Gay Crew members
- Thread starter Guardian452
- Start date
Yeah, good luck with that.
Back in the 70s, it seemed like every ensemble show needed its "token" minority character. They never seemed to be there organically, and always seemed to scream "See, we've included a black guy". Or woman. Or hispanic. Or, ideally, a bilingual multi-racial woman with some disability.
Now it's the homosexuals' turn: "See, we've included a gay guy, aren't we diverse?"
It's a little harder to do for homosexuals: women and blacks are obviously women or blacks from a great distance, so they can stand in the background and never say anything. Hispanics are a bit harder, as someone has to mention their name. "Hey Rodriguez, help me with this will you?"
And these characters were famously only superficially minority: aside from their name an physical appearance, they could be easily replaced with a white male actor and nothing would change.
For it to be obvious that someone is gay will require even more dialogue, as you have to get them talking about their romantic life. Actually, you don't now that I think about it: a male character could refer to his "husband", and there you go.
I can't imagine how someone could be "superficially gay", but I'm sure Hollywood will figure it out for me.
I'd say we've rounded the first bend here: we've got a decade or so of token gay characters, followed by another decade heavily populated with token gays but also featuring writers rebelling at that by creating gay characters with depth. By 2030, it will be totally mainstream to believe that any character who is not shown to be in a relationship on-screen might be gay. Even characters who are obviously married, if their spouse is never seen and gender is never specified.
See, that's why I rankle at the token gays I've seen in, for example, certain trek books: I've been down this path before, and I'm pretty tired of it. It was lame and irritating in the 70s, and it is lame and irritating now. But I don't know where the fast forward button to life is, so I guess we just have to suffer through it.
That's so gay.
Yes, look at "Six Feet Under" for example. Nine years ago, it had a gay main character with a black dude as a lover. Granted, that's f*cking HBO, but it also shows that Trek (or any other Sci-fi show) isn't leading the charge anymore. At best it's following suit. Even "Caprica" or "Stargate Universe" only have gay chracters because it has become relatively safe now.
As far as the science fiction aspect is concerned, maybe DS9 or Voyager or Enterprise should have done something like the TNG episode "The Outcast"... just on a more permanent basis. Have a male main cast member and another alien character from a hermaphrodite or androgynous species who are a couple. Of course, "The Outcast"'s cop-out should be averted (= the alien character is played by an female actress and the human character by an actor, just to be on the safe side). Both characters should be played by men. And I'm insisting on men, so that we don't fall back into the more acceptable "hot lipstick lesbian" (= better ratings) trope.
Who?
Doubtful Picard would put up with don't ask/don't tell.
My understanding is that the policy is still currently on the books but is no longer being actively enforced, and the intention is to remove it completely "soon".
However, I'm not speaking with 100% certainty.
Nice to see the US finally entering the 21st century in that way, at least.
However, I'm not speaking with 100% certainty.
Nice to see the US finally entering the 21st century in that way, at least.
Most people suggest that one out of ten men is gay. This of course is not verified, but is a general belief.
To be honest it wouldn't bother me one way or the other. Any more than having the classic straight couple. *shrug*
Love is love, as long as two people are happy. Any type of relationship never bothers me as long as decent stories spring from the relationship in regards to the show.
I say bring it on.
Vons
Love is love, as long as two people are happy. Any type of relationship never bothers me as long as decent stories spring from the relationship in regards to the show.
I say bring it on.
Vons
Last survey I saw, which was admitedly 20 years ago, put the figure at 1 in 16, but not 1 in 16 people as gay but 1 in 16 either identified as gay/bisexual or had had a sexual experience with a member of the same sex.
As attitudes shift, more men and women are willing to try it as long as they don't inhale, so the figure is likely to be higher today. There are a lot of rumours about big Hollywood stars swinging both ways. They should pick one and stick to it, like Sir Ian
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