"Heroes" Straightens Up Its Gay Character

It is significant that NBC publicists have decided to tickle viewers gaydar via the internet. The use of Myspace, an immensely popular site for teenagers, for a teen character's personal blog is a pointed targeting of young viewers. Teens are more likely than anyone to check out Zach's blog and see both his dealing with his sexuality and the support that he's found through his online buddies. And for a gay teen going through a similar process, that could be enormously validating.

But the network-sponsored Myspace page isn't where the discussion ends. Message boards have been discussing Zach's sexuality and his relationship with Claire for months.

All of this begs a question: if the character was never gay in the first place, where did all these insinuations, hints, and outright declarations of his gayness come from? In interviews that took place prior to the series' premiere, creator Tim Kring and openly gay writer Bryan Fuller explicitly stated that Zach's character was intended to be gay (a fact that would be revealed later in the season) but that NBC network executives seemed resistant to the idea.

Kring noted in an interview with Out Magazine by Matthew Breen that, “it's always been a battle with networks on that sort of thing. There's a subversiveness that you're forced to think about these things with. You try to come in through a side door.” In this case, it looks as though even the side door has been barred – an interesting thing to happen on the network that did so well with Will & Grace just a few years back.

It's nothing new for a television show to lead viewers along with misdirection and red herrings in order to keep them tuning in. But using a character's potential sexuality – particularly a teen character – flirts with exploitation. Is it advisable to engage the vested interests of young gay people at an extremely volatile and confusing time of their lives and then reveal that they had been identifying with someone who wasn't gay after all, but merely a marketing gimmick?

Likewise, for a sprawling genre show not to feature a gay character is no big deal – in fact, it's the norm. Lack of representation isn't the issue here (or, at least, not the specific issue).

What's troubling is the fact that a character apparently conceived as gay (as explicitly stated by the creator and writer, although they noted that they hadn't discussed the idea with the actor playing Zach at the time), written as gay (his repeatedly being called gay and never denying it, as well as his pointed lack of interest in Claire, are among many less-than-subtle suggestions), and promoted as gay (both on NBC's website and the fake Myspace page for the character) has seemingly and suddenly been forced back into the closet.

These contradictions lead one to wonder how exactly the character of Zach went from proud gay teen to suddenly straight. Given Dekker's likely exit from the show for his new gig (and considering what happened to him in the mid-season finale), Zach might soon be a moot point anyway, gay or straight. Watching a character's sexuality become the casualty of a marketing mistake is unfortunate, but the idea that Zach's de-gaying might have been the result of a calculated decision is more than simply disappointing, particularly for a character that gay teens could so easily identify with.

Whatever the reason—NBC's anxiety over portraying an out gay teen or fear about the impact of the role on Dekker's future—the manner in which the sexuality of Zach's character has been handled both on the show and in the publicity materials is insensitive at best, exploitative at worst. Viewers are used to losing beloved characters to the villains on these shows – it's part of their drama.

But it's a shame that helping a gay teen character hold on to his sexuality was apparently one feat that these Heroes couldn't manage.