What if straight was gay and gay was straight?

It is a powerful film, though I've never been a fan of the whole 'what if things were reversed' scenario. Heterosexuals shouldn't need to see this happening to them in order to realize that treating gay people poorly is wrong. Making heteros out to be the poor victims just undermines the unique challenges queer people face in navigating our hateful society and gives straights more attention when they already have enough.

I would have liked to have a film like this with the roles correct to actually show the impact of bullying and homophobia on LGBTQ youth.

 

fucking tired of this video. str8ies dont care when it's real live breathing queers who are dying. but make it a fictional cishetero and everyone's crying

 

I have no idea what to make of it what so ever however im impressed with the trailer as it seems believable to an extent, wouldn't it be weird if this happened

 

I can't be the only one who thinks this video is ridiculous. It's just bad. Agreeing with the others in this thread that are calling it unnecessary. I highly doubt any hetero people can identify with it.

 

What worries me is I was JUST arguing with a cishet who honestly believes this will happen if GSMs get rights. I hope she never finds this video.

 

No offense, I don't know why, but that bored me to tears. I stopped watching 4 minutes in.

 

I didn't get as powerful an impact from it like most people. It's all over Facebook so I just had to see it once, and my sister cried but I didn't. I understand the message, and I completely understand why this was made, but...I think the more homophobic and stupid people will see this as a, "They're saying they want to make straight people feel bad?!?" when it's clearly not the case.

Instead of a "what if" scenario, they should've gone with reality, because some people might think, "Well this won't happen so I don't have to worry." They won't take it seriously which makes the overall message useless. But at the same time, if they had gone with what actually happens, they'd say, "Ughhh, stop shoving gay stuff down our throats!! Nobody cares!" It's a lose-lose situation to an issue that should be worrying and should be cared about.

However, I thought it was really interesting to see how screwed up the world is in both scenarios; no matter what it is, there's going to be a fight for something and we have to stop it.

 

I'm surprised this is getting so much negative attention. I mean, there are short films and things on bullying against LGBT people. I've never seen a film with this particular angle before so I think it was a good idea.

Yes, straight people should be able equally impacted whether they see these things happening to a straight person or an LGBT person (and many are) but others might just have trouble relating. If that helps a small percentage of the people who watch this to understand then that's a pretty big step.

 

Well things would be about the same for me on that planet so it's difficult to be emotionally attached to it. I took much more of an interest in the 'breeding season' thing than the main character's plight (which is admittedly very sad). I feel like they could've done more to explain how reproduction worked, but it's just one line and then dismissed.

There are species that have same sex mating except during a short 'breeding season'. If the video was intended for viewers who don't know much biology, and might have crazy opinions on the subject of gay rights, it might've been good to go into that more because inevitably they'll complain that "it's impossible anyway so why should I care"? They should care because 1) humans deserve to be treated equally regardless, and 2) it is very, very possible.

 

I don't care what anyone else says, I think that was the most beautiful short film I've ever seen. I am heartbroken.

 

I think the idea was there, but perhaps could have been executed better. Like some people who have already posted, I have straight friends who watched it and thought it was "extreme". I too agree, to some extent, but I can see the parallels between it and the challenges many LGBTQ- face. The difference is that many straight people don't follow/aren't aware of the challenges, so they can't draw parallels but are rather left thinking that this is an absurd dramatization.

That said, I also have straight friends who thought it was really sad. So I guess it goes either way.

I will say I think the argument "cis-hetero people shouldn't need to see this comparison to start caring" is bullshit. People want change but don't want "their" support? Come on. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth - every changed mind is progress. Being selective of who should be part of this "progress" is no better than excluding people from the society we already live in. Equality means everyone.

And finally, I don't think any sort of media should be designed with the intent of getting people to think a certain way. On the contrary, pieces like this are designed to make people think - to challenge what they thought they new and reform their opinions. This certainly makes people think, so I think it did it's job nicely (if that was what was intended).

 

There's too many problems with this to go into in one post, but I'll go through the most glaring ones:
- It assumes that queers would treat straights the same if we were in charge, and gives fuel to homophobes' arguments about 'what will happen if we give them rights?!'
- It totally erases bi/pan/non-monosexual people, as they aren't even mentioned [although this is not unusual for things like these]
- It also erases trans/non-binary people, and the reversal of gender roles is pretty stupid.
- The use of queer slurs against straight people [especially when they also use ones like breeder otherwise] is also pretty stupid.

 

The film doesn't assume that gays would treat heteros the same way in reverse if they were the majority, it simply looks at what would happen if that were the case. I think some complaints here could be solved by having just a bit of suspension of disbelief.


The reversal of gender roles is incredibly stupid though. It's as if the film is saying that is innate and gay men are just programmed to like musical theater, or gay women are just programmed to like athletics.

 

I understand the intention behind this video. I know it was well intended. However, I don't think you would have written that about any other group that had the switcheroo done to them. (Where the victims are turned into the oppressors, and the oppressors are turned into the victims.)

For example, you say it's human nature to distance yourself from something until you're able to relate to it on a direct, personal level. I'm not sure how simply doing a switcheroo makes it more personal, but let's set that aside for the moment.

So, let's say the claim is made that white people can't understand the pain and suffering - especially the past pain and suffering - of African Americans. Also, men aren't able to understand the pain and suffering of women. Now, right out of the gate this should be offensive to everyone involved. First of all, if it were true it means that white people in general - and white men in particular - are incapable of empathizing with anyone who isn't a white man. Perhaps even more specifically a white cisgendered male. On the flip side of that same coin, it's telling African Americans and women that their stories - that their pain and suffering - is unrelatable to white people and white men in particular. That somehow it isn't bad enough to trigger their empathy.

Let's assume that this belief was held by someone, likely a white male in fact. (As if I had to guess, my guess would be the author behind this short is straight.) This white male, who believes that other white people can't empathize with African Americans, decides to do a series of shorts to try and help white folks understand the plight of black people.

His series of shorts starts, of course, at slavery. It casts white people as slaves and African Americans as their masters. We're then treated to African Americans savagely abusing white people, while the white folks try to "act as black" as possible to accurately simulate the experience of being a slave. So, they'd run around saying things like, "Massa. Massa. I donna want no more beatings, Massa."

Just thinking about such a film should bring about an inner revulsion, and a heaping of "oh hell no they did not just do that." We're more sensitive to racial issues now because most of us here grew up in a time when racial discrimination was socially unacceptable and wrong. As a result we'd see exactly what is wrong in the black and white switcheroo above. In fact, it is immediately apparent and offensive.

What is done here in this short isn't any different. Gay people were turned into the oppressors and abusers, and straight people were made the victims. Straight people were trying to act as gay as possible to accurately simulate the experience of what it is like for many gay teens. Many people may not see it in this light because we haven't been raised to find discrimination against gay people socially unacceptable. We lack the sensitivity to pick up on how and why this is offensive.

I understand the intention behind the video. I commend them on attempting to raise awareness of the bigotry and abuse gay people suffer, particularly gay teens. Some of the stories in the video reflect my real life experiences, and that made it hard for me to watch. However, this does not change the fact that it is offensive and insulting to place gay people in the role of oppressors and straight people in the role of victims.

 

I actually think (-for the most part-) that my generation HAS been raised to find discrimination against gay people to be socially unacceptable.

I have met very very few people my age and younger that are conservative with gay rights.

 

No, that logic simply states what while the video seeks to (supposedly) address the issues that LGB people face as minorities, trans* people are left out.

The issue is that the T is being left out of the LGBT, not that the T is being left out of society.