The Ads for Schwarzenegger's latest film, "Retirement Is For Sissies" Makes Things Worse

Driving in Los Angeles this past week I spotted a billboard for the latest Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, The Last Stand.  The advertising tagline for the film is "Retirement Is For Sissies."

the tag line from the movie poster

This pissed me off.

I mean, really, can we get past this cliche of the macho man with the blazing guns being the ideal of masculinity, and the statement that anything girly - anything less than muscle-bound armed violence - is to be laughed at and ridiculed?

Let's take a moment to look at the messaging behind this.  I'm sure it's meant to be funny, but it's a very anti-women and anti-gay statement.  Continuing the stereotype that "sissy" is a bad thing reinforces so many cultural barriers and prejudices that we need to knock down.  Like that there's only one way to be a boy.  That being effeminate is the ultimate bad thing.  That violence is the way to be a "real" man...

I'm sure there will be some who think I need to lighten up, but this kind of homophobia is insidious and pervasive - it's the exact thing that made it so hard for me to come out as a gay man in my 20s.  And to see it continuing to be perpetuated today is so wrong that I had to speak out.  This is the opposite of the It Gets Better campaign - this is making things worse.

Couldn't they have been clever and NOT homophobic?  How about tag lines like:

"No one tells him when to retire"

"Retire?  Over your dead body"

"I'm back... from retirement."

Okay, that last one was a bit Terminator-y, so maybe not that one.  Point is, you can make your point without making so many other toxic points as well.

What's your take?

Namaste,
Lee

GSA Monday Pop Quiz: What's missing in this "GAP" ad?

See if you can figure out what's missing:



It's sweet. It's cuddly. It's... missing something, isn't it? Figure it out yet?

Okay, scroll down and take a look at my "annotated" version.



Girl + Boy, check.

Girl + Girl, check.

Girl + Girl + Girl, check.

even

Girl + Girl + Girl + Girl, check.

But

Boy + Boy ?

Nope.

Unless you wanna count the far right "starred" spot of one guy's boot hovering in the air over another guy's butt - though they're so consumed with their respective gals they're certainly not acknowledging their proximity, such as it is.

I mean, really - not even two guys touching?

How freaked out are we as a culture about gay guys, that in this "hip" message of peace and joy and buy-our-sweaters-and-jeans, we can't even get 2 guys hugging?

Pretty freaked out.

I understand that lesbians are kind of the loophole in our culture's homophobia, because straight guys think that's hot, but to have all these pairings (and trios, and quad-couplings) and not include two guys...

I mean, what's the problem? Is the Gap really where all those homophobes shop? I've kinda liked the whole Gap Holiday campaign, the catchy TV musical and gymnastic moments, and now, noticing this, I'm so disappointed.

Sigh. The Gap can do better.

We can all do better.

What do you think? Am I over-reacting, or am I right about this?


Thanks to my guy for handing me this ad and saying "look at this - really look at it!"