Two stories that broke today set the Twitterworld afire. Each of them taken individually was sufficient enough to dampen the brightness of even Hollywood's plastic sun. However with the confluence of the events in one day, it was enough to cause succinct twits about the dreadfulness of this day. A day which forever shall live in infamy.
Not only did the California Supreme Court uphold the voter approved Proposition 8, establishing marriage as being between one man and one woman, but news leaked that filmmakers were contemplating relaunching the Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise with a movie that would not involve the actors who made the TV show a cult hit or creator Joss Whedon. Oh the humanity, how could they possibly survive these two assaults in the same day?
If you find my above treatment of the gay marriage issue to be insulting to the seriousness of the issue, I agree. If you find my equating the two news items today to be dismissive of the actual new story's magnitude, I agree.
I didn't make the analogy or the equation, it was young twittering liberals.
I saw that "Buffy" was one of the most twitted words, so being a fan of the show, I clicked to see what everyone was talking about. There I found people lamenting and complaining about even the possibility that someone would dare make a Buffy movie without the TV cast or involving Whedon. I expected that, psychotic fans are psychotic fans and there is always something to complain about.
What I didn't expect was to see half of the twits equating the movie announcement with the gay marriage decision – both being equally "AWFUL." Just in case, you doubt my interpretation of their angst over both:
RBCAllHeart: First CA upholds Prop 8 and now a Buffy remake without Joss. Today FAILS.
Jean_Wennlund: Today sucks. Prop 8 is upheld and they're making a Buffy movie without Joss Whedon and the rest of cast.
timryder: Don't know what I'm more upset about – Prop 8 being upheld (http://is.gd/FihG) or a Whedon-less Buffy relaunch (http://is.gd/FijU).
In the small time I invested in looking at the Buffy related twitterings, I found similar posts by rhoprox, NRCallie, seashanty and others. Ms. Wennlund was also gracious enough to say that she was "tired of the Dr. MLK approach" and that she "hope[s] there are riots."
If this is an issue that is of utmost importance and is an matter of basic human rights, it deserves to be elevated above rumors about upcoming films.
I am well aware that this does not speak for all, or even a majority, of Prop 8 opponents. This is not an attempt to tar the whole with the sins of the part. (Even though that has often been a ploy used against supporters of traditional marriage.) This is less a comment on the issue of gay marriage than it is a criticism of younger activists of both sides (though it seems more prominent on the left for various reasons) to equate immensely important political moments with barely worth mentioning entertainment news.
This is the negative side for the left in Hollywoodizing their movement. When you allow celebrities, with little to offer except their celebrity, to become the spokespeople for your issues you devalue the seriousness of the issue.
Yes, gay marriage is an important issue to any up and coming liberal, but so is seeing the Buffy character reunited with Joss Whedon. Both carry equal importance as pop issues du jour. All the cool kids are against gay marriage and all the cool kids want the real Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Same thing.