CHiPs, the 1970s TV cop drama movie spin-off opened today to a 24% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a very 2017 social media controversy.
Comic actor Dax Shepard, who wrote and directed the movie, stars as one of two California Highway Patrol motorcycle police officers alongside Michael Peña. Bell plays his ex-wife in the film.
In the film the pair exchange banter such as “If you’re homophobic, that’s cool” and “You’ve just said we have to focus and you’re already bird dogging ass!” There are also several erection bump jokes in the movie.
Social media is therefore rife with allegations that CHiPs is homophobic and sexist which is awkward for Bell and Shepard, who are one of Young Hollywood’s most celebrated liberal couples.
Bell told the Associated Press: “If you really look at it and you hear Dax’s arguments about why he wrote it …He’s a feminist, for sure. He’s also about the most un-homophobic person you could ever find!”
She added: “There are certain things that at face value you could say because we’re exploring the topic, ‘Oh. that seems homophobic’ or ‘That seems sexist.’ But it’s not.
“It’s the exploration of topic and the exploration of the different points of view in the topic to open the conversation to cure the disease that we’re riddled with…a lot of those taboo perverted conversations are ones that he has in the living room with his buddies that he just puts in his movies.”
Incidentally, Bell has made no secret of her contempt for Donald Trump.
One therefore wonders how charitable she would have been towards Trump if he had said about his notorious leaked “Access Hollywood” videotape exchange with Billy Bush that the pair were”exploring different points of view” and having “taboo perverted conversations that we have in the living room with our buddies.”
