stage door demo for Ripley's FAG slur Thurs. at 10 pm- Page 5

[musicnerd234]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 1:49am

I'm so sick of seeing, yeah its okay she works with gay actors bull s***!

[wickedx716]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 1:52am

I am sorry everyone, but I don't understand why you are targeting Alice and not the thousands of other's that are homophobic. This act of hate will not prove anything and why Alice? I realize she said something, but what about the guy that wrote that Newsweek article about gays? I thought that was much more offensive so why not protest that because I feel that deserves rallys and protests, not Alice and Next to Normal.

[chellie]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 1:56am

I don't agree with this rally bull****, I don't think it's okay to harass someone at their place of work for almost any reason. But I'm not going to pretend that Ripley did something that I'm okay with or that it never happened.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 2:22am

I love that people are willing to rally for anything now.

Where was all of this anger when George Bush was in office?

[chellie]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 2:27am

Yes, let's draw completely unrelated parallels.

[Craww]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 2:30am

What an exciting assemblage of strawmen we have here.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 3:49am

Oh lord, calm down. No one is going to a freakin' protest. There will, however, be 50 or so screaming fangirls waiting to throw things should someone actually try.

[Taryn]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 3:59am

It doesn't matter if Alice Ripley is actually homophobic. I don't think she is. Sometimes it is intention that is important in language, and sometimes the language itself overrules intention. It doesn't matter if she meant to use the term offensively or not, because the term is inherently offensive. People are not just responsible for their beliefs or intentions: they are responsible for being aware of the implications of the language they use. So, as far as I'm concerned, throwing around arguments like "she's not really homophobic" or "she didn't mean it offensively" don't cut it, because the language goes beyond that. The "I have gay friends" defense is even worse, because it just means that she should know so much better.

You also don't get to weasel your way out of a sincere apology because of your kooky persona.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 8:02am

Is it sad I believed Jordan's fan post until the last line?

This act of hate will not prove anything and why Alice? I realize she said something, but what about the guy that wrote that Newsweek article about gays? I thought that was much more offensive so why not protest that because I feel that deserves rallys and protests, not Alice and Next to Normal.

Where were you? There were half a dozen threads about the original article, the responses from the author, Kristin Chenoweth, Aaron Sorkin, Ryan Murphy, GLADD, Cheyenne Jackson and Michael Urie. Ryan Murphy called for a boycott of Newsweek. The author ACTUALLY apologized the second time as a result of the backlash. Alice Ripley's "oops, no offense!" response doesn't count, and her continued responses reflect that even that was insincere.

I think the protest is misguided, but who knows, maybe it will help her actually take this seriously instead of joking around on Facebook to all her adoring, delusional fans.

Updated On: 6/8/10 at 08:02 AM

[JustAGuy]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 8:13am

Unless I missed it.

"YIKES, FORGIVE MY OFFENSE"

Does not in anyway qualify as an apology. Alice, who is nearly 50 years old should know this.

An apology would consist of admitting that you've made an error AND expressing regret.

I know this is beating a dead horse, but this all could have been over and done with days ago if she had acted like an adult and not a petulant adolescent, and acknowledged the error. Now, I'm thinking she's liking the attention just a little too much, or that she actually believes using "FAG" as a perjorative is actually OK.

Which is it, Alice?

Updated On: 6/8/10 at 08:13 AM

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 8:16am

"Trying to put together a protest about this is just stupid, and ridiculous."

Oh, fer ****'s sake...

[tazber]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 9:07am

I agree with pretty much everyone else with any sense on here.

A protest is a waste and non-productive.

Alice needs to apologize sincerely and stop pretending that her words didn't hurt.

Alice, maybe you don't realize it but a lot of people here admire and respect you. We respect your talent. We love your performances.
But what you said stung. I realize that you don't think it was a big deal, and perhaps to you it wasn't. But you have hurt a lot of people who truly like you. People for whom the word "fag" recalls bashings and emotional trauma.
At this point I don't expect that you'll apologize, but just know that you're constant dismissal of the significance of your post is like telling your fans that their feelings simply don't matter.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 9:32am

Thank you, taz. That was perfectly stated. And I cannot comprehend how others don't get it.

[isntitromantic]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 9:49am

"fag" is hate speech. Ever since the Charlie Howard was thrown into the river in Brewer, Maine in 1984 this word offends the core of my sensibilities. Fag was the last thing he heard before he drowned. Alice should know better.

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 9:52am

Bangor, not Brewer.

(<--- Nouveau Mainah, ayuh.)

[JustAGuy]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 10:02am

Well...now this brouhaha is no longer limited to BWW and FACEBOOK.

Gay Blogger Andy Towle has picked it up as well.

TOWLEROAD

Updated On: 6/8/10 at 10:02 AM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 10:03am

A protest? Because an ACTOR in a MUSICAL insulted a FAN?

To say this is a waste of time and energy is a collasal understatement. The proprietary feeling of some of the posters responding here is actually frightening. If I were Ripley I'd have the the theatre owners have the police make sure the loonies OUTSIDE the theatre are kept far away from the stage door.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 10:15am

Michael Bennet, only one person (the OP) is willing to lead a mob with pitchforks to the N2N stagedoor. The others have simply carried over the conversation from the other Alice Ripley thread.

And she didn't just insult A fan, but faNs and faGs alike.

[isntitromantic]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 10:16am

Right you are. Charlie was thrown off the bridge running from the Bangor side; he drowned and was found on the Brewer side. I remember it well. I was in high school at the time and it was the first time, during that memorial on the bridge, that I felt part of something right and good. Less that a week after the memorial on the spot where Charlie was tossed to his death, someone spray painted "Faggots jump here." So you see, unless you stand up against language that hate connotations of hate, you are part of the problem.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 10:18am

I hadn't actually seen the quote from her status update until I followed the Towelroad link and I have to say that was a supremely idiotic thing for her to post. I can totally see why this has some people riled up. Is there any single word a woman who makes her career in musical theatre could have picked that would have been worse?

And, MB, I don't think setting it up that she merely insulted "a fan" is quite accurate when she posted it to Facebook, in ALL CAPS, for people to see. That's where she crossed a line (along with the part about saying she wasn't going to say "fag," thereby saying "fag.") To me it's as shocking as Maggie Smith calling Michael Caine a fag in the "California Suite" movie.

"To say this is a waste of time and energy is a collasal understatement." I'm not so sure. She upset people, that built up their energy, and they want to do something. It seems to me that only those who want to make a statement about Ripley's stupid choice of words can decide if its worth the investment. The fact that it doesn't yet seem to have been co-opted into a GLAAD fundraising opportunity strikes me as something of a minor miracle.

[TulitaPepsi]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 10:48am

Alice brings the Neely.

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 10:54am

"While some fans are defending Ripley, many readers of the Broadway World site are not amused, and some are planning a stage door protest at 10 pm on Thursday."

Oh, fer ****'s sake.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 11:12am

"Where was all of this anger when George Bush was in office?"

Were you in a f*cking coma for the last decade? That's the only way what you said makes sense.

I just don't get this whole kerfuffle. Why would she purposely choose that word, and then stand by it? I mean...even the Jersey Housewives have a clearer-headed view on the word than this.

And, I'm sorry, but if you're straight, you don't get an opinion on how offended gay people are allowed to be when the word 'fag' is thrown around.

You. Just. Don't.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 11:16am

Alice needs a minder. Somebody to edit her the way the Jersey Shore producers never let us hear Snooki or The Situation use the word "fag."

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/8/10 at 11:22am

Yeah, I found the "Where was all this during the Newsweek article and Bush years" thing more funny than serious. Obviously, anyone who would post such nonsense has spent little-to-no time on the BWW boards. Or in the US, for that matter. Hell, there were INTERNATIONAL protests against the Bush administration and the war in Iraq. You would have to be a young Helen Keller to question where the anger was during that period. I'd sort of expect the same person to ask a question like, "What is this nine-eleven everyone keeps talking about? Al Ky-WHO-duh? Never heard of him."