An openly gay journalist is challenging the narrative that LGBT rom-com “Bros” was a box-office flop because of “bigotry,” describing the film as a “preachy, self-indulgent dumpster fire” that was viewed by the “exact right number of people.”
Billy Eichner, who wrote and starred in the movie, has defended the flick, suggesting the dismal box-office numbers were fueled by homophobia.
“There are moments when Bros is funny—a self-deprecating lampoon of gay life,” journalist Isaac Grafstein wrote at Common Sense, a publication on Substack. “But mostly it’s a preachy, self-indulgent dumpster fire.”
“The two long hours are replete with partisan finger-wagging, lamentations about erasure, and performative apologies” from a character “for being a ‘cis white guy,’” Grafstein criticized.
Citing the film’s poor financial performance, the journalist dissed Eichner for blaming the failure on “‘homophobic weirdo’ audiences ‘in certain parts of the country’” in a “Twitter tirade.”
“Even with glowing reviews, great Rotten Tomatoes scores, an A CinemaScore etc, straight people, especially in certain parts of the country, just didn’t show up for Bros,” Eichner posted online earlier this month, The Daily Wire reported. “And that’s disappointing but it is what it is.”
“Everyone who ISN’T a homophobic weirdo should go see BROS tonight [as] it *is* special and uniquely powerful to see this particular story on a big screen, especially for queer folks who don’t get this opportunity often,” the “Parks and Recreation” alum continued. “I love this movie so much. GO BROS!!!”
Two days after the now-deleted thread, the actor doubled-down: “Box office, as we all know, has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of a movie,” he wrote. “And tweeting about a movie you haven’t actually seen is meaningless. That’s just twitter bulls***. The majority of people who see Bros really love it! Go check it out and see for yourself!”
Grafstein emphasized his disagreement with the actor on why the movie had such a poor showing.
“Here’s the truth: bigotry is not to blame for the failure of Bros,” the journalist wrote. “In fact, most Americans don’t care whom you sleep with (or marry!) and have seen complex, three-dimensional gay characters on their screens for years, from Milk to Moonlight. So what explains Eichner’s meltdown?”
“The exact right number of people saw the gay romcom,” he further mocked.
