In other words, he is my hero.
In my Visual Communications class, we talked a little bit about how visual media is used to advance social issues like civil rights, and about how film is often the most effective vehicle for doing so. One interesting example is the scene from Dude, Where's My Car? where Ashton Kutcher, in an effort to upstage Fabio, decides to kiss Sean William Scott. In the words of gay filmmaker Bruce LaBruce:
The actors neither overplay nor underplay the moment and show no visible trace of disgust or regret afterward. I was almost in tears. This one scene does more to advance the cause of homosexuality than 25 years of gay activism.
That's a slightly extreme reaction, especially since the scene was played for laughs, but I must admit that in an otherwise over-the-top dumb comedy, it could have been a lot, lot worse. I would have expected the filmmakers to grossly exaggerate and make a farce of it, but they didn't. It's actually a pretty well-made scene, even if the rest of the movie is from most accounts (I haven't seen it) incredibly stupid. If you want to watch it, click on the scandalous picture above.
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