Gays of our Lives (December 15, 2008)

I told you the winners would be saying "Danke" a lot!

It’s obvious why Forbidden Love swept the polls, as Christian and Olli’s story has everything a good soap love story should have: solid plotting, wonderfully romantic moments, drama, conflict, angst and, above all, passion. So powerful is their pairing that their storyline has received attention not just in Germany, but all around the world. Even American soap magazines have covered the duo and audiences are anxiously looking forward the return of Olli next month. The only fly in the ointment is we don’t know if we’ve reached the end of Chrolli's story or not.

Ratings declined this past year, part of the reason why a new writing team was brought in. The previous head writer, Tom Chroust (now writing for All That Matters), created and shepherded this love story, but it’s impossible at this point to know if the new writing team will have the same commitment, especially since the show is headed in a new direction. Fans will simply have to wait, watch, and hope Christian and Olli are part of that direction. But whatever is to come, we’ll keep an eye on things and keep you updated right here.

Thanks to everyone who voted in our first annual poll!

GETTING TO KNOW … THE GEM OF LIFE and JUST A PHASE

This week in “Getting To Know”, we bring you two very different gay-themed series that are both groundbreaking in unique ways: the Chinese soap opera The Gem of Life and the ABC Family series Just A Phase.

THE GEM OF LIFE

The depiction of gays in China, a country that still bans gay-themed films such as Brokeback Mountain, generally tends to be negative and stereotypical. In many Chinese shows, gays are seen as evil, depraved and sexually immoral. So to have a positively portrayed gay character be front and center in this popular drama, which debuted in October of this year, is indeed a breakthrough. In this episode, Sunny (Kenny Wong) comes out of the closet. But as it turns out, that’s not his only secret.

As we see, not only is Sunny gay, he’s also in love with the groom, a typically soapy twist. What’s great here is that there is no judgment of Sunny's sexuality. In fact, as it turns out, his being gay is not even the real issue. In a country that generally takes a dim view of gays, that’s quite progressive and it’s interesting to note that the Chinese entertainment industry is apparently as much a hub of gay life as is Hollywood. Hmm, what’s Chinese for “Well, duh!”?

And thanks to AfterElton.com reader Soup for bringing this show to our attention.

JUST A PHASE

This is a clip of a pilot episode of Just A Phase , a series produced by ABC Family (the network that brings us Greek). JAPis the story of Simon, a boy entering his teens, who is gay . That alone is unusual for U.S. television, but even more noteworthy is that this isn't a serious, downbeat drama about a kid struggling with his sexuality. Rather it is a light and airy dramedy about a kid who just happens to be gay — a rather revolutionary idea for a sitcom, especially in the United States. But as you’ll see in this clip, there are reasons why this show, while a noble concept, never would have worked.

To the show’s credit, it’s rather up front about the fact that the lead is gay. And they give him the same problems most any teenager would have: he deals with bullies, his desire to be popular, not to mention a strange family who just doesn’t understand him. He even has crushes like on the handsome blond science teacher … only he hasn’t quite put together what it all means yet.  And yet, even with the twist of dealing with Simon’s burgeoning sexuality, the pilot episode is rather dull and tired with clichéd and boring characters and a lifeless script.