For various reasons, this seems to have been quite the week for the contest of the most fundamental ideas, and emotions have sometimes been inflamed. Perhaps it's time for a little liberal line in the sand. So step on up YouTube user Stevie Bee Bishop, who decided to embark on a special project.
He explained it in a clip:
That wound up being known as THE BIG FAT GAY COLLAB! I'll let Stevie tell it:
there's a disgusting amount of hate on the internet (especially on youtube!) directed at minority groups (especially the LGBT community) so i was inspired to organize this collab video. i never set out to change the world. i did not make this for the gay haters to see. i wanted to make something light hearted and funny for the victims of gay hate, to teach them to brush off the hate and stand strong and confident as who they are. you're not alone! stevie loves you :)
the song is "fuck you" by lily allen. contrary to popular belief (including my own, before i knew better) this song was not written about george bush. lily allen said:
"this song is not a direct attack at anyone, it was originally written about the BNP in the UK but then I felt this issue has become relevant pretty much everywhere, we are the youth, we can make coolness for our future, its up to us. Go green and hate hate."
this video is our interpretation of the meaning behind the lyrics and i think that our video gives a slightly different meaning to the lyrics and directs more focus on gay discrimination. the third verse against war has been taken out for this video, as it is not the subject we're dealing with.
And here's the video itself (note: given the song they're miming to, this may not be considered safe for some workplaces):
Now, the funny thing is that you can watch this video here, but if you try and watch it actually on YouTube, you'll have a few hoops to jump though. First, you'll have to sign in to YouTube to see it -- or create an account if you don't already have one. Then you'll see this message:
This video or group may contain content that is inappropriate for some users, as flagged by YouTube's user community.
By clicking "Confirm", you are agreeing that all videos or groups flagged by the YouTube community will be viewable by this account.
But they're not done yet. On the page itself, you'll see the message "This video may not be suitable for minors." Well, yes, it does contain swearing. But you could spend days browsing YouTube clips saying fuckity-fuck-fuck and not see these messages. No, it's teh gayz that are the problem.
Don't go blaming YouTube itself: the video is still there, after all. It's just the perils of community moderation. The "YouTube community" includes the kind of hyperactive bigot who's going to report this kind of thing.
Happily, that hasn't stopped the meme. And in response to Stevie's clips, a French group, GayClic Collab Against Homophobia has done its own version:
Without meaning any offence to Stevie and his pals, the French one is better. Better shot, funnier, more stylish.
Do you see where I'm going with this? The New Zealand creative and screen production communities are stacked with LGBT talent. Wouldn't it be cool if New Zealand joined the meme -- and blew everyone else off the dancefloor? Just sayin' …