I should probably start out by saying that I actually think the GLAAD report on "gay-friendly" television, and the resulting "inclusiveness score," is fairly silly. As I understand it (and who cares if I'm wrong, because that's how silly it is), GLAAD reviewed some 5,000 hours of primetime programming, and made little tick marks whenever a gay person showed up.
While I applaud the general effort of striving toward a more inclusive culture, this is a way of approaching the idea that is equivalent to just throwing up your hands and admitting that you have no idea how to go about the task.
Of course, there is a little more to the effort, because, "Fox (30%) was right behind the CW (35%) but only received an “adequate” grade because some of its content was deemed derogatory," but I don't like the feel of that statement. I wonder what results in a derogatory determination, and have my suspicions that perhaps if the gay character on a show is also the stupid, irritating, or otherwise negative character, that's derogatory.
At any rate, the general point is that just counting and putting out a report is not only a theory that makes me want to use the term "mongering" (and not just because it sounds cool), even if I'm not exactly sure what sort of mongering it is, but it is not only misguided, it leads to what will hopefully be considered misguided results.
CBS found themselves on the bad end of the report recently, and their response is to throw gay people at some shows.
THR reports that, "entertainment president Nina Tassler said a gay character will be added to new comedy "$#*! My Dad Says," returning half-hour "Rules of Engagement" and legal drama "The Good Wife.""
She apparently did not go on to say, "Umm... then we get more checkmarks, right?"
Is that what the gay community is after?
But, what can you expect really? When what you're saying in your failing grade report is, "we have counted the gay characters, and you came up short," what else is there but to say, "fine, here's some gay characters."
Well, it's a proud day now that some TV exec walked into the writer's room of a show and said, "Nice show. Like it. Here's your new gay character. Deal."
Meanwhile, MTV gets good marks in the report largely on the back of their own reality show checklists.
"Person of color." Check.
Gay. Check.
Stupid white girl. Check.
How is any part of this report's conversation helpful? "We demand more token gays," isn't a theory of cultural change, and frankly I think that is especially true if you actually get them.
I may be crazy, but I'm not so sure CBS is doing that bad a job in the big picture of things. I seem to recall some people I could tally on their reality shows, and some strong support of gay actors (or personalities, if they aren't exactly acting on their show). I might be wrong, and certainly every network could think more about their overall diversity, whatever this particular report says about them, but did something good actually happen because CBS's score just went up three?
RU?
Related articles by Zemanta
- CBS to Finally Put Some Gay Characters On Their Network [Exposure] (gawker.com)
- Glaad Gives CBS a Failing Grade (nytimes.com)
- CBS to Swish It Up a Bit (pinkbananaworld.com)
- GLAAD: MTV, CW Host Most Gay-Friendly Programming (justjared.buzznet.com)
- When It Comes to Showing Gays, CBS Fails (observer.com)
- MTV gets top marks for gay inclusion on shows (reuters.com)
- MTV, CW lead GLAAD index (variety.com)
- CBS President: Network Adding More Gay Characters to Its Shows (seattlepi.com)
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About Marc Eastman
Marc Eastman is the owner and operator of Are You Screening? and has been writing film reviews for over a decade, and several branches of the internet's film review world have seen his name. His reviews have brought him personal praise from the director of a major motion picture, and have been used as required reading in a course at a major University. These priceless rewards, along with just bags of cash, keep him from straying from freelance writing. He is also a member of The Broadcast Film Critics Association and The Broadcast Television Journalists Association.
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