Trendy Gayness?

[the_gneech]

Okay ... one radio station this morning featured one of the morning bubbleheads talking about her attraction to another woman. On another station, the morning bubbleheads were doing a call-in "Dating Game" type of thing for guys searching for other guys.

You could say that this is an indication of progress, in terms of orientation being just another trait a person has, like eye color or whether they prefer stuffing to potatoes, so I guess this is a positive thing, kinda sorta. But I have my reservations.

See, these are the same bubbleheads who, when they want to denigrate a behavior or style, say "That is so gay!" The whole atmosphere on both stations was a sophomoric "Hey aren't we being hip and rebellious by broaching this taboo topic on the air? Aren't we edgy?"

As Drezzer would say, "They're not laughing with us, dear, they're laughing at us."

Still, those particular bubbleheads aside, it seems like gayness is everywhere these days ... movies, TV shows, supermarket tabloids ... and more often than not, the gay characters are basically sympathetic, if still often considered oddballs. This beats, say, always being creepy villains or idiotic "comic" relief.

I guess that homosexuality has reached the stage that, say, being a jew reached somewhere in the '70s and '80s ... for a while it was tres' hip to be Woody Allen, Gene Wilder, etc. Nowadays it's passe. "The jewish thing" has been done and popular culture is quite saturated with the message "Anti-Semitism Is Bad." So is homosexuality the next cause celibre?

If it is, I'd guess that it's worth putting up with the bubbleheads; next week they'll be back to making booger jokes anyway.

-The Gneech

Comments

[spikedpunch.livejournal.com]

It is slowly looking that way.... saddly.

Gayness...

[chipuni.livejournal.com]

Hon,

Since its founding, the U.S. has had problems with sex and bodies. We've come a long way; in the 1920's, the word 'pregnant' was considered very offensive. But we've still a long way to go.

Drezzer is pretty accurate. I look forward to the day when being homosexual/bisexual is considered like your height: just another part of you, and where people marry the person that they love.

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

I hate radio morning shows. I'd rather listen to NPR. But now when Kari Bushman comes on my alternative station.... ooooooh! I love her show. Picks the best music. She'f funny but brief-- more music than talking!!! And she sounds rather sexy herself. :)

[unciaa.livejournal.com]

It'd seem any topic that is "taboo, but not politically correct to shun" ends up there sooner or later. Something that is edgy enough to get people's attention, but not so much to drive them off.
We'll see. I'm not particularly thrilled with it, but if this means more than token oddball gay characters in movies and shows in the future, I'm for it.

I know what you mean:

[wabbitcalif.livejournal.com]

Ursus and I have watched the series "Queer as Folk" on Showtime. It's a good series, but it does promote a lot of stereotyping. However, once you get past the nudity in the show (or rather, get used to it), it does have some good moments. The character development is good, and they sometimes surprise you by breaking out of their stereotypes.

Being Bi myself, I do appreciate those moments, as few as they come - those good moments do happen, and they are starting to happen more often.

[chastmastr.livejournal.com]

Soon, we'll move on to leather, rubber and kink! Yay! :)

Well, I can hope, anyway.

"Bachelor #1, which of the following devices would you use on me if I chose you?"

PS: Alas, not sure I can make it to Otakon... costs a lot!! :( And made other plans for both Friday and Saturday... *SOB*

PPS: Any way I can get connected to the fansub community? I'm really tired of Dubious EBay Merchandise, and would prefer to be involved with Non-Dubious Genuine Fansubbers who Have Honor and so on. (Not to mention that my Cunning Plan of exposing all my friends to anime isn't working. Not everyone is all that interested in watching Cardcaptor Sakura -- alas!!)