Apple rejects gay-themed iPhone application for offensive content, but approves Bruno application
-Inconsistent review process punishes independent producers-
Los Angeles – Call it a classic case of David versus Goliath. On June 25, 2009, Apple rejected the iPhone application iGaydar for objectionable content. That same day, Apple approved an application based on Sacha Baron Cohen’s blockbuster film Bruno. Both applications employ gay-themed humor and poke fun at gay stereotypes, and both were submitted under Apple’s new 17+ rating system which opened the iPhone applications to more adult content.
“Our fear is that iGaydar is being held to a different standard,” said Terry Ray, one of iGaydar’s creators.
The iGaydar application has its roots in Ray’s 2002 independent film Gaydar, which became a film festival favorite and led to the development of a Gaydar Gun toy (http://www.GaydarGun.com). The Gaydar Gun was embraced by the gay community via reviews, Holiday Gift Guides, TV, radio etc., and Ray’s iGaydar App functions exactly as the Gaydar Gun toy. It randomly detects its target’s “percentage of gay-ness” from 0 percent to 100 percent and each reading is accompanied by one of several hundred tongue-in-cheek comments that lampoon every result, for example, a male with a 93% result might hear “You own a kilt…and you’re not Scottish.” No group is singled out, everyone gets a poke in the funny bone, and the next time it zaps that person they will get a completely different outcome. By spoofing all sexual orientations, iGaydar uses humor to make the point that everyone is unique, goofy and ultimately, okay.
The Bruno App depicts Sacha Baron Cohen’s flamboyantly gay character Bruno. Apple had been airing ads for the Bruno film at the time it approved the app, which is free to the user and contains an option to watch the film’s trailer. Arguably the app’s main purpose is to entice users to see the film whose controversy has been well documented. The London Evening Standard, which liked Bruno wrote “Gays, women, blacks, Jews, Muslims—this film is an equal-opportunity offender”. In addition, users of the app can shake their iPhones to undress Bruno and see his collection of thongs and skimpy underwear. They can touch Bruno’s various body parts to elicit a risqué response. One of the ring tones threatens: “Unless you answer the phone now I’m going to tell everyone in the room about the time that you made me get on my knees and suck your…”.
In contrast, iGaydar contains no graphic images or language. Its jokes have suggestive sexual overtones, but nothing stronger than what is heard nightly on network television.
“On all fronts, our content is absolutely tamer than Bruno’s, so it begs us to ask the question, would we have been censored and rejected if we’d been backed by a big studio with the resources to purchase ads? The facts suggest no,” contends Ray. “If there is room at the table for the Bruno App, there should also be a seat for iGaydar.”
Apple’s arbitrary review process has led to a slew of potentially offensive apps receiving approval. There are apps that make farting noises and apps that serve as sexual vibrating toys. A search for Gaydar on the app store reveals the Detector Gadget application which includes user controlled B*tch and Fatso meters. Detector Gadget can be customized by the user to test any category. By associating the keyword Gaydar with their application the developers are clearly suggesting that the user can customize the App as a gaydar device.
“We believe that with an age appropriate rating all of these apps, as well as iGaydar, have the right to exist. In the real world, consumers have options. If you like it you buy it, if you don’t you don’t. Apple’s arbitrary review policies and processes unfairly and unnecessarily restrict consumers’ choices. It’s both hypocritical and discriminatory,” said Ray. “It’s time for the company to give the free market more control.”
See Demo of iGaydar on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE5qUWa7nHE
Media Inquires: For additional information about iGaydar or to request an interview with Terry Ray, please send an email to contactus@GaydarGun.com