"That's So Gay" Is Jt So Wrong | Psychology Today

Contents:

• 'THAT '90S SHOW' VIEWERS TORN OVER GAY REPRENTATN NETFLIX SPOFF
• "THAT'S SO GAY" IS JT SO WRONG
• THAT GAY SHOW
• WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT “THAT’S SO GAY”?
• THAT'S SO GAY!

'THAT '90S SHOW' VIEWERS TORN OVER GAY REPRENTATN NETFLIX SPOFF

Lookg to revent herself, Leia starts to realize that through new iendships and adventur she may be able to do jt that Pot Place, jt like her parents did all those years before viewers appeared divid by LGBTQ reprentatn the show, cludg character Ozzie (Reyn Doi) who out as gay durg the first season. In That '90s Show, Ozzie is out and proud wh his clost iends, namely Leia, her neighbor Gwen (Ashley Aufrhei), Gwen's brother Nate (Maxwell Acee Donovan), and his girliend Nikki (Sam Morelos) is also another sweet moment the first season, where Ozzie tells Kty about his sexualy and asks her if she was "okay" wh the fact that he is gay, to which she rponds that of urse she is okay wh , and giv him a storyle and the cln of a gay character has been hailed as groundbreakg, wh Canadian LGBTQ publitn In Magaze sayg Ozzie "leads the charge for a wele change reprentatn" ss. Reflectg on the show as a whole, one viewer said they "love the cln of a gay character, " while another hailed the scene which Kty reacted to Ozzie tellg her that he is viewer wrote: "THE SCENE WHEN OZZIE ASKED KITTY IF SHES OK WITH HIM BEING GAY & KITTY BEING SO ACCEPTING OF IT IS MAKING ME HAPPY CRY [sic]"THE SCENE WHEN OZZIE ASKED KITTY IF SHES OK WITH HIM BEING GAY & KITTY BEING SO ACCEPTING OF IT IS MAKING ME HAPPY CRY????? #That90sShow— ✨?✨ (@toriimariaa) January 19, 2023.

Some viewers may have fotten that That '70s Show actually ma history when me to gay reprentatn on Amerin televisn, as was the first to feature a kiss between two male characters on North Amerin primetime the show's but season, Joseph Gordon-Levt, a meo as Buddy Man "Eric's Buddy, " was a lab partner of Topher Grace's bondg all episo and startg to believe that Eric might also be gay, Buddy cid to kiss his classmate. Why we like : Vampir have long been a metaphor for queerns, and Anne Rice’s Interview wh the Vampire — both her 1976 novel and the 1994 film adaptatn — were also so obvly gay. The seri follows Louis Pote du Lac (Jab Anrson, Grey Worm om Game of Thron) as he reunts the wild tal of his life as a wealthy gay Black vampire 1900s New Orleans and the lover pann of Ltat (Sam Reid).

"THAT'S SO GAY" IS JT SO WRONG

What mak this new eratn of Interview so pellg, though (apart om beg super gay, of urse), is how updat Rice’s origal material to offer sharp social mentary on race, class, and sexualy. Our Flag Means Death is a ba-and-swch masterpiece that lur the dience wh the hilary of Wai's anachronistic wrg set agast the Goln Age of Piracy and traps 'em wh the reveal that OFMD is a gay romantic edy. Not only is this seri one of the most all-around lightful viewg experienc morn memory, but also offers a movg and nuanced look at LGBTQ love that actually lets a gay uple serve as the ma romantic storyle.

What is: An animated seri about an optimistic young girl bravg the dangers of a post-apolyptic Earth overn wh mutated we love : It's not often that you hear a character say "I'm gay" an animated show aimed at younger dienc, but that's exactly what happens Kipo and the Age of Wonrbeasts. It may appear quat now, when we have TV seri like Hulu’s Love, Victor (about a Latx teen explorg sexual fluidy) or Netflix’s Bondg (about sex work and alternative sexualy), but the great gay panic set off by Ellen DeGener g out on her s 1997 was a bombshell that didn’t necsarily nvce the works that they’d open the gat to LGBTQ experienc.

Luckily Will & Grace buted 1998 and the groundbreakg NBC seri nvced many that gay people might not be so toxic (and wouldn’t sre off advertisers) — so much so that Vice Print Joe Bin later creded wh changg his md about same-sex marriage. Dpe the fact that lns of Amerins wnsed two men raise a happy and healthy dghter om the fort of their livg room sofas, took a fan mpaign to lobby Disney-owned ABC to fally allow Mchell (gay actor Jse Tyler Fergon) and Cameron (straight actor Eric Stontreet) to kiss ( fally happened 2010). For years, ranged, perverse, and spible homosexuals were on full display — pecially om Ryan Murphy, who remas our most proment culture czar when to queer characters on TV.

THAT GAY SHOW

From the Roy Cohn-flected Army-McCarthy heargs — which was the first time many people heard the word “homosexual” uttered on TV — through the “don’t ask, don’t tell” Neti, that clud The Goln Girls and Digng Women, to our current glter-and-glam era of RuPl’s Drag Race and almost-anythg-go pansexualy. In that way, ’s breakg siar ground to the Sundance Now seri This Close, om af actors Shoshannah Stern and Josh Feldman, about a straight woman and gay man who are bti lookg for love and unrstandg.

WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT “THAT’S SO GAY”?

And while the seri received as much hate mail as adoratn — an evable byproduct of beg the first show to have openly gay male lead characters — lasted eight seasons before endg 2006.

It was Cher-lovg Jack (Sean Hay) and alholic, right-wg sociale Karen (Megan Mullally) as much as Will (Eric McCormack) and Grace (Debra Msg) that enared Amerins to the sassy s, wh l like: “Commandment number one the gay bible: Thou shalt not vet my ex’s ass. Adapted om gay director Jt Simien’s breakout film of the same name, about black llege stunts g to terms wh a “post-racial Ameri, ” the seri explor them of race, genr, and sexualy by skewerg jt about everyone for hypocrisy and double standards.

In the send season, he manag to evolve beyond simple trop and is given space to explore his queer inty, cludg havg his heart broken by Silv (a self-scribed “Mexin Italian gay vers top otter pup”), fdg a boyiend (of sorts), and even beg rejected by another black man bee of his sk lor — provg that, spe all the talk of “muny, ” ’s never easy to fe lastg bonds. The show plays to the gay-for-prison fantasy so many straight men seem to still harbor, but also shows how you n enjoy male-male timacy while also beg a harned badass. When her straight male roommate’s twentysomethg girliend, Francis, qutns why Leila is so terrified to tell anyone that she has sex wh both men and women, Leila tells her ’s plited bee ’s “a gay thg.

THAT'S SO GAY!

Matilda has high-functng tism, and some of the bt scen revolve around her explorg her fluid sexualy, while both girls embrace their gay half-brother’s relatnship failur as send nature.

Pl, managed to change many nservative viewpots the black muny — cludg Timbaland, who crafted the seri’ tchy origal tracks — and was a rare moment which a gay character of lor had so much visibily. The bt of the volv Otis’ gay bt iend Eric (Ncuti Gatwa), which is ls a tradnal g-out story (everyone already seems to know when the show begs) than about Eric beg more fortable how he feels about himself and how he prents himself to the world.

But there are a lot of other smart stori on LGBTQ subjects, om the technil (a gay virg learns the logistics of anal douchg) to the emotnal (former bt iends don’t work as a uple after both e out) — so many, fact, that ’s a b easier to five when one of the seri’ queer storyl (volvg a homophobic bully) don’t really work.