Apologies for the vaguely offensive thread title, but John Inman's death got me thinking about the way homosexuals are portrayed in British comedy, and it always seems to be as a simpering queen. Even "quality" offerings such as Extras and The League Of Gentlemen fall back on these crude stereotypes. Yet America, which we tend to look down on, has dealt with being gay in a much more interesting way, in comedies like Will and Grace.
Off the top of my head, both the Brittas Empire and Coupling have both dealt with homosexuality in different and interesting ways.
The Brittas Empire has two gay characters (Tim and Gavin) where the running joke is that Brittas doesnt realise that they are a couple, possibly because neither acts like a "simpering queen."
An episode of Coupling also featured a character named Howard, who was a gay Tory and anything but a crude stereotype in both his political beliefs and mannerisms.
HOWARD: "Maggie Thatcher, in my opinion..."
SALLY: "Now listen to this Patrick, this is the voice of an oppressed minority."
HOWARD: "Maggie Thatcher is the best Prime minister, this country's ever had!"
SALLY: "WHAT?! BUT YOURE GAY! YOURE SUPPOSED TO BE ON OUR SIDE!!"
The same episode also gave this perspective on homosexuality...
JEFF: It must be a lot easier being gay. Sex must be a piece of piss if you're gay. If you're gay, see...if you're gay, masturbation is practice. Y'know, you can have a good old practice on your own, and then later, when you're ready, when you've got the hang of it, you have a go on someone else's. It's a piece of piss....See, it's different...it's different when you're a straight bloke. When we finally get our hands on the gear, let me tell you, it's not a drill. Gays have their own practice kit, but you don't get any practice women. We're supposed to fly those babies the first time we get in 'em!
HOWARD: That's a very good point actually.
SALLLY: No it's not its homophobic you stupid queen!
While I agree that some shows do resort to crude stereotypes, I think just as many US shows do as well. And by the same token, just as many British shows can portray homosexuals without falling back on that stereotype, even though it may not be to such a degree as Will & Grace does. (Although it must be noted that the other main male character in the show is just as camp as the next cliche.)
I think Drop the Dead Donkey managed to deal with it well with the character of Helen Cooper, a woman that George fell in love with, until Helen told him that she was a lesbian. She later slept with Dave however, after which she claimed that she truly was a lesbian, but that didn't stop Dave from asking to marry her.
The other major aspect of Helen's lesbianism was the fact that she was constantly worried about telling her parents, and was forever ying to them about having boyfriends, once asking Dave to pretend to be her boyfriend when her parents visited her. In the final series, after Helen's father dies, she eventually tells her mother the truth, but is horrified to discover that not only that they had already guessed she was a lesbian, but her mother had a lesbian fling as well.
All the best comedies have a bit of homoerotic subtext!
Spaced's Tim & Mike, Howard and Vince in the Boosh, and countless others.
But still, even now, a lot of the outwardly gay characters in sitcoms are full of stereotypes, I do agree with that.
Surely to be funny they have to be a stereotype or there's no point them being there - other than to be "right on".
I'm not being homophobic but otherwise they're just another character who happens to be gay. What's the point? It's comedy we're talking about.
It's like if there's a ginger haired character and ALL the jokes are about them being ginger. It gets boring. The gay part should just be part of the character, not all of it.
I think that British comedy does do gay people justice, the problem is that it's, unfortunatly, very easy of the writers to pull back on easy jokes at the gay character.
I think America did great with Will and Grace, and therefore an British comedy about, let's say, a gay couple, most of the situations have been done with Will and Grace, Ellen etc.
I agree. I didn't mean that ALL of the jokes have to be cliched.
It's not just Will and Grace. The Simpsons has also dealt with homosexuality in interesting ways. Not only is there Smithers, but there was the famous episode in which Homer worries that Bart might be turning gay and takes him hunting reindeers. It was light years ahead of anything I've seen in British comedy. And finally, don't equate dealing with something in an interesting or mature way with being po-faced or politically correct.