It was only a matter of time before this happened. Iconic franchises have long blamed toxic fandom for their garbage output’s failures, such as any number of Disney Star Wars productions and Amazon’s more recent Rings of Power. The formula is usually to cast a more diverse mix of actors and then blame white people for not supporting black representation.
Now, the LGBT community is getting involved, with gay actor Billy Eichner heaping blame for his new movie’s abysmal $4.8 opening weekend haul on homophobia.
In a series of appalling tweets, the relatively unknown Hollyweirdo ignored that people generally like seeing good films and instead chose to blame them for something entirely unrelated.
“That’s just the world we live in, unfortunately,” Eichner tweeted. “Even with glowing reviews, great Rotten Tomatoes scores, an A CinemaScore etc, straight people, especially in certain parts of the country, just didn’t show up for Bros. And that’s disappointing but it is what it is.”
As always, Eichner produces no receipts for his allegations, just empty finger pointing. Plenty of films bomb at the box office that star heterosexuals; how does someone like this angry person explain that? What’s more, as Twitter pointed out, Brokeback Mountain came out two decades ago and was a massive commercial success. That’s not even including a conversation on Tom Hanks’ critical and commercial hit Philadelphia, produced three decades ago or the more recent biopic of Freddie Mercury Bohemian Rhapsody.
This stuff shouldn’t even have to be said. And Eichner didn’t stop with that single comment, as bad as it was. He continued casting aspersions on anyone who elected not to see his film as bigoted.
That’s just the world we live in, unfortunately. Even with glowing reviews, great Rotten Tomatoes scores, an A CinemaScore etc, straight people, especially in certain parts of the country, just didn’t show up for Bros. And that’s disappointing but it is what it is.
Everyone who ISN’T a homophobic weirdo should go see BROS tonight! You will have a blast! And it *is* special and uniquely powerful to see this particular story on a big screen, esp for queer folks who don’t get this opportunity often. I love this movie so much. GO BROS!!! ???
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) October 2, 2022
Then, insinuating not seeing his film amounted to straight up fear of gays, he said:
Everyone who ISN’T a homophobic weirdo should go see BROS tonight! You will have a blast! And it *is* special and uniquely powerful to see this particular story on a big screen, esp for queer folks who don’t get this opportunity often. I love this movie so much. GO BROS!!!
If not seeing a gay film is homophobia, what is seeing a gay film? Conversely, if Eichner doesn’t see a film with straight people, what’s that? Again, these questions shouldn’t even have to be asked given their ridiculously obvious answers.
Of the film and box office struggles, Outkick briefly recapped:
“Bros” centers around a love story between two men. And members of the LGBTQ+ community were cast in every major role. But people weren’t exactly rushing to theaters to see how the romcom played out. Eichner’s film grossed just $4.8 million.
Sometimes movies just aren’t good or of interest. Plenty goes into a movie’s box office popularity including when the film was released (hello, football season). But Eichner’s pointing the finger solely at “straight people.”
Featured image: Screen shot, Twitter
This story syndicated with permission from The Blue State Conservative