LOL! Have you heard about this new television series by Ryan Murphy called The New Normal? It’s about a gay couple, played by Justin Bartha (The Hangover) and Andrew Rannells (The Book of Mormon), who form a family with a surrogate mother! Surely, this revolutionary show will break barriers, as it single-handedly redefines what it means to be a MODERN FAMILY in this crazy, crazy world!
…Or it’s just going to be a shit show of bad dialogue, stereotypes and manipulative plot twists with preachy statements packed into each script.
Scientific studies have proven that most of Ryan Murphy’s gay characters suck dick (and not in a fun way). When Zachary Quinto was on American Horror Story, did he have any lines that didn’t involve the word “twink”? Sure, Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson had their moments, but how many of those moments were downright cringe-worthy? How about Sandy Ryerson, the choir director who got fired for molesting his young male students? And, oh hey, remember when Dave Karofsky‘s suicide attempt was virtually forgotten by the next episode?
While it’s great that a major network has given a green light to a show about gay dads, you can understand why I might be a skeptical about how they’re portrayed. Then again, maybe I’m wrong about all of this, and Ryan Murphy is the greatest genius who ever spread his genius onto a television screen. Nobody’s ever given me an Emmy.
::sigh::
– Dewitt
Click through to watch a few clips from the show:
Eh.
“Half-rican American.”
I’n in love with Justin Bartha. That’s all I wanted to share.
Stand in line!!!
can Ryan Murphy just not make them so fucking camp? it reinforces a negative stereotype. most of us are just normal.
you know, actually portraying NORMAL men on screen doing normal things who just are gay but its not all “hey gurlfriend, love your make up beatch, you go miss thing, im gay and yeah get over it, what does she think she looks like in those pants” head move snap fingers eyebrow pout…
for FUCK sake! its like writing a womens show and just making it all “ooh my menstrual cycle is just so heavy, i feel so moody, why dont i get taken seriously at work? should i get more highlights? blondes have more fun, does my vagina look big in these?” – THAT would never be seen as revolutionary or ever get made, but pathetic gay stereotypes which are nothing like reality seem to be considered “cutting edge” and challenging for a network.
NO. Make us sexual and masculine, not effeminised, asexual and emasculated and do NOT put us there just to bitch, give fashion and home styling advice. Why is the fucking conversation saying stuff like “can two men even BE good parents?” in a show??? there is serious self loathing and self homophobia in Ryan Murphy and it is just shameful sorry.
So vag, you seem to know alot about serious self loathing and homophobia. I mean you’re projecting it and everything.
Queer as Folk did a better job of covering the range of what-makes-a-gay-man, and often laughed at itself doing it.
camp is only negative because homophobes say it is. there is nothing inherently negative about campness. some gay men are camp, for them this is normal. masculine and feminine are social constructs, and we can be as camp as we fucking want – GIRLFRIEND. Call back under your self loathing straight acting “passing” as normal rock and leave the camp queens alone. Those out camp queens of the past who were what they were despite huge disapproval did more to progress our rights than a load of straight acting guys just wanting to be like everyone else and hiding in plain view. where would we be with out the girls of the Stonewall bar?
Totally agree that Ryan Murphy has a genuine talent–amid moments of brilliance–to utterly destroy things that were once unique, clever and touching. Also totally agree that Justin Bartha is really hot. And, probably won’t be watching this show because I find Modern Family incredibly unfunny, and this seems like some odd marriage of it and what Will & Grace would have become if Grace had ever had a baby with Will.
At the same time, if the objection to the show (or Ryan Murhpy) is the way that he promotes stereotypes, we might want to rethink features like “Top or Bottom” or posting videos of straight men doing “gay” stuff.
I understand your critique of the first post. However, I don’t think that he is being as negative about camp acting gay men as you seem to believe. I think he’s pointing out that, this is an overdone approach. We’ve had these shows and seen these characters, yet these are the personaes that are continually and regularly put forward as being ‘us’. It’s completely fair to not feel that you identify with that, and the oversaturation of the camp archetype as ‘the gay’, is probably close to the root of the frustration many men in our community feel toward those behaviours. It is not unlike the way we appreciate a good song until it gets overplayed.
imbecile. i loathe that on tv and film, gay is only acceptable when it is camp and unthreatening, and projects something “less than” male. i have no problem with camp guys, that is NOT the point. The point is that most of us are NOT like that, and we are NEVER shown on tv or film as we are.
People are only exposed to tv characters of gays that lisp and flick their wrists and are flimsy and silly. There is never any attempt to make them normal and 3 dimensional, only being gay because they have sex with men.
It is more threatening to straight men (who run networks) to have gay characters who are manly and where their sexuality is about liking cock, not about wanting to get all “miss thing” and being feminised.
I would do both guys. I would not do this show.
I can’t
Never say never. There have been more than a few gay characters who defy the standard “camp” caricature. If you’d like me to make a list, I’ll make a list…
… He created good, strong lesbian and bi-curious characters (though they were not stars in the show) and a very strong transgendered character in the show Popular. I haven’t respected much of a show from him since.
Sure Ryan Murphy’s gay characters are over the top, but so are every other character on the shows that they’re in (same thing with Alan Ball). It’s not fair to single out Zachary Quinto in American Horror Story; for God’s sake the show had a psychopathic high school shooter as a sympathetic character. As far as Glee is concerned, I can’t say I’m a fan of the show, but you can’t deny it made leaps and bounds in making gay acceptable to American families.
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You can’t have unrealistically sanitized gay characters on shows that are meant to be edgy or gritty b/c they stand out way too much. The message of acceptance then becomes way too didactic and forced.
Are you trying to tell me that the message of acceptance ISN’T too didactic and forced on Glee? Because the word “didactic” was basically invented for Ryan Murphy.