First of all, I'd like to say a big happy new year to everyone!! Glad you made it into 2015!! But now I'd like to bring this thought up. I was thinking just a few days back. What really is stopping an anti-gay song from being a smash viral hit in the same vein as Born This Way or Same Love or a smash at the box office in the same vein as Brokeback Mountain? I mean, as much as I hate this, the homophobic audience must outnumber the pro-gay audience in America and heck around the world too right? So isn't it more profitable to sell an anti-gay song/movie/TV show (because lately it seems companies are willing to put profit over ethics) and wouldn't the homophobes latch onto this and send it to being a smash in the charts or box office? Or is freedom of speech limited in some way? I've kinda been worrying that now that the LGBT movement is picking up momentum, that anti-gay songs/movies from artists who are sick of the movement may start smashing. I know that there have been surveys conducted that people are becoming more accepting but they couldn't have possibly surveyed every single American to make sure of that I just thought I should bring this up to see how any of you would feel about this? Does anyone else think about this?
I don't think this statement is even close to true in America or in Europe--I think that's what's preventing it.
In theory it could happen, but there are several things that I think curtail such a movement. First, with viral media, television, music, and movies, the target demographic that make those things popular are typically much more accepting than the general population as a whole. In the US, the target for mass media is usually 18-45 year olds, while viral social media is 14-29. Usually, the younger the demo, the more accepting the group will be. Second, negative media is not usually a profitable venture. The only discriminatory media that seems to have a big impact is comedy. It tends to have a hint of truth or discomfort using discrimination, but I don't think most people take it seriously enough to create an "anti-" movement of any kind, let alone one that has the public support that we do. That's not to say that there's not a demographic for serious, discriminatory media (see Fox News and its affiliates), but on the whole, I don't think it could become popular enough to undo what we've done. Don't get me wrong, I think you are correct in assuming that companies would choose profit over ethics in most cases, but I don't think this kind of marketing would produce the kind of profit or attention that media companies would want.
Well, the homophobic audience does not outnumber the pro-gay audience. Statistics continuously show that America has a majority in favor of gay rights. However, I'm guessing nothing is stopping such a movie. But I do think it will get too much back lash for it too be "very successful". Just look at Duck Dynasty, they became successful for a bit, but their ratings and viewer count still dropped lower than before the 'homophobic rant'.
I think that organizations like HRC and NoH8 have made a big difference and have created quick avenues of communication which curtail this activity.
Maybe there's no such thing in the States or any other developed country (although you have movies like Ace Ventura and you have Eminem) BUT in third world countries (like the one I live) anything anti-LGBT gets a free pass and it's more likely it will become a hit
Oh, okay. I don't think it would be allowed in Sweden, but I'm not sure. It would depend on how hateful it was.
Bigotry doesn't sell anymore. Just look at Duck Dynasty. Their ratings have dropped 28% in just one year.
Your probably right an anti-gay song/movie/tv show would probably make more money than pro-gay media in a vacuum. The problem is that no record/movie label or tv/radio station wants to deal with the shit storm created by releasing/playing it. The moment a tv channel plays a movie like that the company that made the media and the station that played it will be all over the news for a week getting bad publicity and being shamed for it. This would probably wreck their future profits.
