Brett Ratner says Rehearsal is for “Fags”

Posted by Brent Peterson on Nov 9, 2011 in Pop | 20 comments

Why you gotta be hatin' Ratner?

Heads up, y’all: if you live by the phrase “practice makes perfect,” Brett Ratner thinks you’re a fag.

At least the director of the new movie Tower Heist said as much during a Q&A session after a screening of said movie.

A reporter asked Ratner whether he rehearses or practices with his actors, to which he casually waved his hand and said, “Rehearsal is for fags.”

Now, we’ve all heard our fair share of negative stereotypes of the LGBT community, but “practicing to get better” seems to be a pretty good one in my book. Maybe we can make it stick.

Ratner, however, could only be so lucky. There has been tons of outrage over his comment, and of course ~~his publicist~~ he wrote an apology, citing the typical, “Duh guys, I didn’t mean it for reals” excuse.

I apologize for any offense my remarks caused. It was a dumb way of expressing myself. Everyone who knows me knows that I don’t have a prejudiced bone in my body. But as a storyteller I should have been much more thoughtful about the power of language and my choice of words.

While I don’t know exactly how Ratner feels about the LGBT community, his statement was in very poor taste no matter what. Either he’s a homophobe or he’s of the mindset that “gay means stupid,” and neither of those do very much for him.

So while I guess he’s not directly calling out gays and being really derogatory, he is perpetuating that it’s OK for people to equate gay with stupid, and to throw around the word fag when your friend spills soda on the carpet.

Worth noting, Ratner actually resigned from producing the Academy Awards over this controversy. That seems like a good first step to rebuild some bridges.

What do you guys think? Are you buying it?

(via Perez Hilton)

meh2

that’s what i get at school, everyday. i can’t go one day without
hearing ‘gay’ used as an insult, or hear some one call someone else a
fag.

do i think this guy deserves harsh punishment? no. but its this kind of
thing precisely that makes kids at school think that using hate speech
is okay. do i think he’s really sorry? not really. are they ever really
sorry for anything but their damaged reputation?

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=576613362 Alex Cullen

Sorry to hear about your school situation. I know that the slogan “it gets better” can sound like just words with no depth. I’m only 20 years old so if you’re in high school, I know I’m not much older than you. But I can tell you that those words are 100% true. Once you’re no longer forced to enter that environment every day, and you gain control of your own life, things will be completely better. From personal experience, the difference between 17 and 19 for me was crazy. I am comfortable in myself. I have good friends that support and defend me. And all in all I LOVE being gay. Hang in there, wait it out, and I know you’ll have a fabulous life ahead of you.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Louis-Briggs-Desouza/100000926006757 Louis Briggs-Desouza

guess I won’t be seeing Tower Heist!!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=2008795 SJ Hosin

To be fair, that movie looks SO SHIT that it won’t be affecting me that much. Immortals, here I come!

http://www.facebook.com/people/Louis-Briggs-Desouza/100000926006757 Louis Briggs-Desouza

guess I won’t be seeing Tower Heist!

http://www.facebook.com/XwhyterabbitX Anthony Powers

not like u’ll be missing much lol

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=2008795 SJ Hosin

Said the same thing Anthony.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=592796245 Trenton Flock

His disdain for rehearsal explains a lot about the quality of his films. I don’t think that he’s a homophobe. He’s just a hack. Meh.
http://www.facebook.com/michaelrcooke Michael Cooke

Bad choice of epithtet. Yes.

The idea behind it is arguable, that the best performance is a spontaneous thing. Certainly in line with generations of Zen teaching. That said, it likely requires a GREAT deal of practice to be capable of pulling off spontaneity and having that yield a top performance every time.

So the meaning I divine is that this director feels Actors that have the confidence to do the spontaneous performance are those that have the talent and training he, as a Director, considers minimum competency.

As a director his point of view is his and can be lauded or dismissed by the virtue of his movie. Certainly many top celebrated actors are method actors or actors that similarly most comfortably invest a considerable amount of time getting a performance right.

For his choice of epithet, this director deserves a punch to the face. Then we should forget about it and see if his movie doesn’t suck. As it is, being damned as a bigot – I feel sorry for him. Because his choice of language is one he learned was OKAY, because the world, it is anti-gay. When we jump on this guy and demonize him, it’s because we know it’s wrong to be anti gay, the world shouldn’t be this way.

But it is. And just as every Gay man born in this world has to choose to turn from shame, everyone else has to choose to thwart their conditioning if they are to see Gay people even as human beings. It’s not easy or a thing to be taken for granted.
http://www.facebook.com/pamelaluvsginger102408 Pamela Equality Sund-Buck

@google-9ecf0c4927eddc5727bbf4b266f1dd56:disqus Sorry you have to hear those hurtful comments at school and elsewhere. I agree that the punishment is necessary, only because to not call him out allows the derogatory use of the words to continue. With persistence I believe we can teach people that it is not O.K. to make these remarks and they must stop. Hold on a little longer…
http://www.facebook.com/brad.shreve Brad Shreve

Was his statement derogatory? Of course it was. Do I worry about it? No. I’m not saying that comments like that don’t hurt me, however, I would hate for people to spend time over it when there are so many other things that needs to be done. (such as marriage equality, bullying, etc.

Could his comment be considered bullying? Yes. Am I going to lose sleep over it? No. Choose your battles wisely.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002554226606 Kindra Pring Eubanks

I’m less concerned about his use of the word, especially since apologized. I am concerned that he thinks something as vital to a good performance as rehearsal is stupid. That’s like, 90% of the work for the director isn’t it?
Tavis Highfill

Rehearsal is for people who want to perform something well. Not only was his statement incredibly offensive but proves that he must be a hack. Even after backpedaling and saying he’s not homophobic, he’s still suggesting that performers blindly go out without any practice which is the real stupidity.
Anonymous

I think his films lack of rehearsals speak for themselves. The distinguished director of the Rush Hour films and the third X-Men installment, what a hack.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=576613362 Alex Cullen

I am SO SICK of celebrities “slipping up” and then just issuing a quick half-hearted apology. The F word isn’t a joke. It’s not a “slip up”. It’s a big deal. Saying it is hurtful and it needs to stop. I don’t understand why we still have to put up with this crap. Why isn’t this a bigger deal? Are we just decensitized because it seems that every other week another public figure shows that their apparent tolerance is just a thin veil for the prejudice that still exists in nearly every corner of this country? It’s totally unacceptable and it needs to end.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001003614127 Angela Stanczak

I don’t understand why people ever use the word “fag” in the first place. It makes you sound like your mother might also be your aunt. Or “that’s so gay” just makes you sound unintelligent. Like…really? You had to use a word that both makes you sound offensive AND dumb?
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=2008795 SJ Hosin

I’m sure he was being flippant, so I don’t think it’s fair to say he’s homophobic. As as he’s clear that it’s inappropriate, he’ll be fine.

To all of you who are saying you won’t be seeing “Tower Heist,” please don’t tell you were planning to see that movie before. LOL @ this man getting bad publicity just in time for his bad movie with bad characters that are a bad rip-off of Ocean’s 11-13. BAD!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Andrew-Christopher-Burhoe/1433402815 Andrew Christopher Burhoe

oh please. No need to get all upset over this. It’s not like he was Tracey Morgan. I bet you he speaks way worse than Ratner and means it. Ratner just means shoot the film and get the best performances out of takes.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Matthew-Chaney/100000257193160 Matthew Chaney

From what I hear, his movie sucked ass (and not in a good way). PLus, it has Ben Stiller in it, ain’t no way I am wasting my money on this trash!
http://www.facebook.com/saje.williams Saje Williams

Well, I’m not prejudiced, but oddly enough I’m pretty sure that expression wouldn’t come bubbling out of my piehole.

Tags

Brett Ratner says Rehearsal is for “Fags”

Pages

Tags

Brett Ratner says Rehearsal is for “Fags”

Yo Categories

Pages