Page 62 of Jace 4Ever
I was about to object, but something made me think it was better if I did tuck myself away. Mybad newsmeter was pinging off the scale, and I wanted to be able to see what was going on to cause that.
Jay motioned for Nelson to have a seat at the table. “So let me introduce you. This is Arnie, our CFO. Over there is Gil, our talent coordinator. That’s Carlo, one of our producers. This is—”
“Mike Yawnay,” Nelson said, standing and offering a hand. “We’ve worked together before. Franco Ianelli, good to see you again.” He shook the other man’s hand as well.
They both looked awed that he remembered them, but that was just Nelson. As soon as the awe was gone, it was quickly replaced with…resignation? Sadness? I couldn’t tell, but it wasn’t a good look.
Bottles of water and scripts were passed around and everyone settled in. I had to march over and grab a bottle, and the look I got from Jay was absolutely hateful. I went with my gut on this one and batted my eyelashes at him and flounced back to my seat.
I caught his look again and it went from hate to loathing.
Interesting. He was either angry I was even there, or homophobic. Considering the dudebro vibe…
“Gentlemen, shall we get to it?” Jay smiled and spread his arms wide.
The group of three started to read the script, with the producer filling in for any minor characters as they went along.
Not even ten minutes in, it was painfully apparent what exactly was wrong with the whole thing. I knew that Nelson had read the script already and wasn’t put off by it, but now reading it with the others…it clearly took on a different meaning. The toxic hypermasculinity was apparent. Painfully apparent. As in, the other two men there—Mike and Franco—were uncomfortable reading it.
The further in the script they went, the more toxicity showed through. There were terrible allusions to homophobia and misogyny and sexism. And then…
One of the characters, the one that Franco was reading, made a roundabout reference to a rape he’d committed. A man-on-man rape, that in the context of what was going on was meant to be acleansingrape.
Nelson slammed the script shut. “No.”
“No? But your reading is perfect—”
“One, this isn’t the script I read. I read something similar but without the hate and rape.” He stood and leaned on the table with both hands. “Two, why the fuck do you think I would want to be a part of this?” He looked at Mike and Franco. “Did you guys get this script?”
“No,” Mike said. “It was similar, but…”
“Same thing,” Franco said.
“Did you really think you could pull a bait and switch?”
Jay grinned. “We didn’t. We worked on the script since the one you received. We enhanced it, made it better.”
“What the hell makes you think that sexism, homophobia, and rape is better?”
“It’s not sexist—”
“The character I’m reading talks about how he tried to fuck the gay out of the man,” Franco said. “That’s homophobic, sexist,andillegal all in one breath.”
Nelson motioned at Franco with asee, he agrees with mesweep of his arm.
“It’s not like it matters. It’s just a background story—”
“And you want me to support rape? Rape of gay men?” Nelson’s eyebrows rose severely. “The disgusting use of a woman for sex? The scene you’ve put in here is dubcon at best. She never says yes.”
Jay tossed up his hands. “Oh, come on. Does Xavier Renegade ever get the yes?”
Nelson banged his fist on the table. “Every fucking time. He has never ever forced himself on a woman. Watch the movies again! He would never condone any of this…tripe.”
He shoved the script across the table, and it crashed into an unopened bottle of water.
Jay went red and started shaking with anger. “Seriously? Come on. It’s a movie, made by men for men. When the fuck do any men ask permission for sex?”
“I have always sought consent,” Mike said. “It’s not always a verbal yes or verbal no. Sometimes, it’s very much a physical no, and I walk the hell away.”
