Over the last few days the internet has slowly being melting down about Jonah Hill. The Oscar nominated actor apologised after he was heard saying “Suck my DI$K, you fa%%ot” to a paparazzi over the weekend. Today he spoke at length on Howard Stern’s radio show and apologised, stating “What I said in that moment was disgusting and a hurtful term.” Jonah’s new movie 22 Jump Street, which comes out this Friday continued “This is a heartbreaking situation for me.” He concluded by saying “I’m pretty good at making movies, I am not good at being a famous person. If you call me ugly, if you call family members of mine drug addicts and maniacs I am eventually going to lose my cool.
'What I said in that moment was disgusting and a hurtful term. I should have said nothing or ***k you, instead I used a word which I don’t use in my personal life – it’s not part of my vernacular. I am happy to take the heat for using this disgusting word. What I won’t allow, it would break my heart for anyone to think, especially with all the work I have done, that I would be against anyone for their sexuality.'
Now, can this be the end of it? Certain parts of the media, many who jump on their pretentious high horse and spit venom from their moral mountains will keep blathering on about this for weeks to come, especially as 22 Jump Street hits this Friday. I’m not excusing what he said for a minute, but at the same time I’m not about to start climbing the moral mountain either. What he said was wrong, but after being prodded and provoked for so long, he snapped. Lets be honest here, the words “Faggot” and “Gay” are hurled around far too easily. In the last 20 odd years, its the go-to insult in the school yard. Kids learn this at a very young age and they use it as a putdown. Again, it’s not the right thing to say, but it’s ingrained into society these days as a putdown. While plenty of people will use it with malice and hatred against the gay community, Hill got nailed here and just lost the plot and let fly with what ever came to the tip of his tongue.
The more this is highlighted in the media and the gay community the worse it is. While you’ll always have knuckle dragging idots who’ll spout abuse at everyone and anything, highlighting it makes sure it never disappears. In fact it has the potential for more people to be made aware of the “insult”. And yes, Jonah Hill is in the public eye, and yes he made a fuck up, but he’s apologised, so let that be that. Going on about it isn’t going to eradicate homophobia but it will certainly keep it alive.
