It may seem a bit unfair to compare shows like Queer Eye or Will & Grace to the minstrel show tradition, which, in its best-known form, featured white actors in blackface, grossly exaggerating African-American stereotypes and dialects for the amusement of mostly white audiences. But much like, say, the 1950s television version of Amos 'n' Andy -- which featured black actors in the parts -- shows like Queer Eye peddle entirely in stereotypes, and then write off their offensiveness as good fun. And just as Amos 'n' Andy had nothing to do with being African-American in the United States, so, too, do these gay-themed shows represent nothing more than a cardboard portrait of homosexuality -- one that allows the majority (in this case, heterosexuals) to mock and feel superior to a minority group.
| The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Christopher Kelly writes "Gay TV comes out, but who's proud?"
"It's a positive development when the mere fact of gayness is no longer a sign of Western civilization run amok. But we have to ask who's being made visible here, and the answer is five handsome, charming, bourgeois, white gay males. We already know gay men are witty and charming and funny and great accessorizers, very competent but not threatening. To me, these guys are the new Stepin Fetchit."
| A quote from author and Georgetown University sociology professor Suzanna Danuta Walters in Joanne Weintraub's Milwaulkee Journal-Sentinel article "Out and about in TVLand"
posted in articles on August 17, 2003 7:30 PM | t (0)
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I've been saying this from the get go. What's even more disturbing is that Bravo tried to slip in the hateful "Boy Meets Boy" which is just another form of "gaydar spotting" that we indulged in while sitting in college dining halls...
How do you mean? Were you and your friends comparing notes on which students tripped all y'all's gaydar?
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