Jake In Drag??

[Flashframe777]

I'm black and gay and 1/4 Pawnee Indian.  So I could be offended that Jake put on a dress and played a black woman.

But I'm not.  I thought it doubly funny.  Being a double minority, offensive behavior and commentary assail my consciouness every minute of the day (especially since conservatives have been running the show for the past 6 years).  I have to pick and choose what I let affect me sparingly or else I'd have no time to enjoy myself.

I am in no way saying that you don't have the right to be offended however.

[dot-matrix]

For those of you who did not like it or were offended let me offer a few thoughts that may help you get past that sense of offense.  SNL is about satire not political correctness. Otherwise President Bush should be having a major hissy fit this morning. Perhaps some of his supporters are, perhaps he is but the point is this anyone who watches SNL should be prepared and willing to have fun poked at their expense.

We forget that these 2 fine actors are not obsessed with this film, we are.    Neither Jake nor Heath signed up to be the poster boys for Gay Rights when they agreed to play these roles.  We all need to lighten up a bit.  I really can't blame Jake and Health for wanting to put the film behind them and move on with their careers. So I feel Jake was being a good sport. I remember reading an acceptance speech made recently by Heath in his native Australia for still yet another BBM recognition award. He stated "this film doesn't want to go away" and in essence, told the audience the best thing to come out of this film is his family.

If I were to have a chance meeting with either two I don't believe I would bring up the subject of BBM. I imagine they are plumb well full of hearing about it.  In a couple of years Heath will be rolling his eyeballs over everyone doing Joker imitations... this too shall pass.


as Clarissa shared from her meeting with Lynne and Truman, Lynne's very wise observation: " We do alot better if we remember that Heath and Jake are NOT Ennis and Jack" (apologies to Lynne if the wording is off)

[injest]

For those of you who did not like it or were offended let me offer a few thoughts that may help you get past that sense of offense.  SNL is about satire not political correctness. Otherwise President Bush should be having a major hissy fit this morning. Perhaps some of his supporters are, perhaps he is but the point is this anyone who watches SNL should be prepared and willing to have fun poked at their expense.

We forget that these 2 fine actors are not obsessed with this film, we are.    Neither Jake nor Heath signed up to be the poster boys for Gay Rights when they agreed to play these roles.  We all need to lighten up a bit.  I really can't blame Jake and Health for wanting to put the film behind them and move on with their careers. So I feel Jake was being a good sport. I remember reading an acceptance speech made recently by Heath in his native Australia for still yet another BBM recognition award. He stated "this film doesn't want to go away" and in essence, told the audience the best thing to come out of this film is his family.

If I were to have a chance meeting with either two I don't believe I would bring up the subject of BBM. I imagine they are plumb well full of hearing about it.  In a couple of years Heath will be rolling his eyeballs over everyone doing Joker imitations... this too shall pass.

you are right...

of course...I doubt Bush lives in fear that he will encounter a tire iron if he goes to the wrong area of town...

belittleing and stereotyping leads people to believe it is ok to treat minorities in different ways...I am 1/4 Coushatta...but see the difference there is no one is gonna TIRE IRON me for that...

lighten up??

no I won't laugh and mock a minority...it is not funny...

not when the minority you are mocking is in such a vulnerable position. We are living in a time when there is a concerted effort to destroy the civil rights of gay people. Gay youths are at a much higher risk for suicide. It is time to stop laughing at jokes that are not funny!

note please that the Civil Rights movement (which was at least successful in the courts) DEMANDED that the parodies and satires be stopped as a STEP to getting a bit of respect and consideration??

[acoustic man]

Dot-Matrix very well put. As a straight fan of BBM I was concerned that SNL would flambaste BBM knowing how SNL can be. I really respect Jake for taking the high road and refusing to do skits pertaining to BBM. Look at the Donald and Rosie skit they did! I agree that we all should be able to live in a world as equals and we all must be able to live our lives and laugh at ourselves once and awhile without the fear of being ridiculed. These are just actors and BBM was a movie, it is the story we all love so much and if BBM raised awareness of the many problems facing gays then we should focus on how to continue this awareness so that we can all learn how to live our lives , laugh at our short comings and be accepting of each other gay or straight.

[newyearsday]

Howdy Tremblayans,

I've been thinking about this today and last night, and I feel a little something of what each of the various camps have said, so I have some mixed feelings about the drag sketch. In watching it twice now I have both times felt this interesting double message or contradiction happen as Jake begins to introduce the number.

First he says flat out he won't do any Brokeback jokes. Good. Then he says, also very sincerely, that doing that movie really meant a lot to him and opened him up...then there is a little pause and he looks down or to the side a little, and right there is where the contradiction or double message starts to happen, as he looks up and finishes saying that the movie opened him up "to a whole new fan base" (i.e. gay men) and that he really got a lot of support from them. Now I know Jake is an actor, and so who really knows if his actual personal sentiments are in this monologue. But I felt he switched subtly from a sincere to a slightly tongue-in-cheek way of talking about his gratefulness for the gay fan-base right at that point. I think that if he had played it fully sincere the whole time I would have enjoyed it more. But in that change of delivery I felt a little let down, a little unsure of what his intent was as a comedian and as a person.

The drag doesn't bother me--I mean it's conceivable that Jake really did want to show some sollidarity with the gay community or blur sterotypes by just showing how a (probably) straight man can put on a dress and sing the crap out of a really demanding number. From watching his acceptance speech for the Human Rights Campaign Equality Award last year, I have this belief that Jake is truly a supporter of the gay community, and I even think it's possible that he chose that song because of the message of loyalty it contains. See this verse that occurs late in the song but that Jake actually sang as the first non-chorus verse (note the first line as a nod to people who might want to tear down BBM):

Tear down the mountains,
Yell, scream and shout.
You can say what you want,
I'm not walking out.
Stop all the rivers,
Push, strike and kill.
I'm not gonna leave you,
There's no way I will!

Many could say I'm stretching it to say that. Maybe I am, but wherever his choice came from, Jake put his body, heart, and soul into that number, and to me it's just possible that in some ways he's saying that message of determined steadfastness to the gay community in his own performer's way.

So, yes to raising the questions, and yes to having a sense of humor and letting go. I was above all, blown away by his talent and total commitment to the song. I love that kind of fearlessness! And I thought Jake did a great job and seemed totally to enjoy himself the whole time otherwise. He's got such a bright soul. I'm happy for him today and I think he should feel proud of himself -- having a great SNL show is not such an easy thing to pull off these days.

Last but not least, loved the RAMONA shirt and the way he would look into the camera with this awesome, warm look each time he introduced the band before walking off-camera. YUM.

Jenny

[Arad-3]

I agree with Jenny. I think Jake sincerely put his heart and soul into that song last night. And I do believe he was sending out a message to his gay fan base. That was the best part of the show. The hour and half that followed was very painful to watch.

I have always been a big fan of SNL. But have not watched it in a couple of years mosly because I was D-jing most Saturday nights and missed it. I was free last night and decided that I wasn't going to miss this one. I was shocked at the crap that they were willing to throw at their audience. I think sixth graders could of come up with better skits and pulled them off better than this new cast of players and writers did. I think its an insult to anybody watching with an ounce of intellegence.

I don't blame Jake for this cause he really has to go along with the writers. I think when he just played himself like the beginning and introducing the band he shined through. But the written skits they put him through were painful to watch. I imagine they were painful for him to do . But then again he is young and maybe he was having a great time with the cast. I myself know that I will never sit home again on a Saturday night to watch SNL. Even if my favorite star is on because I wouldn't want to watch them go through that again. Except for Jake, I give the whole show two thumbs down!

[Kelda]

Kelda, my heart, my darling 
I haven't seen a bit yet (waitung to load), haven't read the rest of this thread yet - but just jumped in to say

Thank you!

Also I'm not *that* crazy about Jake as some of you are, I can't wait to see it.

No problem!!

Kelda, does this one work better for you (or is it just the same one)?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o6ylKmx7rc

The link was posted at JW.

    

(I got my wish, by the way.  I think it was here where I said "I'd give anything to hear him sing.")

Thanks Barb - that worked - i htink it may have been the same one though - perhaps it was becasue it was the last of all the clips I downloaded my PC was just playing up).

Last but not least, loved the RAMONA shirt and the way he would look into the camera with this awesome, warm look each time he introduced the band before walking off-camera. YUM.

Jenny

Romana shirt - I musyt have missed that - when was that?

I have to say - I agree with Dottie & Jenny - he was making a statement in his own way on SNL about being a supporter of gay rights and we all know he is a very outspoken supporter of gay rights.  But at the end of the day - BBM - was just part of his career and he has a right o play the fool sometimes.

I enjoyed it. 

[serious crayons]

I dunno, I didn't think the monologue stuff was horrific -- the humor wasn't mean-spirited -- but part of me agrees with Jess. Besides, if you're going to make jokes involving gay people or any minority group, it's not just more PC, but also funnier, fresher and more original to make ones that challenge or upend stereotypes rather than reinforce them.

For example, I liked Jon Stewart's Oscar night joke about how the film Capote was made "to show that not all gay men are virile cowboys." Does that challenge stereotype or reinforce it? I suppose you could see one that either way, but at the very least it seemed fresher than what SNL did.

But let's face it, SNL just isn't very well written. Which always baffles me, because The Daily Show and The Colbert Report manage to be consistently funny four nights a week, and SNL is only on once a week, but rarely is outright funny. Yet you'd think SNL would attract better writers; it's higher profile, and NBC probably pays better than Comedy Central.

 

[Meryl]

I've really enjoyed reading all the reactions to the drag bit that Jake did last night, and I can see that it was funny, and I laughed heartily at it (his performance was spot on), but when all is said and done, I come squarely down on Jess's side of the fence on this.

I look forward to the day when the likes of SNL and Jay Leno and David Letterman and all the mainstream media take a hard look at what their comedy is really saying and perpetuating and decide it's time for a change.  There is comedy that pokes affectionate fun, and there is comedy that belittles, and making the point yet again that being a gay man also means that you are a silly, fan-girly twit who gets all worked up over campy divas is just another example of the latter.

Some have said that they were relieved that Jake didn't do a BBM-related skit, but IMO he most emphatically did.  I actually would have preferred to see him in cowboy attire responding intelligently to some homophobe than catering to that silly stereotype.

[ednbarby]

Totally agree, Meryl.  I enjoyed his performance very much, but I wish it could have been done sans the overly-exuberant, "obviously" gay men in the audience.  I happened to have lunch with several gay men today at a party for a mutual friend, and several of them saw it and felt the same way.  They all enjoyed what he did, but most could have done without the rest of it.  I realize that was the point of the bit, but that's what makes it so disappointing.  One man there put it very succinctly:  "Well, consider the source (i.e., SNL/NBC).  What else can you expect?"

I did appreciate that at least that was the extent of it.  My expectations for them were extremely low going into it (I hoped for the best but I feared the worst), so the fact that they made me cringe only once was pretty good, considering.

And I agree - Jake put everything into belting out that song - just put it all out there - and LIVE.  I love the fearlessness in him, too.  He is a true performer, is he not?  We're lucky to have him out there to enjoy.