Also: I'm going to reach through the computer screen and smack the next person who uses the phrase "just happened to be gay" to describe a character. Ugh.
Also: I'm going to reach through the computer screen and smack the next person who uses the phrase "just happened to be gay" to describe a character. Ugh.
Ugh I know. Look, I get what people are trying to mean when they say that, that being gay doesn't define the character, but it's so obnoxiously clueless.
Yeah, I think it was totally one of those sayings that was poorly worded but well-intentioned the first, maybe, dozen or so times it was used, but now it's offensive and meaningless (and most of the time, the characters in question are much more one-note and stereotypical than such a description implies!). The people who use it should stop and think for one second about how stupid that actually sounds.
Never heard it! Will have to see if I can find it.
I would love to see him every week. Although I have to go on record as disliking the hair. Slightly scruffy is hot, but they've gone too far with it, I think.
Also: I'm going to reach through the computer screen and smack the next person who uses the phrase "just happened to be gay" to describe a character. Ugh.
^ i am an idiot, because I don't see a problem with that phrase. why does it bother you? i ask that genuinely because maybe it should bother me and i'm just an idiot and can't see the problem. LMAO
Personally speaking, I just find it silly and dismissive, even though it's supposed to be the opposite. It's supposed to indicate that being gay or bisexual is 'just a small part' of who the character is, but the phrase itself indicates there -is- something notable about being gay. How often do we say, 'he just happened to have blue eyes' or 'she just happened to love snowboarding'?
well, i think that is only because annoyingly, being gay IS such an issue for people still. people make it an issue. interviewers, etc. so i think like you said, it's meant to try and say "yeah they're gay, so what?" and i think that phrase will be around til people stop saying "so whats it like playing a GAY character?" etc
Well, for the most part, it's disingenuous. People use it to say "look! it's just one small part of the character! We barely even noticed that about him/her!" Except everyone knows that you don't accidentally make a fictional character gay in today's society. It's a conscious choice to do so. Regardless of the show's intention, regardless of what else they do with that character, the person WILL be known as the Gay Character. Trying to downplay it like that is being, I don't know, insincerely coy, I guess
( ... )
Sexual orientation IS a big part of a person's identity and personality.
^ well....ok, i am gay. but i don't consider it a big part of who i am or my personality. i also have brown eyes, and i am short. to me, being gay is what it is, but i just do not consider it a big deal. if someone said "oh, you're gay?" i would say "yep" and quickly change the subject. i think the problem is that so many people DO make it a big deal when it shouldn't be. it's going to be that way for some time. maybe in 20 or so years, the questions will change from "oh, what's it like playing a gay character?" to "what's it like playing the character of Bob?"
society is changing and yeah, some phrases are annoying, but the overall message comforts me. people are trying to steer away from the "can we not focus on the fact that i am/my character is gay and instead focus on who they are overall?"
i don't consider it a big part of who i am or my personalityMore power to you. Sincerely. I'm straight, but many gay and bi people I know feel differently. Heck, many straight people I know feel differently (about being straight). Personally and I have to suspect for the majority of people, the sex of the person I prefer to have romantic or sexual relationships with is a helluva lot more important than my eye color and height. If I'm asked to describe myself (not what I look like, but who I am), for example, sexual orientation isn't the first thing that comes up but it's certainly going to show up before many of the other inconsequential things that people try to equate with being gay when they make statements like that
( ... )
Saying that sexual orientation isn't the single most important thing about a gay person is an important point to make. But so often when I've heard it said by gay characters, or even when I myself have said it, it ends up almost coming off as a justification. Like, 'don't hate me for being gay, because there's so much more to me.' It's missing the point; it's very similar to the argument over whether or not being gay is a choice. 'It's okay for me to be gay, because I can't change it.' Okay, so what if you -could- change it?
(I love him.)
Also: I'm going to reach through the computer screen and smack the next person who uses the phrase "just happened to be gay" to describe a character. Ugh.
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Ugh I know. Look, I get what people are trying to mean when they say that, that being gay doesn't define the character, but it's so obnoxiously clueless.
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I hope the show does well. ESS on our screen each week (even in a bad show) would be a real treat!
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I would love to see him every week. Although I have to go on record as disliking the hair. Slightly scruffy is hot, but they've gone too far with it, I think.
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Ditto.
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^ i am an idiot, because I don't see a problem with that phrase. why does it bother you? i ask that genuinely because maybe it should bother me and i'm just an idiot and can't see the problem. LMAO
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^ well....ok, i am gay. but i don't consider it a big part of who i am or my personality. i also have brown eyes, and i am short. to me, being gay is what it is, but i just do not consider it a big deal. if someone said "oh, you're gay?" i would say "yep" and quickly change the subject. i think the problem is that so many people DO make it a big deal when it shouldn't be. it's going to be that way for some time. maybe in 20 or so years, the questions will change from "oh, what's it like playing a gay character?" to "what's it like playing the character of Bob?"
society is changing and yeah, some phrases are annoying, but the overall message comforts me. people are trying to steer away from the "can we not focus on the fact that i am/my character is gay and instead focus on who they are overall?"
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