Farewell, QAF, Hello Minstrelsy

Well, it's over. The one show -- I admit exceptions -- that allowed gay men to actually BE SEXUAL! So long, Queer as Folk!

Before I talk about that show, let me comment on the current state of the queer nation on television. Blah, blah, blah, everyone has already expressed our despair about Will's ever being allowed a kiss let alone sex while Grace humps every straight male character that appears on the show, so I won't go into that. And many have discussed the desexed Fab Five on Queer Eye. Maybe they've even pointed out that while these guys have no visible sex life, they spend their days glorifying and celebrating every heterosexual institution known to the human race, but I think it's time to bring up the case of Ellen DeGeneres.

Let me state up front to Ellen: Ellen, I love you, I adore you, I respect you and all you've done for gay openness, you are one celebrity that I really think I would enjoy spending time with just hanging out, and I absolutely know that you are not at fault for the limitations placed on your very entertaining show. I just have to say that it bothers me that you also celebrate heterosexual institutions while denying your own relationship(s). I've seen you arrange weddings and honeymoons without a mention of our struggle for equal rights in that area. I've seen you give some poor kids who were going to miss out on their school dance due to a shortage of funds the prom of their dreams without mentioning the turmoil caused all over the country when some kids have simply wanted to bring same-sex dates to their own proms. Through all this -- and I admit I can't watch you every day, so forgive me if I'm wrong -- I have never once heard you mention your own relationship. I think you're still with Portia, though I could be wrong about that too. At any rate, I find it truly upsetting that your support for heterosexual love is so frequent, but your acknowledgement of even the existence of gay love is nil. Again, I know that you don't consider yourself political, and I understand that. I also know with some degree of certainty that you have been unequivocally told by network execs that the day you do bring these things up will be your last. But there it is.

Yes, we are the new minstrels -- doomed to remain pre-pubescent clowns who entertain the heterosexual masses. I pick up The Advocate -- and I do subscribe -- and find straight actors lionized for taking on gay roles. Can you imagine picking up a copy of Ebony and finding a white actor praised for daring to take on a black role? Why do we accept this? And why, oh why, did Tony Kushner permit the casting of five straight actors but not a single gay one in the five gay roles found in the admittedly brilliant film of Angels in America? Just something to ponder.

Well, I guess it's time to get back to Queer as Folk. Did I watch it? Yes. Did I think it was good? Not at all. Most of the plot lines unfolded as unrealistically and reached resolution as effortlessly as those found in mediocre sitcoms. The acting rarely rose above the level of soap opera, but I'll blame the scripts and hope that the actors have talent. Still, there was a lot of hot sex, and Showtime deserves our support for daring to allow us to see aspects of our lives that the networks wouldn't touch with a ten-inch pole. Nonetheless, having seen the British version, I can't help but feel disappointed that the American version threw out the subversion and nihilism of the original and replaced it with saccharine and sentiment. Well, with apologies to All in the Family, isn't that what usually happens when Americans adapt foreign material?

In case you haven't guessed, I've been reading a lot of Dorothy Parker in the past few days. Too bad I can capture her sense of nausea over the arts and steal a bit of her prose style without also possessing her brilliant wit. But there it is. So I will close where I began by saying, "Farewell, QAF and Hello, Minstrelsy."

Until next time.