Friday, October 13, 2006

AND THE PROBLEM WITH SWISHY IS?
It appears Michael Ausiello over at TVGuide.com doesn't like his men light in his loafers (not that I know if he likes men that way at all, mind you). In this week's Ask Ausiello column, the renowned television blogger opined about how much he liked Brothers and Sisters except for one small detail. Said Ausiello:

There are still some minor kinks to work out. Actually, there's just the one: the gay bro's swishy friend has got to go. He's the one weak link in an otherwise dream ensemble.

Said “weak link” would be the character of Scotty Wandell played by Luke McFarlane. Scotty was Kevin's (Matthew Rhys) date last week at the dinner party when Sally Field got to have her BDM revealing she knew about her husband's affair all along. My TIVO malfunctioned (how I suffer!), but from what I've been able to gather, there are signs (including the eating of a cupcake in bed) that Kevin and Scotty might soon be sharing more than cupcakes.

I'm not sure exactly what Ausiello's issue is here. Why does the “swishy” friend have to go? Is the actor doing a bad job? Or is “swish” verboten in Ausiello's world? I'm the first to rap network television's knuckles for too frequently portraying gay men as nothing but flamboyant and effeminate when, in truth, we run the gamut. But this show has two gay characters, so there is room for a little variety.

Even more than that, Brothers' creator Jon Robin Baitz told AfterElton in a recent interview that Kevin would fall in love with someone that would make him question whether or not he was somewhat homophobic himself. I'm guessing Scotty is going to be that guy, and I think it's a great idea. Instead of the gay couple's relationship being influenced by and told through the eyes of straight characters, their issues are going to be ones that are actually pertinent to the gay community.

And just how pertinent are the issues of masculinity among ‘mos? Let's just say it's not only scripted gay roles on television that are being criticized for their flamboyance. The Amazing Race's gay couple, Tom and Terry were eliminated Sunday night and I've been rather appalled by some of the comments I've read about them on message boards. Sure, they're not the most butch men in the world, but so what? They appear to have a great relationship and came off a heckuva lot better than did the heterosexual couples competing against them.

And if you read our interview with them, you'll learn that they spent seven hours rowing that bloody sampan all over the place until Tom finally jumped into the sewage-filled water and towed his partner back to their starting point. Yeah, what a couple of effeminate weaklings they are. That hasn't kept some people from dumping all over them in blatant displays of homophobia or, maybe, effemi-phobia (yes, I just coined that term—and I want a future per-use royalty!).

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