How Homosexuals and Homosexuality Are Portrayed In Popular Shows

Introduction

For my media project I chose to study how homosexuality is portrayed in the popular shows Glee, Modern Family, and Family Guy. I chose these shows because they are all shows that are popular among kids my age. I studied by watching three episodes and identifying the parts where homosexuality was mentioned. Then I wrote out what messages/values could be portrayed from each of these parts. Then I looked over what I had written about each episode and wrote what the show was saying about homosexuality on a whole.

What I found-Glee

Meet Kurt. Kurt is a high-schooler in the show Glee,

but unlike all the other high-schoolers in the show, Kurt is gay.

Kurt is very stereotypical. He has a high voice and he talks

completely differently from the other characters. He also dresses

in very dramatic outfits that on occasion are borderline cross-dressing.

Kurt enjoys singing in Glee club as well as cheer leading for his school.

And of course, he has a crush on a jock, Finn.

Since Kurt is the only gay main character in the show, almost

every time homosexuality is mentioned he is involved.

Though Kurt himself sends off many messages about homosexuals,

(that they have high voices, talk and dress dramatically,

crush on straight people, all that stuff.) there were also many messages that could be portrayed

incorrectly based on people talking too or about Kurt. Here is one example:

Stupid jocks call Kurt names like "fancy" or "homo". The message the creators

were probably trying to send is that only stupid or bad people would say this to

someone who was gay, but what some people saw was much more harmful, and totally

different. Let's say the viewer is a high school kid, let's call him Travis,

anyway Travis is trying to fit in with everyone else.He sees this part and instead of

seeing the jocks as stupid he looks past that and sees them as popular,

something he would do anything to become. So Travis decides that if calling gay people names

is what can make you popular, then he will do it.

Sure maybe this looks like an exaggeration, but maybe not. Maybe there are

Travis's out there. Maybe, at some time, we all are Travis's. Totaled, out of the three episodes

I watched of Glee I looked at the what messages could be portrayed from 20 different incidents.

This does not include all the messages about the characters mannerisms, clothing, or voice.

Of those 20 only 2 gave positive messages about homosexuality. That's 10 percent.

That means only 10 percent of the time, all the Travis's out there got the right message.

Though this show seems to try and make it look like being gay is o.k., that's not what many

viewers will feel after seeing it.

What I found-Family Guy

These are the two gay characters from Family Guy.

On the left is Bruce, a minor character that has

a very high voice with a slight lisp. On the right

is Herbert, an elderly pedophile that attracts little

boys with candy or Popsicles. Both are stereotypes

but in very different ways. Family guy is known for

"crossing the line." The question is, where does

joking become harmful? If a viewer watched Family

Guy knowing that the jokes are meant to be

funny and not to be imitated this show would not be

a big deal. But as we discovered above in the Glee

section, viewers don't always do this. For example if someone had only seen homosexuals in a show like Family Guy, they would probably think that it

was a correct portrayal of real life. They may think all gay people have high voices and

either are or become pedophiles. Also, because of how often it comes up, they may think

all gay people use power for sex, or are rapists. They might think calling a gay person

a derogatory name is o.k. because the show never says differently.

In my study I found 15 references to homosexuality. To be fair I think there are 100 percent

negative references to every sexuality, race, gender, or any other grouping. No this is not because the creators hate every group of people. It is because they use them to be funny,

and "cross lines" in ways that no other show does, or could get away with. Because of this Family Guy is a dangerous weapon, that depending on the viewer, could be very damaging and dangerous, or funny and enjoyable.

What I found-Modern Family

Modern Family is very different from all of the other shows involving homosexuals because it shows two men in a loving, committed relationship, who live, and have a adopted baby together. Their names are Mitch (on the left) and Cam (on the right). Neither are perfect stereotypes as we see with Bruce in family guy. Cam is very dramatic, funny, laid back, and has a fairly high voice. Mitch also has a fairly high voice, he is more uptight, and wants things perfect. They both dress differently than other characters, Cam wears mostly colorful button-up shirts and jeans, Mitch wears long-sleeved button-ups with a sweater-vest and jeans. They are the only gay characters in the show so basically all the references to homosexuality are involving them. The one re-occurring message is that they are different from straight men because they don't like sports, or they love buying flowers, or they are scared when a pigeon is in their house. Though there are clearly stereotypes about homosexuality in this show, in general the messages are less vicious than that in Family Guy or Glee. I found that out of 14 messages 11 were either positive or neutral. That is without the messages about their voice, dress, or mannerisms. Though Modern Family does it's best to stray from negative messages it does use stereotypes that can contribute to inequity in our society.

Values

As a person who values acceptance of everyone what I found came partially as a surprise to

me because there were so many messages that could be portrayed negatively. I have often wondered

so many people even at my age don't except homosexuals. They make mean jokes about them,

or call them horrible names. I used to think much of the blame fell on the parents, but after

my investigation I think there is also blame in the TV they watch. Now, with shows like Family

Guy, or South Park, more and more kids think it's o.k. to say horrible things about homosexuals

because that is what they see in their favorite shows.

My Advice

Watch TV knowing this. Most of what you see in TV shows like the ones I analyzed are not

made for you to shape your life on. So when watching a show, watch it only for your enjoyment.

Sources:

Modern Family: Family Portrait, Airport 2010, Hawaii

Family Guy: Dial Meg For Murder, Quagmires Dad, Splendid Source

Glee: Theatricality, Funk, Dream On