by sawthelight 36 Replies latest jw friends
friendly, i used to think i was the only person who watched the show.
ahh, ted is a sweet heart! so gentle.
hah, i get so obsessed with characters, i forget they aren't real people. still.
damn thet last episode was sad. but brian pulled thru and went to the prom with justin.
hmmm, maybe this isn't the thread to be discussing this in. email me at [email protected]
heheh peace, mango
life is but a dream...
First off, sorry, this is a long reply.
I've seen an episode of the British "Queer as Folk" series that was the basis for the "Showtime" version. I love Hal Sparks and Sharon Gless from their prior TV work. But, after seeing an episode on "Showtime" at a friends house, even these actors are not strong enough draws for me.
I read recently in a Gay periodical another person who summed up my feelings: These are people who logically in the real world would not remain friends. Furthermore, from my viewpoint, the Clubs that I go to --- and I go out at least 4 times a week to the Dance Clubs --- are not by-and-large populated with people of similar dysfunctional status. While there are some in every club that are there just to "get laid", many are coming to have a good time, to meet someone new who may be a future friend or partner. I.e., just the same as "straight" people. The impression I got from the club in QaF is that all are there just to get laid. Maybee I just saw one atypical episode and have judged the entire show unfairly, I dunno.
However, based on the episodes of each version of the show that I did see, had this show been out when I was still closeted, it would have most likely pushed me even further into my shell, i.e., "if that's what being around Gay people is like, I don't want any part of it". I may be of the minority of Gays in this arena, I dunno. And, I'm no "wall flower" either. I went through a period of going to the sex clubs, I do go to nude gay beaches, am not a "prude" by any means, I love going each year to "Southern Decadence" [big Gay celebration] in New Orleans on Labor Day weekend. To see for an example how uninbited I've become since being a JW [this site is not "X" rated], just check out how I've marched in the Gay Pride Parades in San Francisco: http://www.gayxjw.org/parade.html So, my dislike for the show does not lie from a "prudish" viewpoint. Just the ways that the characters interact with each other.
Anyway, that's my position. I don't deny that there are some in the Gay world who resemble these characters. There are most definitely. But, I don't personally identify with them. I'd like the show much more if it had a balance of these characters along with the more conservative ones that are in the Gay world. Perhaps "Will and Grace" does the same thing in the opposite sense, pushing a conservative Will. But, I do identify with that show's leading character a great deal more than any of the characters in QaF.
Maybe I'm "guilty" of having seen only one episode of both the British and the Showtime version and I've given a bad rap to the show. But, seeing as I don't subscribe to "Showtime", it's not really much of an issue for me anyway.
Hope I haven't come across to strongly on this. Just my feelings coming out.
I have to respectfully disagree with John on this one.
I love Queer As Folk. No, I don't know people personally that are as screwed up as this group either, but hey, its TV drama. I also don't know people like the people on Dallas or Days of our Lives or any other TV soap opera. This is a soap opera. It is even billed as such.
People watch soap operas to be titillated. This is just homoerotic titillation.
Would straight men or women stay celibate because they were freaked out by how people behaved on straight soap operas?
I think the show is hysterical and love dishing the characters with my friends who watch the show. We think its a riot.
If a closeted homosexual is looking at this show as a documentary on gay life, then good lord yes, he is gonna goof out on it. I hope there is enough material in the media and the internet that anyone could see this is not THE representation of homosexuality in the world.
hugs
Joel
JWinSF,
I would have to agree with you that "Queer as Folk" is not a completely accurate portrayal of gay life in Philly circa 2001, but you wouldn't get much of an argument from the show's producers either.
Each episode begins with a disclaimer that states that the show focuses on the lives of a group of gay friends and is not meant to be representative of the gay population.
However, I would also have to agree with JoelBear in that it's basically just a soap opera. One of the first things that came to mind when the show began was that these people really had nothing in common. But, as I was often reminded via the MST3K theme song..."Repeat to yourself it's just a show, I should really just relax!"
Ya know, I always hear people talking and saying "I don't want to hear about any gay exploits, 'they' are always in your face about it."
I vehemently disagree. Never has any gay person that I have known (and I have several good friends who are gay) told me about their exploits, and my hetero friends talk about sex FAR more than they do.
This is a stereotype. Like 'All Black people like rap music.' (My husband doesn't, he grew up on classical and jazz and played classical jazz trumpet for his college scholarships.) Stereotypes are offensive and dangerous.
I would venture to say, I joke about sex more than any person on this board. I happen to find human sexual/social relations very interesting and relevant. Aside from a few puns from Joel or something, no homosexual on this board has tried to tell anyone about their sex life. If anything, we *ask* them to tell us about their lives, which they do, kindly leaving out lurid details *which they don't have to do.*
My point is this, saw the light, you have a lot of work to do on yourself if you are concerned with what two consenting adults do in the privacy of their bedroom.
If you are in a hetero relationship, and you are having sexual relations with that person, perhaps some of what you do is offensive to other heteros.
Do you spank you girlfriend? Do you tie her up and tease her for hours? Do you like to do it doggy-style? Does it turn you on to see her play with toys, or dress up for you? Would it surprise you to know that these acts outrage some religious fundamentalists,even when done between married man and woman? That the only sexual position approved by some religions is 'the missionary position?' Anything else and you are doomed to an early and painful death.
So give it a rest, you strike me as someone VERY young and not well traveled. It's ok for people to be different from you. The criterion is whether or not the sex is consensual. PERIOD.
I flirted with homosexuality in college, having a fling with a few women. From the beginning I knew it wasn't right, I was just intoxicated by the taboo of it all. (Plus if my mother knew, she would die!!!) I guess it was sort of a Anne Heche thing, because eventually I got over this phase in my life and am happily married to a great and wonderful guy.
Guess I'll weigh in where Logical did.
First, remember, it is possible to think that same gender sex is wrong without hating or fearing homosexuals. As a Catholic and a Christian I am charged to love everyone regardless of sexual orientation, race, religion, etc ad nauseum. By the same token, IN LOVE, we are charged to call sin SIN. It is indeed possible to hate then sin and still love the sinner, GOD DOES.
On the term HOMOPHOBIA, I dislike it. The word is bantered about TOO MUCH. Say that same gender sex is a sin you're called HOMOPHOBIC by somebody. I've taken to accusing those who call me homophobic for my views of being heterophobic.
If you are a practicing homosexual, I say, GO, and sin no more, but I still love you in the Lord.
Yeru
YERUSALYIM
"Vanity! It's my favorite sin!"
[Al Pacino as Satan, in "DEVIL'S ADVOCATE"]
