Will Ferrell film ‘Get Hard’ slammed for gay prison rape gags

Mar 18 2015
Written by Gabby Jeffries

A film starring comedian Will Ferrell has been slammed by critics for its jokes about gay sex in prisons.

Upcoming film ‘Get Hard’ stars Ferrell as a businessman who is wrongly jailed for tax evasion, and Kevin Hart as a black friend who ‘trains’ him to survive prison.

However, the film has been poorly received by critics due to its portrayal of “gay-panic humour”.

In one scene, Ferrell’s character goes to a gay bar and attempts to perform a sex act on a man in a toilet, in order to ‘prepare’ for prison, before breaking down in tears.

A review of the film for Variety states: “If you’re disturbed by white-collar crime, but not quite as disturbed as you are by gay sex, then congratulations: You might possess just the right combo of social conscience and unexamined homophobia needed to fully enjoy ‘Get Hard’.

“Not even two of America’s most reliable funnymen can eke consistent laughs out of this sloppy odd-couple comedy about a wrongly convicted millionaire (Will Ferrell) who asks the nearest black guy (Kevin Hart) to toughen him up in preparation for a decade behind bars — a premise that allows for a few timely jabs at racial oppression and class disparity, though it’s ultimately undone by some of the ugliest gay-panic humour to befoul a studio release in recent memory. ”

A second review noted for HitFlix: “There is nothing this movie can imagine that is worse than gay sex, it seems to be saying… This film is so relentless in how wrong it is that I eventually gave up.

“I just couldn’t bring myself to laugh at something that will reinforce hatred, that plays into this idea that gay sex is somehow inherently more disgusting than regular sex.

“When we talk about homophobia, that’s exactly what this is.

“Sorry, but as great as sex feels and as important as it is to every person’s happiness, stigmatizing anyone for enjoying themselves in a safe, consensual way seems morally offensive to me.”

Kevin Hart said in January that he would refuse to play a gay character, and had turned down a role in Tropic Thunder because it involved homosexuality.

He said: “I feel I can’t [play a gay character] because I don’t think I’m really going to dive into that role 100 percent, because of the insecurities about myself trying to play that part.

“What I think people are going to think while I’m trying to do this is going to stop me from playing that part the way I’m supposed to.”