This week is dragging by. It must be all the work I'm having to do these days. Damned boss expects to get his money out of me for some silly assed reason.
Something has been bugging me for the past couple of weeks. I don't really get why a group of people who preach tolerance can be so intolerant themselves. Here's the thing. Hollywood stars are always talking about how Normal Americans should be tolerant and respectful of people who live alternative life styles. Ok, that's fine. The issue is those same people can't be tolerant when one of their own has his own bias problems.
Case in point, Isaiah Washington. He's one of the stars on Grey's Anatomy. He's a black guy that plays a doctor that's banging one of the interns, who just happens to be Asian. Diversity right? Well not so much when the lights go down. It seems that Washington doesn't like gay dudes. Which is of course his choice, and according to Hollywood types we should all be tolerant of that. Seems that's not the case.
Washington got reprimanded for getting into a verbal fight with one of the other straight dudes in the cast and calling the gay guy a faggot. Granted that's not a nice thing to say, but who is ever polite in the middle of an argument? We teach our kids that saying "I'm sorry" ends most problems. But his fellow cast members are pushing to fire him over the ordeal. He's made his apologies and that was not enough.
I feel for the guy because he's trying so hard to keep his job that he's checked into a residential treatment facility. I didn't know there was a program to cure homophobia. When did this hit the streets and why didn't it make the evening news when it did? Is it really possible to de-tox from not liking an entire group of people? I really doubt it. Odds are he'll just learn to keep his mouth shut on the set, donate some bucks to a pro-gay group, and not get invited to the cool parties for a while.
Maybe the message to Washington, and the rest of Normal Americans, is that speech is only free when everyone around you agrees with it. Unpopular opinions may be protected by the First Amendment but that doesn't mean you are allowed to express them. Especially in Hollywood. Maybe for spite the writers will have him kiss his gay co-star for the season cliff hanger. Or at least make him wear a rainbow ribbon whenever he's on camera.
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TC
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