Ron Howard on 'The Dilemma's' gay joke: It stays in the movie

Comics have been making gay jokes for years, but perhaps none of them has caused as much of a stir as the quip uttered by Vince Vaughn when he made fun of an electric car by saying, "It's gay," in the trailer for the upcoming Ron Howard comedy, "The Dilemma."  Coming just as the media was full of stories about taunts and attacks on gay teens that drove some to suicide, the joke hit a raw nerve. After CNN's Anderson Cooper publicly took issue with the trailer's joke, saying "we've got to do something to make those words unacceptable 'cause those words are hurting kids," a full-blown controversy erupted. Universal Pictures pulled the trailer, substituting a new one scrubbed of any gay humor.

But that was three weeks ago, and this is now. Universal has confirmed to me that the joke is staying in the movie, which is slated for release in January. The decision is ultimately Howard's call, since he is a final-cut director, although my sources tell me that Howard sought advice from a variety of sources, not only from talent involved with the film but also from people at Universal and in the larger comedy community.

I've already staked out my own opinion on the issue in a column I wrote several weeks ago. I concluded that "comedy is a lot like free speech--sometimes you have to hold your nose to support it." In other words, I'm not sure that I'm all that comfortable with most of the gay jokes I've heard, but once you start trying to make value judgments about one joke over another, you're on a slippery slope to the arid wasteland of political correctness.

Howard recently asked if he could respond to a series of questions I'd raised when the news first broke about the controversy. He's provided answers to everything I initially wondered about, and even asked a few provocative questions of his own. He makes one particularly important point about an issue that was lost in all the hubbub, but applies to a lot of art that is viewed as offensive or controversial: Just because a character in a film says or does something wildly inappropriate doesn't necessarily mean that the filmmaker agrees with it.

He explains why the joke stays in the film, as well as offers his take on the difference between sensitivity and censorship. Here's what Howard has to say:

Patrick,

I've been reading your posts about THE DILEMMA with a lot of interest.
In the couple of weeks since you started covering the debate over our
joke, it seems a larger conversation made up of many questions about all
sorts of freedoms of expression has broken out:  When's it okay to walk
off of a talk show if you disagree with the guest? Who is appropriate to
cast in a movie and who gets to decide that? Should news people be held
to a different standard in what they say? How risqué can a photo shoot
be for a men's magazine promoting an all-audience show?  What role does
comedy play in both pointing out differences and unifying us through
laughter? 

They're all good questions and I'm certainly not the person who has
definitive answers to all of them.  The debate about what is appropriate
in films and advertising has been going on since well before I started
in the business -- which is to say a very long time -- and will never
have a conclusion. But I do have some answers to the five questions you put
forth in your post.  I suppose you're right that since our
movie about two friends trying to do right for each other has been caught up
in this larger debate, I'll have to face these questions as we start to
promote THE DILEMMA.  I figured I'd address your questions here and maybe
answer them once and not from, as you said, "every reporter with a
functioning brain."  So here we go.

So why was the joke in the movie?  Our lead character of Ronny Valentine has
a mouth that sometimes gets him into trouble and he definitely flirts with
the line of what's okay to say.  He tries to do what's right but sometimes
falls short.  Who can't relate to that?   I am drawn to films that have a
variety of characters with different points of view who clash, conflict and
learn to live with each other. THE DILEMMA is a story full of flawed
characters whose lives are complicated by the things they say to and hide
from each other.  Ronny is far from perfect and he does and says some
outrageous things along the way.

Was it in the script or was it a Vince Vaughn ad lib?  Vince is a brilliant
improvisational actor, but in this case It was always in the script.  THE
DILEMMA is a comedy for grown-ups, not kids.  It's true that the moment took
on extra significance in light of some events that surrounded the release of
the trailer and the studio made the decision to remove it from advertising,
which I think was appropriate.  I believe in sensitivity but not censorship.
I feel that our film is taking additional heat as an emblem for many movies
and TV shows that preceded it that have even more provocative
characterizations and language. It is a slight moment in THE DILEMMA meant
to demonstrate an aspect of our lead character's personality, and we never
expected it to represent our intentions or the point of view of the movie or
those of us who made it.

Did you think it wasn't offensive?  I don't strip my films of everything
that I might personally find inappropriate. Comedy or drama, I'm always
trying to make choices that stir the audience in all kinds of ways. This
Ronny Valentine character can be offensive and inappropriate at times and
those traits are fundamental to his personality and the way our story works.

Will comedy be neutered if everyone gets to complain about every
potentially offensive joke in every comedy that's made?  Anybody can
complain about anything in our country.  It's what I love about this place.
I defend the right for some people to express offense at a joke as
strongly as I do the right for that joke to be in a film.  But if
storytellers, comedians, actors and artists are strong armed into making
creative changes, it will endanger comedy as both entertainment and a
provoker of thought.

And what do you have against electric cars anyway?  Nothing!  We have a
couple of them in our family including the one I primarily and happily
drive.  Guess what that makes me in the eyes of our lead character?  But
then again, I don't agree with everything Ronny Valentine says and does
in this comedy any more than Vince Vaughn, the screenwriter or any
member of the audience should for that matter.

Photo: Ron Howard at an Academy luncheon in 2009 honoring its Oscar nominees. Credit: Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times  

 

 

Comments

[All Hallows Eve]

James. the difference is - in general - we don't use the words lame or retard to describe people with mental or physical disabilities.

100 years ago they were, but gay was also used to describe happy.

Some people are having enough trouble accepting homosexuality - you can't tell them what they must accept as humor too, or force them to accept PC points of view. People have had enough.

From what I've seen from skimming over the comments, most everyone stands behind Howard on this. Thank goodness there are people of influence who are willing to speak up against the madness.

Ron Howard for President!

[Luke Ryan]

This is a great example of someone being so encased in their Hollywood A-list MEGA-STAR cocoon of privilege and ego that they've become unable to see the humanity of the, "little people," anymore. Given Howard's lifetime of being in front of or behind the camera, it's easy to see how it could happen, especially since he's actually talented.

However, let me break it down for you Ron, if your kid came out as gay (or didn't, but happened to be videotaped potentially losing his virginity in his college dorm room) and then was harassed so mercilessly by the teenage version of Vince Vaughn that he killed himself, you would think it was the biggest tragedy ever, not, "some event." Your response to the push-back on this homophobic, "joke," reads more like something Mrs. Clarence Thomas would write (about 19 years from now) than something from a person who actually has the capacity to care about other people. Don't you think both Sheriff Taylor and the Fonz would counsel you against picking on gay kids? I think the lesson have been something along the lines of, "there's nothing funny about harassing some of the most vulnerable members of society."

If the people who create Hollywood blockbuster films can't claim to be influencing society, who can? What is compelling you to perpetuate and aggravate homophobia? What is in it for you? Money? It's not just the Tyler Clementis of the world Ron, it's also the Lawrence Kings. The death of kids is worth money to you? Really? If that's the deal, then it should be you considering suicide because you have nothing positive left in your soul.

[Dana Kaminski]

IMPORTANT TO NOTE:

When a character in a production of any kind, whether it be theatre, film or television:

Says something that helps define that character, then it isn't discrimination. In this case, as the director, Ron Howard wrote:
The word "gay" in the dialogue is used as a way to define this character in the movie.

This character, played by actor Vince Vaughn, is a guy without the social skills or awareness, it appears, to realize that he is saying something off-color, or biased.

Therefore, his saying this word in character, is necessary, so the audience can see what a doof he is.

When used in this way, it is a kind of agreement with those who don't want it there. It exemplifies their point, their side of this argument, more!

Knee jerk reactions, without enough information, can be more harmful than helpful. There is far too much "insta-judgment" in our current culture, I feel.

(I wish to make clear that I am against discrimination. And I do understand that gay people suffer, still, and are understandably, as a group, sensitive to any more potential suffering.)

This is also an example of how dangerous censorship in the arts can be. This word "gay" was removed from the trailer, for the wrong reason. The fact that trailers are widely seen by children, and since the context/justification of the usage of the word was not apparent, it seems that the best solution is what we all got.

For the respect of all.

[Daniel]

Great, I'm so happy that Ron Howard can defend this idiotic, lazy joke--I have no interest in seeing it if this is the level of humor. Usually the best stuff is in the preview and if this is an example I have no desire to spend money on what looks like a waste of time. Great, a joke about gay people--it's not like gay people aren't made fun of enough already. And claiming people are calling for censorship is just bull. Studios edit films all the time and rewrite original scripts to make them less offensive. No one is calling in a government agency to censor this. It's too bad Howard has become such a hack that he doesn't see this for the lazy, cheap writing it is.

[db]

Mr. Goldstein, none of your questions were about any sort of sensitivity to gay people and to the gay people speciifically, and Mr. Howard's responses didn't mention how gay people might react or be affected by this stupid, lazy joke. I guess that's not on your radar.

Also, in your earlier article you claimed that comedians joke about everyone. That's not really true is it. When was the last time you heard a comedian who wasn't Jewish make an anti-Jewish joke or a comedian who wasn't black make an anti-black joke.

I'm not claiming Howard's (very stupid looking) movie should be censored--no one's calling in the government. But to pretend that directors don't edit their movies is ridiculous. It's just that they don't care about the continuing defamation of gay people.

[Jet Black]

I'm sure offended homosexuals wouldn't have a problem if Mr. Howard substituted the word 'gay'with the word Christian. I'm sure the so-called sensitive homosexual community would then find the joke to be hilarious. Such hypocrites.

[Edmund Singleton]

It was nice to include Ron Howard's quotes in your piece, however, Howard is a noted 'you know' in his speech, if they were not included then the quotes should not have been used, in short you 'cleaned up' his remarks...

[Becky]

No one has tried to censor Ron Howard. It's great that he supports the rights of people to criticize his retrograde movie. But many of the posts here seem to imply he's some sort of hero for standing up against those oppressive gays. Yeah, right, if he was standing up against someone with real power I might think he was brave, but it takes no courage to kick gays who have already been kicked so often that it's their usual state. It takes no courage to pick on a group that's already so oppressed.

[Daniel Benoit]

Not really a surprise that Ron Howard thinks it's perfectly okay to do anti-gay jokes. He's an old hand at this thing. His movie Night Shift, way back in the 80s had an egregious anti-gay joke that pretty much ruined the movie for me. It's not fun to be the only gay guy in an audience that suddenly turns ugly like that. Mr. Howard's anti-gay history, including de-gaying A Beautiful Mind and his repugnant joke in Night Shift remains intact.

[db]

Beth Smith--wtf? Doing anti-gay jokes shows integrity? You really have some messed up values. If you think he shows integrity for including lazy, cheap anti-gay jokes in his movies I feel really sorry for you.