The Independent has gone big today on Joel Burns - the Texan councillor who gave a moving elegy to young gay men who have committed suicide, and spoke of his own struggle growing up gay in a small town and with a Christian father.Thanks to the internet, it's turned him into an instant hero internationally - just add waterworks.
The Independent has published his speech in full online.
Yesterday The Guardian awarded Joel Burns their daily In Praise Of... editorial, applauding his "bravery".
It was moving, but in what way was it brave?
Mr Burns video was filmed by cameras in the council chamber and put on YouTube, and has been embraced as part of Dan Savage's It Gets Better Project.
As I type it's had over 2,224,000 hits.
I'm just a bit worried that it's become a kind of emotional pornography, with Burns breaking down in tears the money-shot.
There is another gay YouTube "sensation" this month.
Craigery Morgan's Surprise Party - where he lipsynchs to a Saturday Night Live sketch - went up a week before Burns'.
Craigery (sic) plays the part of an over-excited woman, but he doesn't perform in drag.
He's shirtless.
He's also really cute and buff and fit.
Young Mr Morgan has had over 4,540,000 views on YouTube - that's twice as many as Mr Burns.
Maybe Craigery should film an It Gets Better video?
Or maybe Joel Burns should have taken his shirt off in his?
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I don't unnastand.
ReplyDeleteOf course Craigery Morgan has twice as many view counts - the Joel Burns video is a 12 minute speech at a council meeting. The Craigery Morgan video is a brief unfunny skit by an absolutely fooking gorgeous bloke with his top off.
I'm guessing Joel Burns' 2million+ views were from 2million+ people watching it once. Craigery's 4million+ views are probably from 10,000 people watching it again and again with the sound muted and their hands down their underpants.
Sorry to be vulgar.
The Joel Burns speech is very moving. I hadn't watched it before. Thanks.
And just to prove my above point: I've visited this site about 5 times more than I usually would today just to have another look at that picture.
ReplyDeleteBtw, I do think Joel Burns's speech was an act of bravery. I can't imagine it was particularly easy?
I think Joel Burns' video reflects genuine spontaneous yet thought-through emotion with a direct raw character. It was brave because of the risk he took in his daily private and public life by saying these words. And there is always something incredibly sexy about rawness and risk, and perhaps here we see that this is even sexier than a young shirtless buff guy.
ReplyDeleteOkay, good point - I just think "brave" has become of a journalistic cliche, used too often and too easily and when it's often not the most appropriate word - everyone's "brave" these days...
ReplyDeleteIt was neatly satirised in The Onion; 'Loved Ones Recall Local Man's Cowardly Battle With Cancer'
http://www.theonion.com/articles/loved-ones-recall-local-mans-cowardly-battle-with,772/
In Texas, his actions and words could have resulted in political death for him as well as estrangement from his family. Financial disaster would have also surely followed. So it was a demonstration of absolute committment to a cause and not to a party line or one's political power. In this sense I think it was true bravery. And, to get back to the original article at the top, I think true bravery is very sexy wherever you find it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the media jumps on certain terms, making them trendy and hip. A living example of the term can remind us what it originally meant. But this is a typical dilemma, wearing out terms and motifs and then rediscovering them.
I know what you mean, but he was out in politics before this...
ReplyDeleteIndeed, correctly noted. But to my knowledge he had never so directly and agressively taken a homosexual topic to the public before this event, even placing the video on youtube and thereby creating a lasting public bond between his name and homosexual causes.
ReplyDeleteOr get Craigery to lipsync to a tape of the Joel Masters speech - problem solved!
ReplyDelete