Catching up with Henry and Aaron
April 10, 2011 8:34 AM Subscribe
Henry buys a new car but everyone around him, including his best friend, thinks there's something queer about his purchase.
Henry and Aaron have been entertaining tens of people in Perth as industry professionals. [Warning: Small-town Australian humour]
Henry and Aaron have been entertaining tens of people in Perth as industry professionals. [Warning: Small-town Australian humour]
This post was deleted for the following reason: I'm sorry but this is just not that funny once you take the gay jokes out of it and it's sort of bumming people out. -- jessamyn
Ya. I'm so over the "straight guy fearful of being gay" trope. Too many suiciding teens, ya know. "It gets better" gets better faster when corporations don't stoop to this.
posted by five fresh fish at 8:48 AM on April 10, 2011 [7 favorites]
posted by five fresh fish at 8:48 AM on April 10, 2011 [7 favorites]
Sorry. I don't get the genderizing of cars like that. And "queer?" Really?
posted by yesster at 8:48 AM on April 10, 2011
posted by yesster at 8:48 AM on April 10, 2011
thanks for the video. My dad doesn't really get started until I see gaybashing.
posted by rebent at 8:51 AM on April 10, 2011
posted by rebent at 8:51 AM on April 10, 2011
[Warning: Small-town Australian humour]
It was shot well, so was Psycho.
posted by clavdivs at 8:54 AM on April 10, 2011
It was shot well, so was Psycho.
posted by clavdivs at 8:54 AM on April 10, 2011
They are taking the piss out of bogan Australians. Especially those who live in Perth, which is full of mining boom CUBs - cashed-up-bogans. People here are completely fucked in the head about cars with 'grunt' and 'muscle'.
posted by honey-barbara at 8:55 AM on April 10, 2011
posted by honey-barbara at 8:55 AM on April 10, 2011
They're taking the piss out of a specific group of people. That's very rarely appropriate.
Also: queer does not necessarily equal homosexual.
posted by Solomon at 9:03 AM on April 10, 2011
Also: queer does not necessarily equal homosexual.
posted by Solomon at 9:03 AM on April 10, 2011
"They are taking the piss out of bogan Australians. Especially those who live in Perth, which is full of mining boom CUBs - cashed-up-bogans."
Oh... okay... That is pretty horrible
I would hope that we are as unfriendly to Australian bigotry as we are to the American variety
posted by Blasdelb at 9:07 AM on April 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
Oh... okay... That is pretty horrible
I would hope that we are as unfriendly to Australian bigotry as we are to the American variety
posted by Blasdelb at 9:07 AM on April 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
I don't get it. There isn't a single faggy or girlie thing about a Yaris. The thing is hideous, and a hatchback.
posted by humanfont at 9:08 AM on April 10, 2011
posted by humanfont at 9:08 AM on April 10, 2011
Ridiculous and offensive. As mean-spirited toward homosexuals as every Apatow comedy which features a moment where Seth Rogan and whomever he's starring with accidentally touch hands and recoil in horror. Insulting and horrible all around.
posted by hippybear at 9:12 AM on April 10, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 9:12 AM on April 10, 2011 [3 favorites]
And that was made in 2008? How depressingly retrograde.
posted by Decani at 9:17 AM on April 10, 2011
posted by Decani at 9:17 AM on April 10, 2011
My dad doesn't really get started until I see gaybashing.
Your father needs some help, there.
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 9:22 AM on April 10, 2011 [4 favorites]
Your father needs some help, there.
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 9:22 AM on April 10, 2011 [4 favorites]
Well no shit there's something weird about it. They put the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car. Wtf?
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 9:24 AM on April 10, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 9:24 AM on April 10, 2011 [2 favorites]
If it gets somehow redeemed at the end (though I can't imagine how), I never made it there. Ick. This really doesn't seem like the sort of thing I expect to find on MetaFilter.
posted by you're a kitty! at 9:30 AM on April 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by you're a kitty! at 9:30 AM on April 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
Eh, I didn't see it as "gay bashing," but am willing to concede I may have blinders. I think the fact that people were mistaking him for what he wasn't based on one factor was punchline (since they aren't exactly subtle about it). It would have worked just as well if he'd been gay and people were mistaking him for straight because he bought a man's man car whatever that would be (a Mustang maybe?).
It's never comfortable to have people assume you are something when you're not. It's also incredibly frustrating to try to deny that.
This video didn't seem particularly hateful or demeaning. If there are car sites out there that are ranking cars according to gay or not to I don't see the harm in having fun with a situation where a straight man buys one. Sampling.
you're a kitty!, The end: The most homophobic character in the film is gay and hits on the car buyer. Credits imply that the car buyer got rid of the Yaris because it was too gay and ends up buying something even gayer.
posted by cjorgensen at 9:39 AM on April 10, 2011
It's never comfortable to have people assume you are something when you're not. It's also incredibly frustrating to try to deny that.
This video didn't seem particularly hateful or demeaning. If there are car sites out there that are ranking cars according to gay or not to I don't see the harm in having fun with a situation where a straight man buys one. Sampling.
you're a kitty!, The end: The most homophobic character in the film is gay and hits on the car buyer. Credits imply that the car buyer got rid of the Yaris because it was too gay and ends up buying something even gayer.
posted by cjorgensen at 9:39 AM on April 10, 2011
Well, now that we've defended teh gay—anyone driven a Yaris? I have, around the block.
With any luck, that'll be the last time I drive a Yaris. Not as bad as the Dodge Calibre (omgwtfbbq). But for a few thousand more, there are much better small cars.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:41 AM on April 10, 2011
With any luck, that'll be the last time I drive a Yaris. Not as bad as the Dodge Calibre (omgwtfbbq). But for a few thousand more, there are much better small cars.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:41 AM on April 10, 2011
Yep, made it about a minute and a half into the video before realizing it was going to be ten minutes of 'Yaris is a gay car' variations.
Hopefully redeeming the thread, here's a video of dragons having sex with cars, set to Born in the USA!
posted by carsonb at 9:44 AM on April 10, 2011
Hopefully redeeming the thread, here's a video of dragons having sex with cars, set to Born in the USA!
posted by carsonb at 9:44 AM on April 10, 2011
If it gets somehow redeemed at the end (though I can't imagine how), I never made it there.
Oh, no, it continues to go downhill. The crowning moment is when one of the car owner's buddies makes a pass at him in his car thinking that owning a Yaris is a way of coming out, and when he's rejected he flees out the passenger door declaming, "Fuck you, you're a faggot". Because there's nothing that tops off 10 minutes of gay panic humor better than a little self-loathing on behalf of the one actual homosexual in the sketch.
cjorgensen: it's offensive and gay bashing because it seeks to reinforce the box that gay men aren't somehow actually men, and that you can tell someone is a fag based on what they wear/drive/listen to, and that any straight man who may mistakenly cross any of those bullshit lines can expect to have to justify himself repeatedly. The only factor that determines whether someone is gay or not is what their sexual/romantic interests are. Anything else is stereotyping and othering.
posted by hippybear at 9:46 AM on April 10, 2011 [6 favorites]
Oh, no, it continues to go downhill. The crowning moment is when one of the car owner's buddies makes a pass at him in his car thinking that owning a Yaris is a way of coming out, and when he's rejected he flees out the passenger door declaming, "Fuck you, you're a faggot". Because there's nothing that tops off 10 minutes of gay panic humor better than a little self-loathing on behalf of the one actual homosexual in the sketch.
cjorgensen: it's offensive and gay bashing because it seeks to reinforce the box that gay men aren't somehow actually men, and that you can tell someone is a fag based on what they wear/drive/listen to, and that any straight man who may mistakenly cross any of those bullshit lines can expect to have to justify himself repeatedly. The only factor that determines whether someone is gay or not is what their sexual/romantic interests are. Anything else is stereotyping and othering.
posted by hippybear at 9:46 AM on April 10, 2011 [6 favorites]
I, for one, enjoyed the video.
I have a good sense of humor.
posted by kayalovesme at 9:49 AM on April 10, 2011
I have a good sense of humor.
posted by kayalovesme at 9:49 AM on April 10, 2011
Yeah, this is lame. Sorry, cjorg.
I've driven a Yaris back in 2007 or so, when I was thinking of buying a hatchback. Claustrophobic car with poor interior build quality. Dinky. The Hyundai Accent I test drove felt much sturdier (though the Fit was probably my favorite in the class).
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 9:51 AM on April 10, 2011
I've driven a Yaris back in 2007 or so, when I was thinking of buying a hatchback. Claustrophobic car with poor interior build quality. Dinky. The Hyundai Accent I test drove felt much sturdier (though the Fit was probably my favorite in the class).
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 9:51 AM on April 10, 2011
The Ford Mustang one of 2009's top picks for gay men. If you need a car to signal your hetro- sexual oreintation, try a minivan. Nothing says I'm sticking my wiener in a woman like a practical family oriented car.
posted by humanfont at 9:56 AM on April 10, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by humanfont at 9:56 AM on April 10, 2011 [2 favorites]
Bogan laps of big cars around nightspots, yelling out of cars at guys driving their 'mum's car,' 18 year olds buying 4-5litre/V8 cars, sticking dildos up exhaust pipe etc are mateship rituals in a boring, mining town - all centred around the great fear of being perceived as gay. Even women buy into it. These guys have made a range of videos calling into question Perth's parochial idiocy. It is gay bashing because it conflates Yaris/crap car=Gay car but I've been local for a few years and recognise the truly paranoid homophobic mindset here, and how conflated it is with car purchase.
posted by honey-barbara at 9:56 AM on April 10, 2011
posted by honey-barbara at 9:56 AM on April 10, 2011
I really dislike this. It's just straight up homophobic humor. There's not a redeeming moment in this.
posted by empath at 9:57 AM on April 10, 2011
posted by empath at 9:57 AM on April 10, 2011
It would have worked just as well if he'd been gay and people were mistaking him for straight because he bought a man's man car whatever that would be (a Mustang maybe?).
And that would be offensive because it assumes that gay men are girly, that there's something wrong with being girly (this kind of humor has misogynistic routes, too), and that gay, girly men don't like certain kinds of cars--and, worse, that there's something disjunctive about a masculine straightish car and a driver that you'd assume wants to be, like, girly. Or something. Which is ridiculous. Stereotyping and othering, as hippybear says.
I have a good sense of humor.
Let's not do this, kayalovesme. It's a really tired rebuttal to responses that a joke might be sexist or homophobic. I like funny things. I don't like funny things that have in them the implicit premise that gay men are girly and that's bad and something that men should avoid being.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 9:57 AM on April 10, 2011 [3 favorites]
And that would be offensive because it assumes that gay men are girly, that there's something wrong with being girly (this kind of humor has misogynistic routes, too), and that gay, girly men don't like certain kinds of cars--and, worse, that there's something disjunctive about a masculine straightish car and a driver that you'd assume wants to be, like, girly. Or something. Which is ridiculous. Stereotyping and othering, as hippybear says.
I have a good sense of humor.
Let's not do this, kayalovesme. It's a really tired rebuttal to responses that a joke might be sexist or homophobic. I like funny things. I don't like funny things that have in them the implicit premise that gay men are girly and that's bad and something that men should avoid being.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 9:57 AM on April 10, 2011 [3 favorites]
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posted by cjorgensen at 8:47 AM on April 10, 2011