Pop! Quiz: What did you think of the gay jokes in Lance's roast on the DWTS finale?

I found the comments offensive.  I applaud Dancing with the Stars for not bringing up Lance's sexuality during the season and treating him no different than any other male contestant. Jeff Ross had no right and the fact that he isn't in the least bit funny just makes it worse.

It was pretty typical Jeffrey Ross, though a little funnier than he's been at past roasts.  I loved that he got Cloris in on it too.  In answer to your question, nope.  It was a roast, so long as he didn't use the same old trite lines desperate comics try (Dane Cook/Adam Sandler), it worked well.

I was a bit uncomfortable briefly, but I felt the same for what he said about Cloris and Warren, as well (don't even remember what he said about Brooke) - so at least it was all around equally uncomfortable and they all seemed to take it in stride.

I skipped over the entire roast. Not because I was in any fear of what jokes might be made about Lance's sexuality, but because Jeffery Ross is a painfully unfunny hack. It's unfair to judge whether what he said up there about Lance being gay was offensive or not becuase it was offensive just for coming from Ross' mouth.

I thought most of it was pretty offensive for Lance AND for Warren. We're kind of more used to hear jokes about people's weight and not be offensed by it and he kind of related the weight jokes with the dance but for the gay jokes... it didn't have anything to do there, there really were no point on talking about it. Plus you're right it wasn't even funny. And we could see that Lance didn't take it very well... at least I thought he was forcing himself to smile most of the time when Warren was actually laughing.

Ross' jokes were exactly what I expected. They focused on the obvious thing that each person had. Lance=Gay, Warren=Fat, CLoris=old. If you were expecting Ross to make jokes about anything other than those facts you have never seen a comedy central roast, or have no concept of what happens at a roast.

Did I find Ross' jokes offensive? No, not really. I didn't find them particularly funny either. The really funny thing is that like RFC, I don't remeber anything that Ross said about Brooke, except that she was having Lance's baby.

I'm still on the fence about whether or not DWTS should have been a little more open about Lance's sexuality. I do like the fact that they had him on the show, and that it's a great positive out gay person on TV, but not to mention it at all would also let some people who didn't know assume that he was straight. I think that it is always a hard call to determine just how much an out star should show thier sexuality. If you look at America's Next Top Model, they had Isis, a trangender woman on, and that was all that they could talk about until she left the show. There was also one or two lesbian or bisexual women on as well, but they kinda faded with the "born a man" issue.

I like the fact that we have more out people on TV. Too bad most of them are on reality TV shows, at least with the major networks. But I do like the fact that there are more and more out character popping up in shows, but they are still greatly missing. It's similar to the lack of minorities on the screen. If you really take a close look at TV there is still an under representation of all minorities, and that should change.

Thanks for reading. Looking towards a better future!

Much Love, Brian

Check out my BLOGS at Bchin's Rants and Ask a Queer Questions.

OK, people do you know what a "roast" is?  If not, go watch a few, you be surprised at the jokes being made.  I mean even the William Shattner Roast, George Takei made fun of himself in similar fashion.  Sometimes they get very mean and nasty, but thats a "roast" for you.

 

I generally don't find insult humor funny. I just don't get the joke. I don't even find Kathy Griffith funny. I don't dislike her or anything. I just find her boring.

Jokes about culturally sensitive topics, such as race or sexual orientation, can be funny, but not when they are directed at a particular person. I saw one comic talk about racially sensitive topics, and he was a hit because he made people laugh at their own nervousness or unease around certain topics. That's different from simply saying "you're fat, you're old, and you're gay."

I believe it was Joy Behar on the View that said that personal humor should not be based on the way a person looks (or anything obvious) but rather on what the person does.  I think she was talking about whomever the Florida secretary of state was during the 2000 recount.  Jeffrey Ross is not that funny and also can't dance.  I know what roasts are, but tend to agree that they are an acquired taste--rather like deep fried Twinkies or something.

I did find it interesting that (although Lacey alluded to Lance's orientation after the first dance) nothing was ever mentioned until after the final audience votes.  Perhaps I'm still paranoid after Prop 8, but Lance talked about being gay on Chelsea Lately and some other interviews, but the DWTS kept it pretty quiet.  I think it odd that the two queen-ish judges treated Lance more strictly than necessary.  Shades of Roy Cohn? 

Pope Skippy XVI

Cloris Leachman said it best at her roast of Bob Saget... (to Jeffrey Ross)  "Who the Hell are you?"