That Gay Prom Arc
In May, Tom Batiuk (the creator of Funky Winkerbean) decided to touch on the subject of gay teens and do his own spin on gay couples at proms in his comic. It even got a big push about a month or two in advance. Now this would be a noble goal if Batiuk didn't turn it into a self-congratulating work than really caring about the subject.
The basic plot is that a gay male couple want to go to prom where the mother of one of the teachers throws a hissy-fit and starts a protest to ban the couple. That's when the principal makes a speech, the old woman is put in her place by her hen-pecked husband, the principal is congratulated by another gay teen for what he did for kids like him/her and in the end, he and his wife are made prom king and queen. Now for the problems...
-The gay couple are only seen for a few strips, not given names, we don't know how they feel about the protest since we never seen them again and they don't even appear at the prom. Hell, they never been mentioned or seen again since.
-Everything is solved by the principal with no problem (other than the woman being put in her place) who I'm guessing is Batiuk's mouthpiece.
-The thankful gay teen he meet with is covered up by prom props (except for his/her hand) because he/she "is too scared to come out yet." This is also never mentioned again.
-As said before, the students make the principal and his wife prom king and queen. I know making the gay couple would be cliche though.
Overall, Batiuk seems like he wants to be hailed as a daring writer, but doesn't have the guts and is too in love with himself to pull it off properly.
The basic plot is that a gay male couple want to go to prom where the mother of one of the teachers throws a hissy-fit and starts a protest to ban the couple. That's when the principal makes a speech, the old woman is put in her place by her hen-pecked husband, the principal is congratulated by another gay teen for what he did for kids like him/her and in the end, he and his wife are made prom king and queen. Now for the problems...
-The gay couple are only seen for a few strips, not given names, we don't know how they feel about the protest since we never seen them again and they don't even appear at the prom. Hell, they never been mentioned or seen again since.
-Everything is solved by the principal with no problem (other than the woman being put in her place) who I'm guessing is Batiuk's mouthpiece.
-The thankful gay teen he meet with is covered up by prom props (except for his/her hand) because he/she "is too scared to come out yet." This is also never mentioned again.
-As said before, the students make the principal and his wife prom king and queen. I know making the gay couple would be cliche though.
Overall, Batiuk seems like he wants to be hailed as a daring writer, but doesn't have the guts and is too in love with himself to pull it off properly.