fisher@dssdev.DEC (Gerry Fisher --- Terminally Inane) (02/21/86)
Folks,
Some people have complained about the "nelly" gay stereotype, but I
think that that stereotype is falling by the wayside.
Check out "Consenting Adults," "An Early Frost," "Brothers," the last
article in NewsWeek about gay people, and many other "gay" media
events. In case no one has noticed, we have a new stereotype brewing.
If your only exposure to gay people is through these shows, you might
feel that all gay people are highly paid professionals, in particular
lawyers ("An Early Frost") or doctors (correct me if I'm wrong, but I
thought that the guy in "Consenting" was pre-med). All gay men in these
shows can pass for any Joe walking down the street, so effeminacy is
nowhere to be found (the guy in "Consenting" was a championship
swimmer, and the guy in "Early" won trophies for track and field).
They are all tastefully dressed, but *not* ultra-chic; more the chinos
and Izod type. They all own terribly expensive lofts that are well
decorated, but again *not* ultra-chic. All gay men are exactly like
straight men, except that they go to bed with other men.
Is the media trying so hard to avoid one stereotype (effeminate, drag,
leather-butch, costumed, screwed-up, miserable) that they are creating
another (mega-professional, preppie, "normal," athletic, tasteful, no
problems except coming out and AIDS).
Where are all the computer programmers, plumbers, librarians,
teachers, priests (yes! how many have *you* run into in the bars),
businessmen, and accountants? Where are all the men who are able to
camp in the bars, but who are also able to run a high-powered business
meeting. Where are the cut-throat gays who fight so hard for
political power within the gay community that they threaten to tear it
apart? Where are the concerned volunteers who spend hours raising
money for AIDS research, or who spend hours on a counseling hotline?
Where are all the lesbians (whom some people say are the most
invisible minority group in the USA today)? Where the hell are the
*real* gay people?
Any thoughts?
Gerry Fisher
...decvax!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-dssdev!fisher
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"I don't react well to mellow.
I tend to ripen and then rot." --Woody Allenjtk@ihlpl.UUCP (Kitteredge) (02/25/86)
> > Check out "Consenting Adults," "An Early Frost," "Brothers," the last > article in NewsWeek about gay people, and many other "gay" media > events. In case no one has noticed, we have a new stereotype brewing. > > If your only exposure to gay people is through these shows, you might > feel that all gay people are highly paid professionals, in particular > lawyers ("An Early Frost") or doctors... > > Is the media trying so hard to avoid one stereotype (effeminate, drag, > leather-butch, costumed, screwed-up, miserable) that they are creating > another (mega-professional, preppie, "normal," athletic, tasteful, no > problems except coming out and AIDS). > > Gerry Fisher > ...decvax!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-dssdev!fisher I agree completely. If you saw the horrible film "Making Love", you remember that hero in that film was a doctor a doctor, his wife was high executive in a national television network, and the guy he had an affair was a successful author. I think that the problem is that Television and television magazines like "Time" and "Newsweek", are able to think ONLY in stereotypes, so that it was necessary to come up in new ones to replace the old ones which are now unacceptable. Did you ever notice that in all the television movies about social problems, the afflicted are most always from upper-middle class families like the one in "Early Frost"? The kind of families that soap operas are made about. In those movies they carefully set up the problem in an artificial way, which is why their characters are plastic. ------------------------------------------------------------ John Thomas Kittredge
klotz@ihuxo.UUCP (Dave Klotzbach) (02/25/86)
> > > > Check out "Consenting Adults," "An Early Frost," "Brothers," the last > > article in NewsWeek about gay people, and many other "gay" media > > events. In case no one has noticed, we have a new stereotype brewing. > > > > If your only exposure to gay people is through these shows, you might > > feel that all gay people are highly paid professionals, in particular > > lawyers ("An Early Frost") or doctors... > > Wait a minute. In "Brothers", Donald is definitely a sissy and goesout of his way to play the roll. On the other hand "Cliffy" is neither a Highly paid professional, lawyer, doctor or athlete. Cliff works as a waiter for his ex-athlete brother at the "Point After"
rrizzo@bbncca.ARPA (Ron Rizzo) (03/20/86)
Though the funny thing is, if a decent film is made about the stereotype
("Parting Glances"), it's no longer irritating. In this latest movie,
the principals work for the World Health Organization and a publishing
house as an editor, respectively, have a decent yuppie apartment, and
hang out with the art crowd in the Big Apple. I still found myself
wondering how large their combined disposable income must be to afford
their comfortable if not opulent lifestyle in as expensive a city as
New York. But since the acting, screenplay, cinematography & direction
were good, I didn't feel socio-economically "estranged" from the characters,
as I did in "Making Love" or "An Early Frost" with their zombie-like
principals and their glacial interaction.
Regards,
Ron Rizzo