Another case of “is it” or “isn’t it.” It’s Mike Breen attempting a “fist kiss” with Shaq; Some people are calling it homophobic while others are defending it. Take a look, and then take into consideration some history: Shaq helping police chase down gay bashers, Shaq’s reaction to questions about having a gay teammate, and ESPN’s pro-gay record. Is the ad homophobic?
(Update: ESPN pulls the ad and apologizes).
Thanks to Patricia Nell Warren for turning us onto this.
on Feb 1st, 2009 at 4:10 PM
Is the ad homophobic? Yes, it probably has roots in homophobia. Are ESPN and Shaq homophobic? Looking at their actions and words as a whole, no.
There is a difference in being insensitive (and maybe a bit ignorant of the effects of an action) and having a deep rooted hate. They cleary do not hate; they just did something that tried to be funny. It just failed on the humor scale and the smart scale.
on Feb 1st, 2009 at 4:10 PM
I wouldnt say its homophobic, I would just say the ad sucks….
People do the “fist kiss” all the time, no matter what you call it, so mking it out to be a big deal in any perspective is just od. It just doesn’t make any sense?
IMHO
I see how it can be taken badly though
on Feb 1st, 2009 at 4:22 PM
What is it even about? I know ESPN ads are often absurd (Romo as a front desk assistant, the whole Y2K ads) but this is strange. I don’t think it’s intentionally homophobic, just bad.
on Feb 1st, 2009 at 4:30 PM
I get “This video is not available in your country or domain.” Boo! Is this clip available on YouTube, or somewhere where a person in Canada can view it?
on Feb 1st, 2009 at 4:33 PM
There is no way anyone could consider this homophobic. There could be any number of reasons why Shaq doesn’t want to “fist kiss.” Maybe he doesn’t like fist-kissing white people, men over 50, or dudes with grey hair and jeans.
I don’t think anyone claimed this was homophobic.
on Feb 1st, 2009 at 5:42 PM
If it were called a “fist rap”, Shaq would have likely done it. It’s all in the nomenclature.
on Feb 2nd, 2009 at 12:09 AM
Canmark, it is on Youtube – I don’t know why you can’t see it.
on Feb 2nd, 2009 at 12:24 AM
Don’t people have other things to do with their time than worry about such trite matters as this? I know I am spending time writing but this just seems completely unnecessary. Fist kiss sounds disgusting to me too.
on Feb 2nd, 2009 at 12:40 AM
Shaq just lost some points with me.
on Feb 2nd, 2009 at 12:53 AM
Just visiting yall’s site. I think you’re reaching with speculating about this commercial.
on Feb 2nd, 2009 at 1:25 AM
Has anyone in the known universe ever called it a “fist kiss”? Ever? Even after all the absurd talk from the right wing about Barack and Michelle Obama’s doing it during the campaign last year? That in itself makes the commercial stupid.
Had Shaq just said “no” to Breen it would be totally fine. The whole “you’re gettin’ weird on me, go sit over there” act was sad. His saying the word “disgusting” made it kind of ugly. It’s another of those borderline things. They’re not going to come out and say “being gay is bad” anymore. They’re all too happy to hint at it, though.
on Feb 3rd, 2009 at 8:03 AM
This is sad that we are even discussing this, and now ESPN had pulled the ad. People are too sensitive. So, sensitive, in fact, that when there IS an issue, we sleep on it.
Had that guy asked Shaq to do anything with a kiss, it would have been weird. Why? Because Shaq doesn’t kiss men, that I know of. It is not homophobic to think it’s weird to do things that you don’t do. if gay people who known for “fist-kiss” then there may be something to this. Would it be sexist for me to not want to “fist-kiss” a woman? Of course not. We should really be calling out the racism and homophobia within the gay community instead of looking for the media’s short comings.
I am losing respect for some gay people and GLAAD. I guest that makes me homophobic, too.