Monday, July 25, 2005
Queer as Folk Takes A Stand
I’ve always been an avid television watcher. I try to check out every series on TV (have to stay informed, you know?) and that can turn into a full time job on its own. I’m pretty open-minded when it comes to television, but on those rare occasions, I stumble across a show that not only entertains me, it teaches me something in the process. With the last season of Queer as Folk coming to a close, I wanted to quickly write about the effect that the most recent episodes have had on me.
We are currently two episodes away from the end of the series. When the show first debuted in 2000, I was turned off by the irresponsible usage of both drugs and sex. I was disappointed in the gay representation within the story lines and I didn’t find any of the characters to be memorable or even believable for that matter. Well, over the years, my heart and mind has been opened to the show and it’s made the BIGGEST impact on my life. As I have grown up over the past five years, so have the characters on the show. Not only do I identify with most of them now, I have fallen madly in love with them. When the finale airs in two weeks, I will cry, and hard.
Last week’s episode was, by far, the BEST episode of the acclaimed series. The show takes place in Pittsburgh and currently, the city is trying to pass a “fictional” law called “Proposition 14”, which essentially strips homosexuals of their current rights, while also making it impossible for them to consider marriage or adoption rights in the future. To combat “Proposition 14”, the gay community decides to throw a fundraiser at Babylon, the huge club owned by lead character, Brian.
At the height of the fundraiser, Cindy Lauper is singing this new hit of hers, Shine,(which by the way I adored) and at the climax of her performance, a white light flashes and all of the main characters look towards the door. In what can only be described as the most powerful visual of the summer television season, the club explodes as a result of a bomb planted by the bar. The explosion was never shown, but the look in the characters eyes as the white light flashed over their faces still gives me chills and causes the tears to rise in my throat.
I must have rewound and watched the scene a dozen times. Then when Paul and I met up yesterday, I had him watch the episode. While Paul is usually a stone when it comes to showing emotion, the shock of the explosion immediately sent him into a breakdown. We both sat there crying, holding each other, and angry that we live in a world filled with such violence and hatred.
It would seem that as I get older, I would become more accepting of the intolerance that is all around us. But for some reason, as I get older, I get angrier and more impatient with heterosexual bigots working their asses off to condemn the lifestyle that I was born with and trying so desperately hard to work through. The show may be a bit extreme to many people who view it, but for those of us in the gay world, there is nothing extreme about it. Our president IS a bigot and most right wingers scare me more than all of the Taliban combined.
The show has dealt with the religion issue on many levels. They have gone after Jerry Falwell and have even taken a stance to combat any sort of progress towards a Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage. While our representatives in the White House keep fighting for a heterosexist society, WE have a show like Queer as Folk standing up and speaking out on the difference between right and wrong, freedom versus oppression.
As a Born Again Christian, if I hear one more person tell me that GOD wants me to stop being a homosexual because that’s what’s written in the Bible, I very well may just knock the person’s teeth out. I’ve never been one for violence, but I’ve never been this fed up or angry either. I am so sick and tired of people blowing up people because of ANY sort of belief. What the fuck! Seriously, we will ALL be judged for our actions some day and I know that God is going to have quite a few choice words for people who use God as a reason for committing brutal murders. Using HIS name as a way of condoning murder, as a way of taking action for closed minded beliefs…oh man, I’m so happy that’s not the judgment I’m going to have to face.
Queer as Folk has touched a major nerve within me this season. Sometimes the dialogue can be a bit cliché and sometimes I literally laugh at some of the shit these guys deal with. But overall, I have to say that of any show I’ve ever watched, this one has actually changed the way that I see the world and myself. I’m so proud to be gay and I’m so proud that my minority group has come as far as we have come.
So I’ve made a decision. I’m going to start volunteering for a local gay organization. I’m ready to help out others just like me. It took me a long time to get to the point where I’m comfortable enough in my own sexuality and my belief in God. But now that I’m here, I feel compelled to be an advocate for Gay rights. Whether it’s working for an AIDS clinic or answering the phones at a crisis hotline, I won’t feel like a whole person until I do something to help out others who are struggling with some of the same issues that I’ve struggled with over the years.
Who knew that a television show could have such a powerful impact? If I were you, I would catch up with it while you still have the chance. Not only will you laugh and cry, you just may walk away looking at some of society’s most pressing issues in a new light.
Queer as Folk…Thank you.
I’ve always been an avid television watcher. I try to check out every series on TV (have to stay informed, you know?) and that can turn into a full time job on its own. I’m pretty open-minded when it comes to television, but on those rare occasions, I stumble across a show that not only entertains me, it teaches me something in the process. With the last season of Queer as Folk coming to a close, I wanted to quickly write about the effect that the most recent episodes have had on me.
We are currently two episodes away from the end of the series. When the show first debuted in 2000, I was turned off by the irresponsible usage of both drugs and sex. I was disappointed in the gay representation within the story lines and I didn’t find any of the characters to be memorable or even believable for that matter. Well, over the years, my heart and mind has been opened to the show and it’s made the BIGGEST impact on my life. As I have grown up over the past five years, so have the characters on the show. Not only do I identify with most of them now, I have fallen madly in love with them. When the finale airs in two weeks, I will cry, and hard.
Last week’s episode was, by far, the BEST episode of the acclaimed series. The show takes place in Pittsburgh and currently, the city is trying to pass a “fictional” law called “Proposition 14”, which essentially strips homosexuals of their current rights, while also making it impossible for them to consider marriage or adoption rights in the future. To combat “Proposition 14”, the gay community decides to throw a fundraiser at Babylon, the huge club owned by lead character, Brian.
At the height of the fundraiser, Cindy Lauper is singing this new hit of hers, Shine,(which by the way I adored) and at the climax of her performance, a white light flashes and all of the main characters look towards the door. In what can only be described as the most powerful visual of the summer television season, the club explodes as a result of a bomb planted by the bar. The explosion was never shown, but the look in the characters eyes as the white light flashed over their faces still gives me chills and causes the tears to rise in my throat.
I must have rewound and watched the scene a dozen times. Then when Paul and I met up yesterday, I had him watch the episode. While Paul is usually a stone when it comes to showing emotion, the shock of the explosion immediately sent him into a breakdown. We both sat there crying, holding each other, and angry that we live in a world filled with such violence and hatred.
It would seem that as I get older, I would become more accepting of the intolerance that is all around us. But for some reason, as I get older, I get angrier and more impatient with heterosexual bigots working their asses off to condemn the lifestyle that I was born with and trying so desperately hard to work through. The show may be a bit extreme to many people who view it, but for those of us in the gay world, there is nothing extreme about it. Our president IS a bigot and most right wingers scare me more than all of the Taliban combined.
The show has dealt with the religion issue on many levels. They have gone after Jerry Falwell and have even taken a stance to combat any sort of progress towards a Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage. While our representatives in the White House keep fighting for a heterosexist society, WE have a show like Queer as Folk standing up and speaking out on the difference between right and wrong, freedom versus oppression.
As a Born Again Christian, if I hear one more person tell me that GOD wants me to stop being a homosexual because that’s what’s written in the Bible, I very well may just knock the person’s teeth out. I’ve never been one for violence, but I’ve never been this fed up or angry either. I am so sick and tired of people blowing up people because of ANY sort of belief. What the fuck! Seriously, we will ALL be judged for our actions some day and I know that God is going to have quite a few choice words for people who use God as a reason for committing brutal murders. Using HIS name as a way of condoning murder, as a way of taking action for closed minded beliefs…oh man, I’m so happy that’s not the judgment I’m going to have to face.
Queer as Folk has touched a major nerve within me this season. Sometimes the dialogue can be a bit cliché and sometimes I literally laugh at some of the shit these guys deal with. But overall, I have to say that of any show I’ve ever watched, this one has actually changed the way that I see the world and myself. I’m so proud to be gay and I’m so proud that my minority group has come as far as we have come.
So I’ve made a decision. I’m going to start volunteering for a local gay organization. I’m ready to help out others just like me. It took me a long time to get to the point where I’m comfortable enough in my own sexuality and my belief in God. But now that I’m here, I feel compelled to be an advocate for Gay rights. Whether it’s working for an AIDS clinic or answering the phones at a crisis hotline, I won’t feel like a whole person until I do something to help out others who are struggling with some of the same issues that I’ve struggled with over the years.
Who knew that a television show could have such a powerful impact? If I were you, I would catch up with it while you still have the chance. Not only will you laugh and cry, you just may walk away looking at some of society’s most pressing issues in a new light.
Queer as Folk…Thank you.
