This week’s readings discussed the presence of homosexual characters in present day media; exploring how gay and lesbian characters are portrayed in a way that caters to the common viewer. Throughout Saavedra’s journal, it is clear that for the most part he does not agree with the standard of how homosexuality is represented in television. What a reader might fail to recognize is that (sadly) we live in a straight world, where gay individuals are typically under scrutiny, both in real life and in media. Therefore, when a program features a gay character, his or her homosexuality is either swept under the rug, or so heavily exaggerated it becomes almost tiresome.
Take Modern Family’s Mitch and Cam. They are both depicted as stereotypical gay men, both immensely flamboyant (although one more than the other), gay jokes fly left and right. On some occasions, Cam (the more flamboyant of the two) will even put on his “straight voice” when he’s coaching football, or appeasing his homophobic great aunt. And although these characters are clearly homosexual, they are never shown in anything close to an intimate scene; nothing but a mere hug is ever shared between the two. On the contrary, Modern Family is one of the few programs whose gay characters openly deal with the hardships of being a homosexual in a heterosexual society. Mitch consistently struggles to gain acceptance from his father, who although loving, sometimes seems to disagree with his sons identity.
Let’s take a much more recent example. The two new characters on The Walking Dead, Aaron and Eric; who’s sexuality is not revealed until the end of their debut episode. What should have been a simple, matter of fact, character trait — was undoubtedly heavily emphasized. As Aaron runs to Eric’s aid, who is laying on the ground with a broken ankle, the show’s writers took it upon themselves to spend an overstated amount of time on their embrace – something that was unnecessary and had me thinking whether they would have had such an overblown emphasis on a heterosexual couple.
The conclusion of this piece argues that despite media creators taking a progressive step in featuring homosexual characters in their content, it seems that are not as liberal as they believe to be. They still feel the need to identify Cam as the gay uncle; and when someone asks about the Walking Dead’s new character, without a doubt, most viewers will say “You know? The gay one.”
In a world where being straight is the unfortunate “norm”, being tolerant of homosexuality is not simply accepting it, but being able to see past it as an indicator of behavior and personality. Until sexual orientation is only as indicative as hair or eye color, the society shaped by media will see a gay person, as a gay person, before a fellow human.
hsp5042 says
I found this post very interesting because some of the things you pointed out about gay characters I now realize when watching TV shows. The only way homosexual characters are portrayed are as very flamboyant, like you said, which I think is quite sad. By TV producers making these characters over the top and taking them to an extreme, I think this reinforces stereotypes that some people may have on gay people. Homosexuals are constantly being judged and classified as being a certain way as if they all act in the same manner when in reality they don’t, but TV shows make it seem as if they do. Homosexuals try to show the public that they are too just as normal as heterosexuals, but TV shows seem to disregard this fact and use them as more as a character that supplies comedic relief to their shows. I haven’t seen “The Walking Dead”, but as you mentioned in your post Cam’s character in “Modern Family” is taken to an extreme which does not accurately represent the entire gay population.