Portrayal of gay character in Desperate Housewives

gazzer

Is it just me or is Desperate Housewives portrayal of the gay character Lee terrible. Its like something from the 50's.

Last nights episode really annoyed me. He doesnt want to go bra shopping with his adopted daughter so gets Renee to bring her. When the daughter starts hanging around more with Renee and doing 'girly' things he throws a hissy fit.

Then when the daughter said she wishes Renee was his mother he gets all stressed and says "Oh my god she said the M word" as if it was something horrible.

Then he starts going on about how he can talk shoes with his daughter as he has a pair of Chers shoes in his closet and how he can paint her nails :rolleyes:

I just found it really embarrassing. Maybe I am being oversensitive about it and I dont know why I watch DH as it annoys the hell out of me anyway but I dont think they have ever portrayed a gay person well in the show without resorting to broad stereotypes.

Nyan Cat

I think he was just being a parent.

One trying to deal with being a gay parent too.

Perhaps not the best portrayal for the general public though. You get this stuff in many parent child relationships. And adoptive parent child ones. But I'd say that perhaps that fact will fly over some people's heads. However, those same people are probably the ones against gay adoption already

Intouch9

In fairness, are any of the characters in that show normal? They're all pretty much extremes so I wouldn't worry about it. While I agree that Lee is a bit OTT, his partner Bob seems to be just a normal, hard working guy.

If we wanted to spark this into a bigger debate though, we could talk about the portrayal of gay guys and gals by the media as a whole.

Blikes

gazzer wrote: »

...I dont think they have ever portrayed a gay person well in the show without resorting to broad stereotypes.

I didn't find the Andrew character to be a stereotypical gay, bit lame tho

Intouch9

Lol... agreed.

gazzer

Blikes wrote: »

I didn't find the Andrew character to be a stereotypical gay, bit lame tho

Apart from his stint as a rent boy and being a murderer

Blikes

gazzer wrote: »

Apart from his stint as a rent boy and being a murderer

Ah who hasn't done something like that... :P

(i didn't know the rent boy thing, them murderin' gays! :P )

anotherlostie

If Andrew is still in the show and now looks like THAT, I might just start watching again!

I also remember his hot boyfriend from the early days, who was the gardener's mate wasn't stereotypical. But seriously, DH is a comedy drama so to expect realistic Wire-like portrayals of characters is a bit unrealistic. I'm sure that NRA members aren't happy with the portrayal of Bree etc - sometimes we just need to suck it up.

Captain Graphite

I stopped following Desperate Housewives after about the fourth season (and tbh only stuck with it that long because Kyle MacLachlan came along!) But wasn't Lee always meant to be a camp OTT gay stereotype, while the boyfriend was the "normal" one? Because that way you have the odd-couple dynamic for comedic effect.

So yeah, I don't find that one particularly offensive; if you want awful portrayals of gay characters, Kurt from Glee has to be the prime offender. (And yeah I know he, like Lee, is meant to be an OTT stereotype but, unlike Lee, he's in a show aimed mainly at teenagers, who are a lot more impressionable. If I was a gay teenager in America, seeing characters like Kurt would push me further into the closet rather than help me out of it.)

LegacyUser

Captain Graphite wrote: »

I stopped following Desperate Housewives after about the fourth season (and tbh only stuck with it that long because Kyle MacLachlan came along!) But wasn't Lee always meant to be a camp OTT gay stereotype, while the boyfriend was the "normal" one? Because that way you have the odd-couple dynamic for comedic effect.

So yeah, I don't find that one particularly offensive; if you want awful portrayals of gay characters, Kurt from Glee has to be the prime offender. (And yeah I know he, like Lee, is meant to be an OTT stereotype but, unlike Lee, he's in a show aimed mainly at teenagers, who are a lot more impressionable. If I was a gay teenager in America, seeing characters like Kurt would push me further into the closet rather than help me out of it.)

Yes i agree with the Glee thing ! Its true but there are certain shows aimed at teenagers that show quite the opposit of Kurts character when its comes to Gay/ Lesbian people in tv shows! Skins is a good example!

imme

it is Desperate Housewives you're talking about you know!:p

I don't know that any of their depictions of whoever or whatever social issue they deal with are accurate.

Beruthiel

gazzer, do you think those housewives are portraying your typical housewife?