Media portrayal of underpriveleged characters is changing, but unfortunately it's changing slowly.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Gay Pride
In class we have been discussing how the media portrays gay men and women. In the past these portayals have not been particularly good. Gays have been portrayed as goofy or bad. For example, in the film we watched in class it mentioned the show Will and Grace. In this show there is a gay man who is portrayed as overly flamboyant. This portrayal gives the impression that all gay men are like this.
Recently there have been more shows that give insight on how hard it is to be gay in a very heterosexual world. For example, Glee has two gay characeters, both male and female. The gay male is slightly flamboyant, but he is not overly peppy like Jack from Will and Grace. He struggles with his sexualism and constantly gets bullied for being a gay male. Glee also has a gay female who is more accepted by her fellow high schoolers because she is a very intimitdating woman. She gets hazed for being gay as well, but she fights back with her attitude. I love this show and I do think that the teenagers in this show are represented well. They're rejected and hazed, but they are also supported by teachers, parents, and their Glee Club. I think this show is a good example for gay teens in high schools today who are having trouble coming out because they fear for their well-being or lives.
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I agree that these shows will hopefully open up the door to more acceptance of other human beings regardless of their choices. The unfortunate part, though, is that not a lot of gay teens have the support of their teachers, their peers, or have a glee club to be a part of. Coming out is a lot harder in real life than it is on television. Hopefully, in time, this won't be an issue anymore. Since, in reality, prejudice towards any type of person is exceptionally unnecessary.
ReplyDeleteI think today's media accepts gays a lot more than the past. I have a family member that had a wife and kids that is gay.No one knew he was gay until his wife died and his children were adults. I feel this could be due to the fact that gays were not as well accepted. No doubt he loved his wife but society probably held him to being straight. Now people are coming out much younger. Once teens enter college there is that acceptance of gays that was on as widely seen in high school.
ReplyDeleteI feel like in 90's television they had the stereo type of a gay/lesbian character, which gave a negative representation to people who are truly gay. With today's LGBT characters they are represented differently, more positive and accepting. I think the shows do a great job on showing the struggles of teens in high school. Having more LGBT characters on television might stop the hate towards people who are gay.
ReplyDeleteI think that a lot of recent television has done more justice to gay characters. Glee is a good example of this as well as the she Degrassi. In the 90's Will and Grace made gays seem fluffy and flamboyant. But in these recent shows, it shows the reality of it. That there is bullying and hate crimes against gays and this is actually happening! I think by doing this, it is giving it's viewers a glimpse at reality. That gays are not all happy, goofy people. They go through much more struggles than will and grace showed.
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