Angel City's Devil's blog

The uniqueness that has set The Real World: Brooklyn apart isn’t apparent in its season finale. Yes, most of the recurring themes from the season surface to bid farewell (gender divide, pranks, JD’s short temper), but the LGBT issues and undertones that have made the Brooklyn installment an arguable breakthrough for television aren’t showcased.

Still, the drama entices.

We pick up where we left off last week, with the Real World Brooklyn houseguests getting wind of Ryan’s active duty recall.

Yet again, the show is cooling off from its previous weeks of gay heat, but there was a brief moment of LGBT-ness to be experienced when JD offers Ryan an out via Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell:

“You can’t just say you’re gay? I’ll say you’re my boyfriend.”

“That’s the easy way out. I’m not getting out of it,” Ryan responds.

Hopefully, this “easy way out” of military service, so often the punch line of horrid homophobic comedies, will be a dated joke in the near future.

There isn’t much gay going on with this episode of Real World: Brooklyn, but the show’s focus on military service couldn’t come at a better time with the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell battle gradually gaining momentum in Washington.

The episode opens with the bright-eyed optimism that was Election Day 2008. Now that the honeymoon might be waning, it’s nostalgic to look back at the roommates and remember the energy and hope that went along with the Obama campaign. However, not everyone syncs with the momentum and plans to Barack the vote – Chet is Republican, and voices his dismay that fellow Mormon Mitt Romney hadn’t remained in the election. Boohoo.

Aside from Scott and Chet, the rest of the cast cheer for Obama, including Ryan, who hopes the new president will end the war in Iraq.

Continuing down the trailblazing path of LGBT visibility, the latest offering from the Real World might be the gayest yet.

This episode leaves JD in the dust, but a healthy serving of transgender enlightenment makes me thrilled about Katelynn’s inclusion in the season. Though she sometimes comes off as annoying, my opinions of her character are far less manic than the sexy JD.

But a boy can dream.

While I'm dreaming, so are the roommates in Brooklyn, who are busy chasing their goals in episode nine. However, it’s only Katelynn’s dream of transgender youth outreach that we get to see realized by the end of the hour.

The battle of the sexes comes to a head in the latest episode of The Real World: Brooklyn. Pushing the tensions to the surface are the cleaning preferences of the housemates, or the lack thereof.  With the boys on the unexpected side of cleanliness, and the girls playing for team lazy, the drama that unfolds in this episode helps to make it my favorite so far. 

But the real reason number eight is great is the fact that a certain houseguest I’ve been critical of begins to show some appeal.

Who am I talking about?

Separation of the sexes continues throughout episode seven in Brooklyn, only this time it feels as if JD is on the sidelines (and don't forget our interview with JD if you haven't already checked it out!). With a slew of visitors to the home (some with tails, some without), the roommates couldn’t be any sicker of each other.

But with JD’s manic swings of character and a stereotypical response to a mouse that might have set the gay community’s identity in media back a few years, I’m not giving this episode much love.

Why?

Episode 6 is a very LGBT episode indeed: there’s community outreach, an AIDS benefit, and the tricky swinging of a closet door.

But mainly it’s a battle of the sexes in the Brooklyn house, and Katelynn lies in the middle. She’s proud to be post-op, but just as she’s becoming comfortable with her feminine features, the roommates are becoming sick of her flaunting them. While the boys are aware of her identity, they’re forced to wonder when she’ll confirm the truth as she parades around in booty shorts.

Speaking of booty shorts, how gay is this episode?

Olympic gold medalist and gay poster-boy Matthew Mitcham has finally, finally landed more than the perfect dive. The ink is still fresh on the Aussie's new sponsorship deal with Australian telecom giant Telstra but like all good gay boys, Mitcham is hoping for bigger things to come, telling The Daily Telegraph:

“Hopefully, this will have a snowball effect.

If I can get the opportunity where I will be able to train without worrying about paying the bills, that would be the ultimate goal.”

In the interest of helping Mitcham with his snowballs, we’ve put together a list of our fantasy endorsements. We consider it our gay-given duty to help him keep his shirt off for as long as possible.

So who should be the next to sign up MM?

We can all be a little hypocritical sometimes, but not all of us get the opportunity to have it documented and broadcast to our fellow citizens.

With all the good reality TV that’s born out of videotaped hypocrisy, why am I displaying indifference towards this episode of the Real World: Brooklyn?

Unfortunately, it’s our pal JD, the only gay in the house, who has taken advantage of the opportunity.