We're here, we're queer, and we're here to invade your living room

For this week's blog I'd like to focus on one of the articles we read for class, "Representing Gay Men on American Television" by Kylo-Patrick R. Hart. In this article Hart looks at the representation of gay males on T.V. by citing the premiere of Will & Grace, a sitcom that represented the daily lives of two roommates, Grace a straight heterosexual female and Will her best homosexual male friend. Hart looks and examines this programming and the differences that this sitcom presents compared to real life for homosexual males..

While Will is a main character he is often shown repressed in his sexuality as he is calm and cool. As a successful lawyer he is intelligent and articulate but never allowed to have lasting relationships through out the shows nor deep love for any of his male partners. Unlike Grace who is granted numerous boyfriends through out the show and even some that she was destined to married but parted with due to different reasons. She is happy and exuberant in her relationships and as being Wills "faghag" and a open minded heterosexual female.

In Will & Grace we are also presented with two different examples of gay males and socially expected behavior from them which is displayed by the Will and Jack character. Jack is the counterpart to Will's calm almost non-homosexual exterior by being flashy and over the top.

To quote Hart "Will remains so low-key about his sexual orientation that it has become almost inconsequential to the show, while Jack consistently presented as the stereotype flamboyant queen. In other words, Will and Jack are extreme opposites on the spectrum of possible media representations of gay men." (p. 597, para. 1)

This got me starting to think about representations of gay males in different shows. I want to explore and look at the way homosexual males are represented in sitcoms and TV dramas. Usually for sitcoms homosexual characters are used to create comical situations to make them seem less "scary" or alien to straight audiences which is a common theme in United States mass media products because it not only makes these ideas new and fresh but packages them for mass consumption. I think the best show to critically examine this homosexual character and archetype would be the Showtime's American remake of the hit British show "Queer as folk". Not only is Queer as Folk (QAF) made up of a primary gay and lesbian character cast it also tries hard to shed light on homosexual issues that face real adults in the GLBT community. I also believe it's a much better example of the community's representation on TV then the L word not only because it focuses on a mainly male only cast but because the first season of the L word used sexuality and the fetishism of lesbianism that occurs in our country as a way to promote the show before it contained any hard hitting plot devices.

In QAF there are many different story plots that resonate with the many different points in homosexual men and women lives. In the beginning of the show we are treated to the birth of lesbian partners Lindsey and Mel's baby boy Gus who they conceive with the help of friend Brian. Not only is this beginning daring because it shows that lesbians can be committed and have strong healthy loving relationship with children involved but it shows the changing face of the nontraditional American family that is more common in America's 21st century. It also touches on some of the most important moments in real life: coming out, falling in love, maintaining relationships, and most of all growing into the person you're meant to be. By giving each character a strong personality and making them just one shade of the multinational and multicultural community that makes up the glbt community.

It's also important to note that many of these gay males have strong loving relationships presented. An important example of this is the marriage between partners Michael and Ben as they bike ride into Canada on a national campaign to protest the ill legalization of gay marriage in the states.

In the clip below we see the two get married and even Michael's mother is very supportive of her sons choice to marry someone who is HIV positive esp. in a time where HIV is on the rise and many people are fearful of this once "gay disease". By having the character Ben the producers diminish the stereotype that people living with HIV's can not have happy or productive lives. By tackling this issue head on they provide a very positive character who is not depressed or dying from his battle with HIV's.



Looking at these examples of plot devices it's only logical to wonder how these change mass media's concept of homosexual characters? By being shown on a private cable provider the show is allowed to get away with much more and does use sex and drug use as an edgy way to push the show and boost ratings despite the fact that these problems do really face and hit the gay community through out America. I think by presenting a more mature and sexual side it removes the comical aspect of the community seen in shows like Will & Grace. It also gives a "mature" edge to allow other shows like it to push the boundaries of sexuality and gender on TV. It also directly affects the concepts of mass media about the community and opens up a frank and intelligent discussion of the similarity of homosexual and heterosexual couples and that they are in no way different from each other.

Who knows what will come next? Maybe there will be shows about cross dressers shown in a mature light or transsexual characters that battle with their concepts of gender compared to society norms? The mass media is slowly opening up these new interpretations of gender and producing new concepts of gender every so few years thankfully.

Advertising and masculinity and how sexuality plays a role.

So far in our class we've focused on gender and the dichotomies of men/women but I also think it's important to look at how sexuality and sexual orientation plays into the mass media and the kind of advertising that are directed towards young males.

First let's take Mike's Hard Lemonade.

Mike's hard lemonade is a light alcoholic beverage brewed in the United States. It is also known as a "malternative" or flavored malt beverages which makes it not a beer nor a hard liquor. So, the main question is, how does Mike then advertise their product to men? How do they change this malt beverage from seeming "girly" or wimpy to hard and masculine. The main way that Mike's does this is in the same vein as Millers light beer. As referenced to Jackson Katz article "Advertising and the construction of violent white masculinity" Katz talks about how Miller light had to use this image of "masculinity" as being strong, powerful, and violent to make sure that men would not turn away from this new type of beer.

Mike's does the same thing but with sexuality and it's relationship to masculinity. In their series of commercials that have been airing since '08 it shows two workers, whom we presume are either manager or advertising reps, and one other worker who is approaching them with different advertising ideas. While this wouldn't be a problem usually, there is because the worker who is always pitching these ideas is type caste. This worker who is repeatedly the same character is an emasculated blond male who never gets it right. By giving him female qualities this puts an undertone of the worker being "queer" since in the United States most gay men are seen as being over the top and "fruity" which allows them to be seen as comical and not as threatening. Mike's uses this same approach of having a lovable and laughable queer character as a way to approach guys that Mike's is made for real men and that these men who laugh at this queer character are real men because they are like the two ad reps who perpetually embarrass this character.

Here is an example of these Mike's commercials. Here we see the two ad reps approached by the "queer" character and the act of emasculating him through comedy.




The second example of "emasculation" in relation to advertising is not about sexual orientation but gender and it's play on cultural identity.



This ad along side with a TV spot was created for the new Burger King Texas Whopper. In this picture we see a tall "masculine" western dressed cowboy standing next to a little person dressed as a Mexican wrestler draped in a Mexican flag. In the TV ad's the two "companions" are seen as living together and helping each other out in every day simple chores. The tv ad wants us to view the Texas Whopper as being "all American" and compared to the good old days of the wild west. The tag line reads "the taste of Texas with a little spicy Mexican" as a way to show that it is the same old all American burger and fries just with a little twist in it. By using the act of "emasculating" the Mexican character BK also "emasculates" Mexican culture as a way to make it seem lest alien. Giving it feminine qualities makes the food seem passive and ok for American males to eat and that it wont go against their gender identity of hard masculine Anglo Saxons. Not only is the ad culturally insensitive it's also ridiculous that they use this marketing ploy to get people to eat more hamburgers. For more information on BK pulling the ad and to read reactions please redirect to here.

It is crazy that gender applies to food yet it does in our society. Many different food are associated with each gender and marketed this way. So is the way food is cooked or even seen as sexually. Sadly gender stereotyping and categorizing plays an important role in our lives and in the mass media's way of advertising.

Women in Politics

The 21st Century has been a critical turning point for the United States. Not only has the events of 9/11 rock and shake the country around us but so has the need that arose to fight terror and stop terrorist that led to occupation Iraq Freedom and the following occupation and battles in the Middle East. The 21st Century has become a decade that is filled with hopes and unforeseen tragedies as we try to mend and fix foreign relationships and the state of our economy at home.

Yet, this has also become a turning point for women and their role in politics. On November 16, 2006, Nancy Pelosi was unanimously chosen as the Democratic candidate for Speaker. This made Nancy Pelosi not only the first woman ever to be speaker of the House but also the first Italian-American to become speaker also.

This election was important not just for Democrats or for those who were supporters of Pelosi's voting record, it was important for women because it showed you could be a woman and be a politician. Usually when we think of politicians as the mass media would have us believe we see the picture of the corporate white male. This image is all we see as "The Man" and someone who should be feared. By a woman being able to gain access and to break through the glass ceiling is critical for all the little girls out there who dream of becoming involved in politics. Why is Nancy Pelosi's election important then? It is when we discuss mass media because it is breaking mass media stereotypes and changing them but also conforming them with social norms because Nancy Pelosi must play along a thin line to appeal to different types of voters. Mass media helped in her election but it also can backfire in what she does once she has office. WHat other important women can we think of that are active in politics?

KIlling Zombies never looked so damn good before

This year fans of the video game franchises Resident Evil were treated to news of the next game in the series. Released as Biohazard 5 the game was set and released March 5, 2009 and then March 13, 2009 in the states selling well over 2 million units alone.

For anyone who has not heard of the Resident Evil games they may have heard of the movie of the same name which is a spin off of the popular games and features Milla Jovovich as the main character; Alice. The Resident Evil movies follows the general story plot of the original games where the action is set in Raccoon City and a series of bizarre murdered have been occurring along side with strange signs of cannibalism. Because of this the Raccoon Police Department's Special Tactics And Rescue Service (STARS) are assigned to investigate the murders, which is comprised of two teams, Alpha and Bravo. Bravo Team is sent first, but after contact with them is lost, the city's officials deploy Alpha Team to investigate their disappearance. This is where you pick up and begin game play. The main action of the original game is placed within a huge mansion.

The plot is simple enough, after the first and second game and the code series the following Resident Evils has since spread out of mansions and have allowed players to investigate small towns and cities that are plagued with "zombies". An example of this is Resident Evil 4 which was placed within a small town in Europe. Through out the game players fight Hispanics townspeople who are plagued with a disease that makes them eat flesh after joining the cult Los Illuminados. The main objective of the game is to find and protect the president's daughter, Ashley.

Now the set of Resident Evil 5 plot revolves around Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar (pictured below) as they investigate a terrorist threat in Kijuju, a fictional town in Africa.








So, what makes Resident Evil 5 so different that it's worth studying especially in a blog about media? Well the reason why this game is so different is because of the controversy surrounding the game before it's debut launch which started with the launch of the games official trailer seen below:



Before the game could even come out bloggers were buzzing with conversation over the setting of the game; Africa. While the game had never had a problem before when players were asked to shoot Hispanic or European zombies there now was a problem with players having to shoot African zombies. The main problem for many people was that in the game these African zombies were being shot at by a Caucasian male who was placed in an authority role, even though in the game Chris's counterpart is the African female Sheva. It's interesting to see what kind of conversations were happening over this slight change in location.

As stated by Kim Platt of Black Looks, an internet blog dedicated to the outlook of a strong independent and feminist Black woman:

"This is problematic on so many levels, including the depiction of Black people as inhuman savages, the killing of Black people by a white man in military clothing, and the fact that this video game is marketed to children and young adults. Start them young... fearing, hating, and destroying Black people."

Or the writer of The Black Sentinel, another blog who's author is a strong Black woman and mother of two as she comments:

"The game portrays a Caucasian in army fatigues as the so called hero or “savior” who is let loose to run roughshod over those diseased Africans. We know that there are people in the U.S. who are touting that in order to stave off AIDS we should start “exterminating” those with the disease in Africa."

Yet, I believe this is just some of the EXTREME view point of what the game is trying to do here. This game is after all a survivor game where the point is to survive from zombies. Where do zombies originate from? Zombies originated in the Afro-Caribbean spiritual belief system of Vodou, which told of the people being controlled as laborers by a powerful sorcerer. According to the tenets of Vodou, a dead person can be revived by a bokor, or sorcerer. Zombies would then remain under the control of the bokor since they have no will. "Zombi" is also another name of the Vodou snake lwa Damballah Wedo, of Niger-Congo origin; it is akin to the Kikongo word nzambi, which means "god". There also exists within the vodou tradition the zombi astral which is a human soul that is captured by a bokor and used to enhance the bokor's power. Looking at where the story of the zombie comes from it would only make sense that the creators would place the latest game in a place where these legends come from.

It's foolish to say that the makers did not chosen a touchy place to have as the location of the game but I do believe that it is ridiculous to say that the creators were trying to be racist. This is a case of institutionalized assumptions made not only about the game and the creators themselves but about how people view black people within media such as video games. What does this say about how people of color should view themselves in media? If we'd assume the game really was racist as these bloggers made us to believe then why include African soldiers who work for the government? Why include a strong black female role who you can play as? Why even care?

So I pose, is this really just a harmless video game? Or do you think the mass media of video games and bloggers are just keeping up and reinforcing stereotypes?