Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (February 19, 2010)

WHEN IT COMES TO GAY VISIBILITY, SPARTACUS SLAYS VALENTINE'S DAY
Last week's review of the new rom-com Valentine's Day set off quite a discussion about how much credit the movie deserved for including a gay couple, how audiences around the country reacted to the gay reveal and more.

I made my conflicted feelings about the movie clear in last week's BGWE. while GLAAD weighed in this week giving much praise to VD director Garry Marshall for tackling "...the hot button issue of openly gay professional athletes in a way that we hope will open hearts and minds, especially given the film’s box office success." GLAAD also applauded the movie for not relegating the gay characters to the role of best friend, their usual designation in rom-coms.

I gotta give GLAAD props for looking on the bright side of things, if nothing else.

Color me still unimpressed. Given the fact that 68% of the movie's audience was women, who are generally much more accepting of gay relationships than straight men, I'm underwhelmed by the very late third act reveal.

As for the 32% of the men in the audience, I'd wager a whole bunch of them were 'mos anyway. And as for the straight guys who let themselves be dragged to the theater in order to ensure they got some Valentine's Day nookie, I'd wager that most of them were probably playing Skeeball on their iPhones, by the time Bradley Cooper got around to rubbing that rose against Eric Dane's cheek. 

But instead of whining about analyzing VD again this week, I thought I would give a high five to Spartacus: Blood and Sand for being much more daring than Marshall's flick.

When it comes to gay visibility, I think Spartacus is remarkable for a number of reasons. If VD gets credit for making its gay rom-com characters more than just gay best friends, then Spartacus gets a whole lot more credit for not just adding the gay characters of Barca and Pietros to this kind of genre programming, but for making them clearly gay. And not just in a late third act reveal lasting twenty seconds.

Barca and Pietros kissing. Unlike Cooper and Danes

Last week's episode of Spartacus featured the two characters having sex, and this week's episode features a tender moment between the two men, making it clear their relationship isn't just about sex. And unlike VD, the audience for this very intense, very graphically violent series is not 68% women. 

In fact, I checked with the network and audience for Spartacus skews heavily male, nearly 2:1 men over women. And I'd wager most of those men are ones who loved 300 and are neither terribly interested in, nor especially open to seeing gay male relationships so graphically presented. (Maybe I'm wrong on that last one. I'd love to be.)

Yet Starz and the creators of Spartacus haven't hesitated to "go there" and I think that's an absolutely great thing for normalizing gay men in the eyes of straight men.

I also find the show remarkable in it's portrayal of male nudity. Most movies and TV shows tend to be pretty free with female T&A only to get the vapors when it comes to male nudity, especially frontal nudity. But Spartacus has been remarkably evenhanded on that score and in fact, Friday night's episode actually has a stagggering amount of male nudity, including one wrestling scene that is unlike most anything else I've ever seen on American TV. 

Again, given the show's audience, I find this rather amazing. I also think getting straight men used to and comfortable with seeing naked men is a great thing for gay and bisexual male visibility. I'd like to believe doing so makes the idea of homosexuality less alien and therefore less threatening to them. Perhaps it even allows some straight men to surreptitiously explore any same-sex curiosity they might have. 

Some might argue that given VD's budget and the fact it is a high profile movie aimed at a mainstream audience, it deserves more credit for its gay characters than does Starz for Spartacus. I'd argue exactly the opposite.

Marshall and New Line really risked very little by including their gay reveal while Starz, which really needed a hit show to put them on the cable map, reportedly spent $2 million an ep on Spartacus. By including such explicit gay content, not to mention the male nudity in their show, they not only pushed the envelope of gay visibility much further, but at a higher risk.

Do you honestly think watercooler talk among male viewers includes "Dude! You see Spartacus last night! That Crixus is hung! You've got to to check it out!"

I doubt it and yet Starz and all involved with the show had the balls to truly be daring, different and provocative, all while creating a damn good show. For that I applaud them. And you should consider signing up. 

Next page! And a bisexual man shall top the power rankings!