Columbus Pride Festival and Macho Man

It is Pride Weekend here in Columbus. I like Pride especially for its excellent parade. In the lead-up to this year's parade, The Village People's “Macho Man” was stuck in my head constantly, and I'll explain why.

In elementary school, I borrowed The Best of The Village People CD from the library. What was there to not like about The Village People? They made a bunch of songs that made you happy and want to dance, which was right up the alley for a child at that age. Strangely, my cousins came to visit that same summer during the time I had borrowed this CD and inspired by The Jerky Boys, they along with me and my brother made some classic prank phone calls. One of them involved my cousin calling up a number, and this happening:

Person picking up the phone: Hello?

Cousin: Will you be my... (my brother presses play and The Village People start singing “Macho, Macho Man...')

The prank phone call craze ended when someone actually called us back. Luckily, it was not with a prank phone call related to The Village People.

Recalling that album in high school, I went to our local Record Exchange, and saw that it was available for a mere $2. I decided to buy it. After going to the Record Exchange, we ended up at the movies with a big group of friends. Upon finding out that I had purchased The Best of the Village People, an acquaintance (I will not label him a friend) called me gay for having purchased this CD. I shrugged it off proclaiming that “Macho Man” was a good song.

Years later, I still own this CD, and as far as I'm concerned, I still have every desire to be a Macho Man. I was right. “Macho Man” is a good song, and if that means me being called gay for it, so be it.

But, of course, as with memories, some just stick with you so much. This was the first time that I was called gay (many more times would come especially once I delved into the world of stand-up comedy where I've been called just about everything as a joke), and that kind of sticks with you forever, especially in your teenage years when you battle with your masculinity. So, in effect, I equate being called gay with the song, “Macho Man,” and ultimately with the LGBT pride that is associated with this weekend. Odd, I know.

I decided to take a look again at the music video for “Macho Man.” Okay, it is a bit gay, particularly Lee Mouton (the man in leather)'s dancing. By the way, when I take my shirt off, I can pass for a mixture of two Village People: Mouton with his chest hair and the Native American due to racial confusion. 

Here's also a classic reminder of The Village People in a great episode of Married with Children. This mini episode will either refresh your memory or hopefully inspire you to try to find the full hilarious episode.