Ron Howard’s The Dilemma embroiled in controversy

One of the blandest trailers in recent history has also become one of the most controversial. The trailer for Ron Howard‘s The Dilemma opens with a sequence in which Vince Vaughn uses the word ‘gay’ as a derogatory term – and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation are not happy.

Distributor Universal has cut a new trailer for the film without the controversial opening moments, but the original teaser is still showing in cinemas across America. GLAAD have implored their supporters to demand the trailer be removed from all theaters, and the inflammatory sequence be stripped from the final cut of the film.

In an interesting twist, Universal claims to have contacted GLAAD for their input before debuting the trailer online. However, GLAAD insists the trailer was already live when they were first notified.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper was the first person to publicly denounce the trailer, connecting it to the ongoing national discussion regarding the suicides of harassed gay teenagers.

Read more about the controversial saga over at The Hollywood Reporter.

The Dilemma arrives in Australian cinemas January 6, 2011.

Discuss: What are your thoughts on this controversy? Should Ron Howard have known better than to feature such an unnecessarily offensive sequence in his film? Would stripping the scene from the film be an attack against freedom of speech? Or is the film’s greatest crime that it looks mighty unfunny?