By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Videos | Comments (25)
Each Time You Like, Share, Tweet or Stumble a Pajiba Post, An Angel Does the Paul Rudd Dance
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Posted by: the_wakeful at May 3, 2011 8:28 PM
Made you cry too, eh, Rowles?
'lil bit. -- DR
Posted by: Matty at May 3, 2011 8:28 PM
Shit, I'm angry I even came to this page.
Posted by: Jay at May 3, 2011 8:36 PM
How old is this?
Posted by: ERM at May 3, 2011 8:58 PM
Fuck all y'all. I got chills and teary-eyed.
Posted by: Cindy at May 3, 2011 9:08 PM
I too am slightly puzzled by using this particular video to represent the "It Gets Better" campaign. I mean there has been a review of the associated book on this very site, so I wouldn't have thought we would need a google-chrome/web 2 advertisement version of it.
As this is a movie site, I thought you would perhaps have used the Pixar version, which actually contains stories, not just a link to them.
Anyway - great project, not so great representative vid :)
Posted by: tieke at May 3, 2011 9:14 PM
Google Chrome, Schmoogle Chrome. I love Dan Savage.
Posted by: Abby at May 3, 2011 9:17 PM
*sniff*
Posted by: Skyler Durden at May 3, 2011 10:20 PM
Kind of an odd choice for a post, but I suppose I can't help but think that... well, Google/Chrome deserves some props -- if you're going to choose something as a vehicle for your advertising? That's pretty damn badass of them. Is that a weird choice for a Pajiba post? Yes. But I'm not too bothered.
If it gets the message out, I don't give a shit who gets the free pub, frankly.
Posted by: Horvath at May 3, 2011 11:04 PM
did woody come out?!
Posted by: gp at May 3, 2011 11:20 PM
I love it! And I had no idea Pixar did that.
I run hot and cold with Dan Savage, but I think It Gets Better is a magnificent thing.
Posted by: Sassafrass Green at May 4, 2011 12:27 AM
I dig the message. Unfortunately I thought this was a video about how to fix the slowness that becomes Google Chrome after using it for a month.
Posted by: junierizzle at May 4, 2011 1:34 AM
I wonder how effective this campaign has been for kids and young adults struggling with their sexuality. I came out 7 years ago, after I spent almost a decade determined to never let anyone find out I was gay. I struggled, and I tried to drink the gay out of me. There was nothing quite like this campaign when I was closeted, and maybe it would have helped.
But mainly, I think I would have reacted negatively, because I took any mention of gay people as a potential cause for my peers and family to consider the issue. I swear I would turn red at the slightest innuendo, because I thought all eyes were on me (they weren't). Then again, I wasn't harassed because I was very effectively deceptive.
Anyone have any personal or vicarious experience of these ads being helpful, giving hope, etc?
Posted by: Vince Noir at May 4, 2011 3:13 AM
Strange that they turned the uniformed "Marine" into a matrix-coated "Vet" in the Chrome version - if they didn't want to go against the military's dislike of uniforms in advertisements why didn't they choose a different clip?
Posted by: tieke at May 4, 2011 5:17 AM
woodys gay?
Posted by: rabbi at May 4, 2011 5:58 AM
@Vince Noir, man, you hit the nail right on the head. I was also terrified of anybody mentioning the word "gay" around me. I remember watching TV sitting in our family living room and being frozen with fear whenever anything "gay" came on screen. If I don't even flinch, they'll never suspect.
We didn't have the Internet until I was, like, 17. So I wonder if, for kids with access to computers and social media, if this isn't something that they can privately watch when and if they're contemplating hurting themselves.
Posted by: The Wandering Parakeet at May 4, 2011 7:47 AM
@Vince Noir and Wandering Parakeet
I was also deathly afraid of being found out and it probably would've also made me feel really uncomfortable. I'd be afraid that it might start my parents thinking in that direction and just figure it out. I think, though, that the It Gets Better videos would've helped me, at least in private. It would've helped to have a resource of positivity about my horrifying questions about my sexuality. I eventually came out on my own (to the surprise of no one), but maybe I'd of felt a little better about myself a little sooner.
I had a friend who was helped by these videos, actually. She had struggled with her sexuality for a long time, but It Gets Better helped. Granted, it wasn't the only thing. She also had supportive friends and she moved out on her own. But after feeling a lot of negativity and angst about her sexuality, having such overwhelming positivity from so many people helped.
Posted by: Sassafrass Green at May 4, 2011 10:40 AM
If you're asking why Dustin picked this video to post, I would say yeah maybe it's a commercial for Google Chrome but according to Dan Savage this morning, "Last night more people visited http://www.itgetsbetter.org/ than ever before. Keep sharing this remarkable video and let's spread our message of hope far and wide. #ItGetsBetter"
So, I'd say it's a great thing worth sharing that is getting the message of It Gets Better out to folks who were somehow unaware.
Posted by: I Need More Allowance at May 4, 2011 10:42 AM
I fell in love with Savage years ago, I used to read one of those free weekly newspapers where he wrote a relationship advice column.
Posted by: Pookie at May 4, 2011 11:20 AM
"It Gets Better" is a great message for the way things ought to be. Alas. Still, it's a damn good start.
Posted by: RobP at May 4, 2011 11:32 AM
I had a tough time coming out, and like Vince Noir and Wandering Parakeet and Sassafrass Green was deathly afraid of anyone finding out. I figured I'd be dead by 21, so I wouldn't have to deal with it, and I tasted gunmetal in my mouth more than once.
So, whatever helps kids avoid that is a good thing in my book.
Posted by: Drake at May 4, 2011 12:08 PM
I think this campaign is a great idea. But is anyone else put off by the straight celebrity videos? The Ke$ha one is the first that comes to mind. I could be wrong about them, but can I get some credentials, please? I mean, I can grasp what the campaign is about, but I would never claim to understand all the shit some people go through over their sexuality.
I don't know, maybe it's just good for the campaign to have famous people saying shit.
Posted by: pissant at May 4, 2011 1:07 PM
pissant, I think it is important that straight people do these. For one thing, there just aren't that many famous gay folks, especially that teens know--Adam Lambert has, probably, more clout with the youngsters than Elton John.
And for another, there are days, LORD there are days, when a Santorum or a Bachmann or a Trump or somebody makes gay people out to be pedophiles or incest-ers or alcoholic drug addicts or otherwise the symbol of That Which Is Wrong With America. And then, you know, you look to people in power, like our President. Jane Lynch recently said something like "Well, I know he says he's not sure about gay marriage, but in my heart, I trust that he's for us." I mean, how pathetic is that? He likes us... just not enough to say so. I just get so depressed with our country and the fact that my very existence seems to be a political issue for some people.
So on those days, lord, lord those days, sometimes even I, an out gay man, like to be able to look around and see signs that there are a lot of goddamn people who don't feel that way and are willing to say it and are willing to give a damn about gay kids killing themselves. It's a small solace, but sometimes that's all we get.
Posted by: The Wandering Parakeet at May 4, 2011 3:08 PM
I don't mind the Google Chrome tie-in. Like it or not, advertising pays for a lot of the shit you read and see every day.
And "It Gets Better" is a nice message for everyone, not just gay people. You're not what you were in high school or even your childhood home, if you don't want to be. You can be however you want, and if other people don't like it, they can fuck right off.
It would be nice if the homophobic assholes didn't have so much political power. They should have none whatsoever. Maybe in another 10 years or so, gay people will actually have all the rights other "straight" adults do.
Posted by: Slash at May 4, 2011 3:30 PM
i was so afraid of family and friends finding out i was gay (though they all knew) that i thought about killing myself a lot when i was a teenager. i honestly don't know why i never did or how i survived that period. it was awful.
this project is great and i'm sure it's helped a bit, even if it's only in private to some. every little bit helps, after all.
what's google chrome?
Posted by: splinter at May 4, 2011 6:06 PM
I love Dan Savage, but shame on you, Dustin, for posting what is basically just an ad for Google Chrome.
But seriously, Dan Savage is the shit.