I am sure that everyone has seen, or heard of, the Snickers “gay kiss” ad from the Superbowl. Most of what I heard about the ad, is the fact that many people thought it was funny. I for one, know that the people at the party I was at laughed hysterically when it aired, and I honestly thought it was at a minimum, pushing the boundaries of being completely anti-gay, even though I didn’t initially get upset about it. But, I am still wondering; what about that scenario is funny?
So, two straight men kiss accidentally, ala “Lady and the Tramp”. So what? Why is that funny? And why is it portrayed as something funny?
Now, while I wasn’t personally offended by the ad, I have to admit that I did get a little uncomfortable when everyone busted out laughing. Again, why is this so funny? I mean, they kissed accidentally, right? If it were a man and a woman, it wouldn’t have been anything to laugh at; which must mean that the reason it is funny, is because it is making fun of gay men. And what about when they feel it necessary to do something to assert their “manliness”, in essence, to prove to each other that, “hey, I’m not a fag”? This too must mean that the reason it is funny, is because gay men aren’t seen as manly; which again, is making fun of gay men.
I am pretty sure that if this scenario did happen in real life, and if those two men were as homo-scared as their characters indicated by their actions after their accidental kiss (ripping out chest hair to prove that they were “real men”), then things probably wouldn’t have been so funny to either of those men; and it would have potentially been upsetting to them. But why? It was an accident, not a full on sexual encounter! Now, I know that I can’t say how individual men should react to kissing another man, but it shouldn’t be something that is so queer and “wrong” that one would need to go so far as to “cover up” that action with another one, one that somehow “asserts” the fact that they are indeed, not gay. After all, just because the two men kissed, it doesn’t mean that they are instantly gay; and by ripping their chest hair out to prove to each other that they aren’t gay is both stupid (ouch!!!) and insensitive to gay men. It is acting out and furthering the belief that gay men aren’t really men.
Basically, what Snickers has done, is they have taken something innocent, such as an accidental kiss between two men, and used it to get a cheap laugh by making fun of gay men. Then, they went a step further, and reinforced the societal belief that being a gay man must mean that you are effeminate, or un-manly, because in order to “feel better” about their kiss, the men had to do something “manly” like rip out chest hair; instead of just ignore it and go on with life.
While the commercial itself was seemingly “innocent”, as I look back, I believe that it reinforces what a lot of people wrongly think about gay men, by showing that if two straight men were to kiss, that it would mean something other than just a kiss. They have shown that two men kissing is essentially something to laugh at, or something to make fun of. They have shown that if two straight men were to accidentally kiss, that they would need to assert the fact that they weren’t gay, by doing something “manly” to cover up their previous actions; which again, reinforces the belief that gay men aren’t really men at all. The more I think about the ad, the more I don’t like it, and honestly, I can see where people would be offended. I guess even more than that, I wonder why we, as a society, still cling to these covert anti-gay messages, and continually portray gay men in this light? All it does is encourage people to continue to make fun of gay people, which trickles down to children, who then use these stereotypes to seek out and torture gay kids. It’s a vicious cycle, one that uses “humor” to hurt a particular group of people.
So what do you think? Do you think that I am overreacting? Keep in mind that I am not trying to rant here, but I am trying to observe that yes, the ad was pretty anti-gay, and typical of a less than accepting society. I am saying that I see how people would be offended by something that seemed innocent to most; simply because it covertly reinforces the belief that gay men aren’t really men at all, and that kissing another man is wrong. Tell me what you think/thought about the ad! Were you offended? Do you see where the media continually makes fun of being gay?
Also, if you are interested in more thoughts on this ad, here’s a link to commecial closet, a website dedicated to GLBT portrayals in the media; they seem to agree with me.