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WHEN
A
GAY
friend
found
out
that
NBC
was
canceling
“Will
&
Grace,”
he
was
ecstatic.
He
derisively
called
the
show
“Will
&
Disgrace”
and
compared
it
to
a
minstrel
show
because
the
effeminate
homosexual
“Jack,”
played
by
Sean
Hayes,
is
consistently
the
butt
of
jokes.
He
is
right
that
Jack
is
often
the
punch
line,
but
I
think
historically
this
sitcom
will
go
down
as
a
knockout
success
for
acceptance
of
gay
people
in
mainstream
culture.
“Will
&
Grace”
isn’t
perfect,
but
it
came
along
at
the
perfect
time
and
bailed
gay
America
out
of
potential
primetime
disaster.
Ellen
DeGeneres
had
recently
come
out
and
her
sitcom
quickly
collapsed.
Many
critics
blamed
the
gay
content
for
the
demise,
and
even
lesbian
activist
Chastity
Bono
told
Daily
Variety
that
“Ellen”
was
“too
gay.”
There
was
a
real
danger
that
the
lesson
network
executives
might
have
taken
from
Ellen
was
that
mainstream
audiences
would
not
accept
gay
lead
characters.
Into
this
political
and
cultural
minefield
stepped
“Will
&
Grace.”
Thankfully,
it
was
timely,
unquestionably
funny
and
proved
that
largely
straight
audiences
can
embrace
gay
subject
matter.
Where
would
we
be
today
without
this
show
rising
like
a
phoenix
from
the
ashes
of
“Ellen”?
Nonetheless,
Will’s
(Eric
McCormack)
moribund
sex
life
continues
to
irritate
gay
viewers.
The
man
is
obviously
attractive
and
successful,
yet
he
fritters
away
his
Saturday
nights
with
Grace
(Debra
Messing),
whining
about
men
he
would
surely
get,
if
he
would
just
lose
her.
I’LL
BE
THE
first
to
admit
that
I’d
like
to
see
the
last
episode
(May
18)
end
with
the
perennially
frustrated
Will
cruising
a
seedy
leather
bar
and
leaving
at
3
a.m.
in
a
drunken
stupor
with
a
shirtless
and
tattooed
guy
named
Spike.
The
pragmatist
in
me,
however,
realizes
that
explicit
sexuality
isn’t
what
this
show
is
about.
“Will
&
Grace”
introduced
gay
people
to
millions
of
Americans
and
brought
us
into
their
living
rooms.
Instead
of
deriding
“Will
&
Grace,”
we
owe
David
Kohan
and
Max
Mutchnick,
the
show’s
(gay)
co-creators
and
executive
producers,
a
debt
of
gratitude.
They
made
it
possible
for
the
networks
to
take
gay-themed
shows
seriously.
IT
SEEMS
PROGRAMMING
THAT
features
minorities
always
begins
with
stereotypes,
before
the
group
branches
out
to
more
complex
archetypes.
Let’s
remember
that
before
Denzel
Washington
could
become
a
superstar,
America
had
to
endure
less
threatening
African
Americans
like
Jimmie
Walker,
who
played
J.J.
on
the
sitcom
“Good
Times,”
and
liked
to
mindlessly
shout
“dy-no-miiiite!”
in
his
Chicago
housing
project.
In
a
similar
fashion,
the
gay
characters
in
“Will
&
Grace”
ingratiated
themselves
with
Americans
who
were
otherwise
fearful
of
homosexuality.
This
has
led
to
increasing
cultural
comfort
and
opened
the
door
for
more
realistic
portrayals
of
gay
men
and
lesbians.
“Desperate
Housewives,”
for
example,
a
phenomenally
popular
sitcom
particularly
beloved
in
the
so-called
“red
states,”
has
a
complex
gay
teenage
character.
On
“Book
of
Daniel,”
cancelled
this
week
by
NBC,
the
preacher
has
a
gay
son.
And,
of
course,
the
remarkable
success
of
“Brokeback
Mountain”
will
only
lead
to
more
gay-themed
shows.
Still,
there
is
a
long
way
to
go
before
gay
characters
get
fair
and
equal
treatment
by
Hollywood.
ABC
cancelled
the
reality
series
“Welcome
to
the
Neighborhood,”
where
neighbors
got
to
choose
from
competing
families
to
see
who
would
be
invited
to
move
into
a
subdivision.
After
a
gay
couple
with
children
was
selected,
the
show
was
mysteriously
pulled.
ABC
claims
that
the
winners
had
nothing
to
do
with
their
decision.
Yet,
critics
point
out
that
the
Disney-owned
network
was
wooing
evangelicals
to
support
the
wildly
profitable
“Chronicles
of
Narnia.”
Sadly,
“Welcome
to
the
Neighborhood”
was
exactly
what
America
needs
to
see.
Even
Jim
Stewart,
who
in
an
early
episode
said,
“I
would
not
tolerate
a
homosexual
couple
moving
into
this
neighborhood,”
came
around.
It
turns
out
that
he
had
a
gay
son
and
the
show
helped
him
reconcile
the
strained
relationship.
The
lesson
of
the
unseen
ABC
reality
show
highlights
the
reason
“Will
&
Grace”
was
so
instrumental:
Once
you
allow
gay
families
into
your
living
room,
they
are
inevitably
accepted
into
the
neighborhood
of
shared
humanity.
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