Is TV gay enough?

In the UK TV is getting away with more and more gayness and one program i know of easttenders pushes the boat and u get the bible bashers phone up the company who is responsible for complaints and the company says usually Get a grip its the 21st century! I think if TV got more gay my set would be pink to match the program

[OrphanPip]

Well it's certainly a lot more than when I was in secondary school, I can think of maybe 5 or 6 scripted shows with regular LGBT characters. 10 years ago the only ones were Queer as Folk, Ellen (cancelled like immediately after she came out), and the later seasons of Buffy.

[Bowyn Aerrow]

Hetero-normality is the new gay.

Actually its the old gay, the real old gay before gays stood up for their rights and became 'out' and 'obvious'.

Gays and straights pretty much want the same thing, to have a decent job, a home, a partner, kids perhaps. To live, let live, grow old with their love and eventually die leaving the world to their kids and grand-kids.

Like it or not, your urbanized, gay-ghetto dwelling swishy queen is not representative of the majority of gay males. The leather wearing, fat, short haired bull-dike is not representative of most lesbians. These are stereotypes - roles cast by a narrow minded society that made up all of these weird behaviors and applies them to all gays, all lesbians - as a way to identify the difference and thus have a 'good reason' to bash the gay/lesbian.

TV and media presents society with unrealistic views on what most LGBT are really like.

We are like doctors, lawyers, police officers, fire fighters, construction workers, laborers, parents, grand parents - you name the walk of life and you will find LGBT there.

IF and when TV and movies and all of the media outlets start portraying the majority as being 'hetero-acting' meaning 'normal' or just plain human, then they will be depicting real LGBT not the stereotype.

Not all gays like musicals, not all gays have a sense of fashion, not all gays lisp, not all gays swish - But according to the media that is exactly what we do - apparently.

I do not like TV in general. Most of the programing is sophomoric, predictable writing, predictable story-lines centered around impossible people who always speak perfectly, dress perfectly and use first names in excess. It is simply a filler between the real purpose of TV which is advertisement, selling us all more crap we neither need nor which is good for us or our world.

TV never shows it as it really is - not even the news tells the truth.

I can hardly wait until this form of entertainment passes into history like the Gladiator games did.

I have to say that Six Feet Under (2001-2005) portrayed a pretty accurate gay relationship. A little bit over dramatic, but otherwise OK. The characters were Keith (a cop) and David (a mortician) and interracial to boot! They even ended up adopting kids in the last season.

Pretty out there show, but I enjoyed it. I sang in a production with the Claire character (Lauren Ambrose) and hadn't heard of the series until then. She's a cool person and now a friend and a totally gay friendly hetero with an equally accepting husband.

[Genersis]

Originally Posted by Bowyn Aerrow

Hetero-normality is the new gay.

Actually its the old gay, the real old gay before gays stood up for their rights and became 'out' and 'obvious'.

Gays and straights pretty much want the same thing, to have a decent job, a home, a partner, kids perhaps. To live, let live, grow old with their love and eventually die leaving the world to their kids and grand-kids.

Like it or not, your urbanized, gay-ghetto dwelling swishy queen is not representative of the majority of gay males. The leather wearing, fat, short haired bull-dike is not representative of most lesbians. These are stereotypes - roles cast by a narrow minded society that made up all of these weird behaviors and applies them to all gays, all lesbians - as a way to identify the difference and thus have a 'good reason' to bash the gay/lesbian.

TV and media presents society with unrealistic views on what most LGBT are really like.

We are like doctors, lawyers, police officers, fire fighters, construction workers, laborers, parents, grand parents - you name the walk of life and you will find LGBT there.

IF and when TV and movies and all of the media outlets start portraying the majority as being 'hetero-acting' meaning 'normal' or just plain human, then they will be depicting real LGBT not the stereotype.

Not all gays like musicals, not all gays have a sense of fashion, not all gays lisp, not all gays swish - But according to the media that is exactly what we do - apparently.

I do not like TV in general. Most of the programing is sophomoric, predictable writing, predictable story-lines centered around impossible people who always speak perfectly, dress perfectly and use first names in excess. It is simply a filler between the real purpose of TV which is advertisement, selling us all more crap we neither need nor which is good for us or our world.

TV never shows it as it really is - not even the news tells the truth.

I can hardly wait until this form of entertainment passes into history like the Gladiator games did.

I think the only place where TV shines as a medium is when it portrays unrealistic, imaginative and unusual scenarios.(like sci-fi, animation, horror, fantasy, ETC.)

Frankly, 90% of the time where it tries to simulate "real life", it falls flat on it's face.
Using tired stereotypes, or even if they somehow avoid that, have characters which just don't behave like real people would.

While some people may be ok with that; it can fool people into thinking some of these portrayals have truth to them.
I think how often we have people come to this site saying something like "I think i may be gay, but i don't act gay at all." could be contributed to this, to some degree anyway.

I'd guess TV has around 40 years before going extinct, at least.
Thanks primarily to the internet.

Originally Posted by avidcyclistMTB

I have to say that Six Feet Under (2001-2005) portrayed a pretty accurate gay relationship. A little bit over dramatic, but otherwise OK. The characters were Keith (a cop) and David (a mortician) and interracial to boot! They even ended up adopting kids in the last season.

Pretty out there show, but I enjoyed it. I sang in a production with the Claire character (Lauren Ambrose) and hadn't heard of the series until then. She's a cool person and now a friend and a totally gay friendly hetero with an equally accepting husband.

Six Feet Under is my favorite series of all time and David and Keith are definitely my favorite gay characters EVER on TV.

As for the original question...I think Cable and Premium TV have alot of great gay characters. Too many? Too few? I honestly have no opinion......

I have never really been a fan of any of the network TV gay characters except for BD Wong's character on Law and Order SVU...they are mostly too over the top for me. I like depth in my charcters...layers...a bit of an edge...and those gay characters are on Cable and Premium Channels.

The one dimensional characters are not my thing whether they are gay or straight.

[Kiid]

I watch tv and laugh at actors and yell at people for being stupid on tv. I dislike most tv programs. Especially soaps. I see too many people who try to live like the people on soaps u.u
And then there is nick with programs like icarly. OMG THAT PROGRAM FUCKS ME OFF AND MAKE ME WANA FIRST SHOOT THEM AND THEN MYSELF!....

The moral of the story is that TV is shit. And you should stop watching it so much and start playing COD and shooting people instead u.u

[monk]

Originally Posted by zeon

I think if TV got more gay my set would be pink to match the program . . .

. . . and Lily Savage would be reading the news!

[princealbertofb]

Originally Posted by Bowyn Aerrow

Hetero-normality is the new gay.

Actually its the old gay, the real old gay before gays stood up for their rights and became 'out' and 'obvious'.

Gays and straights pretty much want the same thing, to have a decent job, a home, a partner, kids perhaps. To live, let live, grow old with their love and eventually die leaving the world to their kids and grand-kids.

Like it or not, your urbanized, gay-ghetto dwelling swishy queen is not representative of the majority of gay males. The leather wearing, fat, short haired bull-dike is not representative of most lesbians. These are stereotypes - roles cast by a narrow minded society that made up all of these weird behaviors and applies them to all gays, all lesbians - as a way to identify the difference and thus have a 'good reason' to bash the gay/lesbian.

TV and media presents society with unrealistic views on what most LGBT are really like.

We are like doctors, lawyers, police officers, fire fighters, construction workers, laborers, parents, grand parents - you name the walk of life and you will find LGBT there.

IF and when TV and movies and all of the media outlets start portraying the majority as being 'hetero-acting' meaning 'normal' or just plain human, then they will be depicting real LGBT not the stereotype.

Not all gays like musicals, not all gays have a sense of fashion, not all gays lisp, not all gays swish - But according to the media that is exactly what we do - apparently.

I do not like TV in general. Most of the programing is sophomoric, predictable writing, predictable story-lines centered around impossible people who always speak perfectly, dress perfectly and use first names in excess. It is simply a filler between the real purpose of TV which is advertisement, selling us all more crap we neither need nor which is good for us or our world.

TV never shows it as it really is - not even the news tells the truth.

I can hardly wait until this form of entertainment passes into history like the Gladiator games did.

A little jaded, perhaps?

[princealbertofb]

To be noted too, TV wants things that will seem, at least, a little sensational or things that may bear an interest to someone, otherwise filming ordinary people in ordinary lives would be very very boring; they have to soup it up a little, and doctor everyday reality, or go for the exceptional (feats, extraordinary violence, or shocking sex etc.) ... It's like filming someone's biopic and leaving in all the tasty morsels while getting rid of the drudgery of ordinary life... go to the main events and stick to those pinnacles that bear some utility in the narrative. It could be argued that that's why reality tv is everything except reality (they just keep the hot/ crispy/ mushy bits).

[Bowyn Aerrow]

Originally Posted by princealbertofb

A little jaded, perhaps?

Hmm. I do not know if "jaded" is the right term.

[shutterfly]

Originally Posted by QueenOdi

I It's ultimately a matter of opinions and no opinion is right or wrong or better or worse.

I definitely agree!!! There's no right or wrong, it's just individual opinions

I think that it's true we are blending in more and more. In my opinion that signals that producers generally accept that a gay or lesbian character belongs to a good cast. But acceptance on screen must not be mistaken for acceptance in real life. The difficulty I think lies in the fact that glb characters have to be made mainstream without actually being part of it...

Originally Posted by Kiid

I watch tv and laugh at actors and yell at people for being stupid on tv. I dislike most tv programs. Especially soaps. I see too many people who try to live like the people on soaps u.u
And then there is nick with programs like icarly. OMG THAT PROGRAM FUCKS ME OFF AND MAKE ME WANA FIRST SHOOT THEM AND THEN MYSELF!....

The moral of the story is that TV is shit. And you should stop watching it so much and start playing COD and shooting people instead u.u

I like your style.

[pellaz]

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