BNN: The M-word, Out Boy Bander, Nicole Kidman for Schweppes
We’ve arrived at the third installment of Been there, Now here, Never Imagined! For this post, the three identities are: the minority, the pop star, and the movie star.
As a reminder, the goal of BNN is to: isolate three identity issues that are happening right now and place them in either the B, N, or N. In 25 years, I feel like I grew up learning a very specific social code (Been there!), I am now learning an alternative to that code (Now here!), yet I will never experience another kind of code (Never imagined!).
As Luigi would say in Mario Kart…”here we go!”
Been there: Little People want ‘midget’ removed from the American lexicon.
Gothamist picked up a story by Newsday.com that the Little People of America have requested the Federal Communications Commission bans the word ‘midget’ from television after an episode of Celebrity Apprentice recently aired the word.
I know that the blacks and the gays have voiced their power and have done the same maneuver for the N-word and the F-word, but I think that hiding these words from society only gives them the strength to stay alive as offensive terms. Language is totally screwed up and there is and always will be a place for negative words. With proper control, we can alter offensive meanings and reconstruct a better tomorrow. Going down this road is just repeating the past at a time when the LPA could attempt to reach a better and different solution.
Now here: A new boy band’s member is out and proud before being popular.
Can you guess which one he is?
Towleroad delivers a great interview with Nathaniel Flatt, the gay member of a new boy band called V Factory. While America is always ready for a new boy band, will they be ready for his not-exactly-for-teen-girls sexual preference?
With all the hoopla of this decade being the years of the gay, I’m not surprised that we live in a time when there’s (another) boy band with an openly gay member. It’s about time! I supported those 90’s boy bands as a closeted dude. It’s time for 15-year-old gaybies around the country to start jumping up and down with signs that say “I <3 Nate”. And I love those out musicians, including Chris Garneau (second album release tomorrow!! with album artwork by Anthony Goicolea!!), Sam Sparro, and Ari Gold.
Never imagined: Nicole Kidman is the spokesperson for Schweppes?!
Yes. This may be the weirdest commercial you haven’t seen:
With celebrities like Nicole Kidman, the little girl from Slumdog Millionaire, a huge Bollywood star (the dude), an Oscar-nominated director (Shekhar Kapur), and Ridley Scott producing…I mean, what?! I never imagined such huge celebrity presence for a simple beverage that wasn’t Pepsi or Coca-Cola. I always thought celebrities were too good for this stuff. Also, it’s not airing in America. Why? Because it’s so weird to mess with identity in America. Schweppes?! Who knew. (Thanks for the OMG, omgblog!)
