Marriage by another name
11:14, 01 Jun 2007
Its being reported by the mail that it is an issue that teachers promote marriage as the best role model for future happyness. Academics are saying that by doing this, it makes non-conformist lifestyles seem lesser by comparison. To put this complaint at the feet of teachers, seems a little bit unfair given the fact that it happens everywhere. When gay and lesbian characters pop up in television, the majority of plots seem based around shock and comedy, rather than the more complex plotlines that feature for straight storylines. There are certain exceptions, such as Willow in Buffy, but most of what we are bombarded with is straight people getting married, according to statistics 1 in 10 people at least are what we would term gay or lesbian, ignoring those who are secretly bisexual, surely that means 1 in 10 characters on television should be Gay or Lesbian? Yes there is both L-Word and the former (but very good) Queer as Folk, but there should not be "special" programs to deal with "special" issues, on mainstream television. Looking at other minorities in similar proportions to the LGBT comunity, there is no need for Jewish or Pakistani specific programing, despite each has differences and complications of interaction, but they can be integrated very easily into conventional programs. I think the time has come for the entertainment industry to stop playing it safe, yes with programs like Big Love, they are pushing the envelope, but bring what you have learned back into the mainstream. Relationships and attraction are part of nearly every show on television, stop with the obvious choices, with Doctor Who and Captain Jack, we have seen that bisexuality can be shown to be something that viewers can take in their stride. Stop making characters like him odities and talking points, and instead make them part of the normal fabric of the world we see on our tv screens. Then our children will stop being infused by our unconcious bigotry and start to open their minds, and the 50th century may seem a little closer.
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