Friday, January 12, 2007

BROTHERS AND SISTERS' “GAY” PROBLEM
Last Sunday night, Brothers & Sisters returned to the airwaves after its December hiatus and did so with quite respectable ratings. We also got word that Kevin's (Matthew Rhys) new love interest, Chad Berry (Jason Lewis) would stick around for seven episodes rather than four. While Sunday's ep didn't have any same-sex snogging, it was still plenty gay as Kevin and Kitty (Calista Flockhart) butted heads over gay marriage. The issue popped up because Kitty is considering working for one Senator McCallister (Rob Lowe) who in the past has supported antigay legislation.

First off, three cheers to B&S for even raising the issue of gay marriage. Too many shows (I mean you Will & Grace) have given untold viewers the mistaken impression that gays and lesbians already have the right to get married and not just in Massachusetts. (Trust me, in my former job I had co-workers who actually thought that was the case because of what they'd seen on television.) My beef with B&S has to do with how the show is presenting McCallister; namely, that he's a “fantasy” Republican that no longer exists in modern America. In between burnishing his other “liberal” Republican credentials (he's on the Council to Prevent Handgun Violence, he supports legal immigration) McCallister tells Kitty he doesn't hate gay people and would never support the amendment banning same-sex marriage again.

That's great for McCallister, but that is not the real face of today's Republican party. When the Federal Marriage Amendment came up for a vote in June of 2006, only a handful of Republican senators voted against it, and those mostly from New England. One of those was John McCain of Arizona who then turned around and supported a constitutional amendment in his home state that was so restrictive that it actually lost. (Most others have passed overwhelmingly.) This GOP has used gay people as a whipping post to get elected again and again. These Republicans are more akin to Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, who is going to run for president on a platform of gay bashing, than Senator McCallister.

Look, I understand the show has to appeal to as wide a swath of the viewing public as possible, and that viewers don't want to feel hectored or hear that Republicans are one step above Lord Voldemort (hmm, is that really fair to Voldemort?). But I don't think I can handle a whole season of watching Lowe put a loveable face on this Republican party. I hope B&S' writers at least make it clear that McCallister is about as real as unicorns and Perez Hilton's journalistic credibility.

PARIS BARCLAY—HE'S OUR MAN! IF HE CAN'T DO IT, NO ONE CAN!
You may not recognize the name Paris Barclay, but trust me, you have seen his work. The Emmy Award winning writer, director, producer and all around studmuffin has contributed his talents to shows ranging from Diagnosis Murder, NYPD Blue, The West Wing and CSI. Well, good things happen to good people and this month Paris is being honored by the Director's Guild Association for being a total studmuffin. Actually, he's being honored for his outstanding contributions to the organization (you can read all about them here).

Paris is currently working on FX's Dirt having directed last week's Ovophagy episode and an upcoming episode of CSI. Even better he promises more good--and gay--things to come.

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