Will and Grace--Stereotypes?

[DrTJEckleburg]

A few days ago in my Lit class we were discussing Will and Grace (talking about gay and lesbian criticism) and I was wondering what your thoughts were on if the show is really “ground-breaking” or it just focuses on gay stereotypes? Are the producers just doing nothing more than reflecting a conservative version of what the audience is telling them they like? And are they reinforcing stereotypes and therefore completely misrepresenting homosexual men? Just curious…any thoughts?

[-V-]

Um..yes?

I hope people don't expect all gay men/lesbians to act like the ones on sitcoms. Any rational thinking human should realize that we're all different even when we can be easily grouped by a specific trait. It is ground-breaking in that it feature homosexuals as regular characters and thats worth something on its own.

[biggreenmonkey]

I think that it's based a lot on stereotypes. After all, how many men, even gays ones, act like Will and Jack do? However I also think Will was a bit less stereotypical, as he was portrayed as also being able to do business without tacking his sexuality onto it (most of the time). I liked Will's character, as it showed not every homosexual spends all his time hunting down men.

However, has anyone but me noticed that there's more lesbian erotica between Grace and Karen then there ever was between any two males in the show? Just my personal bitch.

[Cate Perfect]

Well, do any sitcoms accurately represent life?

Cate

[DrTJEckleburg]

However, has anyone but me noticed that there's more lesbian erotica between Grace and Karen then there ever was between any two males in the show? Just my personal bitch.

That's interesting, I was just watching an episode tonight and when I turned it on Karen and Grace had slept in the same bed together (Grace was just keeping Karen company I think) but I had never really thought of that before...

[DrTJEckleburg]

Well, do any sitcoms accurately represent life?

True, they don't

I do think that Will and Grace is just full of stereotypes but I was just wondering what other people thought of the show (because it is placed up so highly in the TV world and has won countless awards and recognition)

And I might possibly write a paper on it, but I'm not sure if I'm going to choose this topic...

[Cate Perfect]

You could do a paper on how the less a group is represented in the media the more important each representation becomes. Since there aren't that many gay folks on TV every one counts. Same thing for any other minority.

Cate

[TPauSilver]

There is no such thing as a positive representation. No matter how you portray a group, people are going to take offense (and people do take offense at will and grace)

That said, I've yet to run across a show that features gay men who aren't camp and/or funny.

A quote I found once, in one of those glossy magazines that come in the weekend papers, "It's ok to be a gay man as long as you're funny". Wish I could remember who said that...

[Chozo]

There is no such thing as a positive representation. No matter how you portray a group, people are going to take offense (and people do take offense at will and grace)

That said, I've yet to run across a show that features gay men who aren't camp and/or funny.

A quote I found once, in one of those glossy magazines that come in the weekend papers, "It's ok to be a gay man as long as you're funny". Wish I could remember who said that...

To be honest I think the camp thing is about the safest gay stereotype to focus on.

[LC]

There is no such thing as a positive representation. No matter how you portray a group, people are going to take offense (and people do take offense at will and grace)

I think part of the problem here is balance. There aren't that many openly gay characters on TV, so when the few that exist conform to stereotypes, it can be viewed as offensive. If there were dozens of gay characters on TV and a few of them were like Jack, but most weren't, I'm guessing fewer people would take offense.

I do sometimes watch Will & Grace and will admit that it can be funny at times, but it does bother me when it seems to reinforce stereotypes. Then again, sometimes they seem to be making fun of certain stereotypes rather than buying into them -- which I guess can be a fine line at times.

The show is pretty sex-obsessed, which can be viewed as playing into the stereotype that the lives of all gay people revolve around sex -- but then, as we know, there are plenty of heterosexual sitcoms that are equally sex-obsessed!

That said, I've yet to run across a show that features gay men who aren't camp and/or funny.

I agree -- where are the portrayals of boring, stable accountants who just happen to have a 20-year life partner of the same sex?

A quote I found once, in one of those glossy magazines that come in the weekend papers, "It's ok to be a gay man as long as you're funny". Wish I could remember who said that...

I agree -- that about sums it up! NBC, which airs Will & Grace without a second thought, recently refused to air a commercial for the United Church of Christ which portrays a gay couple being turned away from a church, and then says: "Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we." NBC said the commercial was "too controversial". So it's okay to have Jack bragging about his latest one-night-stand on W&G, but the idea of a church unconditionally welcoming gay people is just too scandalous for network television?