUTN NETWORK (GLSEN) ARE ATTEMPTG—SUCCSFULLY, STUDI SHOW —TO CHANGE KIDS’ BEHAVR WH REGARD TO G GAY AS A SYNONYM FOR LAME, UGLY, MORONIC, OR DISTASTEFUL, THE EXTRAORDARILY TENTNAL E OF THE TERM THIS WAY SEEMS NOT ONLY MEAN-SPIRED, DOUCHEY, AND SPERATE, BUT FORMIDABLY UN-FUNNY. (SORT OF LIKE VCE VGHN!) YET AS THE THOR OF A WEEKLY GAY R LUMN HERE AT , I N ALMOST HEAR THE HEAR MORONS-WHO-LOVE-TO-TENTNALLY-IGNORE-ALL-NTEXT ASKG SO HOW E YOU GET TO LL RS GAY, AND THE BLOWHARD BLOAT OM THE FRAT PACK DON’T? WELL, FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE NEVER TAKEN SEMTICS OR BEEN MA TO UNRSTAND THE BASIC UNRPNGS OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT, I’LL EXPLA: ALL SPEECH IS NOT EQUAL. IT HAS DIFFERENT SHAS OF MEANG PENDG ON WHO IS SAYG , WHAT NDN AND SUATN IS BEG LIVERED, WHO IS THE TEND DIENCE, AND WHETHER OR NOT HAS OBJECTIVE HUMORO MER. WHEN I’M WRG ABOUT GAY RS—AND I ALWAYS AM—I’M TALKG JOCULARLY, FACETLY, AND FARCILLY ABOUT THEM ACTUALLY BEG GAY, AS , HOMOSEXUAL: HANDSOME, WELL-SIGNED, PREDATORY, PROMISCUO, VIRILE, MCULAR, AND/OR LIKELY TO BE THE LT OBJECT OF AN MALE, MAN-LOVG TOPHILE. IN THIS AME OF REFERENCE, LLG A R “GAY” IS NOT ONLY SPECIFIC, SARSTIC, OVERTLY NONSENSIL, AND ROOTED A PARTICULAR MUNY (ME, THE GAY ONE), ’S ALSO, GENERALLY, PLIMENTARY, AND (HOPEFULLY) IL. AN OVERHYPED, UNRPERFORMG, STRAIGHT ACTOR LLG ELECTRIC RS “GAY” SOLELY AS AN SULT, YET ANOTHER PATHETIC AND DOOMED BROMANCE FLICK, DON’T MEET ANY OF THE CRERIA. (PARTICULARLY WHEN HE’S PLAYG A CHARACTER WE’RE MEANT TO LIKE. IF HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A TOTAL A-HOLE, THE SUATN MIGHT BE DIFFERENT.)PERHAPS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANY OF THIS, CREATG AND LIVERG SULTS FOR ELECTRIC RS, WHATEVER FORM, IS AN CREASGLY LAME AND OUTMOD PROPOSN. PRODUCTN RS LIKE THE NISSAN LEAF, CHEVY VOLT, FISKER KARMA, AND MY STALKG PARTNER THE TLA ROADSTER ARE ALREADY MOVG THE BAR OF NSUMER PERCEPTNS TOWARD THE POSIVE, PRACTIL, AND SPORTY, AND HOT AND HUNKY FUTURE VEHICL LIKE THE PORSCHE 918, AUDI E-TRON, AND JAGUAR C-X75 PROMISE TO NTUE THAT TREND. AS MY IEND JAMIE KMAN RECENTLY WROTE AS HIS (WNG) ENTRY A NEW YORK TIM BATE ON ELECTRIC VEHICL, “THE ADVANTAG [OF EVS] ARE HUGELY RELEVANT AND UNNIABLE.” HE WAS TALKG MALY ABOUT THEIR ENERGY EFFICIENCY PARED TO THE TERNALLY BTED. BUT ADD QUIET OPERATN, PROJECTED ENHANCEMENTS BATTERY RANGE AND TECHNOLOGY, AND STANT-ON POWER—ELECTRIC VEHICL LIVER ALL OF THEIR ACCELERATIVE THST THE MOMENT YOU H THE GAS—AND I’M NFINT WE’RE GOG TO BE JUMP-STARTG JOUL OF NSUMER NVERSNS THE NEXT FEW YEARS. THE GAYS ARE KNOWN AS EARLY ADOPTERS—WE PNEERED URBAN REVALIZATN, DIS, AND MANSPG, TO NAME JT A FEW MAJOR SOCIETAL NOVATNS—SO I’M GRABBG THIS ONE BACK OM MR. VGHN. I’D LIKE TO STATE FOR THE RERD: ELECTRIC RS ARE GAY. AS HOMOSEXUAL. AND THIS IS NO SULT; ’S A PK-AND-GREEN RALLYG CRY. SO WATCH THIS SPACE THE NEXT FEW MONTHS FOR MORE EXTENSIVE ELECTRIC-VEHICLE VERAGE.[HAT-TIP TO RAY WERT.]BRETT BERK WR GAILY ABOUT CULTURE, POLICS, AND RS FOR , AND IS THE THOR OF THE GAY UNCLE’S GUI TO PARENTG. VIS HIM AT OR FOLLOW HIM ON TWTER.MOST POPULARTHE TAN SUBMERSIBLE DISASTER WAS YEARS THE MAKG, NEW DETAILS REVEALBY SAN CASEYTE CRIME, TE FAH: THE SERIAL KILLER AND THE TEXAS MOM WHO STOPPED HIMBY JULIE MILLERPRCE HARRY AND MEGHAN MARKLE’S HEART OF INVICT NETFLIX DOC GETS A TRAILER AND RELEASE DATEBY KASE WICKMANBRETT BERK
• "ELECTRIC CARS ARE GAY" THE DILEMMA (MOVIE)
• IS VCE VGHN RIGHT? ARE ELECTRIC CARS GAY? OR CHICK CARS OR DOUCHEY? YOU PICK WHO TO OFFEND
• CURER AND CURER: TLA'S 'GAY' ELECTRIC CAR CONNECTN

“ELECTRIC VEHICL ARE GAY”

When he told his biker mat that she was gettg an electric vehicle, they said: “Electric vehicl are gay, mate!

RON HOWARD: "IF I'M NOT ALLOWED TO LL ELECTRIC RS 'GAY,' ENDANGERS EDY"

“Let’s have a drag race, ” he says to his mat — “your bike, my EV — we’ll soon see if EVs are gay.

[Edor’s note: There are clearly ser issu wh the phrase and suatns regardg “EVs are gay. When Universal Pictur altered the trailer for s upg Ron Howard-directed edy The Dilemma to remove a joke about how “electric rs are gay, ” set off a miature ntroversy about e of the word “gay” as a pejorative, pecially such an uncreative eratn as “electric rs are gay. ” After all, maybe right now is not such a good time to be throwg that around, what wh the entire untry tryg to nvce gay teens not to kill themselv, bee ostensibly one day they’ll get olr and fally be a place where llg somethg or someone “gay”—you know, “gay” like an electric r, which is gay somehow—isn’t an sult.

ARE ELECTRIC CARS GAY, OR IS VCE VGHN AN IDT? OR, BOTH?BY BRETT BERKOCTOBER 11, 2010SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEUNIVERSAL PICTUR FOUND SELF ON THE RECEIVG END OF A STEAMG PILE OF PK RAGE THIS WEEK, WHEN BOTH THE SILVER FERRET, ANRSON COOPER, AND THE GAY AND LBIAN ALLIANCE AGAST DEFAMATN (GLAAD) TOOK TO TASK FOR A PEJORATIVE E OF THE WORD “GAY” THE TRAILER OF S UPG MOVIE THE DILEMMA. IN THE CLIP—AND, ONE SUPPOS, THE RRELATIVE MOVIE—A CHARACTER PLAYED BY BOX OFFICE-KRYPTONE VCE VGHN IS DISCSG NSUMER PERCEPTNS OF ELECTRIC RS AND SAYS “ELECTRIC RS ARE GAY.” HE THEN GO ON TO QUALIFY, PILG SULT ON JURY: “NOT HOMOSEXUAL GAY. BUT MY-PARENTS-ARE-CHAPERONG-THE-DANCE GAY.”SHUDR. AT A TIME WHEN NUMERO STARS, PSDO-STARS, AND NOT-FOR-PROF ANIZATNS LIKE THE GAY LBIAN STRAIGHT EDUTN NETWORK (GLSEN) ARE ATTEMPTG—SUCCSFULLY, STUDI SHOW —TO CHANGE KIDS’ BEHAVR WH REGARD TO G GAY AS A SYNONYM FOR LAME, UGLY, MORONIC, OR DISTASTEFUL, THE EXTRAORDARILY TENTNAL E OF THE TERM THIS WAY SEEMS NOT ONLY MEAN-SPIRED, DOUCHEY, AND SPERATE, BUT FORMIDABLY UN-FUNNY. (SORT OF LIKE VCE VGHN!) YET AS THE THOR OF A WEEKLY GAY R LUMN HERE AT , I N ALMOST HEAR THE HEAR MORONS-WHO-LOVE-TO-TENTNALLY-IGNORE-ALL-NTEXT ASKG SO HOW E YOU GET TO LL RS GAY, AND THE BLOWHARD BLOAT OM THE FRAT PACK DON’T? WELL, FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE NEVER TAKEN SEMTICS OR BEEN MA TO UNRSTAND THE BASIC UNRPNGS OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT, I’LL EXPLA: ALL SPEECH IS NOT EQUAL. IT HAS DIFFERENT SHAS OF MEANG PENDG ON WHO IS SAYG , WHAT NDN AND SUATN IS BEG LIVERED, WHO IS THE TEND DIENCE, AND WHETHER OR NOT HAS OBJECTIVE HUMORO MER. WHEN I’M WRG ABOUT GAY RS—AND I ALWAYS AM—I’M TALKG JOCULARLY, FACETLY, AND FARCILLY ABOUT THEM ACTUALLY BEG GAY, AS , HOMOSEXUAL: HANDSOME, WELL-SIGNED, PREDATORY, PROMISCUO, VIRILE, MCULAR, AND/OR LIKELY TO BE THE LT OBJECT OF AN MALE, MAN-LOVG TOPHILE. IN THIS AME OF REFERENCE, LLG A R “GAY” IS NOT ONLY SPECIFIC, SARSTIC, OVERTLY NONSENSIL, AND ROOTED A PARTICULAR MUNY (ME, THE GAY ONE), ’S ALSO, GENERALLY, PLIMENTARY, AND (HOPEFULLY) IL. AN OVERHYPED, UNRPERFORMG, STRAIGHT ACTOR LLG ELECTRIC RS “GAY” SOLELY AS AN SULT, YET ANOTHER PATHETIC AND DOOMED BROMANCE FLICK, DON’T MEET ANY OF THE CRERIA. (PARTICULARLY WHEN HE’S PLAYG A CHARACTER WE’RE MEANT TO LIKE. IF HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A TOTAL A-HOLE, THE SUATN MIGHT BE DIFFERENT.)PERHAPS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANY OF THIS, CREATG AND LIVERG SULTS FOR ELECTRIC RS, WHATEVER FORM, IS AN CREASGLY LAME AND OUTMOD PROPOSN. PRODUCTN RS LIKE THE NISSAN LEAF, CHEVY VOLT, FISKER KARMA, AND MY STALKG PARTNER THE TLA ROADSTER ARE ALREADY MOVG THE BAR OF NSUMER PERCEPTNS TOWARD THE POSIVE, PRACTIL, AND SPORTY, AND HOT AND HUNKY FUTURE VEHICL LIKE THE PORSCHE 918, AUDI E-TRON, AND JAGUAR C-X75 PROMISE TO NTUE THAT TREND. AS MY IEND JAMIE KMAN RECENTLY WROTE AS HIS (WNG) ENTRY A NEW YORK TIM BATE ON ELECTRIC VEHICL, “THE ADVANTAG [OF EVS] ARE HUGELY RELEVANT AND UNNIABLE.” HE WAS TALKG MALY ABOUT THEIR ENERGY EFFICIENCY PARED TO THE TERNALLY BTED. BUT ADD QUIET OPERATN, PROJECTED ENHANCEMENTS BATTERY RANGE AND TECHNOLOGY, AND STANT-ON POWER—ELECTRIC VEHICL LIVER ALL OF THEIR ACCELERATIVE THST THE MOMENT YOU H THE GAS—AND I’M NFINT WE’RE GOG TO BE JUMP-STARTG JOUL OF NSUMER NVERSNS THE NEXT FEW YEARS. THE GAYS ARE KNOWN AS EARLY ADOPTERS—WE PNEERED URBAN REVALIZATN, DIS, AND MANSPG, TO NAME JT A FEW MAJOR SOCIETAL NOVATNS—SO I’M GRABBG THIS ONE BACK OM MR. VGHN. I’D LIKE TO STATE FOR THE RERD: ELECTRIC RS ARE GAY. AS HOMOSEXUAL. AND THIS IS NO SULT; ’S A PK-AND-GREEN RALLYG CRY. SO WATCH THIS SPACE THE NEXT FEW MONTHS FOR MORE EXTENSIVE ELECTRIC-VEHICLE VERAGE.[HAT-TIP TO RAY WERT.]BRETT BERK WR GAILY ABOUT CULTURE, POLICS, AND RS FOR , AND IS THE THOR OF THE GAY UNCLE’S GUI TO PARENTG. VIS HIM AT OR FOLLOW HIM ON TWTER.MOST POPULARTHE TAN SUBMERSIBLE DISASTER WAS YEARS THE MAKG, NEW DETAILS REVEALBY SAN CASEYTE CRIME, TE FAH: THE SERIAL KILLER AND THE TEXAS MOM WHO STOPPED HIMBY JULIE MILLERPRCE HARRY AND MEGHAN MARKLE’S HEART OF INVICT NETFLIX DOC GETS A TRAILER AND RELEASE DATEBY KASE WICKMANBRETT BERK

Whether you saw the argument as a timely and important issue, or much ado over what is, let’s face , a throwaway joke a middlebrow Ron Howard film livered by middlebrow actor Vce Vghn that’s gotten more attentn than probably serv due to s tangential nnectn to a timely and important issue, both Vghn and now Howard have an altogether different take—that ’s a threat to edy as we know time David Spa put David Bowie his placeOffEnglishA uple of weeks ago, Vghn issued a statement sayg that jok like “electric rs are gay” help to “brg together” and “break tensn” by jokg about our differenc, bee gay people are jt so tense the days.

Well anyway, over the weekend, Howard issued his own plementary statement a very long, kd of preachy e-mail to the Los Angel Tim, sentially argug that, even though gay people probably don't need any extra sh right now g om a Ron Howard/Vce Vghn pic of all plac, if he allows himself to be “strong-armed” to changg the joke, would be nyg edy’s right to be offensive as a means to provokg thought. As we said before, the timels of the trailer—and the fact that cid wh the “It Gets Better” mpaign and some of the most fervent discsn about the bullyg of gays this natn has ever had—undoubtedly ntributed to the sensivy wh which was received.

And fely there have been other movi and TV shows who have ma “this is gay” jok whout Anrson Cooper llg them out. But if storytellers, edians, actors and artists are strong armed to makg creative chang, will endanger edy as both entertament and a provoker of, fair pot, but keep md that this is all fense of keepg the joke “electric rs are gay, ” which only gets ls funny the more you hear .

"ELECTRIC CARS ARE GAY" THE DILEMMA (MOVIE)

Perhaps ’s an illtratn that people who rort to g “gay” as a go-to punchle are part of a lazy, unfunny, slowly dyg breed that should be mocked for their lack of creativy? Universal Pictur found self on the receivg end of a steamg pile of Pk Rage this week, when both the Silver Ferret, Anrson Cooper, and the Gay and Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn (GLAAD) took to task for a pejorative e of the word “gay” the trailer of s upg movie The Dilemma.

In the clip—and, one suppos, the rrelative movie—a character played by box office-Kryptone Vce Vghn is discsg nsumer perceptns of electric rs and says “electric rs are gay.

” He then go on to qualify, pilg sult on jury: “Not homosexual gay. But my-parents-are-chaperong-the-dance gay. At a time when numero stars, psdo-stars, and not-for-prof anizatns like the Gay Lbian Straight Edutn Network (GLSEN) are attemptg—succsfully, studi show —to change kids’ behavr wh regard to g gay as a synonym for lame, ugly, moronic, or distasteful, the extraordarily tentnal e of the term this way seems not only mean-spired, douchey, and sperate, but formidably un-funny.

IS VCE VGHN RIGHT? ARE ELECTRIC CARS GAY? OR CHICK CARS OR DOUCHEY? YOU PICK WHO TO OFFEND

) Yet as the thor of a weekly gay r lumn here at, I n almost hear the hear morons-who-love-to-tentnally-ignore-all-ntext askg So how e you get to ll rs gay, and the blowhard bloat om The Frat Pack don’t?

CURER AND CURER: TLA'S 'GAY' ELECTRIC CAR CONNECTN

When I’m wrg about gay rs—and I always am—I’m talkg jocularly, facetly, and farcilly about them actually beg gay, as , homosexual: handsome, well-signed, predatory, promiscuo, virile, mcular, and/or likely to be the lt object of an male, man-lovg tophile. In this ame of reference, llg a r “gay” is not only specific, sarstic, overtly nonsensil, and rooted a particular muny (me, the gay one), ’s also, generally, plimentary, and (hopefully) il. An overhyped, unrperformg, straight actor llg electric rs “gay” solely as an sult, yet another pathetic and doomed bromance flick, don’t meet any of the creria.