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by
Thomas Burmeister
Hollywood-- Actor John Goodman has often played the role of the
archetypal good-natured, tubby, beer-swilling American family man.
The role of Fred Flintstone seemed made for him.
Now he has taken on a new role in which he again plays a father. But
this time, it's a little different: In the TV series "Normal,
Ohio", the daddy Goodman plays is gay.
Gay characters are currently all the rage. The American
entertainment industry has seen a veritable explosion of gay story
lines.
Never before have U.S. television and film producers created so many
lesbian and gay characters. Audiences apparently accept
homosexuality as something completely normal these days.
Hollywood, which once transported such a prude image to the outside
world, has experienced a "real explosion", according to
the lesbian rock singer Melissa Etheridge.
Gay characters are represented on American cinema screens and
especially on TV screens in all age categories and social classes.
There are gay male doctors ("Chicago Hope" and soon also
"ER"), teenage homosexuals ("Dawson's Creek") as
well as gay parents ("Friends").
The cop show "NYPD Blue" no longer glosses over the fact
that some police officers are attracted to other men. On HBO, the
pay-for- movies channel, it is the killer who is gay, while the
cartoon "South Park" boasts another first a gay dog.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is proud
to point out that American television networks now boast a record 13
different regular gay characters in series.
But the real revolution is not that they appear at all, but that
sexual identity is no longer considered something special, or even
abnormal.
According to the U.S. magazine Entertainment Weekly", gay
characters are now shown to be "just as boring or
exciting", just as "stupid or clever" as other
characters.
Max Mutchnick, co-author of the gay-themed television show
"Will and Grace", says Hollywood has stopped furthering
stereotypes.
Gay stereotypes, Mutchnick says, are just as off-limits with
audiences these days as stereotypes about blacks. "The world
has changed," he asserted.
How much the once fiercely closeted and gay-shy world of Tinseltown
has changed was demonstrated clearly at this year's Emmy Awards,
where shows with homosexual characters walked away with some of the
top honours.
Garry Schandling, who hosted the event, quipped that he would simply
drop the two r's from his name: then he his name would -
appropriately - be "Gay".
"Will and Grace", a sitcom about a gay man and his
straight friend and neighbour, won an Emmy for the best TV comedy of
the year ("Oustanding Comedy Series").
In the series, now in its third season, Will Truman (Eric McCormack)
and Grace Adler (Debra Messing) are best friends and neighbours.
They seem perfect for each other but are unlikely to actually find
romance because Will is gay and Grace is straight.
Another programme with a homosexual theme got an Emmy this year:
Hollywood star Vanessa Redgrave won an Emmy for her portrayal of an
ageing lesbian in "If These Walls Could Talk 2".
Just a few years ago, programme directors would have been inundated
with irate phone calls from viewers for daring to air gay- themed
shows.
This year, even the conservative American Family Association failed
to issue any critical statements.
By contrast, gay and lesbian groups are vociferous in their
campaigns to assure that homosexual men and women are being
portrayed accurately in the media.
Conservative radio talk show hostess Laura Schlesinger came under
intense pressure after gay activist groups convinced advertisers not
to air commercials during her time slot.
On her show, Schlesinger has repeatedly advocated "behaviour
modification" which she asserts can change what she calls
homosexual people's "so-called sexual orientation".
Schlesinger was recently forced to run a full-page apology in the
leading entertainment industry trade journal, Daily Variety.
The advertising industry has also realised that gays and lesbians
make up the largest group of what is termed "special
interest" viewers.
About ten million people in America watch "Will and Grace"
every week. That includes the commercials.
For a slice of that potential viewership, carmaker Volkswagen, for
example, is quite happy to show two nice young men - who are
cleartly an item - driving off in a new VW car.
Despite the overtly gay setting, the audience that "Will and
Grace" attracts is similar to that of other prime-time comedy
shows.
Mutchnick sums it up by explaining that people like his characters
because they are lovable, not because they are gay.
Copyright 2000 dpa Deutsche Press-Agentur GmbH.
Source : Obtained from
gaywired.com
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