The request to feature same-sex couples on the Kiss Cam at Busch Stadium grew out of an incident that occurred Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome, where the Rams hosted the Arizona Cardinals. During the Kiss Cam feature, two men dressed in Arizona jerseys were among the couples shown. The crowd laughed and booed when the two men tried to shoo away the cameras. But there were gay men in the crowd who said it was offensive that the Rams organization would choose to embarrass Arizona fans by portraying them as a gay couple.[For that matter, I've never seen an interracial couple (same- or opposite-sex) on the Phillies' "Kiss Cam".]
Related, as I asked five years ago: "Why does [the Phillie Phanatic] have to do this limp-wristed, gay-bashing thing all the time to mock opposing players for allegedly being effeminate? Suppose one in every twenty boys at each game will, at some point in his life, believe that he is gay. Wouldn't it be nice for that kid not to grow up thinking that he won't be made fun of for it? Why does the Phanatic have to play the same role as the homophobic schoolyard bully?"
Totally agree. The kiss-cam at Wizards games always ends on two players on the visitors' bench and everyone thinks it hilarious because "oh isn't it so embarrassing for these two basketball players to be pegged as gay." Ugh...
ReplyDeleteGood for them. Seriously, there are children present. Do we have to teach them homophobia?
ReplyDeleteHere in St. Louis last year, there was a Post-Dispatch article (can't find the original link) on the best places in town to kiss that featured a photo of an interracial couple kissing. It drew some of the most vile and racist comments I've ever seen, not to mention a few death threats to the couple.
ReplyDeleteSt. Louis is the most racially segregated city I've ever lived in. And I'm from Nashville, which is certainly no shining beacon of racial tolerance.
So no, I'm not too hopeful that gay couples will fare any better. At any rate, the Rams should be doing everything they can to make the few fans who show up to their games and narrowly prevent the games from being blacked out right at the deadline happy.
While I would be sad if they got rid of the Kiss Cam so they didn't have to deal with this (I dislike Massive Resistance), I also think that, in principle, the Kiss Cam is a weird idea.
ReplyDeleteI hate kiss-cam for a lot of reasons, but never showing same sex couples is probably number one. I wish sports stadiums would get rid of it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was at the Busan Bears v. Lotte Giants game at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul in April, they too had "Kiss-Cam." And while certainly none of the couples were same-sex, there was one where they focused on a gentleman and his lady companion. And let's just say it was pretty obvious that there was not a lot of sexual energy there. I've seen other situations like that here and the camera guy has always moved on when they realized the mistake.
ReplyDeleteNot there. The camera stayed. And the fellow tried to wave it off. And stayed. And the girl tried to wave it off. And stayed. And the girl tried to kiss him to be done with it. And missed. And the camera stayed. For a good thirty seconds, until he finally gave her a peck on the cheek.
It was really an appalling bit of harassment, for my money.
I've seen at least one person mouth, "She's my sister."
ReplyDeleteI hate the kiss cam. Yes, because it's always the pretty girl or let's-laugh-at-senior-citizens-kissing. Yes, because they never show gay couples. Yes, because it's embarassing for everyone involved.
ReplyDeleteBut perhaps most of all because I think it reinforces the stereotype that women come to sporting events only because of their boyfriends/husbands. Why must every woman who is sitting next to a man automatically be his date? I often bring male friends with me to baseball games while my husband stays home with the kids. The assumption that if you train the camera on any two opposite-sex seatmates at a sporting event that they'll be in a relationship that makes a mouth kiss appropriate strikes me as obnoxious on pretty much every level.
Yeah, and the way that they frame it (at least where I've seen it), with the heart-shaped wrap filter, makes it feel a little like you're looking through a peephole. Very creepy. Where is the camera filming these things? IT'S IN THE STADIUM. OH MY GOD IT'S COMING FROM IN THE STADIUM.
ReplyDeleteAdam... I get the same feeling when I see the Phanatic do that routine (which he still does from time to time). Have you ever considered calling WIP when Tom Burgoyne is on and putting that question to him?
ReplyDeleteI would love to put that question to him. The only question I've ever gotten the Phillies to answer re the Phanatic, via email, is "why doesn't he take his cap off for the anthem?" And the answer is "don't worry, he still loves America very much."
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