In his new memoir, the Emmy nomee and "Wire" star Michael K. Williams addrsed the portrayal of his gay character Omar.
Contents:
- MICHAEL K. WILLIAMS PHED FOR MORE GAY INTIMACY ON ‘THE WIRE’: ‘YOU KNOW GAY PEOPLE F*CK, RIGHT?’
- OMAR LTLE ON ‘THE WIRE’ WAS ONE OF TV’S FIRST GAY SUPERHERO
- MICHAEL K. WILLIAMS PHED FOR MORE TIMATE GAY SCEN FOR OMAR ON THE WIRE: 'WE SHOULD GO ALL '
- OMAR LTLE IS THE GAY STICK-UP MAN WHO ROBS DG ALERS FOR A LIVG THE WIRE
- HOW THE WIRE'S OMAR STAR FOUGHT FOR GAY REPRENTATN IN THE HBO SHOW
- MICHAEL K. WILLIAMS ON ‘THE WIRE’: I WANTED MORE GAY SCEN FOR OMAR
- HOW THE WIRE’S OMAR LTLE CHALLENGED GAY STEREOTYP MEDIA
MICHAEL K. WILLIAMS PHED FOR MORE GAY INTIMACY ON ‘THE WIRE’: ‘YOU KNOW GAY PEOPLE F*CK, RIGHT?’
* omar from the wire gay scene *
The “Lovecraft Country” and “Boardwalk Empire” actor portrayed gay dg aler Omar “The Wire” om 2002 to 2008. “As for Omar’s homosexualy, was groundbreakg 20 years ago, and I adm that at first I was sred to play a gay character, ” Williams penned an excerpt om his memoir “Scen From My Life” -thored wh Jon Sternfeld, via Vulture. “I thk my ial fear of Omar’s sexualy me om my upbrgg, the muny that raised me, and the stubborn stereotyp of gay characters.
Sce Omar was the “oppose of the stereotypil hood typ, ” Williams phed “The Wire” productn to showse all facets of Omar’s life onscreen, cludg his gay relatnships. I thk the directors were sred, and I said to one of them, ‘You know gay people fuck, right? I remember readg articl (that’s what we ed to ll thkpiec, child) the queer prs eagerly applyg that sipid and blandly normalizg phrase “who happens to be gay” to Omar, as if were a prize medal.
In season one, for example, dg-aler Avon Barksdale puts a price on Omar’s head – and upon learng that Omar is gay, promptly doubl . It was that the show never treated the outward signs of gayns as somethg Rickie should be ashamed of, or as thgs the dience should take as symbols for gayns wr-large.
OMAR LTLE ON ‘THE WIRE’ WAS ONE OF TV’S FIRST GAY SUPERHERO
Late actor Michael K. Williams' new memoir reveals that he phed for more timate gay scen for his character Omar on 'The Wire': 'You know gay people f---, right?' * omar from the wire gay scene *
There was a specificy to the character that allowed him to move beyond the kd of didacticism "very special episos" featurg gay characters had long been rced to. Through all, she blew up suffotg gay stereotyp.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer didn't portray her as broken or wicked bee she was gay, but bee she was pa, and a pa that dienc uld unrstand stead of judge. When Ellen Man says, "I'm gay" to an airport gate microphone, what she was really sayg was, "You loved me five mut ago, and I'm still the same person. For me, Jack's refal to be anythg but himself, to give anyone the power to huiate him, was credibly powerful to watch not only as a small gay child, but as a medium-sized gay adult too.
MICHAEL K. WILLIAMS PHED FOR MORE TIMATE GAY SCEN FOR OMAR ON THE WIRE: 'WE SHOULD GO ALL '
Michael K. Williams On ‘The Wire’: I Wanted More Gay Scen For Omar Actor Michael K. Williams revealed his memoir that he phed for more timate * omar from the wire gay scene *
"I celebrate T Andromedon: a fat, femme, gay Black man, who liv unflchgly and joyfully his every moment onscreen. We n never unrtimate the importance of seeg gay, lbian, bi, trans, asexual, tersex and genr nonnformg people on TV.
OMAR LTLE IS THE GAY STICK-UP MAN WHO ROBS DG ALERS FOR A LIVG THE WIRE
For those who didn't realize they knew a gay person real life, Will was their gateway to nnectg wh the LGBTQ+ muny. Hall Episos: 63 (2001 - 2005) "David was one of the first three-dimensnal portrayals of a gay man on mastream televisn. Uptight, fty, and exceptnally private, David's gay inty certaly rmed his character, but wasn't the entirety of -- a rary for the early days of prtige televisn.
Williams, Omar reprents the transn om the sexls sats of gay TV past to the flawed, plited characters who n simply exist. Kurt Hummel Show: Glee Performer: Chris Colfer Episos: 121 (2009 - 2015) Ryan Murphy's visn for Glee clud, among many (MANY) other thgs, takg on issu of gay acceptance and teen bullyg, and while not the only gay character on the show, Kurt was the vsel through which Murphy's msag were most often livered.
Kurt's teen romance wh Blae (Darren Criss) was the first full-blown gay teen romance that fans uld 'ship the same way they did for Joey/Pacey and Seth/Summer. That Tumblr-iendly fan-thiasm for a gay uple would have been unfathomable on a work seri even five years prr, makg Kurt a bean of changg tim. Jodie Dallas Show: Soap Performer: Billy Crystal Episos: 76 (1977 - 1981) As the first long-nng gay character televisn, Jodie Dallas paved the way for every other character on this list.
HOW THE WIRE'S OMAR STAR FOUGHT FOR GAY REPRENTATN IN THE HBO SHOW
Jodie's creatn was ght wh cricism om both sis, though, as relig and gay rights groups objected to Soap's handlg of gay them. Relig groups didn't want the s to clu gay them at all and they anized a boytt of the show before even aired.
The Gay Media Task Force was upset wh the show's nflagratn of gay men and trans people Jodie's ial storyle. Still, Soap kept up a "tell, don't show" pictn of Jodie's sexualy throughout his many years on televisn, makg sure that viewers always knew he was gay...
Lafayette Reynolds Show: Te Blood Performer: Nelsan Ellis Episos: 81 (2008 - 2014) Wh the stereotyp of Sassy Black Friend and Sassy Gay Friend still alive and well popular culture, the character of Lafayette was ripe for tokenism.
MICHAEL K. WILLIAMS ON ‘THE WIRE’: I WANTED MORE GAY SCEN FOR OMAR
Max Blum Show: Happy Endgs Performer: Adam Pally Episos: 57 (2011 - 2013) It's a shame Happy Endgs only held on for three seasons, bee Adam Pally's gmpy, lazy, and slouchy gay man was unlike any other gay character a work s. Max perfectly bed the stock gay character wh the "nnivg smart-ass" archetype that's sential to ensemble edi.
HOW THE WIRE’S OMAR LTLE CHALLENGED GAY STEREOTYP MEDIA
For once, the gay character got to do real s dirty work stead of teachg others lsons about tolerance. But Max wasn't a gay character that "jt so happened to be gay.
Jt Suarez Show: Ugly Betty Performer: Mark Inlito Episos: 85 (2006 - 2010) That work televisn featured a tweenage (and later teenage) gay kid a way that never felt like he was beg ma fun of was a great step forward. Bian Montgomery Show: All My Children Performer: En Riegel (primarily) Episos: 1988 - 2013 Gay characters the realm of daytime drama always had an uphill climb, given that their mographic was always olr and, as a rult, more nservative.