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Still unsatisfied, G4TV, and more.Your thoughts on LOGO, How far has gay visibility come?, and Why I hate MTV are all threads are started recently to discuss my dissatisfaction with the current state of entertainment, gay entertainment in particular.......and they're still open, by the way.(LOL)You've probably had enough of me getting up on my soap box, yet here I go again.I know, I know....patience.I'm just not a patient person. Another channel I have a love/hate relationship with is G4TV.The tag line for the channel is "the source for all the stuff you care about".I have to say that's true.The channel has a younger, smarter, and cooler feel to it.They talk about stuff that I want to hear about like video games, comics, the latest tech toys, ect.I usually watch Attack of the show.It's like a nerd's news show.It even has that ticker thing at the bottom of the screen with all of the latest news of interest to that crowd.It's fun. The problem I have with the channel is that it's so obviously from a straight male's perspective.It's actually like Spike TV.......that much of straight guy channel including the occasional offensive comments.That's when I come on back home to LOGO which is a gay channel, but doesn't have that same edge of G4TV.One of my complaints about LOGO has been about a certain kind of gay perspective that I see most of time and it's target age demographic.I wish they had another program for the Martial arts action movie loving, BMX watching, xbox 360 playing crowd complete with gratuitous shots of pin-up boys like the straight guy channels. An example of this was the gay gamer, or "gaymer", story.MTV, in one of that channel's news briefs a while back, covered these gay gaming groups.I don't remember this ever being covered by one of LOGO'S news briefs;I know prince William has a new girlfriend and they were supposed to be in some kind of keyak race together, though........like I care.LOGO tends to cover the traditional gay communial experience.....going to clubs, bars, ect., but not what I guess what you would call the bars for people who don't go to bars.I also heard about the gaymers on AfterElton. In a lot of ways I think i'm probably more satisfied with this site than LOGO itself.The internet is a great place to get my gay fix especially if internet TV takes off.However, that's a bit of a challenge too.I have a slow internet connection, so it's a pain in the ass for me to try to watch streaming videos online.It takes forever for youtube videos to buffer.It's not just me either. America has a much slower internet speed than other countries, but that's a whole other discussion, so instead of watching full screen sized broadcast quality videos online we get small screen low quality videos like the ones on youtube.I have the whole Hollyoaks storyline saved to my favorites on youtube, but it's not the same as it would have been if I had saw it on TV because of the quality of the picture, but I digress.Sometimes I watch 20/20.John Stossel did a 2 hour report this past friday on the health care system.He's also had done one before on the education system, basically showing that competition improves the quality of both, brings the cost down, and that when someone, or something has a monopoly on something it's not as good as it can be. This can apply to many things including competiton between entertainment outlets.I have to say I agree with Mr. Stossel on this because one of the things this boils down to is choice.When I think about it LOGO doesn't have to do much to keep me tuned in because where else am I going to go?When you're one of only two gay networks and the other one isn't even a linear channel that's pretty damn close to a monopoly.One of the points I was trying to make in "How far has gay visibility come?" was that if we had more of an abundance of gay entertainment outlets we would be more satisfied because we would have more to choose from. The other thing this boils down to is money.I realize that it's hard, if not impossible, for one channel to serve the complete diversity of the gay community, atleast without spending a ton of money, but LOGO has a lot of free space and open time slots that it fills up with repetative programming.When ever i'm looking for something to watch on TV the first channel I always check on is LOGO, but then it's like "oh, i've seen this a million times", or in the case of something like Bob and Rose "Why the hell is this even on?"Michael told me that there are a lot of people who are working really hard at LOGO, but I don't unserstand how some of these shows got the greeen light because they're so bad and a waste.Those are time slots and money that could be going towards something else. Submitted by homoguy563 (1304 points) (205 posts) on Sun, 2007-09-16 13:14. |
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You Make a Valid
point homoguy563, much of the programming that I see on Gay channels in Canada is narrowly focussed not only on a certain demographic (usually wealthier, more established) but also on a certain stereotype of what gays are interested in. My partner is in the demographic that likes video games, martial arts movies and super-hero movies, he would love a station like the one you described. I think part of the problem is the people that run these stations are not interested in these less stereotypically gay programs, so they think they will not be popular. Has LOGO done any surveys of the American gays on what programming they would like to see? (I am Canadian and cannot get the station).
Cheers
JBE
Gay Shows
The problem that faces LGBT channels is that they have to satisfy all the constituents from young and old to left and right to lesbian, gay, bi, and transgender. I think LGBT channels will come into their own when TV and computer merge. Then the channels will be able to diversify.
I completely agree with you about BMX, video games etc. I want to watch that stuff too. Here are some suggestions for shows:
Bodybuilding/ Fitness. Gay people make a large portion of the fitness market. There are many fit gay people. At the same time there are many gay people who are obese (gay people are more likely to be overweight). A show that focuses on self-esteem and fitness would greatly help those that are overweight.
Self-Defense. Many gays are confronted with situations that could become dangerous or do. They need lessons to protect them from dangerous situations.
Sports. As gay people become more accepted in society you will see more and more gay people play sports.
History. Many gay people do not know their history.
Literature/ Art/ Music. Gay people have played a significant role in developing culture. Shows on literature, art, music etc would help continue that tradition.
Surviving on a low income. Gay people overall make less than straight people. Often we overlook the gays that are struggling financially because we believe the stereotype that gay people are well off.
Excellent Post
And some very helpful suggestions. Great job Evan.
"It's your will against mine and you will lose." Clint Eastwood - Heartbreak Ridge
Evan Reading Your Post
taught me some things about gays that I did not know (and I consider myself fairly well educated). For instance that obesity is a significant problem with gays (I know it is a problem with North Americans in general). Also that a large number of gays have financial problems. I agree with you that Gays do not have any clue about their history. Mind you a lot of straights think that homosexuality was almost non-existant until the 1960's sexual revolution! In fact it is prevalent across all cultures and across all time periods. The only difference is how society has tolerated it. In Ancient Greece it was tolerated to a greater degree than the Middle Ages (and even in the Victorian Age).
Thank you for an informative post, and I would appreciate it if you could indicate some of your favourite websites for finding more about gay people in society.
Cheers
JBE
Resources
Here are some websites I like:
RealJock A great website for gay jocks to build muscle and talk about sports and stuff.
Gay Health
Advocate for LGBT youth Fantastic resource for gay people.
Pew Research Here is a page with a lot of poll results about gay people. If you type in gay or lesbian in the search box you will get more poll reports.
Sodomy Laws Mostly about sodomy laws though there are many articles just related to gay people.
GLBTQ History The best encyclopedia about LGBT people online.
Gay History Research by Rictor Norton
I stand corrected about obesity in the gay community. Gay men actually have lower rates of obesity than straight men. It is lesbian women who have higher rates of obesity than straight women. Even with that said obesity is on the increase and it needs to be combated. Here is an article that explains obesity in the gay community.
"Studies have shown the gay women tend to have a higher rate of obesity compared to their heterosexual counterparts putting them at greater risks to suffer from one or all of these disease. Involvement in sports and activities greatly reduce the chance of obesity and helps promote overall body acceptance and awareness.
Recent surveys have also shown that while obesity in gay men is not typically as prevalent as in heterosexual men, adverse body image is a much greater problem. This has lead to high rates of eating disorders, drug use and even suicide."
Homoguy, I post whenever I feel compelled to. It just happened that I got to this level (1600+ points).
Thank you
that was exactly what I was looking for! Your a real pal.
Cheers
JBE
JBE
That is me
the old but fit white dude on the right, my life partner is on the left. My sister asked me to take my shirt off because the white was too much, I rarely have my picture taken with so little clothing, too shy. The picture was taken on my favourite beach on Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick. Our family cottage is there (built by Grover Cleveland's brother in 1907!). Grand Manan is a favourite spot for alot of Americans in terms of summer residences. The famous American author Willa Cather had a summer home there for years.
Cheers
JBE
My user points and threads.