Gays in Primetime -- A Special Investigative Report: Part II

As anyone who has ever worked in a major corporation can tell you, it is rare that anyone individual has unilateral power to decide anything, but one sufficiently powerful individual can easily obstruct something.

The interviews demonstrate a lot of people saying "It's not me!" on this issue.  Rather like Murder on the Orient Express, that suggests that everyone is the murderer.

To some extent that may be true.  It sounds overall like the various writers, producers, directors, actors and censors all have various levels of aversions and/or rationalizations in place around the idea of gay characters.

That characters that were planned to be gay are made straight "to fit the story" is perhaps the best demonstration of how little they think of the GLBT audience.  In an environment where the vast majority of characters are straight, storyline rationales can be made for every significant character to be straight.  As an excuse therefore it's a little insulting because it implies that creators really don't care about pleasing us as an audience.

That actors have a well-known aversion to playing gay is no big secret.  Many of those who will, as noted in the article, will only do so for movies where it's a one-off and possible career move, as it was for Will Smith in Six Degrees of Separation.  Would Smith, at that point in his career, been willing to play a gay role on a regular television program as opposed to a single movie?  I strongly doubt it I would expect most Hollywood agents to counsel a young actor against doing so.  Even gay ones are likely to be averse, as evidenced by the simple fact that so few actors are out in the first place.

The question of the gay lead character is even thornier.  Let's be honest here, a sizeable chunk of Will & Grace's audience was reverse-slashing in their minds and hoping that Will would recant his homosexuality and marry Grace well into the series' run.  That this was a show with a lead gay male character was rendered slightly less controversial by his almost husband-like devotion to Grace.  Especially since Will's sex life was sight-unseen and boyfriends were infrequent (and non-kissing) at best lowered the barriers to his role as show lead.  Would the networks have greenlit him in a show absent a straight female opposite-lead?

But then the networks have always been timid.  This is why so many truly innovative shows in recent years have been produced by premium channels such as HBO and Showtime, or else by foreign media powers like the BBC.  These networks, being supported either by subscription fees (or taxes in the BBC's case) are not enslaved to the perceived will of advertising sponsors.  Primetime networks (and their corporate parents) are, on the other hand, overly mindful of such things.

Personally this doesn't impact me much. I have very little free time to watch TV and I openly admit that I do tend to favor shows based on a "gay sensibility".  The situations on shows like Lost and Heroes has flown right over my head because, knowing that there was no gay presence on those shows I have not opted to make time to watch them.  In my case at least the tradeoff the networks has made for the lack of gay characters is the lack of my gay viewership.  Indeed, on network TV I think that pretty much Brothers & Sisters is the only show I have watched with any regularity, and only because Kevin is such a prominent character.  If he were a background character I probably wouldn't be so devoted.

Now, is there anything we can do about this?  Well, other than denying our viewship to shows like Lost and Heroes, no, not really.  We can send plenty of complaints to the networks but I think they've been getting a steady stream from us for over 20 years now so I don't know how effective it will be.

The other option is to find some willing homo (Perez Hilton, you out there?) to compile a list of every gay writer, actor, producer, director and executive in the business (closeted or not) and subject them to good old-fashioned ancient Greek ostracism.  Nobody has sex with them (no matter how cute they are), we spill drinks on them in gay bars and refuse to socialize with them at any other events.  Once they're sex-deprived and forced to socialize entirely with straight people I think they'll admit defeat and cave in.

Of course I'm joking, but only a little bit.

…to give thank yous to Dave Bartis, EP for NBC’s current Knight Rider, and Reichen Lehmkuhl, Amazing Race winner – both of whom gave insightful interviews for this article that I couldn’t include in the piece, but were incredibly helpful. And Steven Frank, AE’s resident Ugly Betty expert and recapper, suggested the Justin scene that begins Part Two. Thanks so much, Steven.

For a great article on this topic. Obviously, a lot of work went into it, and it's very much appreciated.

but I am not holding my breath as it was sad to read that to read about Barclay's show not getting a pick-up because of whatever horse_____ about relatability. Barclay and Berlanti are at the top of their game and when I read about Barclay's frustration it resonates much more with me than Mutchnick's view.

Reading Horta's candid comments about Marc kissing his bf on a show as diverse and inclusive as Ugly Betty reminds me that homophobia, especially when it comes to any intimacy between males, is in many ways more alive and kicking than ever. Since most of network TV sucks, I am going to enjoy its amazing offerings whether they are gay inclusive or not. Lost is a masterpiece as was this season's The Wire, even without Omar playing a significant part of it. Token gay inclusion is the worst so I am with Barclay on that one.

I'll get my gay fill via literature, independent cinema, my friends, music, my own creations, porn, my life, and will support projects like Angels in America or any other quality projects irrespectively of their gay inclusion.

I hope that Logo, here!, and basic cable will strive to find a business model that keeps upping the ante on quality and gay-inclusiveness so that I can get really pumped about being able to see programs/product that has the potential to please me on an even higher level then when I watch a good episode of Lost.

Great job James!!!!!!

Coming attractions: Guillermo's Cultural Guillotine

http://springintoaction.typepad.com/cultural_guillotine/

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ATWT is an issue unto itself, cause they gave us these two hotties, had them kiss like there was no tomorrow and then brought dwon the iron curtain. As for everything else I've never thought of kissing as the ne plus ultra of gayness.

 

Marc and Cliff on Ugly Betty are fascinating, fully-realized gay characters just as they are. I've never thought about them kissing much less having any HOT MAN-TO-MAN ACTION on the show. Kevin and Scottie on Brothers & Sisters are a different affair, what with Kevin being Mr. Fear of Commitment for so long, and Scottie being so irresistible. So there's been plenty of smooching. In other words I thinkk the Kissing Question should be dealt with on a situation-to-situation basis.

 

Reading what these writer/producers have to say shows how so much has changed so quickly. Monitoring the smooches on Dawson's Creek comes from a world where Kevin & Scottie could never exist. Even thinking about Justin would be verboten there too. But there he is today. it's going to be fascinating to watch him develop. But given the kind of show Ugly Betty is when Justin falls in love he won't be the perky gay kid brother anymore. Love transforms you -- as Betty herself well knows. Meanwhile I remain guardedly optimistic about gay TV -- except of course for ATWT. It's hopeless over there.

loved this Article, It was a very good read. Well done to the author for an excellently researched and well written piece.