[ SECRET POST #3203 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3203 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 062 secrets from Secret Submission Post #458.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[likeadeuce]

"I also feel that when canon gay characters are involved in a romance in a mainstream show, they tend to be all about gayness, and aren't usually as well-written."

Do you have an example for that? Do you mean relationships where the show makes a big deal about the character being gay but doesn't do anything with them after that happens? This seems to me like something shows have been improving on, but I'm saying that as a possibly oblivious straight person.

[(Anonymous)]

I mean, I feel like if a character is canon gay, then their storylines must inevitably revolve around their gayness. There's very little mystery with who they will "end up with" because, token gay character established, the rest of the cast can be safely established as straight. If there is a love interest, that love interest will also be established as gay, so the pair can fit together neatly, without much of any surprise. (and it is very rare for a main character to "come out as gay" significantly into the series, usually it's dealt with early on, so if there's only one token gay character the love interest should be either a new character, or a minor side character). The storylines are often about gay issues, homophobia, "being comfortable" with the relationship, being "out", etc. Which maybe isn't completely unrealistic, but it's obviously a very different formula than straight relationships, and far more limited. I prefer gay relationships that are treated with the same sense of mystery and possibility as straight relationships, but that is really rare. So in that sense, subtextual homosexual relationships have more potential because they don't have to follow the same tired tropes or obsess about the LGBT nature of the relationship.

[likeadeuce]

So you don't have any examples.

[(Anonymous)]

Danny from Teen Wolf.

[likeadeuce]

Ha ha, well, Teen Wolf probably shouldn't be taken as a model of how to do anything.

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT

This is definitely true, but I'm not the OP, and that was the most glaring example I could think of. Teen Wolf has been talked about in LGBT friendly publications a lot, and the show likes to claim it's more progressive than it is. So, it kind of needs mentioned that the gay characters in Teen Wolf only exist to be gay.

[likeadeuce]

Do you mean you're not the person I asked to give an example or you're not about the OP of the post?

[(Anonymous)]

There's also Loras in Game of Thrones. All his storylines are about him being gay. Season 1-2, Loras is follwing Renly, because he's gay! Season 3, Loras is following Joffrey, because his gay lvoer died! Season 4, Loras is engaged to Cersei, because he's gay! Season 5, Loras is arrested for being gay!

[likeadeuce]

So like what kinds of plots do you want that acknowledge gay characters but 'are"t about being gay'? What about, like Jane the Virgin and the various Shondaland shows and I'm literally watching an episode of Mr Robot right now where a supporting character and his male partner are just having a conversation like any other couple, or the Portlandia season where Carrie & Fred were dating the same girl & nobody said boo about it. I definitely think that there could be more/better/ more prominent examples but to dismiss the possibility/existence of representation that isn't 'token' seems kind of selective/dismissive.

[(Anonymous)]

straight person denies there is a problem with LGBT representation in mainstream media. also in tonight's news, bears shit in the woods.

[likeadeuce]

Oh ffs. I didn't deny there was a problem. But have fun.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm not sure if it's the same thing you're talking about but this reminded me that while I enjoyed both canon gay couples in Sense8, it really annoyed me that Lito and Nomi were the only ones who were given long-term partners outside of the cluster, and both of the romances that developed inside the cluster - ie between the main characters - were straight.

[(Anonymous)]

I liked Sense8 a lot, but you're right, and I also felt like both of their relationships were so centered on the fact that they were queer. Nomi at least had her own storyline separate from her sexuality and was a really involved player in the plot, but Lito's storyline, basically through the end, was just about his gayness, being in the closet, and having to come out in order to keep his partner. I didn't mind his storyline inherently (mostly because the series seemed so interested in the characters' "normal life" drama which dominated even before any real sci-fi took place), except that he hardly got anything else at all besides his gayness. I hope the second season allows Lito to work more outside of the well-worn "coming out" narrative and he can have some story unrelated to his gayness as well.

[(Anonymous)]

NYART

besides the examples you've been given, there's kurt from glee that fits that description. the only thing that doesn't fit is that he pined for a straight guy when i still watched the show but that ended quickly.

you can argue that glee is not an example on how to do anything like you did with teen wolf. i agree, it's not a good show. but glee, teen wolf, got, etc are mainstream shows with big fandoms which is what the anon you're replying to was talking about.

[likeadeuce]

Ok, thanks for explaining. I was trying to pin down what the anon was referring to, not denying that there are problems with representation.