Wednesday, June 23, 2010

On CNN tomorrow at 8PM

Joe took this photo and wrote about his impression of Gary + Tony Have A Baby on JMG.

On other sites that sometimes see injustice whenever a story told is not their own story or whenever a subject broached is not their own personal cause, you'll find the opinion that this show is puffery and reflective of gay white privilege. I think that is absurd. The two men at the center of this story could have done any number of self indulgent things with the money they inherited. They chose to have a child. I choose not to nitpick about their methods. Watch the show. Decide.

My photos from the screening are after the break.



4 comments:

Saramago said...

Tony, whether you like it or not, the story IS about a TYPE of self-indulgence that IS in fact seen in MANY affluent gay couples (whether white or not is irrelevant). That is: buying or acquiring things to enhance their self-image and social standing. The couple's method of obtaining a child in the world we live in (scarce resources, vast numbers of abandoned children, a growing lack of community, corrosive divide between privileged and not-privileged) is certainly a topic worth considering and forming opinions about. Not in any way absurd. (And once they appear on TV, this couple has no right to expect everybody to respect or applaud their decision to waste that large sum of cash on acquiring a child. And as a journalist, I suggest it's ingenuous of you to say the method is not important -- the fucking method was exactly why the show's producers booked this story). Good for these guys for wanting to0 share themselves with another human. That's great. But their method is, to me, the sort of consumerist, me-first and fuck everybody else attitude that begot BP's Gulf crisis. for example. So, to me the method is abhorrent.

Tony Adams said...

Dear Saramago,
I would suggest that yours is an overreaction. You made me laugh a bit with your linkage of these two fathers' methodology with the horror of the BP oil spill.

While I see your root point, I think you should focus your outrage where errant behavior really resides. There are so many other and worse behaviors within the gay community.

For the record, I'm all for adopting kids already in the world. I'm also the type to acquire a mutt rather than a pure-bred dog. I'm also the type who collects old furniture on the sidewalk and refinishes it. Why not go and attack gays who buy pure-bred puppies and brand new furniture made by poor folk overseas? See what I mean?

Saramago the Deceased said...

Pere Tony, you are well aware that my linkage to BP is rhetorical -- but also undeniable. I'm merely commenting and expressing my thoughts, which is different than an attack. But.... re: purebred puppies, I know a couple who spent several tens of thousands of dollars on several very special housecats. And yes, I do deplore that wasteful indulgent, show-offy, ASININE behavior (and bragging about the cost)and whenever I read stories such as one about this couple who blew hundreds of thousands on items meant to impress, i think of these cats and how obscene it all is.

Anyway, whatever I think (and whatever you think) and whatever anyone else thinks doesn't really matter. In today's day and age most solid and worthwhile values have been upended and replaced by the cults of self, comfort, spending and celebrity. Not restricted to gay white males by any means. And it sickens me. But that is NOT an attack.

Tony Adams said...

Well, Saramago, when a thing walks, talks and smells like an attack...anyway, I think we are probably in agreement about these issues. I just don't feel like faulting these guys for what they did, even if it's not what I or you would do. It's not an evil action, their fathering. Many are the evil actions against which we should rail.