Do you find current LGBT representations in TV shows offensive?

Contributor: mailroomorder mailroomorder
So many shows nowadays have a character who identifies as LGBT. And while they used to be stereotypical stock characters, they are starting to become their own people and often times their sexuality isn't at the forefront. But still it remains that so many more shows have LGBT main characters. (Glee, Modern Family, Pretty Little Liars, Six Feet Under, United States of Tara, Shameless, Happy Endings etc). Do you find any of their representations to be offensive?
Answers (public voting - your screen name will appear in the results):
Yes
Lildrummrgurl7 , karenm , friendswithfangs , GONE! , lauraxxarual , Genderfree
6  (29%)
No
nova2014 , Howells
2  (10%)
Occasionally I find certain characters to be offensive
Hentialover , bratcat , lovelyzombie , Gone (LD29) , spiced , Gdom , Vanille , namelesschaos , No-nita , mr115393 , Ly-Ra , KittyGoesRawr , HannahPanda
13  (62%)
Never thought about i
Total votes: 21
Poll is closed
04/21/2013
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Contributor: Hentialover Hentialover
Quote:
Originally posted by mailroomorder
So many shows nowadays have a character who identifies as LGBT. And while they used to be stereotypical stock characters, they are starting to become their own people and often times their sexuality isn't at the forefront. But still it remains ... more
Stereotypes come from -somewhere- and since I happen to be a huge lesbian stereotype myself, as well as know other LGBTQ stereotypes, I can say that not all of the common gay jokes or characters in shows or movies aren't sometimes true.

Still it's not always nice to be put into a category. Which is something I think happens a lot in the media. However, I do think that they have gotten a little better at changing it up, like in Game of Thrones. So all in all, I think the representation of the LGBTQ community in media has gotten better, but they still have a ways to go.
04/21/2013
Contributor: Lildrummrgurl7 Lildrummrgurl7
This is interesting to me as I'm currently writing a 20-page research paper on LGBT characters. Most, if not all, of their representations are actually really messed up. They're still written to assimilate into heteronormative ideas of family and marriage. Lesbian sex scenes are DEFINITELY directed with the male gaze in mind.


There's such a long way to go for LGBT characters on television.
04/21/2013
Contributor: bratcat bratcat
Quote:
Originally posted by Lildrummrgurl7
This is interesting to me as I'm currently writing a 20-page research paper on LGBT characters. Most, if not all, of their representations are actually really messed up. They're still written to assimilate into heteronormative ideas of family ... more
This sounds like a very interesting paper! And i can agree, while i do love some from the shows mentioned, they're very often problematic and tend to represent stereotypes and do indeed tend to assimilate into a hertonomative society.
There is also a lot of lack of representation when it comes to the trans* community in pop culture and the media tends to categorize trans*people and transvestites/Drag queens&kings as one in the same and often use the wrong pronouns or go back to the fact that the character was "born into the wrong body."
04/21/2013
Contributor: 1001 Pleasures 1001 Pleasures
I don't watch a ton of TV, and tend to prefer cable shows to network shows, because I think cable series - as a rule - are less likely to resort to stereotyping. I've only seen three of the shows that were mentioned in the initial post (Six Feet Under, United States of Tara, Shameless), but I think all three of those did/do a pretty good job of creating well-rounded gay characters. And it was nice to see these characters having a sex life; on network shows, most of the time the gay characters are chaste, or they talk a lot about having sex (but you never actually see them having it).

What I dislike most about gay characters is when (on a sitcom) they speak in puns, as if gay folk sit around making "witty" cracks, one right after another.
04/21/2013
Contributor: karenm karenm
Yes, but I don't remember there being gay characters at all ten years ago, so it's a start at least. I'm hoping that depictions will become more three-dimensional over time.

As one of my gay guy friends says, "some women think I want to be their best friend and pick out shoes with them, but that isn't what being gay means."
04/22/2013
Contributor: Gdom Gdom
Sometimes (maybe even most of the time) the representations are offensive, but there are some ones that I've really liked. Torchwood, for example, was pretty awesome about making interesting, deep, non-hetero characters (and they didn't treat their being LGBT as some sort of gimmick). Captain Jack Harkness + Ianto Jones = beautiful couple.
04/22/2013
Contributor: friendswithfangs friendswithfangs
I don't keep up with TV much tbh, but from what I've seen, yeah, absofuckinglutely. I mean it's definitely nice that showmakers are finally thinking about representation in general, but it shouldn't be that hard to create queer characters that are not awful. In addition to the majority I've seen being thin, young, white people, I rarely see queer characters that are just Characters Who Are Queer as opposed to it being like, the backbone of their entire identities.
05/08/2013
Contributor: mr115393 mr115393
Mostly, I just find them disappointing.
07/01/2013
Contributor: Ly-Ra Ly-Ra
Most are pretty disappointing and stereotypical, and that's just talking about gay or lesbian characters. Trans* people are still often protrayed with horribly offensive jokes and it's to the point where even if a show has LGBT characters, I'm always really tentative of watching them unless I know they're pretty positive representations. It's definitely gotten better though and I'm really thankful for that, but they've got a LONG way to go.
10/03/2013
Contributor: HannahPanda HannahPanda
In certain circumstances, of course.
10/08/2013