Ask the Flying Monkey! (April 7, 2009)

For those of us who have followed Luke's career for some time now, his lack of willingness to give interviews to anyone is vexing to say the least. He will talk when he feels he must.. But if given a choice ..... NOT!!

He did the ADVOCATE's 'I Advocate' column for this month's printed issue (not the OnLine.. damn it...) so he might be willing to talk here at some point..... Maybe.

In person he's very quiet, polite, humble.... one of the nicest people I have ever met. I respect that he wants to keep his private life that way for as long as possible .. So far he's been only collaterally hit by the gossip guys ( TR and the 'other actor' being the targets), but as his star rises (as I hope it does), that might change.

I personally am a great fan of Bryan Fuller's work; Wonderfalls, Dead Like Me, and Pushing Daisies all having special places in my heart, so I gotta say his work isn't as gay-inclusive as it could be, but you can't say he avoids it all together.

Wonderfalls (also starring Lee Pace), for example, had an ongoing storyline involving the main character's closeted sister's rather stressed sex life.
Dead Like Me was originally supposed to have a gay storyline involving the main character's father, a storyline which is briefly alluded to in the Pilot, but the storyline was ditched after Bryan left the show. Before he left however, there was an incredibly touching episode in which straight character Mason learns a sad lesson in love when he is called to reap the soul of a gay man who dies in an accident, and then that of his husband who commits suicide shortly after.

And to be fair, Olive Snook was originally going to be a lesbian but they fortunately wrote that out in favour of her being hopelessly devoted to Ned, which was my absolute favourite part of that show. To be perfectly honest, I think the addition of a gay character would have been arbitrary and unnecessary (as I believe the addition of the sexuality of the coroner was), although I would have much appreciated for there to have been at least one case with a gay angle on it. It was disappointing.

I agree his work could stand to be a bit more gay-inclusive, but you couldn't go as far as to say that he is a hypocrite. It's a bit harsh. 

I think that's extremely harsh and incredibly unfair. Bryan Fuller just returned to Heroes. Would you really rather he immediately stick in a gay character than plan one out and build one more organically into the series' arc? And he says quite clearly here that he almost did just that but then pulled back from it because the character was a villain. I'm frankly getting a little tired of these sort of reactionary responses that seem to breed like crazy here. Just because a show runner is gay does not obligate him to immediately make the show gayer.

Dead Like Me included a gay character--for one episode, till the network made him turn the character straight, which was one of the main reasons Fuller left the show. Wonderfalls had a lesbian, and was canceled after 3 or 4 episodes aired. Not saying that that's necessarily the reason that happened, but I can completely understand Fuller wanting to play it a bit safe with Pushing Daisies when it came to that, particularly because a show featuring bright, candy colors, outrageous costumes, storybook narration, and Kristen Chenowith breaking into song on a fairly regular basis is already very, very gay in sensibility. And not having a gay character is the only way in which PD ever could be accused of "playing safe".

I don't think Fuller is obligated as a gay man to include a gay character in everything he writes. He's a writer, not an activist. I am grateful for the brilliant stories he creates. And if it's between watching a show with the sort of haphazard, uneven plotting as QAF or watching one of Fuller's brilliantly composed and structured series, I would go with Fuller's shows any day of the week, whether or not there are any clearly gay characters.

--

Rob

http://www.robwillreview.com

Check out my new fantasy website: TheTorchOnline.com. It's like AfterElton.com for fantasy geeks! And I Twitter

Check out my new fantasy website: TheTorchOnline.com. It's like AfterElton.com for fantasy geeks! And I Twitter

luke just vunts to be left alone.

 hehe :-P

in the movie Mass Appeal.

I'd say there's a 50/50 chance he's gay. :)