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Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (April 11, 2008)
BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!
Apparently, Pfirisich feels bad about being in the German army and keeps trying to get out, but ends sticking around to keep an eye on his brother. I'm dying to know if anyone is familiar with the comic because, honestly, the idea of a gay German soldier is kinda out there. Also out there, but in a good way, is Australian born popstar Sam Sparro who's single "Black and Gold" is being tagged as the song of the year in Britain. Call him the Mika of 2008, only gay. How hot is Sparro? "Black and Gold" actually eclipsed Madonna on the UK Billboard charts this week.
Sam Sparro (Photo by Alex Lake)
Thanks to Actionfigure for telling us about! Disney just announced there are going to do High School Musical 4 (the third is currently in production). Any bets as to whether HSM 4 will finally include a gay character or just one coded that way? For those business minded sorts out there, Media Week article on advertising to the gay community. AfterElton.com isn't the only one recapping campy reality shows. Broadway star Seth Rudetsky is recapping Britain's "I'd Do Anything" for Playbill. Speaking of Britain, Russell T Davies is up for an award from Movieguide magazine which reviews films for Christians. Something tells me they're a lot more open-minded than I give them credit for or they haven't yet figured out Davies is the man who brought us Queer as Folk. For more on Davies check out this extensive interview with him. And here is an interview with Doctor Who's David Tennant who doesn't mind being thought of as gay. I guess he's not one of the actors who told Greg Berlanti he wouldn't play one of Kevin Walker's (Matthew Rhys) boyfriends on Brothers & Sisters. Finally, I caught a bit of this comic on Comedy Central this week and he was cracking jokes about stereotypical gay men. Well, at least some of the new stereotypes about gay men.
Now I'll shut up so you can have the BEST.GAY.WEEK.EVER! Submitted by on Thu, 2008-04-10 22:26. |
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I Don't Think Your Criticism of The ATWT Article Is Fair
I know people take great pleasure in piling on the criticism where this show is concerned, and many times it's deserved, but the theme of the article was not Luke or Noah or their relationship or their storyline, but the real-life friendship between Van and Jake, so why would the word gay have to be mentioned in every other sentence? Besides, that was only a portion of the article, the portion that didn't make it into the magazine. In the magazine itself, they actually do mention that Van and Jake play a gay couple. Jake and Van even discuss kissing and PDA (not to any great length, only to say they think the audience is ready for it), just in case anyone should miss they were playing lovers. The title of the article? "History Boys"
Moreover, in Soap Opera Weekly, owned by the same company, Van and Jake/Luke and Noah are right on the cover, with the word gay in big bold letters. Inside the magazine, the interview Jake Silbermann (Noah), this time about his character and his storyline and what we can expect for Luke and Noah in the future as well as an interview with an ATWT spokesperson about the kissing issue. There, the word gay is used several times.
Bromance or denial?
Isn't it bromantic?
afhickman
"It takes a village (to make Village People)"
I don't see why Will and Tom shouldn't be an item. Religion has brought together many strange bedfellows over the centuries (think of Henry II and Becket, Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison) If scientology can spawn a bromance of such celebrity proportions, perhaps it's time I started taking flying lessons.Greek
Ian will have the foie gras
afhickman
"It takes a village (to make Village People)"
Homosexuality may no longer be the love that dares not speak its name, but it's still whispered only in corners. However, it may just be a matter of time. Look how the civil rights movement worked: White guys discovered there was some cachet to having a Black friend and, voila!, soon everybody was inviting his own personal Sidney Poitier to dinner. Can Richard Simmons be far behind? I call your attention to the Stuff White People Like website. Gays are at #88:
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/page/2/
Now, get the Mai Tais ready!
No. 1 on my list
Gays may be No. 88 on Christian Lander's list, but they're No. 1 on mine! Love the site. Love the column. Love my gay BFFs!
Hugs!
Lulu B. / whywelovethegays.com
Forbidden Love
a play list for forgotten love
It was easy to catch up on Forgotten Love when I saw that youtube user tihkon2 created this useful playlist:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=B30526F67DF78DE6
Some of the newer clips aren't subtitled, but all the more recent ones are.
The Desert Peach
You got it a bit wrong about the Desert Peach, Michael. It's a comic book, not a comic strip, and it's still ongoing. The issues offered online are from the beginning of the series. Each issue tells a complete story, although of course one gets more out of it by reading the entire series.
Pfirsich (a fictional character, in case someone was wondering) is not trying to get out of the army. He's an engineer, and a colonel in the German army (and he's not a Nazi). The early stories are set during WWII, when the Peach leads a battalion of non-combattant misfits in Northern Africa. And his lover is a handsome pilot named Rosen Kavalier. No, really! Later issues show Pfirsich surviving the fall of Germany, and his life with Rosen after the war.
The series is full of humor, often satirical, and Donna Barr, the author, writes one of the most rounded and interesting gay character in fiction. If you like your fiction at the same time full of whimsy and grounded in reality, this is a comic for you. Try the online, free comic and then buy the collections (there are a few available right now).
More about the comic at my site.
François
---------------
http://gaycomicslist.free.fr
Thanks, Francois!
The Desert Peach
The Desert Peach is unique and absolutely wonderful. It sounds "out there" and it is, but in the best possible way. The treatment of the war and politics is a bit like _Catch-22_; the military setting is a backdrop for the often surreal adventures of the misfit soldiers of Pfirsich's unit, the 469th support and gravedigging battalion. Things start more or less light and silly, but gradually Barr tightens the screws and by the end things get pretty dark and intense.
Through all of that Pfirsich himself is the moral compass of the unit and the entire series. He's one of my all-time favorite gay characters in any medium.
If you're new to the series, I recommend starting with issue 4. The download site has up to issue 8 -- there's a collection going up to issue 14 (of 30) at http://www.lulu.com/desertpeach.
I'm glad to see I'm not
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks Barr has done something unique with this character.
François
---------------
http://gaycomicslist.free.fr
Oop -- I guess we were
I definitely agree with
I definitely agree with you. But her comics resist soundbytes, and that makes a harder sell to a larger audience. Let's hope having some issues online for free will enable more people to sample her brand of intelligent madness.
François
---------------
http://gaycomicslist.free.fr
Downloads
I copy and pastedyour link, but could not find the downloads yu talked about, a search only sent me to a volume containing #'s 1-30 for sale.
Dennis
The first collection is
The first collection is here: http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Peaches-First-Desert-Episodes/dp/1892253127/ but it's a bit pricey, since it's out-of-print.
The second collection is here: http://www.lulu.com/content/420490
The two Afterdead books at http://www.lulu.com/desertpeach are the current incarnation of the series, taking place after the 30 original issues, which should be available on Wowio sooner or later.
François
---------------
http://gaycomicslist.free.fr
Peach
Thank you!!!
I got it now, thanks for the help
Dennis
Cake vs. Nuke
Michael: Excellent as always. I would have to say one thing, though.
I, personally, WOULD trade in Noah for Casey, if I was in Luke's place, that is. Aside from the fact that it would continue the ever-incestuous relationships among the families on ATWT, I think Casey is much hotter (especially with the new hair), and he seems much more, i'm not sure, mature?
In either case, he seems to have a quality that Noah doesn't have. An allure. He's comfortable with himself, even if he isn't gay. :-(
I'm just wondering how they're going to extricate Noah from this sham marriage to Ameera. It's just such ridiculous crap. I'm wondering if the Colonel gets out of jail early or something similar, proclaims hisself Ameera's father, and is able to sponsor her to the INS/ICE. Although, wouldn't Noah be liable for some charges there, once it's revealed he's married to his sister? LOL
Soap opera storylines are so incredibly awesome and campy.
Your spelling of "Britain"
We try to catch all the typos, but
Breakfast with Scott
Bromance
The Olli and Christian Picture...
That episode will air...
....on May 13.
http://gaydaytime.blogspot.com/2008/04/awww-vl-08-05-09-05-13.html
--
The Gays Of Daytime
If it wasn't for
If it wasn't for AfterElton, I wouldn't have any idea about this storyline. Since wolfi first tipped us off, I became interested and spent a few hours on my day off from work watching the storyline from start to present on YouTube. But it's been since Afterelton blogged that wonderful episode with Christian confessing his love for Olli, that word seem to have spread like wildfire across the net on this really good German SOAP...Forbidden Love...and it's excellent Olli and Christian storyline.
I think what makes this such a popular storyline. is just the openess of how this sweet romance is being told. It's also filmed quite beautifully, even down to the clothes/colours the guys wear, and the contemporary and bright look of the apartment they live in, all of which add to a positive and uplifting feel to the storyline. You also have amazing chemistry and passion between the two actors, which brings authenticity to the storyline. Then there is the added bonus of both actors being gorgeous, epsecially for me the guy who plays Olli, I just find him stunning.
Even though this is a SOAP, and a storyline can turn in an instant, you get the feeling that these two men may actually 'make it' together. You don't get that feeling of doom within the relationship like so many gay storylines of the past and present. It gives this story a unique sense that this relationship may actually end well...then again, it could just be my wishful thinking.
"In which episode does that scene appear?"
isg03jd...the picture from which that episode is taken has not aired yet. I can't pinpoint the exact date the episode will air, but I think it's some time in May.
Ollian Picture -- Thanks Wolfi and Maxine!
I think I've caught up with all the Ollian episodes, and I understand that Olli was offscreen for a few years then came back and that Christian has been depicted as a straight guy until Olli came along. Given that the Ollian story seemed to start in late 2007, I wonder if VL decided to do this story given what ATWT was doing, which kicked off in June 2007, BUT IMPROVE on the mess ATWT is airing.
Either way, I'm so happy I found Olli and Christian. It has its soap cliches, but the story is so much more satisfying, real and romantic than Luke and Noah's mess of a storyline. ATWT needs to get a clue and take a look at VL to see how love stories can and should be done.
:-)
Since ATWT does not air in Germany and German soap operas have a history of more or less developed (but certainly physical) gay relationships, I seriously doubt their decision for Ollian was influenced by Luke and Noah ;-)
I think it was more influenced the opportunity created by the actor of Olli, Jo Weil, returning to the cast...
--
The Gays Of Daytime
nice
I hate being the odd man out...
...but this rabid adoration for Forbidden Love I don't quite get. Is it because the two actors are so incredibly hot and we actually see them kissing and making love to each other? Because, having watched a few episodes, I honestly don't see anything original here: it's just a retread of the same out gay guy falls for still-not-comfortable-being-gay-and-pretends-to-be-straight gay that has already been covered on All That Matters, As the World Turns, Hollyoaks, etc.
Of course, it's difficult to base an opinion on just watching two or three episodes, but despite the strong production qualities, I'm not seeing any characters of any particular depth; contrast this with All That Matters, where I was hooked right away because the characters immediately registered with considerable depth (and it's especially helpful that Dennis Grabosh is such a terrific actor).
I'm ready to get flamed in response, so I will say this: I hope AfterElton continues to find and present these storylines from around the world; considering how little we have here in the US, seeing the UK, Germany and France present such wonderful portrayals is great, and I'd really like to see more and continue to follow these stories.
Check out my blog: http://radicalsexy.blogspot.com/
You've only watched 2-3 eps
You said it yourself - you've only watched 2 or 3 episodes. How can you determine if a character has depth after watching just a few minutes of video? Try watching the storyline from the beginning, including some of the earlier segments in which the characters don't seem to particularly like each other. Perhaps then, you'll get a better sense of what others are feeling. Someone posted a playlist that contains most of the storyline in the proper sequence.
In any case, you're not obligated to follow the crowd. Obviously not everyone is going to like the same things.
Ollian's Appeal
I think you'd feel more depth to Olli and Christian if you reviewed the story going back some months. They actually are pretty good characters for a soap opera, and a lot more complex than most American soap characters are.
Also, there was more buildup to them coming together than there was to Nuke. As exciting as it was at the time, Noah's sudden attraction to Luke was a little inexplicable. Noah seemed perfectly happy with and into Maddie, but suddenly he and Luke brush hands and look into each other's eyes and they're suddenly in love? Very typical of an American soap but not very well developed.
Luke is an even more confounding character. Aside from developing an intense crush on (at the time) seemingly straight Noah, he does this while now a college student with apparent access to plenty of other gay guys. The exact "why" as to it having to be Noah and nobody else was never really established. Luke just randomly took a shine to him despite Noah being one of Luke's best friend's boyfriend.
Now Luke, despite a soap opera childhood, seems almost bizarrely naive. He plays along with this whole Ameera thing without seriously questioning her origin, motives or intentions towards his boyfriend. Instead he passively sits back allows Noah to marry her without challenge. Given all he's seen throughout a childhood in Oakdale you'd expect him to be more astute.
Ollian just developed a bit more organically, and also their coming together had less to do with being "gay". Both are apparent bisexuals (Olli perhaps more so than Christian) so their attraction has less to do with either of them being desperate to find a gay relationship and more to do with them being very explicitly attracted to each other. Their coming together was also played out more on screen and it wasn't a question of "they touched and now they're in love".
Finally, the storyline on VL is rather less cheesy than on ATWT. We don't have an equivalent to psycho-Colonel hatching an elaborate murder plot, paralysis that magicallly heals at a dramatic moment or deep romantic love that mysteriously cannot be consumated.
I guess I spend less time shouting at the screen watching VL clips than I do watching ATWT clips. Even before Ameera came along I found it impossible to come up with a logical explanation as to why Luke and Noah couldn't sneak away for some nookie. A simple camping trip would have sufficed. But ATWT wants to keep the characters as one-dimensional as possible, and especially wants to avoid any "offensive" content and so Nuke are a pair of neutered and rather dull characters, in addition to being almost chronically naive and stupid.
I think that VL is more character-driven whereas ATWT is more plot-driven. What this means is that the VL storyline develops around the personalities and histories of the characters. ATWT forces the characters to behave in compliance with the storyline (hence Luke's inexplicable acceptance of the Ameera situation) without any attempt to make the characters behave realistically.
That's just what I see anyway.
Re: Ollian's Appeal
Psionycx beautifully summarized why Ollian is a superior story to Nuke, which has been a complete disaster for some time now. It's actually a prevalent problem with American soap operas: they just don't write character driven stories anymore. Everything is plot-driven, no matter how idiotic and tired the plots are.
And the Ollian story really has to be viewed starting with the clips that aired in late 2007, and not just the recent ones, to get the full context of the Ollian story. There was a natural and authentic progression of Ollian coming together that Nuke never had. The analog would be watching the (two) clips of Nuke kissing and then decide then and there that Nuke is a great romantic soap story when it is anything but (unless and until TPTB get over their fear of the AFA and just tell a story that doesn't patronize its audience anyway).
One question though: I actually thought Christian is the more bisexual of the two. It's a minor quibble, but Ollian is such an awesomely refreshing alternative to Nuke.
Ollian
I think you have them mixed up. Olli is the dark-haired one who is openly bisexual (possibly leaning towards gay, maybe a Kinsey 4 or 5). His character had an LTR with another man in the past and a gay love triangle. Christian however didn't know that Olli was bi/gay until he came home to find Olli making out on the couch with a male fitness trainer from the gym. Unfortunately Christian was bringing in a girl that he was going to try and hook up with Olli so it was awkward.
Christian is the lighter-haired jock. Olli is apparently his first male relationship. Until recently he was with a girl named Coco who had conflicted feelings towards both Christian and Olli (with whom she'd made out once). Christian had another girlfriend before Coco but I don't recall the name. Christian's probably a Kinsey 2 or 3.
Thanks!
Nico..
The girl Christian was with before Coco, was called Nico (but it's a girl - I guess it's short for Nicole).
I'd say you are right Psionycx about the Kinsey scale for both. Though I think there is room for improvement (increase) in Christian's case! :o)
Gotcha...
Christian & Olli's Orientations
Europeans tend to have a greater belief in the exietsnce of bisexuality than Americans do. Thus they seem to be more able to wrap their minds around bisexual characters than Americans, for whom the notion of being either gay or not-gay carries a lot of political significance.
For example, I have never seen any attempt made to quantify where any of the (admittedly few) successful "ex-gays" were on the Kinsey Scale to start with. The general assumption is that if someone is attracted to their own gender they are "gay", and that if they can be successfully attracted to the opposite gender their gayness has been "cured". Many bisexuals complain that few people, straight or gay, believe that bisexuality actually exists, despite studies like Kinsey's and many subsequent ones suggesting that they are actually more numerous than gays, and pontentially more numerous than straights.
In my view Olli is probably a Kinsey 5. He seems inclined to make out with women but not much else. I still laugh at how he was blowing off Christian's suggestion that he go to the gym with Gregor so that he could go for a walk with this girl Lisa that was flirting with him. But when it was mentioned that the gym was filled with "sweaty muscle men" Olli immediately perked up and gave Lisa a rain check. He then brought home one of the male trainers (this is the incident I mentioned above) to the shock of Christian and Lisa, who Christian was bringing over to see Olli again.
Christian's harder to place on the scale, as Olli is his first relationship with a man. Yes, he was in jail. But I suspect that German jails aren't quite the free-for-all that American ones are (one can only imagine what German prison guards are like). So it's not likely that Christian's experience was an "Oz" sort of thing and that he'd had any sex with men in there. At least it hasn't been implied. All of his relationships to date have been with women, but he's clearly attracted physically to Olli as well as emotionally so he has to be at least a Kinsey 2.
So I think that Olli is bi/gay while Christian is bi/straight. But regardless, at least for now in the rocky road of daytime TV life, they definitely seem to be into each other on both the emotional and sexual levels.
still-not-comfortable-being-gay-and-pretends-to-be-straight gay
In any case and like the other posters said, do watch the beginning episodes with Oliver arriving back in town and them meeting Christian and them getting to know each other.On a personal note, I think I have never seen such a beautiful guy that Gregor (Andreas Jancke) is (Christian’s big brother)! Also, he is portrayed as über-cool vis-à-vis gay people, much to Christian’s surprise it seems. And my wish is that when Christian tells his brother that it won’t be a typical cliché scene, where the big brother (or any other relative) freaks out completely and for weeks we’ll have to watch how Christian desperately tries to win back his brother’s respect, or whatever it is. I hope that the writers will ‘dare’ and continue showing that it is no issue at all for Gregor and that Christian had no reason to build up this fear about his brother finding out.One earlier episode I found particularly amusing when Christian has found out about Olli and is totally freaking out. He tells Gregor who is totally unfazed. I am convinced that Gregor has at that time already sensed that Christian’s reaction was a little exaggerated for a reason. .. Anyway, on the VL German forum there was a small discussion about when Christian actually first felt something for Olli and whether the writers had brought Christian’s character into the soap, knowing already that he would ‘turn gay’. I haven’t followed VL for 5-6 years now and I didn’t see the months before Olli’s return to the soap (the same actor played Olli role in 2001/2003 or so then left for 5 years and has now returned), so I can’t really say. But the opinions vary quite a lot. I think though, watching the earlier Christian and Olli episodes, that it is quite apparent that Christian is very rapidly intrigued by and drawn towards Olli. Even more so when he finds out about Olli being gay.Anyway, CAN’T wait for Monday! And I can’t wait for the episode when Christian tells Gregor! I hope the writers do a good job with those scenes!By the way, there was a nicely done coming-out story on another German soap (I have mentioned in another post) called “Marienhof”. It airs every day just after VL. The storyline involved a Muslim character, but it wasn’t the kind of painful-to-watch story of ATWT! Not that I watch ATWT anymore.. *grin* The story was about Sülo a ‘straight’ Turkish Muslim who raises his son (by a woman who has died recently). He is involved with a woman when Mischa (gay) arrives in town. Sülo and Mischa get along very well until Sülo finds out about Mischa being gay. Then it’s the typical story about how the straight guy struggles with his identity because he feels drawn towards the gay guy. The story turned around in circles a bit but in the end the guys were a couple in love (until one left the soap). It was very well acted I found and there was no shying away from same-sex kisses and more. Both those actors weren’t of the stunning and hunky beauty Christian, Olli, Luke and Noah are, but it was very sexy and hot, nevertheless, IMHO!
You guys have convinced me...
...to give Forbidden Love another look...but where do the subtitled episodes start?
Check out my blog: http://radicalsexy.blogspot.com/
You can get a good start here
Chrolli vs Ollian!
Funny how here everyone says 'Ollian' whereas the people on the German VL forum prefer 'Chrolli' (a little poll I did resulted in 'Chrolli' being favoured).
I would also say that Olli is the more the bi-sexual guy, rather than Christian. But I haven't seen Olli with a girl - not now, nor 5-6 years ago when the same actor played Olli and was involved with Tom at the time. No idea really, but I guess the writers will keep us guessing and will keep their options open... :o(
And if anyone is interested, I think the guy who plays Christian is much hotter than the guy who plays Olli! :o))) But nothing beats Gregor!! *blush*
I'm hoping this doesn't happen
"I have been updating on the Deniz and Roman story, but if I’m not mistaken one of them is back to being straight (without spoiling too much, I hope). This I hate *!* and I am keeping my fingers crossed for it not to happen on VL."
jUdE...I'm really hoping this doesn't happen like what was done with the Deniz and Roman storyline. That was a real bummer.
I was a big fan of the HollyOaks John Paul/Craig storyline. Craig was the straight one, and maintained this position throughout most of the storyline. Even when he got busted in bed with John Paul, he still maintained he was never attracted to another guy, just John Paul. Many suspected he was bi. But what I loved was how the writers conclusion the story, they had Craig choose the guy instead of the girl. They even had his girlfriend, Sarah, beg him to stay with her, but he refused and went to John Paul. And, even though the story had ended and the actor who plays Craig has now left the series, the writers made sure us rabid fans of this pair are still aware that Craig's love for John Paul still stands strong via a text message, telling John Paul he is missing him tremendously and waiting for him in Dublin. And it is now looking more and more likely that Guy Burnett, who played Craig, will return for a brief period at the end of James Sutton's contract, the one who plays John Paul, so that the storyline can really conclude with them leaving together...riding off into the sunet so to speak. This I hope for Olli and Christian, that when the story concludes, and it must at some point, that if they don't stay together, then the writers/producers will conclude them in a way that we know they still love each other. Here's hoping we don't have a break up with one of them turning back to an old/new girlfriend, or ending the relationship on a sour note with the two falling out of love or dislikeing each other. Here's hoping this particular storyline ends well, for a change.
yay!
The whole problem stems from fake bisexuals
Go Canada!