Media Representation

Chuchoter

As it came up in another thread, I was wondering what people's opinions are on the matter. In the last year or so there seems to have been a huge upsurge in the number of gay characters on TV, especially teenage characters. Theres Kurt on Glee, a fair few on Skins (even though I really don't like skins, no matter how hard I try :P) and then there are a good few on Greys Anatomy. Just in general though, do you think these representations matter or are they just entertainment?

Aishae

food for thought there - on the one hand being g/l/b is more widely accepted in the mainstream. on the other hand, having gay tv characters opens up new storyline avenues. so id say its a bit of both of those. probably more the latter!
gay tv presenters etc have been around more too. ever since graham norton shot to stardom as father noel furlong! louie spence and alan carr seem to be the biggies at the mo. louie is gas....

Chuchoter

The only issue I see though is that the characters they portray seem to swing between gross stereotypes about gay men always being really effeminate to 'idealizing' lesbians as very girly, blonde people, which is absolutely great like, but anything towards the masculine end of the spectrum has been kind of wiped out in the process. They have though become much more human then they were (Kurt in Glee) which I think is a huge step in the right direction. I don't think Kurt was just 'the gay best friend'. He is a reasonably well rounded character with a lot of stuff going on in his life.

Aishae

im thinkin of christian an syyed or however you spell it - from eastenders. syyed is definitely not a stereotype altho christian has his moments! perhaps the tv execs or writers just go for the entertainment value and the stereotype lah di dah gay dude is easiest to write for - a bit lazy really! i agree theyve gotten more real.

Annasopra

I don't watch much American TV at all - I think the emmerdale story has been good because they are not stereotypes

ixoy

I think US TV, network anyway, is usually full with stereotypes. "Glee", for all its positives, still had the guys talking about their favourite Vogue covers - seriously?!
Many others seem to have gay men also talk about their love of musical theatre or the like and, if there ever is a less effeminate gay man, it's only because he's balanced by a partner who is very flamboyant.
There was a nice exception in "Southland", although it's not a major storyline.

Best gay character for a while was Omar from "The Wire" - now there's a tough dude who just happens to be gay (rather than making it a focal point of his character).

diddlybit

Someone spolit Season Five of The Wire SERIOUSLY YOU SPOILT THIS WITHOUT WARNING?! that's beside the point.

I think mainstream visibility is important but, does tend to be over-relient on sterotypes for gay men (the majority of gay lady depictions tends to focus upon the feminine, butch or more masculine women are much rarer.) Even so, gay and lesbian charcaters or so common place now, that hardly anyone bats an eyelid.

I remember the bruhaha in the media about the lesbian kiss in Brookside and the sad end of Ellen following the Puppy Episode. DeGeneres' career was ruined for a number of years as was a number of people associated with the series, such as Laura Dern. Now she's one of the biggest chat show hosts in America, adored by a mainly straight audience.

Dr. Baltar

Agreed that there's two sides to the coin.
On one hand it's great that there's more visibility of LGBT people in the media but the stereotyping isn't helping at all.

Although I really did like Sam Adama in 'Caprica'. Badass Mafia assassin who just happens to be gay. Also, if anyone watched the season premiere of 'Skins' the other night, I quite liked the two Dads.

GalwayGuy92

I like the gay storyline in the RTE drama Raw, not sure if it still features this season since I havent yet watched it...But I think both guys involved were down to earth and normal. Yes the Aussie chef is an *ss but all chefs are usually potrayed as such!
Overall I think the potrayal of glb people has certainly improved no end in the media, I'm not sure transgendered get the same treatment though...

Killer_banana

When I still watched glee Kurt used to annoy me so much. He wasn't the worst representation I've seen and there are gay men in reality who fit the stereotype but I still felt it would have worked better if he wasn't stereotypical. That's just me though.

I haven't seen too many shows with lesbians but those I have seem to be either really masculine or really feminine with no in between.

I feel there aren't enough bisexual characters on tv but it is getting better. Matty in the new series of Skins was originally openly bisexual but they decided to play it down for some reason. I'm disappointed 'cause they tend to do alright when it comes to representing gay characters and I don't think I've ever seen a male bisexual character on tv. Hopefully they will still touch on it even if it's not in as obvious away as originally intended.

I'm not sure transgendered get the same treatment though...

There was a story about a transgendered teenager on Hollyoaks recently I think. Don't know how it was handled though 'cause I really cannot stand that show.

diddlybit

Killer_banana wrote: »

When I still watched glee Kurt used to annoy me so much. He wasn't the worst representation I've seen and there are gay men in reality who fit the stereotype but I still felt it would have worked better if he wasn't stereotypical. That's just me though.

I haven't seen too many shows with lesbians but those I have seem to be either really masculine or really feminine with no in between.

I agree with you about Kurt in regards to sterotypes, especially earlier on in the series, but I find he's becoming a more well rounded character as the programme progresses (the Finn/Kurt thing really annoyed me.) But also in regarsd to sterotypes, I think they will always exist in reality, but strangely the gay male sterotypes seem to be the most acceptable to mainstream media. Other forms of sexual or identity performances become invisible for many reasons.

In regrads to bisexuality, there are plenty of portrayls of bisexual charcaters in media and Hollywood, it's just that bisexuality is an uncomfortable description for a character so the automatic assumption for people is to grade indiviuals as gay or staright. Margorie Garber and Jonanthan Dollimore have done great work on it, especially on Oscar Wilde.

PS> My most gracious apologies for spoiling The Wire for anyone for saw that. Sorry, it's been sitting on the shelf for so long, I presumed that the stories were old hat.

ongarboy

I think the Raw gay characters are perfect examples of non stereotypes. The storylines for the two principal characters (Aussie guy and Pavel) could easily be given to straight characters on the show (post traumatic stress after robbery/ jealousy/love triangles/friction with workmates) so I think this is a positive representation in the media. US show Brothers and Sisters also has strong gay characters that may incorporate some stereotypes but strikes enough of the right balance. Likewise the Eastenders couple.Unfortunately, Corrie handles the Sean character dreadfully and drags every tired stereotype out for him and then justifies it as comic relief. I had the misfortune of staying in last Saturday night and made the mistake of not switching channels when Mrs Brown (Brendan O'Carroll vehicle) came on. The portrayal of the OTT gay son was just atrocious and completely devoid of humour but of course the target audience for this "comedy" loved it and thought it was hilarous and reinforced their already pre-conceived narrow minded notions of what a gay should be. At least this is a good excuse to go out next Saturday night!!

KnifeWRENCH

Kurt from Glee is a pretty bad representation; as well as living up to the flamboyant stereotype, I always found him selfish, whiney and manipulative. His character was one of the reasons I stopped watching Glee. I'd rank him alongside Jack MacFarlane in terms of how not to portray a gay character.

Maxxie from Skins was quite a good representation, I thought. He was just a normal guy (albeit a tap dancer, but I think that was written in just to utilise Mitch Hewer's dancing abilities) who happened to be gay and it didn't affect his status among his friends. It's a positive thing to show young people; that you can be gay and still live a normal life.

Aswell as Omar from The Wire, other positive (i.e. non-stereotypical) representations that come to mind would be David and Keith from Six Feet Under and Kerri Weaver from E.R.

Hell, even Lafayette from True Blood is a good representation; an example of someone who is somewhat flamboyant and effeminate but will still kick your ass! :pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMJCXa6cNWc