Two shows on television have recently added a little gay to their witty repartee. Personally, I feel like both of them speak a little to how society is viewing homosexuality, as of late.
On Miss Guided, the new ABC comedy airing Thursdays at 8, they made an obvious joke of a "Perez Hilton"-esque blog wreaking havoc on their school. Teachers were becoming obsessed with the Most-Doable Teacher rankings and they were making their sexuality more overt to up their positions. The guidance counselor came to school dressed as a tween. The vice principal saw the "gay" pictures posted so he launched a campaign to find the gossiper. And finally, with the posting of a crotch-showing shot of the guidance counselor, managed to mimic popular culture to an extreme. In the end, the gossip blogger was a homosexual male who looked JUST like Perez Hilton and went by the pseudonym Jessica Lopez. And the vice principal made him post a new entry calling him straight with the help of some "straight" pictures he had to taken - riding on a horse bareback, in leather on a motorcycle, etc. The episode ends with him looking at the new entry praising how straight he looked while his pictures obviously had a gay undertone.
It made me think...does everyone just see pictures of men in leather or other stereotypical fetish-type garments and just think gay? Is it just me? Do gay people end up stereotyping themselves? One of my friends had a visitor this weekend from home and he came out partying with us. EVERYONE was talking about how closeted he was. The next day I was asked what I thought and I found myself being like, "OBVIOUSLY HE IS GAY. He is a flaming flaming closeted gay." And I wondered to myself...did I really just stereotype us like that? Is that wrong? Am I just hindering our community more? Or is it just true that gay men tend to be more effeminate?
Secondly, on Gossip Girl, it was just announced that a straight male character will be OUTed on the new episode premiering on April 21st on the CW. A recent article cited the lack of LGBT characters on primetime television, especially on the CW. "There are a total of seven series regular LGBT characters, or 1.1%, on the five broadcast networks this season, down from 9 last season." That is a direct quote from the article found at http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3icee1422eac0ec8389421fbc853be6b5b.
Is it now becoming PC for LGBT characters to be featured in mass-marketed television shows, hence why the CW is adding their first gay series regular? If so, why are there so few LGBT characters?
"'While we acknowledge there have been improvements made in how we are seen on the broadcast networks, most notably on ABC, our declining representation clearly indicates a failure to inclusively reflect the audience watching television," said GLAAD president Neil Giuliano. "Striving toward diversity isn't merely the responsible road to take for broadcasters, but as many of television's highest-rated programs demonstrate, it's also good for business. One need only to look at the growing viewership on cable networks to see how inclusive programming can attract a wider audience.'
Indeed, LGBT representation on the mainstream cable networks is skyrocketing with 57 characters this year, including 40 regular, up from a total of 35 (regular and recurring) last year."
What do you think about these statements? Why is cable so willing to be cutting-edge and relevant while the main broadcast networks are hesitant? Obviously shows like Desperate Housewives are not dying because of the addition of homosexual series regulars. In fact, the show is on a rebound and averaging more than a million more viewers per episode than last season. So what's the big deal? Are you excited for Gossip Girl's OUTing? Is Miss Guided hindering us or are we happy with any gay coverage in the media? Are these stereotypes true?
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