Exclive: 'Empire' To Air First Black Gay Weddg On Network TV | Essence

Contents:

• BEWCHED, BOTHERED, AND BEWILRED: THE STRAIGHT AMERIN FAY “GAY WEDDG ADVICE”
• BRISH ROYAL FAY'S FIRST GAY WEDDG: LORD MOUNTBATTEN TO MARRY JAM COYLE
• EXCLIVE: 'EMPIRE' TO AIR FIRST BLACK GAY WEDDG ON NETWORK TV
• AI HAS ITS FIRST TRADNAL GAY WEDDG?
• SOUTH AI: GAY UPLE HOPE THEIR TRADNAL WEDDG WILL SPIRE THE BLACK MUNY

BEWCHED, BOTHERED, AND BEWILRED: THE STRAIGHT AMERIN FAY “GAY WEDDG ADVICE”

The 2014 Key & Peele sketch “Gay Weddg Advice” centers around the Johnsons, a black fay preparg for a relative’s upg gay weddg. While pokg fun at an ignorant hoehold’s well-tentned attempts to support the marriage of a gay relative, the sketch skillfully criqu both the nuclear fay stcture and the popular stereotyp associated wh queer inty.

“Gay Weddg Advice” begs wh Larry Johnson, played by Jordan Peele, leadg a Johnson fay Q&A. ” In need of “a ltle help wh the particulars of a gay weddg, ” Larry has enlisted the help of Gary, a gay -worker (and not Larry’s iend, as Larry is quick to clarify), to answer the fay’s qutns preparatn for the event. If anythg, Larry’s anx disposn further echo the llective uneass that the Johnson fay feels towards the prospect of a gay weddg, and queerns general.

BRISH ROYAL FAY'S FIRST GAY WEDDG: LORD MOUNTBATTEN TO MARRY JAM COYLE

Once troduced, Gary thanks the Johnson fay for their support of Co Delroy, as seems that they are willg to te themselv about somethg as “crazy” as a gay weddg.

Still, Larry’s refal to ll Gary a iend not only suggts that Larry is unfortable wh Gary’s queerns, but also reveals that Larry don’t know many gay people the first place, forcg him to ll on an acquatance to broach this sensive topic. So even before the qutns and answers beg, the first mute of “Gay Weddg Advice” sets up the scenar of a queer man surround by a fay that both fears associatn wh homosexualy and has sparse teractn wh queer people. While “Gay Weddg Advice” superficially pok fun at the disorientatn ed by queer relatnships wh black fai, the Johnsons’ qutns also reveal the persistence of harmful stereotyp associated wh queer intifitn.

Throughout the urse of the Q&A, the Johnson fay’s qutns bee creasgly obte, and the spectator nnot help but empathize wh the Gary as only gay person the room. One might thk that someone who was repulsed by the ia of a queer fay, as so many of the Johnsons are, would also reil at gay entertament. But “Gay Weddg Advice” driv home a fer pot:that those who nsume queer culture wh pleasure n still be horribly tolerant.

EXCLIVE: 'EMPIRE' TO AIR FIRST BLACK GAY WEDDG ON NETWORK TV

Before he officially begs the advice ssn, Gary succctly clarifi, “I jt wanted to say, basilly, that a gay weddg is jt like straight weddg.

“Now, none of are gay, so I assume we would all s the straight sectn. ” Clearly, this member of the Johnson clan did not absorb Gary’s troductory remark, revealg that he still perceiv gay weddgs as fundamentally anthetil to straight weddgs.

” But spe Gary’s sistence that gay weddgs are jt like straight weddgs, the fay’s qutns only grow creasgly offensive — and hilarly absurd.

AI HAS ITS FIRST TRADNAL GAY WEDDG?

” While Gary kdly assur him that jazz hands are not required at gay weddgs, the young man nspicuoly looks away om Gary durg their exchange, his lack of eye ntact revealg not only his disfort but his unwillgns to engage wh the subject matter at hand. An Amerin dis group of the late ‘70s, the Village People are a prime example of how gay creativ breached popular culture the dis era, their mic beg hs outsi of the queer muny. While the songs n serve as proud gay anthems, they also rell the historil modifitn of queer performance by heterosexual culture — the Johnsons’ unrstandg of queerns seems to rive largely om the appropriated piec of gay culture embedd wh the Amerin mastream.

If anythg, this further solidifi their perceptn of gay weddgs, as the notn of flamboyant performativy is the assumed basele of queer culture.

SOUTH AI: GAY UPLE HOPE THEIR TRADNAL WEDDG WILL SPIRE THE BLACK MUNY

Even durg nonsensil bat about the existence of “gay prents” and “gay stor, ” Gary manag to keep his ol and mata a posed meanor. They also ask when they’ll get to sg the chos of the Weather Girls’ 1982 anthem “It’s Rag Men” and other “gay hymns.

” (Intertgly enough, the Johnson patriarch is visibly trigued by the prospect of homosexual, not holy, hymns at this particular unn. ) While the stereotype of gay shows had been tablished by earlier referenc to the early dis scene, is important to note that the olr relativ exprs a poted fascatn wh the performative agments of queer culture.