Quote: Ben @ April 1 2009, 8:39 AM BSTIs there such a thing as a fair stereotype?
White people are kind of square.
Gay Jokes/Characters In Comedy Page 5
People called Ben are perverts.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ April 1 2009, 9:40 AM BSTPeople called Ben are perverts.
Actually, that bears some scrutiny.
I knew a girl called Emma Stereotype who actually was one.
Quote: NoggetFred @ April 1 2009, 10:18 AM BSTI knew a girl called Emma Stereotype who actually was one.
A girl?
Quote: Ben @ April 1 2009, 8:39 AM BSTIs there such a thing as a fair stereotype?
The dumb blonde. 
Quote: Matthew Stott @ April 1 2009, 9:40 AM BSTPeople called Ben are perverts.
People called Benny wear wooly hats.
Quote: Ben @ April 1 2009, 8:39 AM BSTIs there such a thing as a fair stereotype?
Asians are good at maths, Jews possess strong financial acumen (and often prominent proboscises), Chinese are industrious, Swiss are good cooks, French make good wines, Zimbabwean government officials are corrupt, sitcom prostitutes have a heart of gold, etc.
Oh, and guys named Kenneth are chick magnets (who obviously lead such incredible sex lives they will never be found wasting time posting banal tripe in sitcom forums), as evidenced by this entry on Urban Dictionary:
Kenneth
a man with extremely wonderful hair, and with his good looks and great personality, he has every female after him.
"You're such a kenneth, always with the ladies."
Quote: Tim Walker @ March 31 2009, 10:14 PM BSTCOLIN: Oh, by the way, if two blokes check-in together. You know, one bed, probably gay? Try and put them on the ground floor.
JESS: Why?
COLIN: Keeps them away from the lifts.
Thats funny, not homophobic. I can imagine the brief look of confusion on Jess's face.
Its such an absurd prejudice that you could come back to it at the end of the episode: Jess, tired after a long day, is squashed into the lift as its full of gay men for no fathomable reason.
I've written with a pal who happens to be gay. One of the characters we created was gay, but it didn't seem any comedy came directly from this fact, though the overall tone of the piece was quite OTT and camp.
Quote: NoggetFred @ April 1 2009, 10:18 AM BSTI knew a girl called Emma Stereotype who actually was one.
A girl?
No, just one year old.
regards,
G Glitter.
Quote: David Bussell @ April 1 2009, 9:39 AM BSTWhite people are kind of square.
If you're white and have no zits thenthat's no dice.
Lee's post is spot on.
I know loadsa gays, camp ones too and the camp ones particularly, are extremely funny and exaggerate their gayness to make you laugh.
They're not offended [the ones I know] by stereotype characters in sitcoms
Quote: SlagA @ March 31 2009, 12:55 PM BSTHas anyone mentioned the great Gil Chesterton from Frasier? In a later episode, they were dumbfounded to learn he was married.
To that point, the series had portrayed Gil to be gay. His effeminate demeanour led the audience to believe he was gay.
That he was revealed to be married added to the mystique. Was he using the marriaqe as a cover-up? Was his wife aware of how he was percieved?
These questions opened a whole new window into Gil's life for the viewer - Is he or isn't he?
Surely, the comedy comes from not being sure, despite the signs we all interptret so readily. Perhaps the dichotomy of "maybe they aren't" is the key to a successful "gay" character.
Quote: Kenneth @ April 1 2009, 10:36 AM BSTAsians are good at maths, Jews possess strong financial acumen (and often prominent proboscises), Chinese are industrious, Swiss are good cooks, French make good wines, Zimbabwean government officials are corrupt, sitcom prostitutes have a heart of gold, etc.
Being a Jew with the financial acumen of Paris Hilton with a credit card, positive stereotypes are as bad. They give an unreasonable expectation and at worst make you resented for something you're not. Gay chums of mine who have poor taste and aren't outgoing, don't like being viewed as flamboyant extroverts.
N.B. in one Stephen King novella it would appear in rural Maine Jews are viewed as good electricians.
Quote: Geoff Mutton @ April 2 2009, 6:02 AM BSTTo that point, the series had portrayed Gil to be gay. His effeminate demeanour le
Surely, the comedy comes from not being sure, despite the signs we all interptret so readily.
I think rather than (or in addition to) it being our uncertainty, the comedy comes from the incongruity of an apparently gay man being not gay. Incongruous can be funny, whether it be a gorilla on a chat show, a pair of big banana boots or a hairy bloke in a dress.