HBO seri 'Six Feet Unr' ma U.S. televisn history wh the first portrayal of gay marriage. HBO seri 'Six Feet Unr' ma U.S. televisn history wh the first portrayal of gay marriage.
Contents:
- DAVID FISHER ON ‘SIX FEET UNR’ WAS ONE OF THE FIRST THREE-DIMENSNAL PORTRAYALS OF A GAY MAN ON MASTREAM TELEVISN
- ‘SIX FEET UNR’ MA TV HISTORY WH FIRST PORTRAYAL OF GAY MARRIAGE
DAVID FISHER ON ‘SIX FEET UNR’ WAS ONE OF THE FIRST THREE-DIMENSNAL PORTRAYALS OF A GAY MAN ON MASTREAM TELEVISN
When Six Feet Unr buted on HBO 2001, David Fisher’s personal circumstanc matched perfectly wh what was gog on wh portrayals of gay people on televisn. TV had e a long way om the days of gay characters nvertg to straight or beg mcg stereotyp (we’re lookg at you Dynasty and Bewched) but they weren’t exactly nuanced. Most of the out characters were safely rdoned off the ghetto of “gay shows” like Queer as Folk or as sanized versn of gay people on mastream fare like Will & Grace, where gay characters were allowed to make jok about Liza Mnelli but weren’t allowed to actually kiss on the mouth.
In fact, he didn’t really want anyone to know he was gay and felt like he was betrayg his fay, his relign, and his nservative upbrgg jt by ltg after dus.
” Jt like those whewashed gay characters he didn’t want to b anyone’s face se he might make the straight people unfortable. ” He went om beg pigeonholed by his sexual orientatn to beg a well-round and tertg character, who jt happened to be gay and was once kidnapped and forced to smoke crack the back of a van. The reason he’s important, however, is that David is one of the first three-dimensnal portrayals of a gay man on mastream televisn.
‘SIX FEET UNR’ MA TV HISTORY WH FIRST PORTRAYAL OF GAY MARRIAGE
Uptight, fty, and an 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. Y, he had boyiends and sang the Gay Men’s Chos, but most of the time you see him wh his fay and at work. Like so many gay men, he don’t operate only the swirlg lights of Babylon wh Brian Kney and the boys.
His explos aren’t meant for jt a gay dience. David Fisher proved that gay characters are part of the taptry of a great televisn drama jt as gay men are part of the great taptry of life. Thanks to him breakg out of the closet, all the subsequent gay characters were allowed to be a lot more than who they sleep wh.
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. 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.