In the new movie, Horrible Bosses, Jennifer Aniston's character uses the word "faggot" to denigrate the character of an underling played by Charlie Day; a move that has ignited a debate over the use of the word, and how it compares with other no-no's such as the N-word, which can now no longer even be typed in an article without its author being subjected to attack by those that find it too offensive to be used by anyone white.
Why It's Okay
First of all, clearly it's okay to use the term in a movie, mainstream or otherwise, or the filmmakers wouldn't have used it; nor would Ms. Aniston have uttered it. This begs the question of why it is okay if it's considered a slur against gay people.
The first reason is because not everyone agrees that the term necessarily applies to gay people, some say it's simply another term for weakness, which is how it was applied in the move; Aniston's character uses it to let her subordinate know that she thinks he's being weak, as in wimpy, not as a means of implying she thinks he's gay.
Another reason is because the gay minority, unlike the black minority, has not made it clear that they find the term so offensive that it should be banned from use ever, by anyone who is not gay.
And finally, it's use is okay, because it it's used, which is roundabout way of saying that if a word is used in movies, than it's okay to keep using it in movies; at least for now.
But Is it Really?
Despite the arguments that seem to make it okay for the term to be used as it was in a movie, does that really make it alright? There is such a thing as right and wrong after all, and is it possible that using the term in any context is wrong, if the real meaning behind the term is different than what people admit. In this case, there are a probably a lot of people that see the word "faggot" as a synonym for queer, which actually has two meanings, gay being one, and being different from everybody else, being the other.
For a society that has made a lot of noise of late about accepting people for who they are, we seem to be holding on to a lot of terminology that serves little more purpose than to separate.
Bottom Line
It might be that it's okay to use an offensive term like "faggot" in a movie, but that doesn't mean that it is right to do so; and the way that people who agree with such logic can demonstrate that, is by not buying a ticket.
Bob Yirka - Bob Yirka has written thousands of online articles and backs them up with a BS in Computer Science/MS in Information Systems Management.
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