The Simpsons: Waylon Smhers Comg Out as Gay Falls Flat | Time

Contents:

• ‘THE SIMPSONS’ LANDMARK GAY EPISO KEEPS THE FAY
• REVISG THE FIRST-EVER GAY EPISO OF THE SIMPSONS
• THREE GAYS OF THE CONDO

‘THE SIMPSONS’ LANDMARK GAY EPISO KEEPS THE FAY

And while ’s a historil moment for Smhers, ’s also a full-circle one for longtime seri wrer Rob LaZebnik, whose son, Johnny, spired Smhers’ big, gay g-out episo 2016. Of urse, Smhers — who fds himself thst to a globe-trottg, whirlwd romance wh Garber’s fashnista — was already fluenced by them both when he bted down his closet door 2016’s touchg Season 27 episo “Tom Colls, ” which was penned by Rob as an homage to his gay son.

“So often, gay romanc are a subplot or allud to or shown some kd of montage or as a punchle. And what I thk I was really exced about, wh this episo, we get to see — whout spoilg too much — the begng, middle and who knows how ends of a gay relatnship, of really gettg to the nty-grty of how gay people date, how they meet, what ’s like, ” he said. “I haven’t played a lot of gay characters, but every time I do , brgs back certa feelgs I had as a young actor where I uldn’t be gay.

REVISG THE FIRST-EVER GAY EPISO OF THE SIMPSONS

The SimpsonsCast & crewUser reviewsTriviaEpiso aired Feb 16, 1997TV-1423mAfter Marge beiends John, a gay store owner, Homer worri that his prence will have a negative effect on Bart's Marge beiends John, a gay store owner, Homer worri that his prence will have a negative effect on Bart's Marge beiends John, a gay store owner, Homer worri that his prence will have a negative effect on Bart's productn, box office & pany PhotosReview John Waters-The Simpsons-My Wet DreamThis is my favore Simpsons episo bee 's the two thgs that me asm the most, John Waters and The Simpsons. Homer unknowgly beiends a gay shop owner (John Waters) and then is horrified to fd out his sexualy. Upon the ncurence of this rmatn, Homer begs to spect Bart is turng gay.

Homer gets mad at John Waters for not beg more gay.

He uldn't be more gay. What about a gay steel l?

THREE GAYS OF THE CONDO

Cult in John Waters was the first openly gay character on The Simpsons, and the show's treatment of him signaled a tidal shift Amerin TV. When a character was referred to as gay, the figure qutn almost always played as tragic or, more often, herently il. The Simpsons mocked almost everythg (except Scientology) s Goln Age, but unlike most ss of the time, the seri didn’t treat s first openly gay character as a walkg joke.

Beg gay was, and of self, seen as a punchle even for progrsive televisn of the ‘80s and early ‘90s, and few shows were terted challengg this. However, the show was still subject to work censorship and, although the star of Ellen me out as a lbian two months later, “Homer’s Phobia” was one of the first attempts to break down the visible barrier faced by gay characters. While no one explicly stated that any characters were to be stereotyped, was all-but-unheard of for a character like John, who was picted as charmg, lm, and genial, to be gay.

The Simpsons rarely ma small-town Sprgfielrs the villas of the story, but this stance, turng Homer to the bad guy led Amerin dienc to intify wh a sweet, likable character who happened to be gay over the regnizable s dad they were ually expected to love and see as herently harmls spe his prejudice. However, “Homer’s Phobia” picked Waters not bee of his fame but bee his public image reprented the perfect tersectn between all-Amerin manners and the more outre, unfaiar aspects of queer culture, mp, and the gay experience. Castg Waters as a level-head, kd, and unrstandg face of the LGBTQ+ muny allowed The Simpsons to celebrate mp, queer culture, and outsir art whout makg the character himself a stereotype or offensive riture of what was perceived as “gay.

In ntrast, anyone unfaiar wh the director’s ovre got a funny, self-pretg look to LGBTQ+ culture a story where beg gay was neher a joke to lghed at, or an odd spectacle to be leered and jeered at. Waters had a sense of humor about John and ma him a funny figure whout treatg his gayns self as a joke. The fact that his character The Simpsons was both mp and ol pared to Homer and pany’s “normal” and nrotic reactn to him was one of televisn’s first attempts to see homophobia as the exceptn and not the norm.

The groundbreakg episo featured a character played by queer filmmaker John Waters and an famo scene set a gay steel l. I was remd recently that was the anniversary of the first-ever gay episo of The Simpsons, ‘Homer’s Phobia’ (Season 8, Episo 15, se you want to revis ) airg Ameri.

Unbeknownst to Homer, John is a gay man, a fact that eaks him out. Not admtg that he is homophobic, he ratnalis his reactn by sayg wasn’t bee John was gay, but bee he was a sneak about , statg, “I like my beer ld, my TV loud, and my homosexuals fuh-lamg”. His paranoia leads to him spectg that Bart might be gay, then embarkg on a missn to “fix” him, which clus a hilar scene a gay steel l.

Before this, a Roseanne episo wh a gay weddg was moved to a later start time, and Friends featured a gay weddg but whout the ceremonial kiss. The Simpsons had prevly been y about homosexualy.

It is full of mp referenc, cludg the song ‘I Like The Nightlife’, which had famoly been featured Priscilla, Queen of the Dert, as well as the aforementned gay steel l that is full of obvly queer men who work hard but play hard too (my favoure scene). Usually, The Simpsons scripts would receive small censorship not, but ‘Homer’s Phobia‘ rulted three pag worth, and many of them were about thgs beg gay or the very e of the word. I felt the show was lghg wh gay people stead of at gay people.