Is Billy Crystal being a hypocrite?

Who cares if it makes him a hypocrite? It makes him a homophobic jackass, like 90% of straight men. It’s certainly not news-worthy.

By definition, he’s only a hypocrite if the sorts of scenes he’s complaining about are the sorts of scenes he performed in. Given that he was playing a gay character in a comedy show on a major network in the late 70s/early 80s, I’m going to guess that he wasn’t involved in too many explicit gay sex scenes. Therefore, it seems unlikely that he is being hypocritical (at least not for that reason). But that doesn’t mean he isn’t still being unreasonable.

He’s a Silly Billy & he’s made it crystal clear he’s talking outta his arse.
“90% of straight men are homophobic” Last I looked, this was the 21st century, an epic exaggeration surely.

Of course it was an exaggeration, but far from an “epic” one. One does not have to openly hate gay people to be a homophobe.

The definition is not in dispute, just the mammoth figure, but anyway…

I don’t know, but it sure makes me never want to see anything with him in it again.

I’m still trying to work out exactly what is hypocritical or homophobic in his remarks.

He thinks some gay sex scenes are a bit “too much”. Gee. So controversial.

Get a grip, people.

I cannot believe people are even bent out of shape, guess he doesn’t have the right to form any opinion contrary to the LGTB agenda. He was an actor playing a role, I am sure he could have taken the high road and never taken a role of a gay character. If every actor and actress in Hollywood only took parts of characters they believed in in the real none would ever take the parts of serial killers, prostitutes, hit men, junkies, thieves, and more unless they believed in the action of their characters. I suppose T. R. Knight (Dr. George O’Malley, Grey’s Anatomy)was a fraud and a hypocrite playing a straight doctor in at least the 1st 2 seasons having the hots for Meredith Grey (actress Ellen Pompeo) instead of passing on the role or insisting they make O’Malley gay. Really, really, has the skin gotten so thin in the US?

I think calling him a hypocrite is an overreaction. He thinks a lot of “heterosexual scenes are also “too much for him”.

He also said that his comments apply to heterosexual sex scenes as well as gay ones. “When it gets too far either visually…now, that world exists because it does for the hetero world, it exists, and I don’t want to see that either.” Source

Sure, these stories read better when they just quote that single line over and over, without asking him to explain hat he meant by it. It’s good clickbait.

Spot on @dappled_leaves

I never do get a copy of that agenda. WTF?

I totally agree with him, and both of us are entitled to our opinion without being labeled hypocritical. There are many, many of things shown today on the screen, on TV and on the Web that I’d rather were not shown (or at least shown so graphically), but that doesn’t make me racist, homophobic, prudish, or even necessarily against showing such stuff. It just means I don’t enjoy watching graphic sex or violence.

first of all let me say I agree with him. You can’t even turn on a sitcom without the show highlighting gay people or “read between the lines” comments about sex between gays.

My children are all grown but I don’t see how parents can sit down and watch TV with their kids anymore. I guess that is why my daughter only lets my grandchildren watch Nick Jr.

As for him changing his opinion about gays on TV and Movies, I am not surprised. Celebrities are the most phony people out there. They say what they think you want to hear at the time not what they really feel.

@BeenThereSaidThat Yes, it’s so much better to shelter our children from the real world so they’re surprised when they see some real shit happening.~ Those dumb ass parents asking, “Oh, how am I supposed to explain to my child why two men are kissing?” are ridiculous. Sounds like the parents’ problem. Television is there for entertainment. Gay people have always been around and they always will be, so people that have a problem seeing them represented (and sexualized) on TV are just going to have to get used to it, because they aren’t going anywhere, no matter how much homophobic assholes wish they would.

Saying both gay and straight sex scenes on TV go too far is one thing (I don’t agree, but that’s not the issue), but thinking gay characters shouldn’t even go as far as the straight ones do is pure homophobia, no matter how you sugarcoat it.

@livelaughlove21 I don’t think it serves any purpose to show a five year old and six year old two men or two woman kissing on the mouth or rolling around in bed half dressed. You raise your kids your way and my family will raise ours our way.

my money is on my kids upbringing. They watch nice shows and movies and go to church every Sunday. they are kind sweet children who treat others kindly.

The six year old is the “peacemaker” in her class at school and befriends the shy kids who the more outgoing kids tease.

I think there should be more gay sex scenes on TV, just to corrupt the children.

I think there should be more gay sex scenes on TV, just to educate the children.

This is beginning to sound like the old Gilda Radner skit

Really, @tinyfaery??? Crystal’s personal opinion makes you never want to see anything with him in it again? Heavens, what happens when you disagree with something a friend or family member or co-worker thinks/believes… you want never again to see them?

Would @tinyfaery be missing out on much by avoiding Billy Crystal, really? I’ve managed to effortlessly avoid almost everything he’s ever been in, and it had nothing to do with this comment. Dude is pretty obnoxious.

Yeah @Pachy that is why I am never ever going to talk to Barak Obama again.

I also will not listen to music by R.Kelly or Chris Brown. If an “entertainers” life or personal opinions offend me, I will never listen to or see anything they do ever again. I vote with my dollars not just a ballot.

I did not vote for Obama. ASSumptions are fun.

Breaking news: Billy Crystal is not, has never & will never be funny.
Also, I hate his fucking awful twangy voice & the hair on his head looks like pubes :D

My sentiments exactly, @ucme.

I was just saying to my husband that now every new show has to have a gay sex scene. It’s too much. I think sex on TV has become too commonplace and too explicit in general. Gay or straight sex.

I’ve been seeing gay sex since my teens in the gay clubs of SE DC. It doesn’t bother me, I just think place and time.

I prefer TV to not be so graphic. I also don’t like excessive violence.

To answer the question, I don’t think he’s a hypocrite, I think he’s an adult who thinks it’s gone overboard.

@JLeslie I have to agree. I think a portion of people want a safe haven that they can go to and no expect to be blind sided by gore or gratuitous sex gay or straight.

Sex is a part of life. Why should characters on TV be sexless? There are ways to avoid these shows, apparently, because I hardly see anything on TV that is “gory or gratuitous” unless I seek it out. Turn off HBO and Skinemax and stick to Big Bang Theory if sex bothers you so much.

Where are all these gay sex scenes anyway? Aside from The L Word (which is no longer on the air), Queer as Folk (which is no longer on the air), and Orange is the New Black, where one would expect gay sex scenes, I can’t think of a show that routinely airs excessive gay sex. I’d love to know where these shows are, so I can DVR them.

I’m anything but a prude but it seems that everything I see on Tv has an explicit sex scene in it. I don’t care if it’s a hetero or homo sexual, but most film (tv or film) has an explicit sex scene. I don’t think Crystal is a hypocrite. He’s just putting forward his perspective on the state of the entertainment industry rather than his position on sexuality

@livelaughlove21 How To Get Away With Murder is one. A lawyer mystery type drama. Grey’s anatomy has some, although not very explicit on that show, Empire is a new show with gay bedroom scenes. There are also many shows with gay kissing, but I’m not talking about just kissing, and I assume Billy Crystal isn’t either. I think kissing and implying sex is going to happen is fine.

Not only does the TV audience not require seeing explicit sex scenes, it also is uncomfortable for the actors I would assume. It’s unnecessary.

I don’t have HBO, or any pay extra movie channel. I haven’t for years.

I repeat, sex is a part of life. It’s natural, we all do it, and I see no reason why it shouldn’t be represented on TV. These shows are about people’s lives, which include sex. And as I said, sitcoms are great for those that prefer to only see implied sex or kissing on TV. Plenty of people enjoy sex scenes, which is why they exist. Sex sells – alway has, always will.

As for kids: Children don’t need to see explicit sex scenes (regardless of whether it’s gay or straight sex) at a young age, which is why certain shows are geared toward adults, and it’s up to those adults to shield their kids from adult TV shows. My kids wouldn’t be watching Law & Order: SVU because the content of the show is not appropriate for kids. I’m still going to watch it, though, and I have no problem with it being on TV even if it’s not appropriate for everyone. Not sure why it should be any different for shows that depict more explicit sex scenes.

Actors don’t get off on sex scenes, but many of them seem to look at them as just another part of the job. Few whine about it, and they aren’t forced to do it. The actors on Queer as Folk said they felt the sex was necessary because gay characters in other shows before it, like Will & Grace, were fluffy, funny characters that you knew were gay only because it was understood that they were. Grace had way more implied sex on screen than Will or Jack. Gay characters were barely human in these shows, and only there for witty entertainment. So, no, I’ll never think that gay sex should stay off-screen. And I’d like to thank the creators of QAF, because without that show, gay characters on TV might still be eunuchs. Now they’re people. Imagine that.

I guess it all boils down to, if you don’t like it, don’t watch it. If people still enjoy it, and they do, it’s here to stay. So what’s the point in bitching about it? There are plenty of other shows to watch. It’s just sex, not some horrible taboo act – get over it. I don’t think Cougar Town should be on air because it’s just plain awful, but turning the channel when it comes on is much easier than complaining that corny, unoriginal comedies shouldn’t be on TV. More effective, too.

@livelaughlove21 I am just saying I think it is unnecessary on many shows where they are injecting more explicit sex. Some shows it is warranted for the story.

I agree sex is part if life. I have much more of a problem with excessive violence on TV than sex between consenting adults.

I don’t think the sex is necessary to sell the shows I named. The story line is enough without the sex.

When I was fairly young I watched sophisticated dramas in TV. Why shouldn’t a 14 year old be able to watch Law and Order? I didn’t watch that show, but I watched Dynasty and Knots Landing.

@livelaughlove21 Call me :D

Pooping is also a part of life. Why don’t we see more scenes with actors shitting? I agree with @Earthbound_Misfit.

@jonsblond Because shit doesn’t sell like sex does. And I see plenty of bathroom humor on TV as well as under-the-stall shots of people doing their business. Sex just appeals to the public a lot more than poop.

@JLeslie I didn’t say anything about 14-year-olds. When I said “young children,” I meant single-digit ages. Regular Law & Order, sure, but SVU features more sensitive story lines about rape that would only serve to scare the crap out of some kids. And it depends on the maturity level of the kid. I started watching QAF’s very explicit guy/guy sex scenes at 14 and I wasn’t scarred for life, but I doubt I’d just hand the DVDs over to my own 14 year old (if I had one).

Not sure why “don’t look” is so difficult for people to understand when it comes to artistic expression they don’t like. There’s more television content being produced now than ever before. Of course there’s going to be more sexual content, as well as more violence, as well as more lighthearted fluff, etc. Whatever your tastes and inclinations are there’s bound to be stuff out there for you. Find it, watch it rather than complaining about everything that isn’t it. Hell, I follow more TV series’ now than I ever have and I don’t even have television service anymore.

I love television and watch quite a bit of it. Sure, there’s lots of shows, but the best shows imo are inundated with gratuitous sex scenes. I’m also not a prude, but the scenes they show now are nothing compared to twenty years ago. Some of it can be considered soft core porn.

I enjoy dramas, crime and scifi, Some of my favorite shows are Dexter, SOA, Vikings, and True Detective. If I want to watch these shows I need to see two naked men and their asses, or a naked woman in front of a naked man with her head thrusting at his crotch or a man with three naked women bouncing up and down on him. If I wanted to watch porn I’d watch porn. There was a time when sex was implied, because it is a part of life. Now every great show has to show two or more people fucking. If I want to escape it my only options are HGTV or Nick Jr.

@jonsblond I agree, and I sometimes see commentaries about this… you know, from ordinary writers, not religious / Tipper Gore types. I think there will be a backlash eventually.

Guys picking up underage prostitutes are a fact of life, why not plaster TV and movies with that too…..if we want to be authentic.

@Hypocrisy_Central You cannot be serious. Comparing gay sex to prostitution and pedophilia has got to be a new level of ridiculousness for you, and that’s saying a lot.

^ Are we not talking about depicting on TV what is true to live and a fact? Regardless how anyone views it, if one wants to make the case for authenticity than they have to get off the hypocritical fence saying I like my side but the other side stinks, and see there are no sides, authenticity is just that, being true to what is true to life. It is no more or less ridiculous than comparing gay sex to straight sex, to married sex and fornication.

@Hypocrisy_Central

You’re free to go to a network and pitch your idea for a show about underage prostitutes if you wish.

@jonsblond GA.

^^ The show I would pitch most outside the South would care to watch and certainly would not get it.

And what would that pitch be?

But the violence, which is also increasing, is ok. I never understand that mentality.

Violence reflects the most destructive and hideous parts of life. Sex is about love and pleasure. I’d rather see porn on NBC then watch people killing each other.

@tinyfaery I have to agree with that. I just prefer my serious dramas not to be borderline porn.

I don’t think anyone said that the increasing violence is okay. This Q is about sex.

This question is about Billy Crystal.

Indeed it is & so…a random rant.
When the fucker hosts the Oscars & does a movie medley of show songs, I wanna climb inside my telly & kick him square on the cock.
You may continue

Billy Crystal complaining about sex on tv. Not violence.

Just because someone doesn’t mention increasing violence in television when talking about sex does not mean they don’t have a problem with the violence. The topic for the moment just happens to be sex.

And I brought up violence. Now it’s about that.

No, I brought up violence. Ha! ~

@Darth_Algar And what would that pitch be?
To diverge a moment from the question at hand, the movie, or series I would have had would be like a tale of two women, one a stripper and the other a call girl and how one of them got on the right track by getting off the wrong track; which if you don’t know, is not the path of the cross.

HS @Hypocrisy_Central You really out did yourself with that post! I really missed your comments!

@Hypocrisy_Central

You could probably sell that pitch to Lifetime. Or maybe the Oprah Network.

@Darth_Algar It has Bravo written all over it.