TVSquad

WEll, as a GAY man to me it's boring. All the GAY characters always turn out to be stereotypical and flamboyant. There never is enough just normal GAY characters.Please NO MORE Will and Jack, they were the stupidist charcaters I've ever seen.

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We seem to be a country that is absolutely obsessed with statistics, and it's mind boggling that we even are force-fed diversity through statistics.

I really have come to the belief in the past few years that many people aren't 'traditional' racists and bigots, but have come to not like other races and cultures due to the fact that diversity and political correctness are as shoved down our collective throats; were being forced to get along and accept everyone; and we have to do it by percentages.

You have GLADD, NAACP, latino organizations; every little group, sexual orientation, culture, and race that nitpicks that in TV, magazines, movies, books, advertisments, etc, and etc that they don't have enough of their own subset represented in whatever medium that decide to gather statistics on.

I am not a racist or a bigot, but I become one when some group decided to tell me that I have to accept a certain person because of the color of their skin or who they sleep with. I accept people for who they are and what they have or can accomplish; not the color of their skin or who they fuck; all because some group put together some numbers and have decided to tell me they deserve this and that because 'statiscally' they are under represented.

When someone or some group tells me they deserve something because of what race, color, culture, or sexual orientation they are is when I become a racist and a bigot. No one 'deserves' anything, it's called work for it.

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Listen carefully and you'll hear me applauding Mack's comments. Very clearly, carefully and eloquently put, sir.

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It's easy to deride the notion that we need more representation of different groups based on statistical analysis. I would suggest, though, that as a member of an underrepresented group, it's frustrating never to see yourself represented on television. And that very frustration from those people is what creates the market that Adam seems to think doesn't exist. It isn't that the market isn't there, it's that no one wants to tap into that market. Consider CastingGod's comments. He wants to see gay characters, but not as they've been presented to date. Is there any reason for the gay characters who already are on television not to have exhibited the diversity that really exists among gay people?

It may be unrealistic and naive to think that different groups will be equally represented on television, but I don't think that's what these groups are asking for. I think they are asking to be represented on television in numbers that more closely reflect reality, and that seems like a good goal to drive toward.

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Am I reading this article incorrectly? Out of 8 counted shows there are 9 gay characters. So, there is one gay character for every show they counted? Is that bad?

Also, shouldn't the gay population be represented based on their national population? If 10-20% of the US is gay(numbers I've heard may be high or low) then shouldn't the expectation be that you would see that amount in the shows on TV? I'm trying to understand what people consider a good ratio versus a bad ration.

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I'm D*** tired of this generation forcing their sexual preferences and habits on everyone using ones sexuality for an identity. Have some class fellow fags...suck it up and just be people and stop trying to force the rest of the world to look at you. They have stereo types because most of us act just like that when we buy into the gay American interpration of being gay in America which is mostly "in your face Gay" for attention or rebellion and anger to push the agenda. Can't we just all grow up here and live and let live? Go to work pay, your taxes and vote intelligently. know the real issues and stop clouding them for your own agendas or you will loose the freedoms that we do have by living in a free country such as ours. The real enemy is within ourselves and our foreign enemies know our weaknesses and are using those very weaknesses and and our freedoms against us. Wake up and smell the coffee my dear sweet boys you could loose your country and all your rights all together

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I'm D*** tired of this generation forcing their sexual preferences and habits on everyone using ones sexuality for an identity. Have some class fellow fags...suck it up and just be people and stop trying to force the rest of the world to look at you. They have stereo types because most of us act just like that when we buy into the gay American interpration of being gay in America which is mostly "in your face Gay" for attention or rebellion and anger to push the agenda. Can't we just all grow up here and live and let live? Go to work pay, your taxes and vote intelligently. know the real issues and stop clouding them for your own agendas or you will loose the freedoms that we do have by living in a free country such as ours. The real enemy is within ourselves and our foreign enemies know our weaknesses and are using those very weaknesses and and our freedoms against us. Wake up and smell the coffee my dear sweet boys you could loose your country and all your rights all together

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This is obviously a somewhat emotional issue, so let's look at the facts from the AP article:

What the article stated is that there are a total of nine gay characters in eight shows - a decrease of one from 10 gay characters last year. There are a total of 95 prime-time comedies and dramas that were examined for gay characters; of those 95 shows, only eight had gay characters.

Within those 95 shows, there are a total of 679 series lead or supporting characters. So, those nine characters represent only 1.3% of the total number of characters among 95 shows.

You could say that approximately 8.5% of shows have a gay character, but that's really taking a convenient and erroneous point of view.

While I certainly don't expect every show to have a gay character, I feel it is a reasonable (forgive me, here) expectation to have appropriate representation of most (all?) segments of society. I agree that there are far too many people with far too many expectations, but how, exactly, are we supposed to "earn" representation in the media? I think making these observations, as well as working within the media (TV, news, the arts, etc.) is working for it. And, when I say appropriate representation, I mean gay characters portrayed in a positive light, more often than not, just as any other minority member would prefer to see themselves represented.

I'm not asking every producer to create shows or scenarios to force gay characters into plotlines, but to be more aware of us and of who we are, and the contributions we make. And if it works to have more characters be gay, and portrayed positively, how is that wrong?

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Unlike some, I think people inherently deserve basic things. Like respect, acknowledgement and kindness. Does everyone get these things, no, but I do believe people DESERVE them, without having to work for them.

If a person wants to be treated a certain way and for some reason that turns another person into a bigot - I might suggest that that person really was a bigot to begin with and is just looking for an excuse for their behavior.

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I don't see why it is that bad of a thing for an agency to call for a larger presence on shows. To only have nine L&G on eight shows is a joke when you look at the total of shows on the air waves.
Though I hate to admite it the views of the world around us are very much effected by the things we see on TV. A good number of social awareness and the acceptance of certain populations has been motivated by their presence on TV.
If Hollywood would stop limiting the kinds of roles you see L&Gs playing, I don't see how having them on a show would change the themes or content the show.
As a gay male the fact that you see more L&G roles naturally worked into shows I see coming from the BBC makes me want more out of what we create here in America.
Thinking that the lack of repersentation of certain groups on TV doesn't hurt that group is a tad naive if you ask me. So those groups must keep demanding a place at the table.

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I agree with casting god. It seems that whenever a show gets a popular gay character, they make them too flamboyant and are the butt of jokes based on their sexuality. They have tried other shows with gay leading characters that are normal, but they usually don't last too long.

TV is a business and they are only going to back shows they feel are a success. The fact that they gave Will and Grace the green light and gave it plenty of promotion shows that Hollywood isn't afraid to put gay characters on the air, they are afraid to put gay characters in dull shows on the air.

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I, too, agree with CastingGod but with another idea. Maybe there ARE more gay people on teevee. But they're just not shouting it like all the "gay" characters that we're used to [read: the gay minstrel show]. Maybe being gay isn't [or at least shouldn't be] such a big deal and our characters no longer need to mouth the words every friggin' scene. I, myself, always saw the character of Boone on Lost as a clearly bisexual character. Not because "he's too cute to be straight" or something gay-fanboy-stupid like that but because of some nice and subtle remarks between him and his sister. YMMV

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Sigh...why is it that people feel the need to shout out from the rooftops who they're sleeping with (in some cases what), what color they are, what culture they are, what relgion they are, and so on and so forth. And then they demand equal and fair representation in media and then get pissed off when they don't; and then demand that they deserve to be represented on TV (or what not), and the cycle continues. Dangerous cycle here folks.

In keeping with the topic of this blog thread, why do gay people feel the need to shout from the rooftops that they're gay? I have no problem at all with 2 guys or 2 girls hold hands in public or bits of public affection here and there; but when they start dancing around and proclaiming they're gay and demanding and calling attention to themselves is when I start getting annoyed. If I called attention to the fact that I'm straight and promiscuous; I'd be called a pervert (or a man-whore).

Life's a bit easier when you don't draw so much attention to yourself. And then it gets worse, when after you get done drawing a crowd, when people get miffed at you because of the fact you drew the attention to yourself about something that people really don't think needs to be announced to the world or drawn attention to; and then you get all miffed and huffy about being discrimited against.

Get my point?

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I guess it is the same reason that people seem to need to scream from the rooftops that they are uninterested in anyone else's life but their own and they insist on letting people know if they are different they should be quiet about it, shouldn't talk about it or draw attention to it and shouldn't be upset that when others don't like them for wanting to be treated equally.

I don't understand why a person who feels this way needs to draw attention to themself and then sigh about it when other people don't like their opinion or have different ones.

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Your all talk about this and you all talk that that. And for the gay guy who made the comment about normal gay people. I am sorry but are to busy jacking off to Falcon videos, most all gay people are flaming queens.

I am gay. I love being gay is what I am, not who I am. And they are doing what they did in the past when they said they need more blacks on tv. And then they said they need more asiasn latins, and now they need more gays.

If you dont like watching gay people on tv then change the channel and shut the fuck up.

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