Ask the Flying Monkey! (March 18, 2009)

Have a question about gay male entertainment? Ask the Monkey! (Please include your city and state and/or country.)

Q: Archie comics were a guilty pleasure growing up — I mean, Betty and Veronica are awesome.  The only thing is that there is almost no diversity in the characters.  But I always wondered about Jughead, who had obvious gay tendencies. I also wondered if the creators would ever consider adding a gay character — after all, it is supposed to be the average American high school. — Evers, Delray Beach, FL

A: Actually, Archie Comics, the publisher of the various Archie titles, has been pretty good at incorporating diversity into the fictional, all-American town of Riverdale. Over the years, they’ve shown increasing racial diversity, and from time to time they’ve even included disabled teens — a paralyzed teen once, and a blind one too. 

In other words, it’s only diversity of sexual orientation where they come up short. Indeed, in 2003 when an Atlanta theater was all set to debut a new play, Archie’s Weird Fantasy, that had the character coming out as gay, Archie Comics sent them a “cease and desist” letter (the company is famously protective of its characters’ images).

I asked Archie Comics for a comment, but they never responded. 

But if one of the Archie clan did come out as gay, who would it be? Jughead? It’s true: he has that famous aversion to girls. He’s also a noted chef, and is surprisingly ripped when seen in tights as his superhero alter-ego, Captain Hero.

But stereotypes are just that: stereotypes. The Flying Monkey suspects that that Atlanta theater was right all along, and the best bet for a Riverdale closet case is Archie himself, whose seeming “obsession” with girls is merely a front to fool his peers. Honestly, readers, you all went to high school: wasn’t there a closeted “Archie” in your class? 

Q: I was using IMDb.com to look up a gay actor's stats and got curious when the bio info was silent on his relationship status.  I went to look up bio info for two actors I know are gay, out, and married: Wanda Sykes and George Takei.  While their relationships are mentioned in the More Trivia part of the bios, their marital statuses were not listed at all, contrary to how most all other straight actors IMDb.com profiles are laid out, which often lists a “spouse.”  Do you know why this might be? An IMDb.com double standard? — Jeremy (Jeremymlad), Orem, Utah

A: It’s an excellent question, and a pretty glaring inconsistency, so I asked the folks over at IMDb.com (which is owned by Amazon.com). I'm waiting for a official response, which I will report henceforth.

What's with the missing spouse listings for out gay married celebrities?

Hopefully, the answer is that this is simply a question of slow updating, not a question of intentional bias — same-sex marriage only became legal in California less than a year ago, and it didn’t stay legal for long. But there are still other legal partnership registrations, in California and elsewhere, so it seems to me that, in 2009, “spouse” shouldn't require a marriage license anyway.

But you know what? I suspect whether Amazon.com eventually comes back to me with an “official” response or not might not matter. One of the things we’ve found here at AfterElton.com is that merely asking the question — which, often, no one has ever bothered to do — is enough to call attention to something and get it changed. Look what happened after we wrote about Disney’s discriminatory policy when it came to gay couples who wanted to wed at Disney properties. One month later that policy suddenly changed.

So thanks for asking the question, Jeremy.

Sometimes folks accuse us here of taking things “too seriously” and complaining too much. But you know that expression about well-behaved women never changing history? The GLBT folks who don’t take anything very seriously — well, they’re never the ones who change anything either.

Next page! American Pie dad's real son. Plus the colorful characters of Summer Heights High.