*promote

Promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Friday, August 15th, 2014 4:42am PDT - promote requested by eric3579.

*wtf *gay *nsfw

This video has been flagged as being Not Suitable For Work - declared nsfw by ant.

Adding video to channels (Gay, Wtf) - requested by ant.

That last line killed me.

This is one of my favorites from them!

Yeah, that last line summed up a great deal of people in the world. Ha!

So gay men need to be completely indistinguishable from hetero men, else they are assholes who deserves any poor treatment they get? Granted there is nothing work appropriate about the "flaming homo" character's behavior, but it's hard not to be a bit disturbed by a message that boils down to "don't ever threaten what other people consider normal, and if you do the consequences are yours alone".

That is a messed up message to take from that sketch, and honestly wouldn't have occurred to me in a million years.

Well how else are we supposed to read it? The sympathetic character looks and acts "normal", and the viewer is led to assume that he is straight, with the twist at the end being that he's gay too, albeit a kind of gay that straight people won't find threatening, i.e. just like any other average guy except for whom he dates. After this revelation, the unsympathetic, annoying, obnoxious, flamboyant gay guy turns to himself and says "I'm not oppressed: I'm just an asshole!" In other words, gay people allegedly don't experience oppression and those that feel that they do are probably just obnoxiously flamboyant, like this guy, and hence deserve any negative reaction they get.

Don't get me wrong. I'm well aware that this is just a comedy sketch, and likewise anything even approximating the flamboyant man's behavior would be completely inappropriate in the workplace. But that said, I find it deeply disturbing that the implied messaging here is "if gay people just looked and acted like straight people, except in the bedroom, no one would have any problem with them."

I'm not even saying you're necessarily wrong -- but that's the darkest, most cynical possible interpretation of that sketch,and I sincerely doubt it was the intent.

I doubt it was intentional either but that's not really the point. The things we unconsciously say can often be just as important as the things we consciously, intentionally say. When we're talking about whether or not specific groups of people are acceptable to a broader culture, so much of how people interpret such a discussion is through the lens of their own inculturation and unconscious assumptions.

Take a look at the black community's response to the Ferguson situation on social media. One of the memes that cropped up was a comparison of headlines between stories where a white person commits murder versus when a black person is a murder victim. In the former, the headlines express a sense of disbelief such as "Theatre shooting perpetrator was 'brilliant scientist', says graduate advisor". In the latter case, the headlines tend to imply the victim got what was coming to him or her, i.e. "Shooting victim had history of drug addiction, multiple arrests." Does that mean the news media hates black people and is hopelessly racist? No, of course not. I bet none of the editors who ran those headlines thought for a moment that they were imposing racial biases upon their stories. But, the biases are definitely there -- it's a shock that a white person would kill, but it's expected and probably just that a black person was killed -- and that shapes how other people perceive the affected groups without it even entering their conscious consideration.

In the case of this video, I doubt the comedians in question considered what I've brought up, but again the note on which it ends is definitely one of "if gay people just acted normal then they wouldn't have any problems in society." I find that problematic, whether it was intentional or not.

@scottishmartialarts The trouble I have with your interpretation is that it dismisses the perspective of the gay guy that does just want to be seen as normal. Many gay people feel pressure to conform to an overtly sexual culture born out of a necessity for expression in the face of persecution. The fact is that they'd rather call out overt sexuality as tacky just like any other classy individual. It's your right. You just look dumb... like the tart in the tube top, or the bro waving his dick around. Get it together.

...and yet none of the signature qualities of Key's character are actually gay.

There's nothing gay about his haircut, his shirt, his lisp or his asshole-selfie. The only thing gay about him is his sexual attraction to men. The rest is just his personality.

I wouldn't tolerate an immature, inconsiderate, unprofessional straight asshole, so why should I have to tolerate one who's gay?

And how exactly does it dismiss it? I no where said that gay men must be flamboyant. I said that suggesting that gay men must look and act straight or face the consequences is deeply problematic. I have no problem with gay men who feel they only differ from straight men with respect to who they like to date. I do have a problem with someone suggesting that ALL gay men need to look and act that way. To me that seems like trying to manage difference so it's palatable to mainstream norms.

Full disclosure: I'm a transsexual, and unless you were extremely lucky or started transitioning before the onset of puberty, that means spending part of your transition, or in the worst case the rest of your life, looking visibly "not normal" to everyone else. I was not flamboyant, I was polite, unassuming, and did my best to fit in, but for a few years my mere existence was, to many people, as obnoxious and offensive as the flamboyant man in this video. Does that mean I deserved the hate and discrimination I got? I sure hope not. The fact that this video seems to say don't look different or you'll get what's coming to you, hits a nerve for me because for several years I COULDN'T look "normal" however much I wanted to. I'm just thankful I'm past that phase and people now see me as I see myself, treat me how I want to be treated, and I can live a "normal" life, because if this video is anything to go by then that's the hurdle you have to clear before you've earned the right not to be hated or discriminated against.

Says who? What authority do you have to define what is and what is not gay? Your essentially saying that gays can only be gay in respect to whom they are attracted to. Anything else which deviates from mainstream heterosexual norms is "immature" and the mark of an "asshole". In other words you're only willing to tolerate difference so long as it's in a way that's acceptable to you. Who is the asshole again?

Again, the flamboyant character is caricature and much of his behavior is not work approrpriate. But it's entirely possible for a gay man to be effeminate and still be professional. According to you and this video however, once a gay man crosses the line into effeminancy, and starts to be different in a way that's harder to understand, then he deserves what's coming. I have a problem with that.

Where did you get the idea that someone is saying this in the video or in this thread. I'm not seeing it.

It's heavily implied by the contrast between the two characters. The counterpoint to obnoxious flamboyance isn't reserved, professional effeminancy but such straight masculinity that the viewer is surprised to learn the other character is also gay. Again, I get that this is caricature and comedy, but I couldn't help but feel that this video was saying, intentionally or not, that there are acceptable and unacceptable ways to be gay, a sentiment which is evidently shared by overcast.

You've just answered your own question.

The fact that the "target" is gay is irrelevant. It wouldn't matter if Keys character was a lesbian or transgender or a straight white dude. As a general rule, people aren't comfortable with work acquaintances sharing intimate details of their sexual life, regardless of orientation.

Put it this way. Let's say that Keys character was a straight guy bragging about "nailing chicks" and Peeles character was a woman who turns out to be a lesbian. That behaviour would be seen as creepy at best and most likely sexual harassment.

I'm not defining what is and is not gay, I'm saying that "one who is sexually attracted to those of one's own sex" is how we define homosexual and 'gay' is just a slang term for that. I'm just citing the definition, not deciding what it is. If you don't feel that 'gay' is synonymous with 'homosexual' in this context, then we won't be able to have this debate.

To address your claims about me, no, I'm not saying I'm only willing to tolerate a plain vanilla male personality. I don't mind a guy wearing a pink shirt; I don't mind an effeminate guy; I don't mind a gay guy; and I don't mind any combination of these things.

However, if he shoves a picture of his asshole in my face, unprompted and at work no less, then he's an asshole. If he accuses me of being homophobic just because I don't like him, then he's an asshole.

If this character was a straight woman with penis paraphernalia all over her desk, a picture of her asshole on her phone, and detailed genital descriptions of the guy she slept with last night, I wouldn't like her either.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'overt' to 'key and peele, overt, homophobe, office, work, dicks, dicks, more dicks' - edited by xxovercastxx

You dismissed as offensive humor targeting the vast majority of relatively inconspicuous gay men. You also suggested that we were "supposed to" interpret the character as straight... As though a normal gay man ought be surprising.

For the record being transgendered in the workplace is a completely different thing. Expressing your gender identity is normal. Expressing your sexuality is inappropriate for the most part.

@ChaosEngine wins the internet. He's exactly right, it's not about the orientation, it's about the overt, explicit nature. No one wants to hear about someone's sexual adventures in mixed company, straight or gay.

Hollywood, loves to fall back to a definite gay stereotype though.

Glee was actually guilty of this in the the first few seasons. Kurt, the gay character had a crush on Finn, the straight character, and not only that, they were step brothers. Kurt practically stalked Finn and was downright harassing at times. Yet Finn was portrayed as the jerk for not being "more accepting"

It's ironic, TV and movies had a large role in making America more accepting of homosexuality, but they also perpetuate some shitty stereotypes too. News flash, not all homosexuals are flaming interior decorators.

Oh and ACTUAL homophobes? You're not that good looking. Gays are actually able to restrain themselves from raping you in broad daylight. Shocking, I know.

As as fellow trans person, I think you're taking this too personally. I transitioned at 30 and can related to the feeling that everyone is staring and judging you.

However, the message in this video applies to much more than gays. For instance, the same could be said for Christians who push their views on everyone else. They're not oppressed, they're just assholes. So is anybody who intentionally ignores social cues such as not showing anus pictures at work. I don't care who you are, I don't want to see it. It's a professional setting. Now, if I was at a fetish event about that, then I'd expect it. At work, I expect work stuff.

Not to mention, the asshole in this video illustrates as well that sometimes the people that feel oppressed are actually oppressing the people who are most likely to support them because they are similar.

The fact that one looks "normal" is a simple foil to be used to accentuate the punchline. Nothing more.

I was uncomfortable with this video because I was afraid that it would be used as fuel for homophobia.

I upvoted because really, it is the most anti-homophobic thing out there. It dares to treat gay people as people. Fully, 100% people with a range of personalities.

As a woman, I wasn't offended by the "gayness" of the character, I was offended by the blatant sexual nature of his comments. All this chatter about gayness completely misses the point about what is appropriate behavior in the workplace. And in fact, all this chatter disturbs me deeply -- it is misdirection from the true "crime" here.

Equality is asking everyone to be treated EQUALLY. You don't talk about sex in the workplace like this -- not if you are gay or straight.

Having said that -- my male boss and I are completely inappropriate with each -- but NOT around anyone else. We have bawdy senses of humor and we crack each other up. As he said early on in our working relationship -- it isn't sexual harassment if it is UNWANTED sexual attention.

This guy's co-worker was plain in his language that he was uncomfortable and didn't want to hear sexually explicit stuff, and he wasn't homophobic in his comments. He was ignored. That was not okay.

The point was brought home by making him happily and openly gay and letting the chatty one have a moment of self-truth. Because yeah, he was an asshole.

Explaining comedy and social commentary is so boring.

This video may be better titled homophobophobe.

Lots of interesting conversation on this video. I always thought that the gay stereotype was used as a social cue to kind of announce that one was gay. I'm not saying any particular person had to act that way just that it helped to identify as part of a certain group. The flamboyance of the character for me is annoying, but tolerable. Cock props, a-hole pictures, TMI on the lover definitely cross the line for me in the workplace regardless of gender / orientation.