Just a rant
I have been having somewhat of a renaissance of interest in Harry Potter fandom (interestingly particularly femslash). I have been listening back to old slashcast episodes and reading Shoebox Project and it got me thinking about the mainstreaming of queer relationships in mainstream media.
I honestly didn't mean for htis to get this long.
Will + Grace, Queer as Folk (uk and us versions), The L word have just seemingly been accepted by the mainstream and particularly in the Uk there have been gay storylines in our soaps for the past 20 years. What i am really interested in though is if we have reached the point where there could be a popular series where the main relationship was a homosexual one without that being the focus and something that has been fetishised. Look at Brokeback Mountain; that was influential but it was only so because it was about gay cowboys. I suppose the L word is heading in that direction, showing the daily lives of normal people who happen to be lesbians, but at the same time there is a sense of the salacious and something pandering to the desire of the male gaze. Similarly Katy Perry's foray was popular and on some level it wasn't a big but I cant help feeling it was all for shock value. Poor Linsey Lohan was so brave and I feel did go about her relationship with Sam Ronson the right way; never coming out with huge statements and rigmarole; just letting her actions speak so that initially it was hard for the media to make something of it but even that in the end got torn apart by intrigue.
Really I don't mean a story in which homosexuality isn't a big deal internally necessarily. I mean, I love me some good orientation angst as much as the next slasher. I want to just see something where the majority of the audience accept the relationship for what it is and even celebrate it, without the fact it is not hetro-normative be an issue. I think the closest to that I have seen recently is Emily and Naomi from skins. I watched an interview with the actresses where they spoke about their surprise that people absolutely love their relationship and it is notable that the writers gave them a happy ending! I found that so unusual and refreshing; that these two gay characters to almost literally walk off into the sunset holding hands.
Yeah, alright, they still have problems, Emily is too passive and Naomi is obviously still struggling with her sexuality but these a young, intelligent, attractive and motivated women who the writers allow to get what they want. I would have killed me if they had fallen into the trap of so many shows of having them just be two dimensional vehicles for the angst over the issue of the weak and i think it should be noted that the skins writers are these young, intelligent and talented people themselves. It is a good sign of what is to come.
I think in bandom we are spoiled. We once again have young educated people who happen to be really hot who are comfortable enough with their sexuality and with their affection for one another that they will happily drape themselves all over each other.
...I'll just let you take a minute to digest that....
People who are willing to kiss their bandmates on stage to make a statement, or right stage gay into their performance, people who are honest to goodness so happy with themselves that they will act however they want, despite accusations an who even court that attention (i am looking at you here Pete Wentz). I am so happy i was able to witness all this because I feel it made me a better person.
Really what I toying with the idea of here is something with the popularity of Harry Potter where you know Remus and Sirius were together, "what of it?" and yes I know JK had Dumbledore, but that came after canon and was really never addressed by the characters. What if the writers on House pushed their subtext just a liiiitle further and House and Wilson admitted that yes they do secretly want each other. Or what if twilight was about a shy clumsy boy called Ben whose scent Edward Cullen found irresistible? And in all these situations the books and shows where all just as popular, there was still Team Edward and Team Jacob but maybe also Team I wish Ben would go out with me instead.
I honestly didn't mean for htis to get this long.
Will + Grace, Queer as Folk (uk and us versions), The L word have just seemingly been accepted by the mainstream and particularly in the Uk there have been gay storylines in our soaps for the past 20 years. What i am really interested in though is if we have reached the point where there could be a popular series where the main relationship was a homosexual one without that being the focus and something that has been fetishised. Look at Brokeback Mountain; that was influential but it was only so because it was about gay cowboys. I suppose the L word is heading in that direction, showing the daily lives of normal people who happen to be lesbians, but at the same time there is a sense of the salacious and something pandering to the desire of the male gaze. Similarly Katy Perry's foray was popular and on some level it wasn't a big but I cant help feeling it was all for shock value. Poor Linsey Lohan was so brave and I feel did go about her relationship with Sam Ronson the right way; never coming out with huge statements and rigmarole; just letting her actions speak so that initially it was hard for the media to make something of it but even that in the end got torn apart by intrigue.
Really I don't mean a story in which homosexuality isn't a big deal internally necessarily. I mean, I love me some good orientation angst as much as the next slasher. I want to just see something where the majority of the audience accept the relationship for what it is and even celebrate it, without the fact it is not hetro-normative be an issue. I think the closest to that I have seen recently is Emily and Naomi from skins. I watched an interview with the actresses where they spoke about their surprise that people absolutely love their relationship and it is notable that the writers gave them a happy ending! I found that so unusual and refreshing; that these two gay characters to almost literally walk off into the sunset holding hands.
Yeah, alright, they still have problems, Emily is too passive and Naomi is obviously still struggling with her sexuality but these a young, intelligent, attractive and motivated women who the writers allow to get what they want. I would have killed me if they had fallen into the trap of so many shows of having them just be two dimensional vehicles for the angst over the issue of the weak and i think it should be noted that the skins writers are these young, intelligent and talented people themselves. It is a good sign of what is to come.
I think in bandom we are spoiled. We once again have young educated people who happen to be really hot who are comfortable enough with their sexuality and with their affection for one another that they will happily drape themselves all over each other.
...I'll just let you take a minute to digest that....
People who are willing to kiss their bandmates on stage to make a statement, or right stage gay into their performance, people who are honest to goodness so happy with themselves that they will act however they want, despite accusations an who even court that attention (i am looking at you here Pete Wentz). I am so happy i was able to witness all this because I feel it made me a better person.
Really what I toying with the idea of here is something with the popularity of Harry Potter where you know Remus and Sirius were together, "what of it?" and yes I know JK had Dumbledore, but that came after canon and was really never addressed by the characters. What if the writers on House pushed their subtext just a liiiitle further and House and Wilson admitted that yes they do secretly want each other. Or what if twilight was about a shy clumsy boy called Ben whose scent Edward Cullen found irresistible? And in all these situations the books and shows where all just as popular, there was still Team Edward and Team Jacob but maybe also Team I wish Ben would go out with me instead.