MovieChat Forums > Rick & Steve the Happiest Gay Couple in All the World (2007) Discussion > I love this show, but why...?

I love this show, but why...?

posted 15 years ago by DanteMontoyez
6 replies | jump to latest

I love this show, I *beep* love it to death, if it were a gay man I would make love to it, despite my straightness, just because of its sheer awesomeness. But what I want to know about the show, and gay entertainment, is this: WHY does every episode/show/movie/etc. revolve around the gayness of the gays within?

Don't get me wrong, this isn't me bashing gays, or gay entertainment. I love my LGBT friends, and I took Gender Studies in college, so that I could live in a cardboard box someday.

My issue is this: Rick & Steve are an adorable couple who have witty banter, great friends, awesomeness always ensues. But why does every single thing they do have to be about gayness and gay culture? Sure it's the theme of the show, but I want to see gay entertainment that doesn't take the word "gay" and add BOLD, ITALIC, TRIPLE UNDERLINE. Explore gay issues, great! But explore some non-gay issues! Explore non-sexualised things in a gay way, or through the LGBT lens(es)!

People will obviously respond and say "gayness becomes a factor of every gay person's life", sure I dig it, it's truth. What I mean is, for example, where is the cop drama where one of the cops is gay, it is rarely/never mentioned in dialogue, his/her partner is brought into scenes without a focus on their relationship dynamic, and it's just taken for granted that this is their lifestyle choice? (great example: Lost, Season 4, when a long-running secondary character was revealed to be gay as an anecdotal reveal, with no relevance to the plot. it was presented as fact, without spinning it, and then left without being exploited for a juicy B-story. it was wonderful to see a gay character, albeit a villainous one, presented as gay without using it to make him "evil/deviant/perverse" or to justify/allow a focus on his sexuality. he was simply gay, and it was left at that.)

I know "gay entertainment" is still only marginally profitable in a hetero-sexist industry. It's still a "niche" market and is presented as camp and fluff, for a market who is only just now enjoying the freedom to live life loud and proud, and laugh out loud at the kinds of things that would have been hushed a decade ago, or less.

I love Rick & Steve & Kirsten & Dana & Evan & Chuck & Condie & everyone. They're a hilarious mashup of gay stereotypes and assumptions, and the show is growing to explore beyond that. If there is no Season 3, then there is no god. But WHERE ARE THE ORDINARY GAYS in our entertainment programming?

Discuss.

[–] raskin46 15 years ago

Dante....

You've actually answered your own question. Why does practically every show on TV have to be done with capital STRAIGHT? I appreciate your inclusiveness, but somehow, you're not quite there yet. It's a gay show on a gay network...let us have our world totally for us and stop trying to change it straight--we get enough of that already. BTW, have you not noticed the various straight parents, Condie, and other characters on the show?

[–] jessiecpt 14 years ago

They live in a gay Utopia. It's like a total paradise for gays. Don't you get it dude? That's what this show is all about. Period.

If we are not our brother's keeper, at least let us not be his executioner.
Marlon Brando

[–] roxyqueen-1 14 years ago

I do agree that the (*cough* don't sue) Lego/cartoonish format of this show allows for its ludicrously, fabulous gayness. If this were live-action, these characters would make my eyes roll, and I lovelovelove the gays. So maybe the OP selected an odd show at which to direct his observations, but they are still thoughtful and valid!
I'd like it if we could get to a point in entertainment where a character's homosexuality is tangential to the story, not his raison d'etre in the work. Usually if a homosexual character is there, it's just for us to see him/her being homosexual. Even though gays are still criminally under-represented in mainstream entertainment, having a gay character just so they can "be gay" in the piece is equivalent, IMO, to having a gay friend and only talking about gay things. Nope, your gay friend does not have family, or work frustrations, or hobbies, religious beliefs, etc. . . nope, just same-sex love talk 24/7.
I thought Alan Ball handled the balance very well in Six Feet Under. Of course, the subject of sexuality came up, and sometimes it was very prominent; but it wasn't the only thing that defined those characters. They also dealt with story arcs that had little or nothing to do with their sexuality.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] catcherbloq 13 years ago

It's actually its lack of a "gay" agenda that makes it work. It represents gays poking fun at ourselves and all the silliness in our culture. The characters are totally bold cliches but have endearing personalities. It's mainly about the conflicts that arise among them and not so much about the stereotypes. They just provide colorful background and gags.

[–] ciararonnie 12 years ago

I honestly saw that as part of the comedy, just poking fun at the people in the community who become so wrapped up in being LGBT that it overshadows all other aspects of them. This show is not meant to represent ordinary gays, or ordinary people in general for that matter.