So, I’ve been working on a HUGE writing project for a client. It’s fairly long term, very intense in the beginning, should taper off some. But it pays well and by the time I’m done, my entire cancer bill will get paid off. It’ll be nice to start the new year with a zero balance. The whole situation is difficult, but pretty awesome at the same time.
I generally come home exhausted (and super sore!) at the end of a long day, collapse in bed, wake up the next morning and head straight to their office again. Needless to say, I’m a bit behind on the going ons online.
It’s so strange… I’m away from the web for a couple weeks and come back to a virtual brouhaha over some duck show, some guy who said something ignorant to a large audience, and his employer who suspended him. Sounds like an open and shut case, but it’s evidently turned into a big mess complete with death threats, rants, and boycotts.
Let’s break it down a bit, eh? In a GQ interview, Duck Dynasty patriarch, Phil Robertson said this:
“It seems like, to me, a vagina — as a man — would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical…Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men.”
So, then A&E said this:
“We are extremely disappointed to have read Phil Robertson’s comments in GQ, which are based on his own personal beliefs and are not reflected in the series Duck Dynasty. His personal views in no way reflect those of A&E Networks, who have always been strong supporters and champions of the LGBT community. The network has placed Phil under hiatus from filming indefinitely.”
Then the fecal matter struck the oscillating device. Facebook groups formed. My Facebook feed turned into a slurry of hairy-men photos with angry captions.
But there’s evidently even more to this story… a couple twists that I find fascinating.
First, we have one of my favorite people, CultOfDusty who has some fairly yuppyish pics of this so-called red neck clan. Beware, Dusty uses some salty language and this vid likely is NSFW:
Next up, Buzzfeed breaks this bit of new information: “The Guy Who Created ‘Duck Dynasty’ Starred in a Movie About Gay Porn.”
Oh my.
A decade before Scott Gurney created Duck Dynasty, he starred as a gay porn star in a 2001 movie called The Fluffer, an unmentioned but delightful fact in the background of the show’s recent conflagration over Phil Robertson’s homophobic comments to GQ. But it’s not a secret either; The Fluffer, which was an independent film that played at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival, is right there on Gurney’s IMDb page.
Huh. Here’s the plot summary:
Gurney’s character in The Fluffer is gay-for-pay and a meth addict. He becomes the object of obsession for a male film student who gets a job as his on-set fluffer. It’s dark! It was directed by Wash West and Richard Glatzer.
Well, I learned something new today. I doubt I’ll have any reason to use the term “fluffer,” but you never know… Perhaps I’ll slip it in a conversation while shopping.
Here’s the NSFWish trailer to “The Fluffer.”
http://youtu.be/of48byzA9do
*Update* Entertainment Weekly has this to say about the situation:
A source close to the situation confirmed that when the network resumes airing new episodes of Duck Dynasty starting Jan. 15, footage featuring the Robertson patriarch will indeed remain intact. The network also hopes the media and fan furor will cool down over the holidays and that tensions over shooting future episodes can then be resolved.
“There’s no negotiation to have; we’re doing the show,” said an insider close to the situation. “We’ll figure out a solution. It’s just not going to happen overnight. Everybody will take a break for the holidays and regroup afterward. That’s probably the smartest thing for everyone to do. Time heals a lot of wounds.”
The Robertson family hasn’t sounded as optimistic, with a source close to the Louisiana duck call clan telling E!: “They’re an extremely tight-knit family and they’re not going to let this get in the way. [Phil] is the reason for their success—they’re not going to abandon him. They’re also not about to let anyone threaten their religious beliefs.” A representative for the family could not be reached for comment.
This should be interesting to watch…
