Kevin Smith – Proud “Fag Enabler” Debuts ‘Red State’ on VOD

Kevin Smith’s latest, greatest, and most thought-provoking film to date, Red State, sends a powerful, timely message about religion, hate crimes, and the frightening, violent bigotry sadly present all over America.

Some members of the LGBT community may have questioned the motives behind his gay characters and homoerotic humor in past films, but the intention behind his new movie speaks volumes louder than any straight filmmaker in current memory.

Red State is an unexpected, irrevrent thriller. It follows the story of three small town, horny teenage boys who are terrorized by an extreme religous cult family, The Coopers. Led by Michael Parks in a chilling performance as the charismatic Preacher patriarch of the fam, Red State debuts on VOD, YouTube, iTunes, Amazon.com, Vudu, and other online streaming platforms today, September 1. But just as Smith has used a non-traditional method for releasing his movie, he's also been promoting the film via a North American tour of the film, followed by live QAs, since March.

At a recent screening at L.A.’s New Beverly Theater, the Dogma director/writer explained that his inspiration for the Coopers grew from his real life run-ins with the Westboro Babtist “God Hates Fags” Church family. Fred Phelps and his clan have been protesting Smith's work for years, so the director drew on these experiences when creating his killers. Naturally, this motivated Phelps and his followers to go after Red State, but this time they ran into some protestors of their own. Anti-hate picketers (and fans of Smith) sprung up to combat the Phelps family at screenings. His fans would outnumber the hateful family by hundreds, holding signs emblazoned with “GOD HATES HOMEWORK” and “Why Was Pushing Daisies Canceled?” to mock the Church’s extreme edicts.

Smith also recalled a past occasion, when a particular Phelps’ sign troubled him. It read: "Kevin Smith - Fag Enabler.”

When he told his gay brother about the offensive sign, Smith's sibling told him, “to be proud. That means you get gay guys laid!” After this punchline the audience roared with laughter, clearly understanding that Smith's signature raunchy humor held a great deal of heart and humanity at its core.

And from all of us at Gay.net, we’re proud to call you a fag-enabler, Mr. Smith.

For more information on Red State, visit CoopersDell.com.