Brian Miseo, Justine Gaines, William Smith, Gaby Breyburg, Melanie Richard
The portrayal and inclusion of gay male characters in American sitcoms such as Will & Grace, The Real O’Neals and The Office, have become increasingly popular due to the evolving societal acceptance of gay people. While many television shows have been incorporating gay characters, specifically male, into their shows to diminish misrepresentation, people still continue to stereotype due to perceived humor and exaggeration on television. There are several instances where television shows have created characters that contribute to stereotypes. While the incorporation of gay male characters in these shows has meant to erase these stereotypes and normalize homosexuality, these particular television shows demonstrate that we must improve and depict a more accurate representation of gay characters.
The popular sitcom, Will & Grace depicted one of its homosexual characters, Will, in a particularly stereotypical manner. On Megyn Kelly’s formal morning show, she introduced a superfan of the show, Russell Turner, to speak to her about his connection to the show as he related to one of the characters. Kelly passed a comment on her show where she said, “is it true that you became a lawyer — and you became gay — because of Will?” (Canfield 2017). This awkward comment of Kelly’s insinuated that she believed his homosexuality was a choice of his influenced by the show. Fortunately, Turner was able to laugh it off and commented on the luxurious aspects of Will’s life as he has a maid, is a lawyer, has the best apartment in New York City, and is gay (Canfield 2017). Kelly’s comments promoted this idea that homosexuality is a commodity that makes people’s lives easier or more enjoyable, and the portrayal of this character is leading people to believe these things are accurate. This couldn’t be further from the truth, and because of the comments made on Kelly’s show, its clearly demonstrated that there is a stereotype of homosexuality is a choice, and also a wealthy lifestyle.
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Another stereotypical instance of gay men occurred in the sitcom The Real O’Neals, which stars Noah Galvin who plays Kenny O’Neal, a homosexual character. A scene enacts one of Kenny’s Halloween fantasies, referred to as “Gay Halloween”. The scene shows Kenny and a bunch of football players performing a sexually explicit dance, and the football players wearing revealing clothing. Some people of the gay community have expressed their frustration with this scene. Adam Dupuis writes, “what I’m sad about with “The Real O’Neals” clip is that the holiday is portrayed as a stereotypical gay slutfest, a time where circuit bodies come off of the cruise liners and out of the clubs and into our streets” (Dupuis 2016). Dupuis is upset with this scene as it depicts stereotypical desires of gay men that is not accurate. This scene has frustrated many people of the gay community as it promotes this idea that gay men only care about an exaggerated sexualized image that puts some of the simplest events, like Halloween, into a sexual context for no logical explanation.
The popular U.S. Television show The Office stars Steve Carrell who plays the Regional Manager Michael Scott at a paper company. Throughout the show, Michael Scott gives viewers the impression that it is okay to make fun of people based on their sexual orientation through his harsh and stereotypical jokes. One of his accountants, Oscar, is outed as gay by Michael himself during season two of the show. He also gives the impression that is okay to make offensive jokes as long as they are funny. In one scene of the episode “Gay Witch Hunt” Michael kisses Oscar on the lips without consent to try to prove his acceptance of homosexuality. However, this scene is perceived in a humorous manner that doesn’t highlight the actual controversy of this real-life situation. Lauren Garafano, a writer for Decider, states, “It’s a cringy moment for all parties involved. Had this episode come out in 2018, I can promise you that the audience would go ballistic…nobody should be kissing anyone without their consent, even if it’s only to prove a point.” (Garafano 2018). In conclusion, viewers can see how Michael poorly addresses the gay community. He constantly makes jokes that are funny to him and doesn’t realize that what he says is very offensive to the gay community.
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We have seen many stereotypical perceptions of gay men on these sitcoms, which has prompted viewers to apply these stereotypes to real life. However, these characters should have been represented in an alternative fashion in order to avoid these stereotypes. While these shows are meant to make people laugh, they should not have to make fun of marginalized groups.
In Will and Grace, the main character Will is depicted as a wealthy, gay man who lives a luxurious lifestyle. He is one of the many gay characters who is depicted as wealthy, which creates a stereotype that social class and sexuality correlate. In reality, a more accurate representation would portray homosexual characters of all social classes.
Another representation in regards to Will and Grace was in Megyn Kelly’s interview with superfan Russell Turner of the show. She assumed that the show made Turner gay. This couldn’t be further from the truth as homosexuality is not a choice. In retrospect, Megyn Kelly should not have made those comments as they were disrespectful and inaccurate.
An appropriate alternative representation of in regards to the scene from The Real O’Neals would be a less flamboyant and less sexually provocative scene. The scene suggests that all gay men see the world in an oversexualized manner. Should The Real O’Neals not want to be offensive and stereotypical towards the gay community, they would not have shown such a scene.
The Office represents a very hostile working environment for the gay community. Oscar is constantly harassed at work by his fellow co-workers, in particular, his boss, Michael, for being homosexual. A more accurate representation would show a modern working environment where your personal life is private, and members of the community are welcomed and accepted. Most companies today are very LGBTQ friendly, so The Office should do the same.
There are ways to represent groups in a certain manner that don’t belittle or make fun of these groups with stereotypical representation about certain characteristics and behaviours of these groups. Modern television has a large influence on our cultural society, so production companies should be more mindful of how they represent marginalized groups since stereotypes on television can influence the way people think and can affect the way the public views these groups of people.
References
Canfield, D. (2017). Megyn Kelly’s ‘Will & Grace’ Comment Criticized Online. Retrieved from
https://ew.com/tv/2017/09/25/megyn-kelly-will-and-grace-gay/.
Dupuis, A. (2016). The Real O’Neals Portray Gay Halloween. Retrieved from
http://instinctmagazine.com/post/real-oneals-portray-gay-halloween-and-i-say-meh-sad-wrong.
Garafano, L. (2018). “5 Episodes of ‘The Office’ That Are Totally Problematic in 2018.”
Retrieved from https://decider.com/2018/02/17/the-office-is-problematic/.
The Office US. (2018). Sensitivity Training [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWzezWq7FkA.
The Real O’Neals. (2016). Get ready for the biggest & best Halloween in the history of
humankind! It’s time for the Gay Super Bowl! [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://www.facebook.com/TheRealONeals/videos/1208582499184560/.
TODAY. (2017). ‘Will And Grace’ Superfan Russell Turner Tells Megyn Kelly How Show
Inspired Him | Megyn Kelly TODAY [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQVwoImSnds.