In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we are upgrading our To Make a Long Story Short ... news roundups to the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.
- Today in feverdream holiday entertainment: Kathy Griffin and Anderson "Andy" Cooper had a grand time ribbing one another (and themselves, in Coop's case) on CNN on New Year's Eve. Never one to be outdone, Andy actually gay-baits himself before Kathy can get around to it.
- Out actors Raul Esparza, Dennis O'Hare and Cheyenne Jackson (pictured at top) are among the stars participating in the 24-Hour Musicals project, a benefit in NYC that challenges Broadway's best actors, writers, choreographers and directors to create entire shows in just one day. Rita Wilson, Kerry Butler, Tracie Thoms and more will also join the charitable fun.
- After the break, check out a Motorola ad (I think it might be Australian) that mines gay panic to sell cell-phone enabled sunglasses. The most curious thing about the ad is that it makes the guy using the product out to be a jackass, and the confused gay guy to be rather sympathetic. It's a marketing slam-dunk!
- Sean Hayes is among the comedy actors to participate in Funny or Die's New Year's Resolutions video (as well as someone named Fabrice Fabrice, Will Ferrell, and Fergie). His resolution? "Stop having unprotected sex." Watch the video for the full joke...
And today's Briefs come to you courtesy of ... Djimon Hounsou's Calvin Klein ad!
Any excuse to post a pic of Cheyenne...
I think they're forgetting something
Torchwood is about broken people creating a dysfunctional family. No sexual relationship in that series is healthy. If the same sex relationships were actually healthy, they wouldn't have the emotional impact of the rest of the series. They might as well not be there.
I have similar concerns about Nuke. Soap Operas are about dysfunctional relationships. When the inevitable self destructive behavior starts for Luke and Noah, there are going to be a lot of people complaining about how negative the portrayals of gay sexuality are, but we'll be getting exactly what we asked for, a gay Soap Opera relationship. Such relationships inevitably end in suicide, homicide, insanity or orgies of infidelity.
the article on torchwood seems...
...to be predicated on the idea that television shows have an obligation to promote any type of behavior or that they are somehow flawed if they don't present a wholesomely gay story populated by perfect gay character who never make mistakes, who never do wrong things. If you replace every instance of "gay" in that article with "family" or "christian" you could practically post it on CBN. The only one who ever played up Torchwood as being a poster child for tolerance and gay visibility was the media...and now they're bashing it for not living up to the false ideals they subscribed to it. Typical.
The writer states, "Like my friend, I'm alarmed: I thought mainstream entertainment had gotten over explicitly collapsing gay with evil."
Unfortunately some people haven't gotten over seeing boogymen in every closet. In the same way that words like "faggot" and "queer" can be reclaimed by rejecting the negetive stigma of them, so can we reject the idea that any "bad" gay character reflects the creators or publics view of gay people at large.
Gay culture is not going to join the mainstream (if that is even a desired goal...i'm not too sure) via any television show. It will happen when REAL gay people living REAL lives are on every block and street, just going about their daily business.
All the characters on Torchwood are rather despicable. That is part of what creates the drama of the show. We watch them grapple with their issues. Freestyle sex and bad personal choices are just part of Torchwood's schtick. Just like in Doctor Who, its always some weird-ass alien doing weird-ass alien things that drives the plot. Torchwood just makes it all racy-weird-ass. Its certainly more fun the Brothers and Sisters.
Andy & Kathy were great!
Kanderson? Anderthy? :-P
me and a few friends were playingly coming up with joint names for those two on New Years Eve.
they were very amusing to watch together. we all did the shot game when she called him Andy. ah, good times. :-P
Have I missed something?
I've watched the pilot episode for Torchwood maybe five times or so, and I can't seem to remember Harper's alleged threesome scene. Sure, he sprays first a woman and then her boyfriend... but after that the only thing Harper is seen doing is ordering a taxi. I don't recall ever seeing him getting into the taxi with the other two. The show just cuts to the next scene. My interpretation was that he was simply making his escape after things had gotten awkward. That he was simply trying to get away from the couple he had accidently picked up.
Also, the "It has to be a man" remark came from a young lady posessed by an alien. Maybe the girl was straight, and because of that the alien could only get the desired effect from men? I think they've taken that line totally out of its context.
Cherry / Torchwood_Operative
Torchwood scene cut
Yes, I think you did miss something. In the show aired in the states, they cut that scene short. It's been a while since I watched it but as I recall it was obvious in the original uncut UK version Owen went off with both of them. I remember being annoyed by the American version. Try to get your hands on the original series. It's not so chopped up.
I agree with everything you said, Sonicswoon. The whole fan culture is so out of hand on the internet blogs and forums these days, fans are practically re-writing shows in their own minds. Torchwood IS supposed to be just all racy-weird-ass. The fans have got Jack and Ianto married with 2.5 kids and a bloody picket fence. It's ridiculous. It's much more fun to watch the crazy flirting with all life forms (including boring Ianto). I can't wait for the James Marsters stuff with Jack and who ever else he gets up to with this season.
If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.
There is no such scene...
I'm not in the States, Janet. I'm in Finland. ;-)
Here's a clip from the episode in question. The scene in question starts at about 06:28.
Notice the BBC3 logo in the corner. The clip is from the 50 minute version of the episode, and as far as I know the original uncut versions of the episodes are 50 minutes in length.
The clip doesn't show anyone getting into the taxi at all.
Cherry / Torchwood_Operative
Hey
Not boring?
Well, to each his own, I guess.
If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.
Janet Pre or Post?
In the Anderson/Kathy video
Yes, that scene...
....is the original one that I saw too, TW Operative. As a said in my first post, I just believed that it was obvious that the three of them went off together. In the chopped BBC america version, they didn't even show the kiss between the two guys. Glad you get to see the uncut versions in Finland! In Canada, we only get the CBC that gets their stuff from BBCA. But I did see the UK versions from an (cough) undisclosed source.
And Metabaron...pre or post what? (South Park not-withstanding)
If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.
Um...
Really?
Well, maybe they just cut it out of the CBC version. shrug.
If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.
As I recall the
As I recall the CBC version only showed Owen and the girlfriend. No spraying the boyfriend and no taxi scence. They also cut Jack's comment about being pregnant from the start of the first episode.
A lot of scences have been cut from various episodes between what the CBC shows and what BBC America shows. After reading the recaps here at After Elton I cannot believe some of the editing choices the CBC has made.
i watched it in the original bbc version...
...and it was clear to me that he was taking both of them home. They don't show them leaving together but from the pacing of the scene and the dialogue the punch line of the whole joke is that Owen doesn't have problem with just doing both of them together.
Plus even if he wasn't into guys, he could just have sprayed the dude and wouldn't have been able to resist him. ;D
Nothing's wrong with Torchwood...
People better quit giving my favorite show full of negatives and shit. Tell straight people to stuck up with Star Trek or Stargate. I knew that Captain Jack is omnisexual as he like to flirt with anyone. He is not bloody murderer, he loved to bed with anyone. If I am encountered with Captain Jack as he hit on me; I never say no to him for hot sex! I will give him my best time!