Reply #185: I hadn't seen those vids... [View All]

[Mackay]

I only watched the commercial.

The reactions of the players in my opinion is another ball of wax... and I could see how an impressionable young person might easily be swayed by their homophobic attitudes. So, these are really disturbing. They are also pretty offensive in that they seem to show a unified derision.

That said, a person's reaction to an object does not necessarily hold the meaning as the object itself. I'm sure that the same football players would react equally unfavorable towards the photos of Robert Mapplethorpe. No one here is going to argue Mapplethorpe is a homophobe. However, I can see the players having the exact same reactions and grimacing in the same way. Does this mean we should ban Mapplethorpe? Or that Mapplethorpe causes homophobia?

Personally, I'm not too surprised by the players' reactions... having lived in the U.S. and attended a school where the jocks had these types of attitudes. Or after seeing Bruno interview the wrestlers at Daytona beach and the football players from Atlanta.