Gaytime Television

Lesbianism on television still proves to be an awkward topic. Even with massively popular gay programming like V Graham Norton, Will and Grace and Queer as Folk, the image of male homosexuality is far more articulated that that of the female. However, with a barrage of lesbian plotlines emerging in popular mainstream programming, such issues appear to be moving from the easily ignored or misconstrued subtext to being the flavour of the moment. Only time will tell as to whether a new approach will be developed for presenting homosexuality on the small screen, but either way there proves to be a lot of juicy viewing on the way for controversy hungry audiences.

The O.C. is the latest show to jump on the Sapphic bandwagon with Mischa Barton’s character Marissa locking lips with female love interest Alex, played by Olivia Wilde. The Simpsons will also be dabbling in the world of lesbianism as the gruff-voiced Patty Bouvier prepares to marry another woman with Homer performing the ceremony. These overtly lesbian storylines may not be the sober, realist discourse on the subject that many viewers crave, yet they may transpire to be the only way a viewing public can negotiate a subject that has arguably lain dormant in popular culture for some time. The O.C. has met with a positive response to its portrayal of a girl-girl relationship growing out of a friendship between the two characters. Opinion is divided as to whether this tempered representation will continue or simply be phased out after it has won some shock-value ratings. The Simpsons, on the other hand, was seen to be deliberately poking at the wound the issue of gay marriage has left in American society.

We are all familiar with the camp, comedic figure, so brilliantly embodied by characters such as John Innes’ Mr Humphries (Are You Being Served?) or Kenneth Williams (the Carry On series, Willow the Wisp), who is assumed to be gay yet never explicitly affirms this. The camp is either firmly planted in comedy or it becomes problematic and generally evil, as many Bond villains demonstrate. Although not always associated with homosexuality, the indicators of ‘campness’ are also often used as shorthand for gay - dressing ostentatiously, speaking softly and over-gesturing. Contrapuntal to the camp is the excessively masculine, macho portrayal of the gay man, leather clad with bountiful muscles. Just as visually amusing and extraordinary as his more feminine parallel, both figures are drenched in stereotype, an easily recognized part of the televisual world we all buy into when we sit down for a quiet evening on the sofa and almost entirely relegated to comedy. This easily-communicated vision of the gay man, who is familiar and commonplace on our screens, means that images of gay men may become increasingly less potent and more like characters such as Will and Grace’s Will Truman who are presented as just happening to be gay. This serves to underscore the question of why there is no equivalent for the lesbian.

The answer to some extent is that there is a highly coded, stereotyped vision of the lesbian - mannish, aggressive and domineering. As with the camp male, the masculine female is not always overtly presented as homosexual; their sexuality is almost an in-joke for those who choose to see it. Peanuts’ tomboyish, brash ‘Peppermint’ Patty exhibits all the traits of this ambiguous figure. Teamed with the subservient Marcie, who refers to Patty throughout the show as “sir”, the pair form an interesting dynamic to say the least. Of course, to suggest that Charlie Brown and his cohorts are pushing the boundaries of children’s entertainment to encompass images of homosexuality is fantastical but to realise such images are potentially present helps to plot the journey of the lesbian on television. A landmark in this journey is Ellen and its portrayal of an openly gay female protagonist. For the most part, the audience was left suspecting that Ellen was gay, but this was never confirmed or denied. When it did eventually transpire that not only Ellen the character but Ellen Degeneres the actress was in fact gay the show’s ratings fell flatter than a pancake and it was soon axed.

The L-word was avoided for a while after Ellen, seen as ratings poison especially with 9/11 fostering a mood of suspicion for the different, that is until The L Word. Best described as a Sex and the City for lesbianism (the show’s slogan being “same sex, different city”), The L Word is undoubtedly focused on presenting an image of lesbian life. However, the cast are almost entirely gay and conversations and storylines revolve chiefly around this. Consequently the show hasn’t aired on terrestrial television this side of the Atlantic, playing on LivingTV instead which can hardly be seen as mainstream or accessible. Still, even if such projections of female homosexuality are made prominent by The L Word, they encounter the same criticism as the camp male - they do not allow the character to transcend their sexual orientation and this proves to be a continual stumbling block for any representation of homosexuality whether male or female.

There are, however, the few exceptions that prove this rule of thumb. One such exception is the character of Willow in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Whilst she may not be the lead, Willow is a central character who is involved in a lesbian relationship for over two years’ worth of episodes, a relationship that other characters are aware and accepting of. The relationship is present, but not to the expense of other storylines involving Willow. Perhaps most importantly, actress Alyson Hannigan is not gay nor is she continually type-cast as gay. As much as this can be seen as a positive and balanced portrayal of lesbianism on television, the fanbase for Buffy is decidedly alternative and partially cancels out the progress Willow might have made in a more mainstream show.

It’s easy to clamber atop a soap box and protest for the rather right-on representation of homosexuality on the box but past efforts seem to suggest that they don’t win ratings. The reason images of the homosexual are so heavily coded in stereotypes is because audiences want to be able to differentiate between ourselves and the ‘abnormal’, The O.C. has taken a brave step in delegating a lesbian storyline to a character who has been shown to have a lot of heterosexual appeal. The real step forwards from this would be for such plotlines to go unnoticed rather than through a process of gradual acceptance.