Arts & Entertainment
Bill Nye bashes gay conversion therapy with ice cream
conservative outlets slam the animated short
(Screenshot via YouTube.)
Bill Nye the Science Guy explained the sexuality spectrum and slams the use of gay conversion therapy using ice cream cones on his Netflix series, “Bill Nye Saves the World.”
In an animated short titled, “Ice Cream Sexuality,” a vanilla ice cream cone invites the other flavors to ice cream conversion therapy.
“As vanilla, I feel that I am the most natural of the ice creams, and therefore, the rest of you should just go ahead and also be vanilla. It’s the one true flavor,” the ice cream cone tells the rest. He explains that they should, “pretend to be vanilla until they no longer have the urge to not be vanilla.”
The other flavors protest. Strawberry panics and pistachio explains he doesn’t have the urge to be pistachio, he just is that way.
Eventually, the other flavors convince vanilla they don’t have to change who they are and all the scoops dance together in a bowl.
Conservative media outlets took offense to the cartoon, including Megan Fox who wrote a column for PJ Media criticizing Nye.
“The message here is clear (and not at all scientific): Christian, straight white people are bigots, racists and not even straight,” Fox writes. “Bill Nye offers no proof of that, other than a poorly drawn cartoon about debauched ice cream.”
Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro posted a Facebook video slamming the video saying, “There is no scientific basis for anything that is in this video. Just on a scientific basis, ice cream does not have genitalia.”
Watch “Ice Cream Sexuality” below.
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Television loses a legend, longtime ‘Will & Grace’ director James Burrows
Iconic hitmaker leaves behind a legacy of telling LGBTQ stories
You don’t have to be a pretentious film major to name 10 movie directors. But naming television directors is not that simple. They’re the unsung heroes of your favorite shows, and the late James Burrows was the television director. He passed on June 19, but his DNA runs through television history.
He directed over 1200 episodes of television and over 50 pilots. He co-created “Cheers” and directed many episodes of long-running series like “Friends,” “Taxi,” “Frasier,” “The Big Bang Theory,” and “Two and a Half Men.” You also may remember him from playing a heightened version of himself on the Lisa Kudrow comedy “The Comeback.”
He has left an indelible mark on the LGBTQ community. As recently as last year, he directed the series run of “Mid-Century Modern” starring Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer, and Linda Lavin. He was also a longtime director of “Will & Grace” and directed every episode of the series revival. He even directed the unaired “Absolutely Fabulous” pilot with Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Johnston, and Zosia Mamet.
Not to mention he’s worked with queer icons throughout history, including Betty White and Stockard Channing on their single-season series, and Jennifer Coolidge in “2 Broke Girls.”
He started his career on shows like “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Rhoda,” “Laverne & Shirley,” and the first four seasons of “Taxi.”
He continued to work steadily and directed successful pilots that went to series for “Roc,” “3rd Rock From the Sun,” “Dharma & Greg,” and “Wings.” He directed multiple episodes of “Friends,” “Caroline in the City,” and “Frasier.”
This magic continued into the 2000s with him directing the pilots for “Two and a Half Men,” “The Big Bang Theory,” and multiple episodes of “Mike & Molly,” and the entire return series of “Will & Grace.”
What was the secret to his success? He’d enact the “fun clause” in his contract. In his words, “Life is too short to deal with obnoxious leads,” he shared. “So as long as the writing is good and the cast is fun, I’m going to enjoy the experience.”
He had the magic touch, having multiple pilots turned into long-running series. He was nominated for an Emmy 24 times in 26 years and worked consistently until a year before his death.
The secret was the way he brought the cast together. He describes, “it was my job to mold them into an ensemble, and they did round into a group of people who loved each other.”
This earned him 11 Emmy Awards and five Directors Guild of America Awards, including being awarded the inaugural DGA’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Television Direction.
In a 2003 interview by the Television Academy, he was asked how he wants to be remembered, and he said, “That every night forever you can tune in somewhere, and there’ll be a show I did.”
He’s survived by his wife, Debbie, four daughters, seven grandchildren, and the countless people whose careers he launched and the countless viewers he inspired with his television legacy.
Photos
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(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key and Landon Shackelford)
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(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key, Robert Rapanut and Landon Shackelford)
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