Token Gays

[AkJay]

I in no way, shape, or form mean this to be offensive in any fashion.

Why are there always the token gays in television shows and sutff. I was watching the new show "Apocolypse Lane" and there is the gay zombie guy. Why, though? i mean it seems almost insulting the way people portrey them, none of my gay friends act like that, and it seems like they just use it for some sort of cheap laugh, i faintly remember this with the african-americans in earlier decades of television.

So, why? why such a negative portreyal of gays in television (Internet TV counts)?

 

[Merteg]

Because males usually find gay stereotypes to be hilarious.

I make it sound like I don't, well I do, that simple.

 

[Sewer Rat]

I think the zombie in Apocalypse lane is supposed to be a girl, I could be wrong but whatever. The truth is that odds are the shows just want to be diverse by including gay characters, much like the old token African American characters.

 

[Lukirre]

Every television show uses stereotypes of different races/orientations/ethnicities...
Homosexuals just happen to be in the spotlight of late for television, apparently.

 

[Lord_Panzer]

When done effectively, 'the gay guy' is hi-larious (see Will & Grace). However, when done poorly, well, people make threads like this.

 

[InifniteWit]

I may be disillusioning you here but my girlfriend's gay best friend acts exactly like the stereotype.

 

[AkJay]

When done effectively, 'the gay guy' is hi-larious (see Will & Grace). However, when done poorly, well, people make threads like this.

Um... thanks? i guess...

 

[pantsoffdanceoff]

I may be disillusioning you here but my girlfriend's gay best friend acts exactly like the stereotype.

Same, I know someone who's gay and they act like that maybe not to that level but still...

 

[Stevedave00]

I may be disillusioning you here but my girlfriend's gay best friend acts exactly like the stereotype.

Same, I know someone who's gay and they act like that maybe not to that level but still...

Quite often stereotypes exist because in a majority they are true.
Not that I condone discrimination or stereotyping.

....what?

Care to re-phrase?

 

[pantsoffdanceoff]

I may be disillusioning you here but my girlfriend's gay best friend acts exactly like the stereotype.

Same, I know someone who's gay and they act like that maybe not to that level but still...

Quite often stereotypes exist because in a majority they are true.
Not that I condone discrimination or stereotyping.

....what?

Care to re-phrase?

I'll do it for him, a lot of stereotypes don't just pop out of no where, they come around becuase a majority of a certain group abide by a stereotype, doesn't mean its true for everyone but still.

 

[Booze Zombie]

"Oh my GOD, Todd is sooooooooooo hot!"
Every self-repressed in the world finds this sentence hilarious in a "gay lisp".

That's why.

 

[IxionIndustries]

Well... Think of it kinda like this.

Choice 1) They include a homosexual character on our show, but make him openly that way so everyone understands that they have included such a character, and there is no discrimination.

Or:

Choice 2) They exclude any gay characters on our show, and have the homosexual populace knocking on their door with pitchforks and torches, waiting to rip our throats out.