He’s basically just railed against cancel culture and what he sees as forced diversity in media. In the Chappelle vein, where they’ve convinced themselves they’re not transphobic, just against “censorship”.
Now, to be fair, Gilliam was always the most defiant, aggressively anti-establishment guy of a group who are all pretty anti-establishment. He’s very much made a career off of being transgressive and pushing back on those that tell him no. So this isn’t exactly unusual for him. “Cancel culture”, to a 70 year old man who made a name for himself by being anti-censorship at a time when you could barely curse on television, would certainly feel like a familiar type of “authority” that they’ve spent their whole careers defying.
That’s not an excuse, but it’s also why I stopped expecting better from the legacy entertainers of that time who are all pushing 80. They’ve progressed about as much as they’re going to in their lifetime. Just take away the microphone before they hurt themselves (or anyone else) because you’re not going to change them.
You can make the argument the joke there isn’t so much that being trans is weird or wrong, it’s in the juxtaposition between where it starts and where it ends up. The singer starts with a very masculine stereotype and shifts drastically into a feminine one to the point it confuses other masc stereotypes who reject him. The singer didn’t read the room and went way off the rails.
Not the best justification, I know, but it doesn’t feel especially hostile towards trans, just using it as an irresponsible punchline in a joke about traditional masculinity vs feminity, which was typical of the time.
Meanwhile, Monty Python’s Life of Brian literally had a male character who identifies as female and everybody in the movie is cool with it
And John Cleese is now a transphobe. Go figure. (Other members are cool from what I’ve heard)
Terry Gilliam is also a transphobe.
Damnit, what did they do? They’re my favorite director :(
He’s basically just railed against cancel culture and what he sees as forced diversity in media. In the Chappelle vein, where they’ve convinced themselves they’re not transphobic, just against “censorship”.
Now, to be fair, Gilliam was always the most defiant, aggressively anti-establishment guy of a group who are all pretty anti-establishment. He’s very much made a career off of being transgressive and pushing back on those that tell him no. So this isn’t exactly unusual for him. “Cancel culture”, to a 70 year old man who made a name for himself by being anti-censorship at a time when you could barely curse on television, would certainly feel like a familiar type of “authority” that they’ve spent their whole careers defying.
That’s not an excuse, but it’s also why I stopped expecting better from the legacy entertainers of that time who are all pushing 80. They’ve progressed about as much as they’re going to in their lifetime. Just take away the microphone before they hurt themselves (or anyone else) because you’re not going to change them.
There’s also the lumberjack song…
You can make the argument the joke there isn’t so much that being trans is weird or wrong, it’s in the juxtaposition between where it starts and where it ends up. The singer starts with a very masculine stereotype and shifts drastically into a feminine one to the point it confuses other masc stereotypes who reject him. The singer didn’t read the room and went way off the rails.
Not the best justification, I know, but it doesn’t feel especially hostile towards trans, just using it as an irresponsible punchline in a joke about traditional masculinity vs feminity, which was typical of the time.
Just like my dear Papa!
huh, i always thought that was played for laughs, bc satire. but i may be wrong of course
I mean, Loretta is also made fun of, but so it everyone else in the movie.
deleted by creator
That’s why it’s a classic, and still well known today