We've come a long way baby, but is
America ready for average gays?
Hollywood has a long history of
portraying gays and lesbians as exceptional creatures of fabulous
talent, wealth, good taste and physical prowess. The lesbians who
pussyfoot about on Showtime's L Word and the pure fantasy of a
sizzling Pittsburgh gay scene of hunky men and easy sex depicted in
Queer As Folk are just the latest incarnations of this
archetype.
But a new drama taking shape at ABC may
herald the era of the ordinary gay.
ABC has greenlighted a half-hour comedy
series that revolves around the lives of three families living in
Chicago. An American Family features a traditional family,
one that includes a sixty-year-old man who becomes a stepfather after
marrying a Latina thirty years his junior, and the third is a gay
male couple who have just adopted a Vietnamese baby.
The Hollywood Reporter is
reporting that the show's producers have signed on average Joe Jesse
Tyler Ferguson (The Class) and teddy-bearish Eric Stonestreet
(CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) as our mundane gay heroes.
The show is being described as a modern
day “Pride and Prejudice,” which can be taken to mean the gays
come out on top. Guess we'll have to wait and see.
The question is: Is America ready for a
garden variety gay couple?
Gay Entertainment Report is a feature
of On Top Magazine and can be reached at
ontopmag@ontopmag.com.