"Brothers" & "Betty": Breaking New Gay Ground

Brothers & Sisters also instilled Kevin's character with deeper meaning by examining the social context in which he operated. As much as the show dealt with his romantic relationships, it concentrated equally on his place within a large, close-knit family in which, week after week, a variety of family feuds were brewing. In what became a signature facet of the show, these squabbles inevitably built up and then erupted, bitterly and hilariously, in some public setting. Grievances were aired, but grudges weren't held, and family members were not ostracized. The Walkers—with the help of some wine, a good family meal, and a sense of humor—simply got over their latest issues and moved on.

In other words, Brothers & Sisters became, at heart, a show about how people negotiate difference. Baitz said he created the show, “when I realized that I had to try to understand what holds this country together, during a time of war and economic disparity and red-state/blue-state mistrust and rage.” The Walker siblings – the products of a marriage between people of different religions, nationalities, and politics – reflect on the country at a key moment in history.

Abandoned by a father whose values were discovered to have been less than exemplary, they struggled to define a less polarized future for themselves, one in which the humanistic values of their mother became central. (The way in which the first episode's title, “Patriarchy” was mirrored by the finale's title, “Matriarchy” signaled this shift in ideology.) Governing her family with an interventionist approach, Nora ensured that no matter what conflicts befell them, at the end of the day they could still sit together at the family table. And week after week, Brothers & Sisters showed a nationwide audience that a gay person has a valued seat at that table.

Nevertheless, it's worrisome, given the success of Brothers and Betty, that there don't appear to be more gay men sitting at tables in this fall's crop of new TV series -- and that gay women barely have a seat anywhere at all. And as groundbreaking as Brothers and Betty might be, they aren't perfect. Their current problems, however, also point to great potential to venture into more compelling terrain in coming seasons.

If Brothers & Sisters is truly meant to reflect the nation, right now it is far too white a reflection, a problem Baitz has acknowledged in interviews. Similarly, if it hopes to offer an authentic model for how people negotiate political differences, those differences need to be documented more realistically. Right now, the show's representative conservatives, Kitty (Calista Flockhart) and Senator McCallister (Rob Lowe), on the rare occasion when they actually articulate a political position, are more liberal than some Democrats.

The show particularly played soft on gay marriage by making Kitty unabashedly in favor of it, and having McCallister (who has a gay brother) argue he only voted for a constitutional ban against it because he knew it would never pass. Yet the show continues to circle back to the issue, and it might be interesting to see what happens if Kitty and Kevin are forced to confront their differences more directly.

We'll also have to see if the big reveal of the finale about Uncle Saul (Ron Rifkin) is more than a desperate move to give a great but underutilized actor something weighty to play. There's certainly tremendous potential here in depicting a more senior generation's issues with sexuality. It also might be time for Kevin to start learning something from his failed relationships and be less of an ass the next time he and some hot guy meet cute.

Betty's Marc could use a relationship as well. For all his surfing on dudecruise.com, he still sticks too closely to the neutered model of TV gays, the only major character not to date or sleep with someone all season long. It would also be good to see Alexis played a bit less tragically, finding a man aware of her past and legitimately attracted to her as she is now.

And as wonderful as Justin is, the show has set itself up with something of a problem in terms of his developing sexuality, which is already being heavily debated online. While some viewers argue that Justin is still too young for this to be relevant, if Betty gets the long run it seems it will – if it's on for at least 5 years and Justin is then 17—it realistically will have to grapple with this issue, and it's in some ways a no-win situation. It's disturbing to read comments like this one from a viewer writing to TV Guide's Matt Roush:

“I think Justin eventually coming out would be so predictable and obvious. I know this is all speculation, but the assumption that he has to be gay bothers me. The more original plot line would be for a naive Justin eventually to figure out that everyone, including his parents, thinks he is gay and to deal with the repercussions of that.”

This comment, while not overtly homophobic, nevertheless indicates how if Justin is revealed as gay (or bisexual or even sexually confused), it would be viewed by a mostly straight audience as confirmation of a certain stereotype. Namely, the belief that boys exhibiting certain signs of behavior will turn out to be “that way,” a fear that too often leads to cruel hazing by parents, teachers, and peers to “straighten” these kids out.

On the other hand, having Justin defy expectations might come across as pandering to those viewers made uncomfortable by him, sending a subtle message that if you see a swishy kid like Justin, it's OK because he might not be gay after all. And it would prevent the show from doing something else truly groundbreaking – depicting a character who, raised in an atmosphere of openness and acceptance, is able to come out without any fear of rejection, without any drama of any kind.

But this is a high quality problem to debate and it would be nice if gay viewers had more like it. The fact that a character like Justin even exists—one who is sparking these kinds of conversations about stereotypes and sexuality among a mainstream audience—is a huge leap forward from even last year. There's no question that the TV landscape is a richer one for having Kevin and Scotty, and Marc and Justin be a part of it.