Apologies to my friend Erick Erickson for the use of his book title, but the controversy over the flop of the gay rom-com Bros seems to fit it to a T. “On the right or the left, if they announced themselves as we are preaching this to you,” Adam Baldwin says, “and you must agree with us again or you’re a homophobe, or you’re a racist, or you’re an anti semite or whatever, they’re preaching. That’s not going to draw me in as an audience. I want to go and see something that’s going to be funny.”
Editor’s Note: Join HotAir VIP today and use promo code SKEPTICS to receive 25% off your membership!
Welcome back to my VIP video series “The Amiable Skeptics,” featuring my friend Adam Baldwin! Adam is well-known for his long and storied Hollywood career, starting with My Bodyguard, and especially for his roles in Full Metal Jacket, Firefly, its film sequel Serenity, Chuck, and The Last Ship.
The attempts to force audiences into theaters won’t work, especially for rom-coms, which are almost always escapist fantasies. Adam, who generally likes rom-coms especially for the performances, hasn’t been interested in the Billy Eichner film because “it just seems preachy. … ” Preachy doesn’t sell, whether it comes from the film itself or from the marketing campaign — especially when Hollywood and the media demand celebration of their didactic from their audiences.
Both of us liked non-traditional rom-coms in the past. For instance, Adam brings up Judd Apatow’s work as an example. “It goes back has a great tradition in Hollywood all the way up until you know the recent ones, like Knocked Up,” Adam notes. “It’s sort of dirty and and that’s certainly R rated, but I find it to be hilarious and it actually has some really good. Family values, if you will. You know marriage and loyalty and. Birth. And I did I really like that. With a lot of gross, Seth Rogan, Judd Apatow jokes in there, which are hilarious because the actors are good and the script is good and strong and powerful.”
Films that have those qualities resonate. Those that don’t increasingly rely on bullying to get audiences into the theater, and it’s indicative of the same cultural authoritarianism that Erick warned about. Enjoy the commentary, and be sure to join the conversation in the comments!
