I was just watching T.V. and I got thinking how much justest dose it bring us. Every program on T.V. its love between a man and a woman. And if there is gay love its always comical and never serious. It just makes me wonder if it just makes wonder if it make things worse for us.
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It doesn't make it better if it reinforces stereotypes, although I suppose there is an argument that any exposure is better than none ... BUT, I never identified with Kenneth Williams, John Inman, Larry Grayson or any other gay person or characterisation on screen whilst I was growing up. It never figured in my thinking at all and I don't know whether and to what extent it contributed to my years of denial. Compare that with Joseph who said on here a while ago that he realised he was gay through a storyline on the television programme, Hollyoaks. He recognised that he felt the same as characters in the show and it helped him to work out some of the things that were going on in his life.
There are many more depictions of gay characters in television drama these days and that is generally a good thing, although some people will inevitably use it to stir up a backlash - I think we just have to hold our nerve and get through this period. I don't think we have yet reached the stage where being gay is incidental to the major storyline as a matter of course.
I am looking forward to seeing how the Christian Clarke/Syed Masood story plays out tonight on British soap, Eastenders ... even though I think it has strayed rather too far into melodrama for my taste. At the moment Christian has taken on the character of a crazed stalker. If he really loved Syed I think he would show him and his decision to marry Amira Shah more respect and make more of an effort to accommodate or subvert the cultural differences. There is a difference between a gay sub-plot and a straight one. Most people are ready to recognise the melodramatic elements in a straight storyline, but I suspect there is still enough that is exotic in a gay twist to make many wonder whether the plot has credibility.
Things are definitely improving here in the UK. Russell T. Davies was recently placed at or near the top of a list of influential gay people, John Barrowman has been a regular in reality television and television drama, but we have a way to go. For the record, I could not bear to watch Will and Grace and I find the gay characters in the otherwise excellent Desperate Housewives very lightweight. We have a relatively new genre of drama, Sugar Rush, Misfits and Skins, for example, that explores new assumptions about morality, and these are vehicles for exploring gay identity in a non-judgmental way. I have other misgivings about some of these moral assumptions, but they raise interesting questions.
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It often depends on which country you live in. Some have a more open view on what you watch on TV, other have strong state or religious censorship. Also many TV stations fear low ratings and loss of advertising income from airing gay material on TV. But things are changing for the good I hope.
Ruby-Sachs: Daytime TV Airs Gay Sex Scene For the First Time.
Extracts from an article by Emma Ruby-Sachs, 365gay blogger posted 12.31.2009 7:27pm EST.
ABC is not the most gay friendly station, but they have taken a big step forward: airing a sex scene between two male characters on the soap opera “One Life to Live.” The scene, romantic and adorable, is a pretty amazing break though.
But what I found really incredible is that one of the male actors is out of closet in real life. This means that “One Life to Live” actually showed a gay actor having gay sex on television. As many out actors can tell you, it’s one thing to play a homosexual and another to actually be a homosexual. How incredible that Scott Evans (Oliver) gets to do both.
So, for 2010 I have lots of wishes, many of them have nothing to do with television. But one is that I hope more LGBT media personalities see their sexuality celebrated instead of having it impede their professional progress. Another is just hope for more LGBT sex on screen and television.
Also I believe that Spain has a gay TV soap, you can see extracts from the soap on Youtube.
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I don't have an Antenna hooked up to my tv because i sit in front of it and turn into a vegetable.... so we only watch a series or a film that we by or 'acquire' else where cutting down on missing stuff and sitting on front of the box for hours on end. I understand what you are saying and there was an interesting article in 'attitude' ( Gay magazine in UK ) about joshyboi's comment. It listed a few shows that had 'seen the light' and added gay characters who were not idiots just there for a ratings boost ( Modern Family was one, i cant remember the others. )
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Actually I think a happy ending at this stage would have been unreasonable for the Eastenders storyline. Now we have Christian going back to Albert Square, Syed married to Amira, Zainab on the warpath and how long before Syed can't keep his hands off Christian? What will Amira think after the honeymoon? To me it seems more likely that someone in Syed's situation would have gone through with the wedding so as not to shame his family. It leaves the story open for some interesting twists and turns.
