ABC’s long running soap opera General Hospitaldebuted a new “gay” character this weekala’ 1980’s stereotyping when a gay male nurse played by actor Marc Anthony Samuel was introduced this week in a short scene with GH establishing his “gayness” by having him pull out a tube of lipstick and offering to touch up a heterosexual womans makeup (Because as you all know we all carry around a tube around just in case. You just never know when you’re going to need to touch up your lady friends’ lips.!)
And what’s more shocking is the producer and head writer of GH are both gay themselves!
Even if the new character is a gender non-conformist. Professional by day, crossdresser by night. It’s a weak and insulting character introduction And if not and indeed the gay male nurse is just that a gay male nurse GH is doing nothing more than reinforcing the negative gay stereotype that you can’t be gay and masculine at the same time.
Either way its insulting to the LGBT community as a whole and HH should really know better.
When will this homophobic stereotyping stop?
Whewn WE make it stop!
PLEASE CALL OR WRITE….
General Hospital comment line: 323-671-4583
ABC Hotline: 818-460-7477, ext. 4
Paul Lee ABC Entertainment Group President ABC Entertainment Group
500 S. Buena Vista Street Burbank, CA 91521-4588
Phone: (ask for his voice mail) 1-818-560-1000 – paul.lee@abc.com
THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD – CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Zombie Kills: 9
Human/Enemy Deaths: 6
Last night AMC presented the mid-season finale of its smash zombie apocalypse hit The Walking Dead based on the graphic novel by Robert Kirkman of the same name
So far in Season 3 we have seen a much more character driven plot and some HUGE differences from the graphic novel and last night was no exception.
Last night Woodbury and Rick’s survivors finally collided together in an epic clash of smoke grenades, automatic weapons and blood as they attempted to rescue Glen and Maggie.
But before we get to that, the mid-season finale introduced us to yet another group of survivors, led by comics fan-favorite, Tyreese played by actor Chad Coleman. (In the graphic novel Tyrese is a former NFL player Tyreese who with his daughter Julie is introduced before Herschel’s farm), After (mostly) surviving an attack by Walkers, the group heads into the prison and makes their way to a Walker-infested boiler room. Carl helps them out and leads them to a safe place within the prison.
Rick and the crew storm Woodbury to rescue Glenn and Maggie just as Meryl is leading them to “The Screaming Pit” But thanks to some smoke bombs and a lot of ammo the group succeeds and makes it out all except for Daryl who stays behind to lay down gunfire cover and Oscar the convict (we hardly knew ya dude) who gets shot by a Rick hallucinated Shane look-alike.
Michonne meanwhile ditches the group for a time to handle her own business with the Governor, she exacts her revenge by putting hers katana through the mouth of Penny, the Governor’s daughter, and in a barroom brawl with the Gov gets up close and personal with head-tanks and then give him a shard right in the old eyeball only to end in a stand-off between her and Andrea (the dumbest television character of all time)
Then we have hot white trash Darryl who really wanted to go talk to his brother Merle once Glenn told him he was the Governor’s lieutenant. And now, he’ll get the chance because The Governor is blaming Merle for the rescue and is now pitting him against Darryl who was captured in the “screaming pits” or maybe he’ll just kill the both of them outright
So far Season 3 has been good. But there have been a few mis-steps. Herschel’s 1/2 episode leg amputation. (Boring) The extremely long build-up in Woodbury.And of course Andrea’s long term stupidity and bad judgement.
But other than that it’s been pretty solid season so far and the show is going strong and pulling out all the stops.
And then last night Robert Kirkman who wrote the episode had to add in this.
Axel (Lew Temple) it was certainly done in a creepy like a chat-room pedophile sort of way hits on Beth asking her how old she his. Carol pulled him away and tells him to stay away from her. Axel at this point points out that Maggie is taken and that Carol is a lesbian.
And why does Axel think that Carol is a lesbian?
Because she has short hair.
Really Kirkman? You’ve been writing the damn comic for 10 years and you couldn’t think of anything other than that to write?
You are killing me man. First you make all LGBT characters invisible in TWD television world and then you have to get a cheap laugh off a lesbian stereotype throwaway line.
UGH.
And so The Walking Dead at the end of third mid-season finale not only keeps its perfect rating of ZERO when it comes to LGBT characters. It now goes into the NEGATIVE and stands at a – 1!
Get a clue and some diversity training Kirkman and start to remember that more than just fanboys are watching your show. And as gay as ComicCon was this year they just MIGHT be able to handel a gay or bisexual characters.
*THIS POST CONTAINS POSSIBLE SPOILERS TO SEASON THREE OF THE WALKING DEAD AND SPOILERS OF THE GRAPHIC NOVEL.
PLEASE CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK……
The Walking Dead, the zombie post-apocalyptic horror television series on AMC based on the comic book series of the same name by Robert Kirkman and developed for television by Frank Darabont just might have its first gay characters in Season 3 if Darabont and Kirkman stay true to the comic books original storyline.
But are they the kind of positive gay characters that the LGBT community wants and needs to be presented on television?
The show to this point has had a multitude of characters types, White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, and even added the red-hot redneck character of Daryl (played by Norman Reedus) but there has not up to this point been one character identifies as LGBT.
Kirkman, with a few exceptions has stayed true to the comic’s story-lines thus far in the television series with just a few exceptions. Sophia who in the comics is still alive and well, was turned into a walker and was subsequently shot and killed by Rick in the second season of the TV show. And Carol consumed by grief commits suicide. The biggest change from the comic’s storyline so far has been the surprise demise of Dale who in the comic after being bitten by a zombie has his leg amputated and sneaks into the forest to die alone, but is kidnapped by a group of cannibals, who yes you guessed it, eats him. But so far in Kirkman’s Walking Dead series world as in most of the most television world dramas LGBT people just don’t exist.
But that may change in Season 3 if Kirkman sticks to the comics Prison storyline but unfortunately it might not be for the better.
At the end of Season 2 of the Walking Dead the final shot was that of “The Prison” which leads into a new story arc in The Walking Dead comic series. In the comics the remaining members of Rick’s group, join up with four surviving inmates to fortify the prison against zombies. But danger comes from within because one of the inmate is a psychotic killer.
But his is where an old gay cliché’ come in with the possible introduction of two of the surviving inmates at The Prison, Andrew and Dexter.
Dexter is a towering, physically intimidating African-American inmate who survived the outbreak trapped in The Prison cafeteria. He has a covert homosexual relationship with Andrew, but is in the relationship purely for sex. Dexter also knuws how take advantage of Andrew’s love for him..
Andrew is a convict who dealt in drugs but he survived the initial stages of the undead Apocalypse trapped inside The Prison cafeteria. A homosexual relationship between him and Dexter was hinted at, and explored later. And at one point there is a conversation between him and Axel (another inmate) concerning the availability of women now that the new group was among them and Dexter will turn heterosexual again
So is this the representation that the LGBT community will get in The Walking Dead? A cliche storyline of “gay prison sex/down low relationship” because there are no women around? Let’s hope not.
Now there is no guarantee that Kirkman will introduce this into the storyline. But if he does it will be a total insult to the LGBT Community. (Not to mention the Black community because, of course BOTH characters are Black) As of now considering the United Nations of characters that have been seen on The Walking Dead the fact there has not been one LGBT character on this show is beyond belief. Does Kirkman, Darabont and A&E not think that a LGBT person couldn’t survive a Zombie Apocalypse? Have they ever seen a pissed off Drag Queen fight? In this day and age that gay characters might be introduced as a “convict and his bitch” is just unconscionable and NOT a step in the right direction.
Invisibility on television is a major problem for the LGBT Community. And many of the LGBT characters who are on television are satirical stereotypes. Even on “Modern Family” which GLAAD lauds the two main gay characters are so stereotypically gay that they are really nothing more than a caricature.
For this to change television shows and movies must learn that a character being LGBT isn’t and doesn’t have to be THE storyline. A persons sexuality is an aside, a trait like being left-handed or having blue eyes and should be presented and treated as such. There are many a gay man out there that don’t wear cardigans and shop at Abercrombie & Fitch and can kick some serious ass if they needed to.
LGBT viewers of The Walking Dead and television in general deserve much better. Better characters, better representation, and better advocating for such by our organizations instead of applauding tired old stereotypes.
Hopefully Kirkman will see the light and deliver at least one positive character that just happens to be gay during the shows run. The Dexter/Andrew storyline is old, tired and really kind of offensive and who knows it may just be what bites the The Walking Dead in the ass.
UPDATE: 10.15.2012
At the end of last night Season 3 – Episode 1 première. Rick and the others did indeed find a group of prisoners hiding in the prison cafeteria mirroring the comic’s storyline. While these characters were not introduced by name, during the end credits one character was indeed listed in the credits as Andrew. But there was no listing for the character of Dexter.
On the bright side Daryl DID fend off Creepy Carol’s advances so there is still hope for an asskicking gay redneck character.
On last nights Season 5 premiere of FX’s Son’s of Anarchy the show created by Kurt Sutter about the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club hit a series low by using an offensive stereotype “transgender” character stereotype for comic relief.
Okay I just can’t contain myself anymore. The BEST part of this episode was the surprise appearance of Justified’s Walton Goggins, who appears as a partially transexual hooker named Venus Van Dam. He/She is all woman from the waist up, and all man from the waist down. Venus is hired by the Sons to setup a local insurance agent who holds the political clout to make or break Jacob Hale’s dream project, Charming Heights. Jax drugs the agent and brings Venus in to stage some compromising pictures.
Now I’m usually pretty laid back about “characterizations” on television but this is just the straw that breaks the camels back.
Besides the fact that Walter Groggin’s isn’t even a good-looking man to begin with. The character was such a grossly over blown caricature and a negative depiction of a transgender individual, not to mention that the whole “blackmail him because he’s with a transsexual” storyline which is nothing more than throwback to the 60’s “blackmail him because he’s gay and its disgusting” meme that quite frankly I find it I bad taste, highly offensive and it really pisses me off.
Year after year we get told that there are more LGBT characters on television but so many of them are stereotypes used for a cheap laughs and comic relief at the expense of our community and its time for that to stop.
Theres a real need for this type of LGBT exploitation to be kicked to the curb. It’s not a win for us to have characters like Venus Van Damn and Micheal Urie’s character from “Partner’s” on television without any other serious LGBT character representation of our community on television to counter it. And I for one am quiet frankly sick of being uses as a laughline.
Son’s of Anarchy did nothing less than throw a very vulnerable section of the LGBT community under the bus for a cheap laugh. They should be ashamed of themselves. And we should be saying something about it.
Excuse the quality of the clips below. It’s all that’s available at the moment.
Hot on the heels of the catty screaming queen bitchfest known as the A List: New York which has set the gay rights movement back at least 20 years, Logo, the LGBT entertainment network from MTV Networks, has announced three, well two new original series for 2011.
Be Good Johnny Weir explores the life of one of America’s most outspoken, but surprisingly STILL not out of the closet and, three-time U.S. National Figure Skating Champion and World Medalist Johnny Weir. Be Good Johnny Weir was originally eight-part Sundance Channel original documentary series. Logo has picked up season 2.
Setup Squad, a workplace docu-soap focused on a Manhattan-based matchmaking service that pairs up professional “wing people” with those who are unlucky in love. Setup Squad will follow the hard-working angels who make the dating world a better place, whether you’re gay or straight.
Pretty Hurts is a comedic reality series that follows the staff and clients of a high-end Beverly Hills medical office that specializes in “liquid face lifts.”
It all sounds so……FLUFFY, UBER GAY!, and REALLY CRAPPY.
Add this to Logo’s recent acquisitions of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Nip Tuck, and Will and Grace that will begin airing in 2013 for its 500th rerun across the television channel spectrum LOGO is looking very……. Basic Cable. So why then do we pay top tier cable prices?
LOGO would it kill you to dop ONE weekly news show or social commentary show that doesn’t include drag queens, florist, botox, bitchy queens or reruns?
11 year old Tyler Wilson’s Mom is MAD AS HELL and for good reason. Tyler who is in the 6th grade had his arm broken Aug. 31 by a footballer-playing classmate at Glenwood Middle School after he and another boy began fighting with Tyler and calling him a “sissy” because Tyler joined the cheerleading squad. Kristy Wilson, Tyler’s mother wants her son’s assailants to be prosecuted. “I want the criminal charges because I want this kid to know it’s not okay.” And that’s just what’s happening; the assailants now face assault charges.
Now remember this is not about Tyyler being gay. He’s only 11 years old and most probably isn’t This is about him being stereotyped as being gay and being bullied for it.
Tyler says “It feels horrible that they can’t accept me for who I am. It’s my choice. If I want to be a cheerleader, I’m going to be a cheerleader. … I’m going to keep going. I want to make a lifestyle out of it.” And because Tyler is the coolest cat around: “I think it’s kind of sad because they won’t accept me for who I am. I think they’re jealous…that I get to hang around a bunch of girls.”
So they next time you run into some Tea bagging Republican who says that there’s no need for bullying laws just tell them about Tyyler. If I had my way the assailants parents would be prosecuted along with their children on the same charges. Make that a law and watch how quickly school bullying stops.
You would think a show that has had stories about the absolute worst sex crimes and the most extreme adult stories on television could handel a gay kiss, but nooooooooooooo.
Kathy’s Griffin’s anticipated appearance on Law & Order SVU aired on NBC last night. In it, Kathy guest starred as a lesbian activist. In a specific scene in which Griffin leans in and kisses series regular Mariska Hargitay was filmed but did not make the final cut. Instead, in the broadcast version, Griffin’s character makes an attempt to kiss her, but Hargitay pulls back before their lips make contact and informs her that she’s straight. What is interesting is what didn’t get cut which was this comment Hargitay makes to a female character about to enter the room and find herself alone with Griffin: “If I were you, I’d stay outside.”
