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Gay and lesbian stereotypes in the media (idea)
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by
Ammonia Pine 4 Me
Mon Apr 16 2001 at 14:52:35
It's officially the
new
millennium and so far it has brought us
school
shooting
s, a
reality TV
craze so
absurd
that the
latest show
actually has four men
chaine
d to a woman and gay activists protesting outside the
Grammy
Awards for
Eminem
's controversial
duet
with Sir
Elton John
. To quote that old
Virginia Slim
catch-phrase, "
We've come a long way, baby
" and it shows.
Is my
sarcasm
too subtle? Well it shouldn't be. The new millennium promised Americans that we would be stepping
away
from the
past
and moving into the
future
, but has anyone actually noticed a difference especially when it comes to
Hollywood
?
Hollywood has praised itself for being "
gay
-friendly," spotlighting the
sitcom
success of "
Will & Grace
" and making it Hollywood's poster child for the
millennium
. Even
Entertainment Weekly
recently released an issue devoted to high-paid, powerful and famous homosexuals in the
business
, with the cover featuring (what else?) "Will & Grace." Hollywood is practically screaming how it has come
out
of the closet, yet if one looks
close
ly they really wouldn't notice a
difference
. In a
survey
, where
ordinary
citizens were asked to name
recent
films that dealt with homosexuality, most were stumped. Some replied with "My Best Friend's Wedding," while others went so far back that they mentioned "The Birdcage." No one remembered last year's Academy Award-winning "
Boys Don't Cry
" or a handful of other titles, including "
Center Stage
," "
Cruel Intentions
," "
Chasing Amy
," "
In and Out
" and "
But I'm a Cheerleader
."
Television
is another story. Numerous students thought of the hit shows "
Will & Grace
," "
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
" and "
Dawson's Creek
," while many thought of past shows like "
Roseanne
" and "
Ellen
" that dealt with homosexuality. Some students thought of Showtime's "
Queer as Folk
" and the recently canceled "Normal, Ohio."
Still, for the number of shows that have
homosexual
characters, how many of them actually deal with homosexual relationships? Sure,
two
of the main characters on "Will & Grace" are
gay
, but when was the last time viewers watched Jack and Will share a
passionate
kiss
with another man? In fact, despite Jack and Will being
public
about their sexuality, network writers have Jack marrying a
woman
(for
green card
purposes of course) and Will sharing an intense kiss with his
female
best friend, Grace. "The entertainment industry is an
industry
; not a business of raising
social
consciousness, but a business of raising quarterly
earning
s for
shareholder
s," said professor Charles Fleming, who teaches entertainment reporting. "The broadcast executives who
program
these shows, and the
standards and practices
geniuses who answer to them, and the writer-producers they employ are all doing nothing more than reflecting a
conservative
version of what the audience is telling them it likes."
Those who are
open
about their real life sexuality fall into the same trap of having networks
too
conservative to write their stories. Even among the
gay
characters that are televised, many are stereotyped as
flamboyant
ly gay or
butch
lesbian types. And while not every man who is gay acts like Jack from "Will and Grace," many films and television shows tend to
focus
only on these gay stereotypes. The
few
shows that do represent homosexuals as everyday people also deal with same-sex relationships, and ironically tend to get
push
ed off
network
television and onto a more adult-oriented station like
Showtime
or
HBO
. Is this because the
general public
isn't ready to see gay relationships yet?
Or is it because the networks aren't ready to show homosexuals as
equal
to heterosexuals? Is that why shows like "Normal, Ohio," which was awarded this year's
People's Choice Award
for
John Goodman
's portrayal of a gay man, got canceled before they begin, even when there is
obvious
ly an audience interested in the show? Shows like "
Party of Five
" are renewed for seasons at a time in hopes that their ratings will go up, but "Normal, Ohio" isn't given a
chance
. "Has
Hollywood
come out of the closet? No," Fleming states. "Does
Steve Martin
's Oscar night patter so peppered with coy references to homosexuality mean the industry's public stance about homosexuality has changed? I don't think so."
The sad thing about all this is the
fact
that "Roseanne," still remains one of the
few
shows that
accurate
ly portrayed homosexual characters of both sexes in a way
few
films and television shows have been willing to do today. Sure, "Dawson's Creek" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" have occasional episodes involving gay characters, but so did "
Soap
." And while "Will & Grace" made headlines because one of its
title
characters is a homosexual, so did "Ellen." "Roseanne" was that
rare
TV show that had homosexual recurring characters both
young
and
old
,
male
and
female
in relationships, and even aired a lesbian kiss.
"'Roseanne' was certainly ahead of its time, or at least was very different for its time," Fleming said. "I think what it showed is that most Americans will accept any
kind
of character that is given to them, if the character is delivered to them in a
sympathetic
way and in a show that is well-crafted. I think the public would absolutely
accept
an openly, actively gay character if the character were set up properly in a
show
like '
Frasier
' or '
NYPD Blue
.'" Will the networks finally give us these types of characters in the new millennium? Will
Ellen DeGeneres
' new show stay on for longer than her last one after she came out of the closet? One can only wait and see if
Hollywood
will finally treat homosexuals equally in their
programming
.
But I'm a Cheerleader
Revenge of the Nerds
The Lone Gunmen
Beverly Hills 90210
Feeding the Masses: The Dangers of an Unquestioned Media
Kill Your Television
Boys Don't Cry
Bet
Compulsory Heterosexuality
Will and Grace
Cruel Intentions
Pamela Anderson
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Roseanne
You've come a long way, baby
Chasing Amy
Gay rights in 2004 and beyond
Do Not Meddle In The Furry Politics...
Ad nauseam
John Goodman
Steve Martin