Get Hard

The(ir) Blurb...

Kevin Hart plays the role of Darnell--a family man desperate to get enough money to buy a house in a better area to benefit his family's well-being. He is hired by James (Will Ferrell), a wimpy stock trader who is about to go to prison for 10 years, to prepare him for life behind bars. The catch is that James thinks Darnell is an ex-con--not because Darnell told him that, but because James just assumed.

One of the most problematic films in several years, the gay panic-exploiting comedy Get Hard, amounts to a nearly two-hour prison rape joke. Wealthy hedge fund manager James (Will Ferrell) is sentenced to 10 years in prison for fraud and embezzlement. James then hires his car washer Darnell (Kevin Hart) to train him to survive in jail based on the absurd assumption that Darnell must be an ex-convict because he is black. In one of the most egregious sequences, Darnell decides that James will not be able to defend himself effectively in prison and so must learn to perform oral sex in the hope of finding someone to protect him in exchange for sexual favors. The men go to a popular gay spot, and James meets with a man in the bathroom. After finally hyping himself up enough to go through with giving the man a blowjob, James hits his head on the stall and the man leaves. James returns to their table to tell Darnell, who has been joined by a man who is hitting on him, that they need to leave after his failure. The two have an innuendo-laden conversation about “going home and getting hard.” As James and Darnell walk out, the entire restaurant applauds them, thinking they are a couple, and the man who had been speaking with Darnell dreamily says, “I want what they have.” This is just one of many scenes in the film predicated on the idea that sexual contact between two men is repulsive, and further, the assumption that men experiencing sexual violence and rape is inherently funny.

GLAAD’s Studio Responsibility Index has repeatedly found that the film industry still relies on outdated and offensive depictions of LGBT people for comedic value, and this film is just another example of that. Entertainment that relies on stigmatizing marginalized communities for cheap laughs prolongs prejudices and creates real-world consequences for those who can least afford being targeted.

We neither thought long nor hard about this trash...you would be wise to do likewise.