Controversy: My Tweets Have Big Balls

My tweets have big balls, so sayeth The Hollywood Reporter.  In all honesty, my only intention of tweeting about “Tower Heist” director Brett Ratner was to clear out the odious venereal fumes left in my head by a disheartening Q&A with the privileged Peter Pan frat-boy.  In fact, my sole contribution to the Oscar-Ratner flare up was simply this:

@MRDCDouglas: Just saw #TowerHeist followed by Q&A with Brett Ratner. Takeaway quote: “Rehearsing is for fags.” … Yeah, he’s an impressive fella. #wtf

And then I moved on.  Yesterday my agent called telling me The Hollywood Reporter wanted to speak with me about said tweet since I apparently was the first to call Ratner out on his pubescent handling of language.  My conversation with THR writer Andy Lewis was quick and to the point.  I assumed I’d be a small mention in a larger piece.  But then it came out with this headline:

Meet the Man Whose Tweet Brought Down Brett Ratner

Say whaaaaa?!

Surely there is tongue in there somewhere searching for a cheek.  The article begins:

Last Friday night, D.C. Douglas, an actor and voice-over specialist, took his girlfriend to a special screening of Brett Ratner’s Tower Heist at the Hollywood’s Arclight Cinemas. Little did Douglas know that Ratner’s post-show question-and-answer session after the movie—and Douglas’ reaction to it on Twitter—would put him at the center of a controversy that has funamentally changed the 2012 Academy Awards.

Wish I had known I was in the middle of a controversy, I would’ve showered.  Sometimes life in Hollywood is like being a hamster on a treadmill designed by M.C. Escher.

My tweet, in fact, had nothing to do with Brett Ratner stepping down from helming the 2012 Academy Awards, let alone Eddie Murphy’s exit.  Brett Ratner brought himself down.  And not due to his lame joke that I tweeted, really, but from the totality of his douchey utterances over the last few weeks.

I couldn’t resist dabbling in the sparse comments section of the article when I saw a few clear examples of homophobes in half-assed support of Ratner’s machismo tongue.  But realized soon enough it was best to leave them with a past video of mine:

The more rewarding discussions were on my Facebook page and led to one interesting exchange:

FRIEND: So, DC, does it bother you at all at the PC whirlwind consequences on what may have been no more than unsuccessful humor or, at worst, casual use of a common (though perhaps insulting and insensitive) machismo turn of the phrase? Curious as to whether you see these consequences as a sad reflection on the PCing of our culture or as a proud sign that insensitive language and potentially hidden and harmful prejudices won’t be tolerated? Or perhaps something in between?

DC DOUGLAS: I tweeted what I heard because it encapsulated perfectly the kind of douche he was in that Q&A. And I was there. He said it as a casual use of a common (though definitely insulting and insensitive) machismo turn of the phrase.

But, he shouldn’t have to step down because of that sentence. He should step down for insinuating that Olivia Munn was a whore and that he statutorily raped Lindsay Lohan.

As a kid who was bullied mercilessly with that word, I see it as a victory. As a guy who got raked over the coals for using the word “retarded,” I sympathize – which is why I never chimed in nor cared about him producing the Oscars.

When all is said and done, it was an “official” public event at a screening that may or may not have included minors. If the casual “fag” utterance is okay with your parenting style and you don’t mind your kid saying it to another kid as a way to hurt them, then I guess this is a bad thing. But, I don’t think it’s out of control. If it was George Clooney, it would blow over with an apology. But it was uttered by a douche bag with a history. Roosting time, baby.

…or, a better way to answer your question: “Something in between.”

So, it appears I’ve traversed the controversy arc of American Media™.  First, I was unwillingly at the center of a political controversy with my private voicemail to an insidious corporately funded right-wing tea party PAC.  Then Salon.com asked me to provide commentary for the AFLAC/Japan/Gilbert Gottfried controversy.  And now I apparently texted “the tweet heard ’round Hollywood.”  I just pray it really is a controversy arc and not a full circle.  I like to skip showers.

I will say this;  if my tweets have balls so large that a single one can take down “big time Hollywood director” Brett Ratner, then I should also get credit for bringing the loveable Billy Crystal back as Academy Awards host!  (Unless he bombs, of course, then it’s Ratner’s fault.)

[Full THR article: Meet the Man Whose Tweet Brought Down Brett Ratner.]

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