Is Vic Mignogna a homophobic Bible-thumping asshole?

So all the talk of him getting a role in APH has sparked a lot of controversy and not having ever paid attention to this guy's personality, I have no idea what it's about.

Apparently the general claims I hear is he hates gay people, is awful to people at cons and is generally a Fundamentalist Christian.

Having not been born yesterday, I suspect this is largely exaggeration and I just curious if anyone can fill me in on what the source of all this hate is?

Mignogna plays several "hot bishonen" male characters that yaoi fangirls love to make do weird things. Mignogna said that he did not think that the characters that he played were gay. Girls got pissed and started a cult against him.

edited 7th Jul '10 2:51:21 PM by Soliferrum

I think that Soliferrum probably described the situation fairly accurately. I cannot comment on the religious parts because I do not honestly know.

However, from what I know about most straight males, not liking yaoi is probably to be expected from them. Then again, I may just not be that well-informed about that.

I have no idea what's going on with Mignogna, but I googled around a bit and found out that he played Fai in the dub and made a statement that Fai isn't gay.

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL.

Well, I don't know all the details about this, since I haven't finished Tsubasa Chronicles, but it seems to me that Mignogna must not take his job as a voice actor seriously if he completely ignores the homoerotic subtext surrounding Fai. If it's not explicitly stated outright in Tsubasa that Fai is not gay, then Mignogna has no business whatsoever making that statement. If he played Fai as completely straight, then I can only say that he's an irresponsible actor.

Even I, a mere theatre student, know that it's essential to the characterization process that an actor read into the subtext between the lines in order to create a deep, well-drawn character, instead of relying what is explicitly stated on the surface. As an actor, it would also be extremely unprofessional to let your personal beliefs about homosexuality influence your characterization.

Apparently he claims to have Word of God on his side, for whatever that's worth.

Oh, you mean CLAMP? -snerk-

With due respect Anarchy, isn't it a bit rash to assume that a professional actor deciding that their character isn't homosexual is due to either him being a raging bigot or not knowing what subtext is?

Granted, I haven't seen the show in question, so it could be ragingly obvious, but equally I do know that CLAMP do throw in Ho yay for the luls.

edited 7th Jul '10 3:40:08 PM by KillerRabbit

Vic seemed nice enough at the con I went to, and didn't seem particularly homophobic (maybe slightly, but it didn't seem big time), but was definitely a pretty big-time Christian.

Also, Fai's not gay. He's in a CLAMP work, and is therefore bisexual.

edited 7th Jul '10 3:44:27 PM by Shadowtext

From what I've seen of it, there IS a lot of Ho Yay surrounding Fai, but not enough to tip over into explicit Yaoi Guy territory. From what I've seen, mind you. But there's enough Ho Yay that I don't think that anyone (apart from the creators themselves, perhaps) can outright say that Fai is not gay.

Again, if you subscribe to the death of the author view, the audience is free to interpret the character for themselves, as is Mignogna, of course. I just feel that explicitly saying Fai is not gay is a weak interpretation, one that doesn't take into account the subtext. As far as I know, there is no textual evidence that Fai is straight. As far as I know, there is no textual evidence that Fai is gay either. CLAMP usually likes their Ho Yay to be ambiguous.

From what I've read, one interpretation that would seem to be legitimate would be that he is, in fact, 100% straight, but has no intention of ever letting any of the others find that out, because it's just so much fun to mess with Kurogane. (Yes, I did semi-swipe this idea from Abridged Pegasus.)

I guess that makes sense? I haven't read the whole thing though, so I can't really judge.

I have actually seen Tsubasa RC and I believe that Fai is 100% straight, but just loves messing with people. In fact, the straight guys in my school act more homosexual than Fai does.

*the sound of KT's top Berserk Button getting pounded on*

Control your rage Katie...you should be used to your favorite VA getting hated on whenever he gets a role...you got through Ouran and you can get through Hetalia.

...stupid idiots...;_;

^My first thought upon seeing this thread was: 'Wow, KT's not going like this!'

Remember kids if you say a fictional character you play is straight and don't like homosexual stories you're a "homophobic Bible-thumping asshole".

Hell why not just accuse everyone who doesn't watch gay porn of being homophobic?

Oh no!

• Brings out the funtime gear and starts downloading Boku No Pico*

Really? Seriously? I usually hear the opposite: That Vic is the biggest sweetheart ever and that he's an amazing guest at cons, although he sometimes gives the con organizers trouble (like throwing impromptu events and running off without telling everyone and showing up for a panel 30 seconds before it was due to start. That kinda thing.)

I had a friend who became his regular penpal after she met him at a con.

I never heard anyone mention that he's a Fundamentalist to that degree, and I don't doubt that he can be a devoted Christian, but I kind of doubt the "bigoted asshole" part.

Seriously.

Good luck finding anyone who's actually met the guy who thinks he isn't awesome. Find the video on Youtube of him and Romi Paku. It's adorable.

I have a feeling that Vic insisting that his characters aren't gay might mean he's at least a little homophobic, and this frankly probably does have something to do with his religion, but I'd say calling him an "asshole" is a bit much. There are a lot of clips of him speaking at various cons up on You Tube and I've never seen him be anything but kind and generous to his fans and to other voice actors.

As for his voice acting, I haven't heard many of his shows, but I always thought he did a bang-up job in Ouran High School Host Club. Incidentally, that character in particular is one that I'd agree probably isn't gay - Tamaki is probably a bit too straight for his own good, really XD

Really? Seriously? I usually hear the opposite: That Vic is the biggest sweetheart ever and that he's an amazing guest at cons, although he sometimes gives the con organizers trouble

From what I hear, it's a case of Single-Issue Wonk (although I also remember him getting flack for saying that Edward Elric was actually an "Angry-at-God" Christian instead of an atheist). I know he's not above mocking yaoi fans.

Granted, the more rabid yaoi fangirls tend to make themselves very, very easy targets...

I haven't heard any bad things about Vic aside from the Tsubasa fan rage and frankly they can fuck off. Fai in the manga is simply toying with Kurogane, who already has someone he seems to have a steady relationship with (Princess Tomoyo) and I think the pet names like Kuro-rii and such are just all in good fun.

Plus he stops with the pet names after that one...incident where he lost an eye or something.

Vic is a cool guy, I'd love to talk with him without one of the Rangers busting in and kissing his feet or freaking out over him about roles other than Tsubasa, Ouran, and FMA (he's the Jerk Jock Shingo in Initial D, I'd love to ask what he thinks of the show)

edited 7th Jul '10 5:09:09 PM by Zeether

^^Yaoi Fangirls often make it very easy to be mocked. Hell, I'm not a homophobe at all and I still like to see a good Take That! toward the crazier ones now and again. They're just so funny...

edited 7th Jul '10 5:09:54 PM by Sporkaganza

Tamaki is pretty much obviously in love with Haruhi, and obviously chivalrous to other females. It would be very hard to argue that he's gay or even bisexual.

I agree that the hate is a bit too much, but you can't blame some people for going "WTFLOL" when he says that someone like Fai isn't gay. Of course, you can interpret him as being straight, but I think that interpreting him as gay or bisexual is equally valid. Mocking people for having different interpretations as you do isn't very good-spirited at all.

^It seems that this particular forum is rather prejudiced against yaoi fangirls. I think this issue's been brought up and discussed before, but probably because this forum is biased towards males a bit more, yuri fans are much more accepted while yaoi fangirls are perceived as strange weirdos who serve as Acceptable Targets. Androcentrism much?

edited 7th Jul '10 5:17:10 PM by Anarchy

Well he's a Texan if someone accused him of homophobia it wouldn't shock me a bit.

I keep hearing he's a saint. But I also hear the guy is a self-absorbed attention hog who talks too much.

well actually the talking too much part is most certainly true.

edited 7th Jul '10 5:17:26 PM by ACDrawings

@ Anarchy: Funny you say that, this forum has like no straight guys, they're a rare species in these parts. We even have some Yaoi Guys, I think.

Yaoi is fine in this forum, there's just a disdain for certain groups that have a reputation for acting up. Like furries.

edited 7th Jul '10 5:21:21 PM by melloncollie