A History of the Gay Bt Friend Film and TV

Contents:

• FRIENDSHIP TROUBLE: AN EXAMATN OF THE GAY BT FRIEND INTY AMERIN CONSUMER CULTURE
• THE TROPE OF THE ‘GAY BT FRIEND’ MOVI AND TELEVISN, EXPLAED
• HOW TO FD YOUR GAY BT FRIEND
• MEETG YOUR FIRST GAY FRIEND
• LARRY HAWORTH'S LIST: GAY PORN TUBE
• HOW TO TELL IF YOUR GUY FRIEND IS GAY

FRIENDSHIP TROUBLE: AN EXAMATN OF THE GAY BT FRIEND INTY AMERIN CONSUMER CULTURE

Related: Bt Gay Movi Streamg on NetflixTo make sure the movi liver all the passn, fatuatn, urtship and flirtatn you may be cravg, our remendatns only clu movi where romantic relatnships are ont-and-center—which means such LGBTQ+ gems as, say, Can You Ever Five Me? Fire Island (2022)Pri and Prejudice leans to pri Spa Night and Driveways director Andrew Ahn's magnificent rom- (wrten by star Joel Kim Booster) that loosely adapts Jane Aten for gay mec.

Love, Simon (2018)You may never fd a film more quietly revolutnary than Love, Simon, the first-ever Hollywood stud-released picture centered on a gay teen. The ubiquy of the gay bt iend inty and the potential effects may have on gay men make this inty a ccial se for amic quiry, yet remas largely unexplored. This study seeks to addrs this void by offerg an analysis of the gay bt iend through an examatn of the quali that nstute the gay bt iend inty as is prented Amerin nsumer culture.

THE TROPE OF THE ‘GAY BT FRIEND’ MOVI AND TELEVISN, EXPLAED

The quali are ascertaed through an analysis of popular Amerin televisn shows and movi featurg gay bt iend characters—Will & Grace, Ugly Betty, Glee, Sex and the Cy, Burlque, The Devil Wears Prada, and Sex and the Cy 2. This say propos five tegori through which one n unrstand the quali of the gay bt iend inty: socenomic stat, the body, personal relatnships, behavr, and lack of agency.

The tegori nstct the gay bt iend inty as one that is pletely modified and sentialized and that, although touted as an ditn of creasg acceptance of gay people, nstut ltle more than a new form of opprsn.

Contemporary culture has bee saturated wh the gay bt iend; the July, 2010 issue of Teen Vogue pots out “the mt-have ems [for a fashnable teenage girl] clud a Proenza Schouler tie-dyed top, a shnken ary jack, neon bright chunky bracelets, and … a gay bt iend” (Talbot, 2010, page number). Ined, the gay bt iend n even be found on the shelv of booksellers natnwi Terrance Dean’s (2010) book, Straight om Your Gay Bt Friend: The Straight-Up Tth About Relatnships, Work, and Havg a Fabulo Life. Though the reprentatns of the gay bt iend are fictnal, the pervasivens of the inty poss as one wh the potential to affect the lived experience of real people a myriad of ways.

HOW TO FD YOUR GAY BT FRIEND

One potential effect of this inty is the perpetuatn of the opprsive cultural unrstandg of gay men as eful for style advice, terr sign, sassy ments, their abily to cut hair, and ltle else. In addn to ntributg to the margalizatn of gay men as a whole, this uld further margalize gay men who do not fill the role of the gay bt iend if the inty be signifintly more accepted than other gay inti. This should not e as a surprise, though, as gay culture has been heavily modified nsumer culture, the system where lkag between rourc, material and symbolic, and meangs, lived experience, and inty are created, mataed, and negotiated by markets (Arnould, 2010).

For example, gay street culture spired much of The Gap’s style (Berlant & Freeman, 1993), and Lady Gaga draws heavily on the gay cultural tradn of drag. This is exemplified Bravo’s h seri Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which promot gayns as a mody that n improve one’s life and shows viewers where gayns n be bought (Kooijman, 2005). Addnally, the targetg of the gay muny by “ol hunters, ” agents who would document aspects of gay culture and pch the aspects to pani lookg to make their products and advertisg “oler” (Kle, 1999), illtrat the high mody value of gayns.

Prev rearch has foced on heterosexual women who beiend gay men (Buckley, 2008; Maland, 1991; Moon, 1995; Thompson, 2004), the relatnships between gay bt iends and heterosexual women (Comer & Ldsey, 2007; Shepperd, Coyle, & Hegarty, 2010), and whether media reprentatns of gay men are posive or negative (Hart, 2004; Kooijman, 2005). This study seeks to addrs this void by offerg an analysis of the gay bt iend through an examatn of the quali that nstute the gay bt iend inty as is nstcted Amerin nsumer culture. Often fillg the role of villa, they functn as a foil for another male character whose heteronormativy is secured through juxtaposn wh the homosexual character.

MEETG YOUR FIRST GAY FRIEND

However, the gay bt iend characters more ser genr, such as drama and satire, reta some tragic elements, which are not shared by their suatn edy unterparts. As his female iend’s sikick, the suatnal edy’s gay bt iend’s behavr elics lghter om the dience, obscurg the social stctur supportg homophobia by divertg the dience’s attentn om the stctur to his il behavr (Gray, Jon, & Thompson, 2009). Bee the gay bt iend character is not nfed to one genre, and gay bt iend characters om different genr share many attribut— is both possible and necsary for an analysis of the gay bt iend to clu characters om multiple genr.

In addn to boastg high viewership, the televisn shows and movi span the time perd over which the gay bt iend rose to promence, which allows the vtigator to observe the chang the nstctn of the gay bt iend inty over time. ((Though there are certaly other televisn shows and movi ntag gay bt iend characters, the shows and movi feature their gay bt iend characters more promently than many other shows. Furthermore, there are other televisn shows and movi featurg gay characters that are not gay bt iend characters—characters whose iendships wh heterosexual women are not emphasized, e.

Therefore, to exame the nstctn of the gay bt iend inty, I intify and analyze the quali the characters performatively enact to ga this inty to bee gay bt iends. The quali belong to tegori pertag to larger aspects of the gay bt iend inty: socenomic stat, the body, personal relatnships, behavr, and lack of agency. Many of the quali of the gay bt iend inty, however, nnot be classified as belongg to only one tegory; nsequently, there is nsirable overlap between the tegori.

LARRY HAWORTH'S LIST: GAY PORN TUBE

Jack McFarland, a gay bt iend character om Will & Grace, appears to be fairly wealthy, yet his unsuccsful reer as an actor leav him virtually unemployed for much of the seri. For example, Kurt Hummel, the gay bt iend character Glee, wears -season, signer clothg; has a large and lavishly rated bedroom; attends an expensive private school for part of season two; and driv an expensive r, a Lln Navigator, (Murphy, Falch, Brennan, & Stt, 2009) early the seri. All the gay bt iend characters appear to have a high level of affluence, but many of the texts do not disclose the source of the character’s wealth.

The absence of an explic source of wealth, particularly texts ntag material that ntradicts the apparent affluence of the gay bt iend, offers sight to the importance of this qualy.

Beyond affluence and race, the gay bt iend characters share other quali that, although slightly ls relevant, provi some rmatn about their socenomic stat.

HOW TO TELL IF YOUR GUY FRIEND IS GAY

An tert fashn, particularly high-fashn, is associated wh the upper class (Barber and Lobel, 1952), so the gay bt iend’s tert fashn suggts an upper class standg. Furthermore, many of the gay bt iend characters monstrate their tert fashn by wearg very expensive signer clothg, signifyg their membership the upper class. Siarly, the gay bt iend characters share a preoccupatn wh “healthy” dietary habs, often the form of heavily rtrictg loric take and avoidg foods that nta fat.

Frequent dietg is associated wh high socenomic stat (Story, French, Rnick, & Blum, 1995), and health foods are typilly more expensive than their regular unterparts, so an obssn wh “healthy” eatg and health food signifi the gay bt iend character’s high socenomic stat. By featurg gay bt iend characters who share this batn of quali—affluent life styl, whens, an tert fashn, a slenr body, and a preoccupatn wh “healthy” eatg habs—the texts make high socenomic stat a major qualy of the gay bt iend character; thereby, nstctg the gay bt iend inty as one only available to dividuals wh high socenomic stat. The femizatn of the gay bt iend’s body tempers the masculy typilly associated wh male bodi and nstcts the gay bt iend inty as one whose body mt signify prcribed levels of masculy and femy.