steph posted on her website about my queer as folk post, and i think it deserves some followup conversation:

first, a quick summary, for those interested:

on 3/9 i mentioned that Randy Harrison & Peter Paige are the only real gay men in the show that's predominantly about gay men, Queer As Folk - i said, "just seems a bit strange that there's this huge queer show and only 2 of em are really gay...not good strange, not bad strange, just strange...."

then steph responded in her 3:19pm, march 11, 2003 entry: "Here's my two cents: it's bad strange. I challenge you to go to any restaurant in Califor-ni-ay and not have your food served by a gay actor. There are thousands of them out there, if not hundreds of thousands. So it's not just strange that 98% of all gay characters on TV and in the movies are played by straight actors, while the gay actors wait tables. It's happening because of descrimination, for the same reason that Amos and Andy used to have black characters played by white people in black face. Because people aren't comfortable knowing the the guy playing the gay role is actually gay. But it's okay if it's all pretend.

Case in point: Several years ago, Spin City has a gay male character kiss a straight male character as a joke. It got huge laughs, and played in prime time with no objections. That same night, Ellen Degeneres' character kissed a straight female character as a joke. It did not get huge laughs. It was pushed back to a later time slot, and it got a parental advisory warning. What was the difference between the two? On Ellen, the actor playing the part was gay. On Spin City, the actor playing the gay character was straight."

my reply? well, i'm intrigued by the comment that it's a minstrel show - steph, were you saying that only in reference to the fact that they're hiring straight people to play gays (like the Amos n' Andy reference) or do you find that the show content degrades gay people as well? that's a recurring complaint i've heard from gay people that don't like the show - the characters are all assholes, druggies or somehow fucked up - but i have to say i know many more people like the characters on QAF than i see in other television shows. i think it's a very realistic show - granted, it's got some cheesy soap-opera tendencies at times - but i tend to agree with the disclaimer they put on every episode: it doesn't reflect all of gay society.

i've found myself much more offended by episodes of "Will & Grace" than anything I've seen on QAF. speaking of W&G, Sean Hayes refuses to state his sexual orientation in interviews - this article on gay.com spells it out: When it comes to his sexuality, Hayes doesn't really want the public to know. "I don't wanna say I'm straight or I'm gay," he told Hollywood Online in 1998, "I want to keep everything open so as no one can form any opinions about me, because this world that we live in isn't all that forgiving." don't you find that more offensive than a confessed straight guy playing the part of a gay guy? the way he says it seems rather cowardly - he's afraid that saying one way or another is going to require forgiveness in the future? this isn't to say i don't like Sean Hayes - i really liked him in Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss and enjoyed the Jack character on W&G for a little while - but i think Jack's become more of the minstrel than anyone on QAF...

yeah, i guess it does suck that they're hiring straight people to play gays when there are plenty of gays out there that could take the parts, but i really wonder how much of that was a factor in casting QAF - a very explicit show about gay boys, based on a Brit series - really think they had tons of people interested in the roles? being made for Showtime hasn't really been something to shout from the rooftops - they don't quite have the air of respectability of a channel like HBO...so, who knows. if it takes a while longer for heteros to portray homos to at least get homos portrayed somewhat realistically on television, i don't think that's a bad thing - we've definitely got a ways to go, but maybe someday we could get to that idealistic world of all the gay waiter/actors hanging up the aprons to go into acting full time...