Isn't it a little tiresome that...

There isn't enough gay/lesbian tv shows/movies on regular cable? Like I dont mind watching straight love but every now and then i wanna watch a little gay love here and there and there's like nothing on. I don't know if that bothers everyone but just saying this bluntly-there needs to be more gay tv on cable agree or disagree? I mean it would help people be more open minded if people see a different perspective on things wouldn't it?

[otc877]

I agree to an extent. I don't want to see more shows like Queer as Folk or Queer Eye. I think those shows do nothing but reinforce negative stereotypes.

I would like to see more shows that portray the average, non stereotypical gay person living their life with a few necessary plot twists (unrelated to their sexuality for the most part) to keep it interesting.

[simon]

i agress with otc877 on this.

I agree if you do have gay people on a tv show their the sterotypical flammer with a lisp >.>

[SamAlex728]

There is if you get the logo channel.

[Nitro]

Just to add to the above comments (which I agree with - more gay and not just Queer Eye types) that glbt characters can and have been used successfully to create interesting sub-story arcs in a larger framework of a show.

Consider this potential story arc - a closeted gay reporter gets blackmailed into not delivering a story on a major political corruption scandal. The reporter struggles with internal demons, delivers the story, gets outed, reporter's lover gets killed by minister's minions, gets professionally discredited, befriends another character and helps said character deliver the final vengeful blow of justice to the corrupt. End of season.

The fact that there are gay characters depicted at all in print/radio/television shows a change in social attitudes. The next step however is to make them more three dimensional which shouldn't be too hard having read some of the personal struggles that people come to EC for help with.

[Lexington]

The problem with gay characters on TV is that we're not really to the point in our culture where a character can just BE gay. If a character is gay, s/he's gay because it's important to the plot. Either their parents are going to freak, or their friends are going to have a big "gay panic" moment, or a homophobe is going to learn the "gays are people too" lesson. Nothing wrong with any of these, really, but note that in each case, the homosexuality drives the plot. I think eventually we'll have homosexuality be no big deal. Like now, if a (white) male character dates a Hispanic or Asian woman, you're not likely to see THAT be the plot. ("Oh no! Jimmy's dating a Mexican!") It can pass without comment. We're not there yet, but I think we're getting there.

Lex

[Nitro]

Originally Posted by Lexington

Oh no! Jimmy's dating a Mexican!

well put Lex, well put

Now ideally there should not be a problem with gay characters but then again this isn't an ideal world. I do remain optimistic though considering the progression:

No gays ---> immoral gays with HIV/AIDS only ---> over-the-top extremes gays for stock characters ---> gays as stock plots (currently being explored) ---> ?? (future)

and of course we hope that the future is just gays as people. Hopefully the idea of a viewership backlash/discomfort over gay characters being portrayed as people will some day appear as ridiculous as public discomfort with ol' Jimmy dating a Mexican (but what is he/she is a drug smuggler? What about the secret Mexican agenda? No society that has totally embraced Mexicans has survived for more than ... you know ... a few decades ...).

Originally Posted by lovekh2

There isn't enough gay/lesbian tv shows/movies on regular cable? Like I dont mind watching straight love but every now and then i wanna watch a little gay love here and there and there's like nothing on. I don't know if that bothers everyone but just saying this bluntly-there needs to be more gay tv on cable agree or disagree? I mean it would help people be more open minded if people see a different perspective on things wouldn't it?

I second that!

I'dunno if u would have heard of a show in the UK called 'Hollyoaks' thats probably one of the only places i'v ever seen it 'accepted' as a normal thing (which it obv. is). Even now though, they dont focus on those story lines enough! Even though their story line (Jhon-Paul and Craig) got them some of their highest viewings!

More gay TV!

Another thing that gets me is: you get phone lines on the end, "if you need help with your homosexuality, call us to talk" like its a disease! What about "if you think your 100% staright, call this number now for a reality check!" (sorry got a bit OVER.the.TOP)

But hey straight love is ok too!

Saying all this; i think it is being more accepted for gay people to be on tv.

(ok rant over now, sorry)

[smartguy]

i love will and grace
yea jack is stereotypical, but will isnt

[Kenko]

Anyone ever see MTV's series "undressed"? Deals with all sorts of teen / young adult relationship issues, and there are a few gay clips. I ran across it while looking at the "living lives" video. Search youtube for the user "undressfan"

Here's the Wikipedia article on it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undressed_(TV_series)

[Hepcat]

Well we only get 4 tv channels at my place. So there's never much gay tv on.

Originally Posted by Latinokid

I agree if you do have gay people on a tv show their the sterotypical flammer with a lisp >.>

Yeah true. A lot of things need to change when it comes to gay people in television

Originally Posted by Lexington

The problem with gay characters on TV is that we're not really to the point in our culture where a character can just BE gay. If a character is gay, s/he's gay because it's important to the plot. Either their parents are going to freak, or their friends are going to have a big "gay panic" moment, or a homophobe is going to learn the "gays are people too" lesson. Nothing wrong with any of these, really, but note that in each case, the homosexuality drives the plot. I think eventually we'll have homosexuality be no big deal. Like now, if a (white) male character dates a Hispanic or Asian woman, you're not likely to see THAT be the plot. ("Oh no! Jimmy's dating a Mexican!") It can pass without comment. We're not there yet, but I think we're getting there.

Lex

Yeah that seems to be the issue with most gay tv. like its okay to have it as an issue but they don't generally show how their life is with along with being gay. it always seems like it has to be kinda...i dont know different? I dont know i guess my point is like yours that gays seem to have the same role when it comes to their issue and it doesnt seem to chronicle their lives more as normal [or whatever is perceived to be "normal" in our world]

Originally Posted by Kenko

Anyone ever see MTV's series "undressed"? Deals with all sorts of teen / young adult relationship issues, and there are a few gay clips. I ran across it while looking at the "living lives" video. Search youtube for the user "undressfan"

Here's the Wikipedia article on it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undressed_(TV_series)

Yeah! I loved that show, i watched it when i was like 6 or 7 and thought the guys were cute. I guess that show was my first true exposure to the gay scene.

[halfy]

i completley agree. in the uk we have quite a few gay characters in the major soaps where they are part of the soap as a whole and they are not just there for a gay storyline. at the moment we have christian in eastenders, paul in emmerdale, marcus and sean in coronation street, john paul and kris (kris is also a bi transvestite) in hollyoaks and greg in doctors. however we are lacking in lesbians at the moment. i think the last time i saw a lesbian character on uk tv was when i saw sugar rush. and that was quite a while ago now. things are improving slowly though.

[Lexington]

>>>Yeah that seems to be the issue with most gay tv. like its okay to have it as an issue but they don't generally show how their life is with along with being gay. it always seems like it has to be kinda...i dont know different? I dont know i guess my point is like yours that gays seem to have the same role when it comes to their issue and it doesnt seem to chronicle their lives more as normal [or whatever is perceived to be "normal" in our world]

Well, part of the problem is that these ARE, in fact, TV shows. And as such, all characters tend to be condensed down into the bare essentials. Think of a favorite show, and then think specifically of a minor character on that show - the next-door neighbor, for instance. What do you know about them? Not much, probably. Maybe they're wacky, or they're a "ladies man", or something really simple that can drive the plot along. For all we know, that guy is trying to quit smoking, has issues with his parents, plays golf twice a week, and is learning to salsa dance. But unless it's important to the show, they're not going to tell you any of that. It's not uncommon for a neighbor to quit smoking, or your boss to have his wife go to the hospital. But having neighbors come in saying "I'm trying to quit smoking", or the boss at work saying that his wife is in the hospital, adds nothing to the program unless it advances the plot.

There have been several programs that tried to display all characters as the complex, three-dimensional beings that all people actually are. Hill Street Blues, back in the 80s, was pretty good at it. A lot of people, all dealing with their own issues and problems, and all working at the same inner-city police station. A lot of the cop shows now on TV learned a lot from that show. One of my favorite bits from that show was, on one episode, the captain told a semi-tasteless joke to a few of his co-workers. For the next two or three episodes, when people would walk through the precinct, you'd see and hear other people in the background telling the same joke to other people. 'cause that's how jokes spread.

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Lex