Accurate Depecitons of Gay or Queer Men on Televison

Francesca's gay dads on the Tracey Ullman show.

David from Six Feet Under, maybe.

why is this ?

in TV maybe it has this aura of inescapable politicisation — a character can never just be who s/he is, but also has always to declare where the programme-makers stand — and this after a while just totally poisons the portrayal-in-itself?

(this is less of a problem when stuff is coded, obv: eg where do buffy's makers stand on the Rights of Demons? well, they don;t and they don't feel they have to, and therefore demonism can stand for underground sexuality one week and then not the next)

mark, can you expand on if (i considered it a code, but a code for the SI student revolt taken in that time and place, an aoplogy and a how to for revoultion & destruction of class and place-o/c their was some homosocial shit but it didnt seem the point.)

also, thinking of willow and tara and how that relates to the demon as sexual underground, can you tell me more about that ?

but of course the stereotypes do exist, for they are celebrated and endorsed by some heterosexuals and homosexuals alike, so who's to say whether the characters from Queer As Folk (UK) or Ferdy from This Life (UK) or that guy in that Aussie show (forgot its title) are NOT accurate depictions? Will & Grace's stereotypes are highly dubious though without a doubt (i.e. they might mean well but for all his posturing Jack is never seen WITH a male partner indulging in any love-related activity/action, let alone in a natural 'so what?' light, and nor is Will who appears as sexless/assexual anyway which comes across as ironically over-realistic or over-compensating to many homosexuals)

but you need to move on, and how he moved on-with the fucking and the whoke scenes where he is fearful of his mother, and the buttoned up "im not really anything but loved" i dont konw...

now keith seems to be a foil for david, a knight n shining armour (cf vegas) and he does teach david how to be a proper angry faggot, but he does not exist without him ,he will disappear etc
(race and keith-interesting side question)

look at tara and willow or weaver- they exist as sepearate as other, their grief is real and the struggles dont seem to be so ott.

the fact that if.... doesn't usually feature in the canons of queer cinema is closely releated to the fact that it gets its portrait of (i think) several types of gay man (repressed or otherwise) on-screen in such an open and unconstricted way

the section where wallis is exercising on the parallel bars for philips; the section where philips is being traded among the "whips" to discomfit denson (or denton, i forget his name), the way jute is appraised by (and flirts with) rowntree, and — deepest of all — knightley's adoration-unto-worship of travis

Film seems to be a better place to look, because of its diversity. 1985 you have My Own Private Idaho, where thanks to River Phoenix's improv., homosexuality goes from a business to a plausible reality...the same year you have My Beautiful Laundrette. I think Paris is Burning came out around this time too. More currently, I thought But I'm A Cheerleader was both a fairy tale gay world but still was an accurate portrayal (in SOME of the more three dimensional characters) of lesbianism.

Its very difficult for me to generalize about "what homosexuals are like," as I seem to encounter regional differences such as the togetherness of lesbians in Olympia, WA vs. the flaming agression of gays in the bay area. Whether or not t.v. portrayals conform to my anecdotal experience doesn't really prove anything to me.

QAF (US, havent seen UK version) leaves me with the same impression. Why accentuate the bawdy, sex-crazed, drug-crazed aspect all the bloody time? I know way more annoying straight wankers who are coked up and shagigng everything that moves, than gay ones.

I thought the first season of QAF (US) was actually quite good in its portrayals, with a level of reality that could be seen through the gloss. Now (halfway through second season over here) it's descended into high farce, and is to gay people as Ally McBeal was to straight people.

Has anyone mentioned Oz yet?

Seeing as how 6' under is the only show mentioned I actually watch, I can only comment on it, and this part of a post by anthony, which suggests that Keith is the closest to real because he is so close to being assimilated. Because he will dissappear without David, the spotlight, and become a 'normal' person dealing with job and family, etc.

Perhaps this is just the closest character to being a real person, rather than A Gay Man In Society.