Barry Humphries, creator of Dame Edna, calls transgenderism 'a fashion' and says he's 'grateful to Trump'

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 7/21/18 at 5:45pm

http://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/07/barry-humphries-on-trump-transgender-rat-baggery-and-causing-maximum-offence/

Updated On: 7/21/18 at 05:45 PM

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 7/21/18 at 5:53pm

Cancelled.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 7/21/18 at 5:55pm

Dame Edna found dead.

[Alessio2]

Posted: 7/21/18 at 5:57pm

Dame who? Bye. Next...

[Steve C.]

Posted: 7/21/18 at 6:14pm

You guys are being way too hard on BH and if you've read the entire article you may have been more informed than the headline. He raises a lot of valid points, expressing both points of view on most of the topics, again stating it's not his job to decide. Do I agree with everything ? No, but he does bring valid points to the discussion.

As for his interest in pre-War and German/Nazi treatment of Berlin and wartime cabaret, that in itself could be and is a topic many music and history based theses.

Ute Lemper does a wonderfully musical trolley performance of many of these songs including "The Lavender Song", "Masculine/Feminine" "When A Special Girlfriend Meets A Special Girlfriend" and more.

She sings them in both English and German on different CD's and are a must have in history based music. Check them out; the lyrics are at times both fascinating and horrible to have lived through.  

Updated On: 7/21/18 at 06:14 PM

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 7/21/18 at 8:00pm

Which part of this is a good point?

“Terrible rat-baggery,’ he says. He calls transgenderism ‘a fashion — how many different kinds of lavatory can you have? And it’s pretty evil when it’s preached to children by crazy teachers’. He recalls provoking a torrent of outrage when he used the word ‘mutilation’ to describe gender-reassignment surgery. ‘They had their genitalia chopped off and tucked in and whatever they had to do. And that aroused a lot of indignation — probably among the people who’d spent a lot of money having it done. But I don’t think I’m right to pontificate. I’m really an actor.’”

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/21/18 at 8:37pm

It’s hilarious that he’d say “I don’t mean to pontificate”, AFTER having done exactly that.

I read the article twice, in case I missed something the first time and really couldn’t find anything positive. The only that’s been misconstrued is when he says he’s “grateful” to Trump. The entire quote, not what’s in the headline, is that he’s grateful to Trump (whom I despise with every fiber of my being) for “shaking things up,” which while idiotic, is not a full throated endorsement.

This certainly makes me much less interested in anything the Dame does, and I certainly wouldn’t spend money on a project he’s involved in.

Updated On: 7/21/18 at 08:37 PM

[KFC1991]

Posted: 7/21/18 at 8:42pm

Anyone else remember the controversial comments he made about Hispanics years ago? "Why should I learn Spanish? I don't need to talk to a maid or gardener" or something like that.

[tomwsjr]

Posted: 7/21/18 at 9:54pm

RIP Dame Edna

[NoName3]

Posted: 7/21/18 at 10:15pm

Barry Humphries was always considered weird and outspoken, years before he created Dame Edna.

He played Mr. Sowerberry, the undertaker, in the original production of Oliver!

Updated On: 7/21/18 at 10:15 PM

[darquegk]

Posted: 7/21/18 at 10:43pm

Can we be certain he's being sincere here? These comments seem to be intentionally priming the pump for outrage, and are certainly in the "politically incorrect, grotesquely conservative bigot" vein that much of Australian comedy has always sprung from.

Are these comments reprehensible? Yeah, pretty much. But this isn't exactly a shock; he's an Australian comic of a certain age who has always said these sorts of things. We're just less and less likely to laugh and applaud.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 7/21/18 at 10:59pm

Every time somebody says anything like this and people think they are "valid points" it just tells me how supremely ignorant they are and how they're only speaking from their feelings, which is expressing what is essentially a reaction to something that makes them go "ick". I doubt they read the tons of medical literature that have been published, read why the American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, American Medical Association, a near consensus of medical and psychological experts, etc. PLUS trans people themselves all agree with the World Professional Association on Transgender Health's standards of care regarding treating gender dysphoria. Also when people say "sex reassignment surgery" as if it's only one thing, they are also showing off their ignorance. Most of the people bitching about transgenderism are those supremely out-of-touch with reality other than their own narrow lives and don't want to put the work in to completely understand it before thinking they're a big enough expert to express an opinion on something the are completely unqualified to speak about. He's just mad that he thinks the trans rights movement will make his one-note act become obsolete and he won't be able to fund his lifestyle anymore. It's like Jerry Seinfeld complaining about his comedy not working in college campuses when what he's really mad about is that his jokes are outdated and if he wants to stay relevant he needs to learn new things and update his tired ass act. Instead he wants to keep making tons of money doing the same old crap and he's mad that there are generations of people who aren't buying it.

Also, if don't think all of the above is enough to dismiss him, then the fact that he's "grateful" to Trump for stirring up politics in the luxury of not being affected by it and with the privilege of NOT being affected by it is more than enough to no longer think anything he has to say has any legitimacy. Surely, there's somebody else that can talk about the merits and history of gender-bending performances without doing any of the above crap. If not, then what does that say?

Updated On: 7/21/18 at 10:59 PM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/21/18 at 11:04pm

Good questions, darquegk! Myself, i found the actual article a let down after the attention-getting language of the link. BH actually says very little and, as you point out, it's nearly impossible in print to tell when he's speaking tongue-in-cheek. Nobody is seriously proposing we have a different bathroom for every possible sexuality, so that sounds like one of his one-liners.

BH is not the first to question whether encouraging pre-teens to choose their sex in middle school does them a service. There are intriguing, maybe even valid, arguments on both sides. I don't pretend to know the answer and the one parent I got to know well over the internet made a good case for her daughter's early surgery--HOWEVER, her daughter was born with no penis, testes, vagina nor ovaries, so surgery and hormone treatments were inevitable. (My friend did wait until her daughter was old enough to make her own choice.)

Let me be clear: I think everyone should present the sex and gender with which s/he feels most comfortable. And, moreover, I think the backlash is making mountains out of molehills.

But I'll admit that when it comes to sex-change surgery--and, yes, I've known a number of people who chose this option--I sometimes wonder whether post-ops don't enforce the most rigid constructions of sex and gender, even while feminism has been telling the rest of us that individuality trumps biology. This isn't to say everyone shouldn't have access to the surgeries they think they need; I'm just saying there's something ironic about the minority of transgenders who feel they must make drastic alterations so their anatomy matches their self-conception.

There now. I have already been more controversial than BH.

 ***

ETA Scotty rightfully points out the Trump comment, which could have come from any of the of the umpteen idiots who voted for Trump. They were all out to "shake things up", but all they got was someone to "tear everything down".

As for the "ick" factor, let me be clear that I feel "ick" over disproportionately large breast implants and butchered face lifts; I'm not at all bothered by any transgendered person, regardless of surgery, make-up, facial hair or dress.

 

Updated On: 7/21/18 at 11:04 PM

[antonijan]

Posted: 7/21/18 at 11:05pm

Bye Falecia!

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 7/21/18 at 11:07pm

GavestonPS said: "Good questions, darquegk! Myself, i found the actual article a let down after the attention-getting language of the link. BH actually says very little and, as you point out, it's nearly impossible in print to tell when he's speaking tongue-in-cheek. Nobody is seriously proposing we have a different bathroom for every possible sexuality, so that sounds like one of his one-liners.

BH is not the first to question whether encouraging pre-teens to choose their sex in middle school does them a service. There are intriguing, maybe even valid, arguments on both sides. I don't pretend to know the answer and the one parent I got to know well over the internet made a good case for her daughter's early surgery--HOWEVER, her daughter was born with no penis, testes, vagina nor ovaries, so surgery and hormone treatments wereinevitable. (My friend did wait until her daughter was old enough to make her own choice.)

Let me be clear: I think everyone should present the sex and gender with which s/he feels most comfortable. And, moreover, I think the backlash is making molehills out of mountains.

But I'll admit that when it comes to sex-change surgery--and, yes, I've known a number of people who chose this option--I sometimes wonder whether post-ops don't enforce the most rigid constructions of sex and gender, even while feminism has been telling the rest of us that individuality trumps biology. This isn't to say everyone shouldn't have access to the surgeries they think they need; I'm just saying there's something ironic about the minority of transgenders who feel they must make drastic alterations so their anatomy matches their self-conception.

There now. I have already been more controversial than BH."

The difference is that you did it in a respectful way that did not delegitimize a whole population of people and asked earnest questions that shows you may be willing to have an actual, substantive dialogue where you are open to hearing people who disagree with you out.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/21/18 at 11:22pm

Thank you for so clearly gauging my intent, Scotty. Maybe there's something to this "kinder, gentler BWW" after all. (That's not a reference to anything YOU have posted in the past.)

BTW, I had my mountains and molehills confused. I corrected my earlier post and deeply regret the error.

As others have pointed out, BH's entire career is based on quips rather than thoughtful analysis. And I have to confess that the four or five hours I spent at a taping of his ill-fated TV talk show may have been the hardest I have ever laughed in my life.

[BJR]

Posted: 7/22/18 at 1:30am

Didn't he retire Edna? Hopefully, because no way she's returning to NYC anytime soon. 

[gypsy101]

Posted: 7/22/18 at 1:44am

good riddance to dame edna

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/22/18 at 1:55am

Scotty, I think that's a brilliant observation. But I will also say that being part of the LGBTQ community doesn't mean that we wholeheartedly understand the struggles of our sisters and brothers. I'm a gay man, but that doesn't meant I understand the struggles of the Trans community. But, at the same time, I'm not sure I agree with changing a sex so early on? I mean, as a flippant child, as many are, who is to say it isn't a phase? But then again, as a gay man, I know it wasn't a phase. So, it's an interesting question. But, at the same time, it's not my life, so if that's what they want, then let them. Sexuality is a crazy thing. 

[binau]

Posted: 7/22/18 at 8:56am

This isn't the first time. Strangely, after caught up in the controversy last time the Dame Edna twitter account tweeted "And I disassociate myself from anything Barry Humphries has to say. I fired him years ago be he refuses to accept dismissal. The poor thing is losing the plot. He deserves out pity not our disapproval."

https://www.advocate.com/caitlyn-jenner/2016/1/06/dame-edna-caitlyn-jenner-and-transgender-women-are-mutilated-men

 

[BJR]

Posted: 7/22/18 at 11:29am

Huh, savvy publicity tactic and a bit witty, as well. But bye.

Whenever anyone who isn't trans-identified brings up trans people and their movement for criticism, it looks so obvious so me as just another iteration of what society did to gay people for decades. You could swap out trans for gay and the tenor of the debate is identical, from the far right inventing scenarios for children needing protection or self proclaimed liberals hemming and hawing if they're doing it right or if liberals should be required to use correct vocabulary. And frankly, to get sucked into the debate seems painfully short-sighted and self-unaware.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/22/18 at 11:46am

Ripped, if surgery is involved any reputable surgeon would require massive psychological testing with an experienced psychologist approving the surgery. They would make sure it’s not a phase very early on in the process.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 7/22/18 at 2:54pm

Speaking of trans people, FX's "Pose" wraps up its first season tonight (July 22). It's not only been a showcase for at least 5 trans performers in principal roles, but the show's storylines have offered a glimpse of the trans community's stories and struggles, especially in 1980s New York. If you've missed it, Mj Rodriguez, who's trans, and Billy Porter played two characters hosting a cabaret in an AIDS ward, and they sang ''Home'' from ''The Wiz.''

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCaJoPrP9kM

Updated On: 7/22/18 at 02:54 PM

[SamIAm]

Posted: 7/27/18 at 4:36pm

I don't know whether he is sincere or not but frankly in this day and age, I have grown tired of people saying that we should not listen to the words a person says. 'Oh, that's not what they meant'. If you don't MEAN it, don't say it. If you misspeak, correct yourself and apologize. Words matter. If he said it in an interview, knowing it would be printed, then I have to assume he MEANT it. 

[SweetLips22]

Posted: 7/28/18 at 3:33am

Give or take a few years, Mr Humphries has been entertaining millions of people for over 50 years. His entire spiel has been to shock and embarrass the 'little people' [and I don't mean short].

He is an extremely intelligent man and throughout thousands of interviews, in whatever character he was, the art of the ad lib can often come back and slap you in the face.

If his offensive comments were meant as reported then he certainly needs to respond to the criticism that followed and apologise, though can't see him doing that.

I don't think Mr Hunphries needs to worry how his comments will affect his career as the timeline for his now dated form of entertainment has past[ except for my favourite--Sandy Stone].

This happened today and certainly not as offensive as the topic here. Was in my library and was telling the librarian, who I have know for many years at her work, how stunning she looked and being casual dress day was wearing tight jeans. The male straight manager who I also know said, 'It's a good thing you are gay because a straight guy couldn't get away with that'.

It's a changing world, far too quick for me, so now will just have to observe from the sidelines.