I watched a sitcom last night Modern Family

[mitchtv]

It had several gay characters as I'm sure anyone who has seen it can attest. Anyway,one of the little girls had a date take her to a prom, and he was a flamboyant queen type, as is at least one of the main gay characters(both one might say).I am generally not bothered by stereotyping and the like, and enjoyed Will and Grace and also QAF with all their faults, But the Modern Family was too much , too stereotypical, bordering on offensive, ( the big, fat queeny one even won an Emmy for his performance), Am I hyper sensitive ,or does anyone have any ideas on the subject ? Does our network face to the public have to be so nelly?

[William769]

1. I have never watched the show.

So it's kind of hard for me to answer. Will have to think about this one for awhile.

[mitchtv]

2. take the time and watch for 3 min

let me know if you could take anymore

[Fearless]

3. I've watched the show...

Most of season one and parts of two...

I'm not familiar with the particular episode you're talking about, but based on what I've seen I think I can say a few things about how they treat LGBT rights.

I think the show seeks to "normalize" a lot of gay and lesbian issues. Gay marriage, adoption, parents, etc. So that the mainstream audience doesn't bat an eyelash when they come across it in "real life". That said, I think that while the writers do support equality, they can get a tad stereotypical at times.

[roody]

4. I don't watch tv, but I saw Smash

on an airplane. I fell in love with it and have watched all episodes several times. I believe that it treats gay life totally normally. Not comedic though.

[mitchtv]

15. Smash is quite good

It tends toward realistic characters, Unlike the sitcom I mentioned.

[beyurslf]

5. I have seen the show a few times but don't watch regularly.

It could be said the gay couple is "stereotyped" gay because they seemed a little over the top when I watched. Then again, many of my friends might be called that same thing. I am glad they show out loud proud flaming queers just being who they are and being a "normal" family. why do the gay people on tv need to be "straight-passable" in order to be good role models?

[madrchsod]

6. start here....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Family

i`ve never watched it but i guess it`s broad satire...so i guess it`s to each their own

[xfundy]

7. The "big, fat, queeny one" is actually straight.

I think that's part of the reason he won the award. Not having seen the show, I don't know enough to comment in depth. But, stereotypes nearly always have some basis in reality, and in fact, there are queeny people in the world. I'm not one, but can camp it up with the best of them.

I think we're fortunate in that while the "queeny" stereotype used to be the only way we were represented in the media, today examples abound of real, everyday gay people who are pretty much indistinguishable from everyone else. Having said that, though, I too also wince sometimes when viewing someone overly nelly onscreen, especially when news cameras cover gay pride parades and focus mainly on the drag queens and go-go boys while ignoring the majority, who visibly range from looking like uptight church people to regular families to barely-dressed hunks, senior citizens and leather folks.

Not sure if I'm making sense, but the reality is that we're as diverse, really no more and no less, as everyone else, and enough gay folks have come out to show the reality that we are everywhere, and not easily identifiable without gaydar, and even that doesn't always work.

At any rate, if the girl is being taken to the prom by a gay boy, the parents would no doubt be relieved that she'll have a good time with her friend and probably wouldn't turn up pregnant afterwards.

My prom date sure didn't have sex with me, and was kinda pissed off about it. Of course, she thought it was something she did, that she was undesirable, or something, but at the time I couldn't be honest. Nothing I said, other than that I felt like the entree made me feel sick, could take the place of, if I could have said it at the time, "Honey! Let's go to the mall and stare at the cute boys!"

Of course we never spoke again, but I think I still have the prom picture somewhere.

Sigh.

[pnwest]

8. oh, no! i watch this show religously, dont tell me i

had it wrong when thinking they did a really good job of it? I llllllove this show.

[Behind the Aegis]

9. I really enjoy this show.

As another poster said, why should gay people have to be cast as "straight-like?" This is a comedy. Everyone in the cast is a caricature to some extent. Sure, some of the laughs come from Cam (the larger gay male, who is actually straight, unlike his red-headed husband) and his being "over the top," but most laughs are generated from the couples dynamics. It is just like some of the laughs with Sophia Vagaras' character are based on her accent (Baby Cheeses), much of the laughs are the interactions between her and her husband or her over protective nature of her son.

[LuvNewcastle]

10. That's the way I see it.

All the characters on the show are a little crazy, not just the gay characters. If they only lampooned the gay couple, I could see where someone might be offended, but all the characters do and say ridiculous things. Exaggeration is a big part of comedy.

[qb]

11. There's nothing wrong with being a flamboyant queen.

TV with only straight-acting gays would hardly reflect real life.

[Not Me]

12. I watch/like Modern Family

This week's episode was a little much. Throwing in a lot of stereotypes.
It is usually pretty amusing and treats gay themes well.
Just my $.02.

[HillWilliam]

13. While I don't watch sitcoms

I've been thinking a lot about this subject a lot lately. Great minds, or sump'n.

How much are we being held back by stereotypes we're perpetuating ourselves ("butch", "nelly", "lipstick", "bear", etc) and how much does MSM perpetuate? I'm thinking 95% of the LGBT people I've ever met were pretty-much walkin'-around folks who 99% of the other folks couldn't find in a crowd if they were, well, wearing lavender.

I hear our own people using stereotypical terms to describe other members in the community and it bugs me. It bugs me when MSM buy into it and perpetuate it.

It's one thing to camp and poke fun "en famille" when all those being spoken about are present and can poke fun back. To me, it's another when all you ever see on TV are the stereotypes; not the guy or woman "you'd never suspect". It bugs me even more when folks outside our community try to pigeonhole all of us by using a stereotyped description. Our outward expressions are as numerous as we are.

I haven't any answers or ideas. It's just been roaming around in my mind for a few weeks without a good way to express it or even an answer as to specifically why it bugs me. I guess what I'm saying is I don't like pigeonholing anyone; I don't like it done to me. (I was always the square peg, yannow?)

[HillWilliam]

14. DUP - self delete n/t

[Bluenorthwest]

16. Got to say, 'big fat queeny one' is not my idea of a nice thing to say...

And the 'little girl' is a Junior in HS, making jokes about hooking up. She's not a little girl, she's a young woman. I take slight issue with the with calling the boy a flamboyant queen type, as the writing indicated that the boy was not yet aware he was gay, while the 'little girl' and her parents see it clearly. This is also a fact of some lives.
The stereotype comes when all gay characters are expected to represent a people rather than a person. Our network face to the public is Mr Patrick Harris, whose character is straight. Another face is Ellen. We have actual gay people out and working. We no longer need our comic characters to politic for us, they are free to find comedy in human foibles just like the straight guys are. Comedy is made up of flaws and smashed decorum, and in comedy equality is equally exploiting those flaws for the sake of the laugh, which comes first. No character on that show has a seamless dignity. They are all flawed, which is why they are funny.

[Rowdyboy]

17. I watch the show and often enjoy it but the stereotyping can get pretty heavy-handed....I thought

the prom-date gay boy was a little over the top but it is produced for a mass market and apparently the nelly stereotype sells advertisements.

[Jamastiene]

18. I do wish they would show more diversity to match our community's

ACTUAL diversity. I agree that sometimes they portray us as TOO stereotypical. Not all gay men are feminine and not all lesbians are masculine. I wish they would get the memo.

And by "they," I mean TV, in general. There is nothing wrong with the more feminine men or masculine females at all, but I would really appreciate if they were a bit more diverse, the ones who decide how the characters are on TV, I mean.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

19. My boyfriend and I laughed our asses off because our 16 year old niece...

....just attended prom with her fabulously gay friend who is a boy.

My boyfriend saw the date's facebook photos and was like "I wonder if she knows he's gay" (this was before we knew the deal).

It turns out he is out to his friends and family. The invite was a puzzle that fit together to spell out a poem inviting her to prom. Way fabulous.

They had a great time, looked great and no one needed their kneecaps broken by her father (or uncles).