With homosexuality fast being accepted as normal by society, we start seeing more gay characters emerging on television. On the surface, this might seem like a good thing, what with television being the primary source of information for many, but when we look closer, we start to see the uglier side of things.
Another striking feature of this particular comic is that Wolverine's sexuality was not made front-and-center. The writers came up with his character and wove his sexuality into the story in a way that was not gimmicky. The subtlety of it actually complements the general plot instead of detracting from it. It should come as no surprise that many people see it "unrealistic" that someone so masculine as Wolverine could ever be gay in any Universe, which means the message is being sent to the right places.
I guess what I'm saying is instead of incorporating gay characters in a way that shouts "Hey! Our show/comic has a gay character! Look at how totally not homophobic we are!" writers should work on making the characters people who we can relate to. Not all gay guys care about the latest in spring fashion. Many of us you can't even tell apart from the average straight guy. And yes, we do come in more than one size.
Many shows have gay characters simply for the sake of having gay characters. For the sake of either seeming progressive or gaining more views from a growing socially liberal audience, these shows incorporate poorly written gay characters into the main storyline that, more than often, actually pulls down the quality of the show.
What irks me even more is the fact that in many of these shows, the gay character has to be the stereotypical thin, feminine fashion-conscious queen. I don't have anything against fem guys, but I would like more diversity. The gay culture is extremely diverse, and the fact that gay bears have little to no screen time is telling of the in-depth knowledge of these writers on the gay community.
That's one of the reasons I dislike The New Normal - it features the stereotypical gay couple. The gay guys on the show do nothing but further the image of gay couples as held by the uneducated heterosexual populace - one playing the role of husband, and the other playing the role of wife. How about having both play the role of husband for a change? I mean, isn't that what a same-sex relationship is comprised of, anyway?
Not all shows are guilty of this, of course. One of my favorite shows, Happy Endings, features a gay guy named Max who is well-written and masculine. He's just your average guy, except he's gay. I think that's what more shows need - less drama queens and more blue collar guys. But that's just me.
Featuring a gay character in anything has become a gimmick nowadays. For instance, when DC announced that their new Green Lantern was going to be gay, they did it with a lot of pomp and festivity. Obviously, this character is also the slim eye-candy with a poorly written backstory. Despite their pushing the character's sexuality to the forefront however, the comic still sucked.
However, there was another comic that caught my eye. I was going through my Tumblr dashboard last week and happened to come across this snapshot:
That was Wolverine making out with Hercules. Needless to say, I was more than curious. I did a quick Google search and stumbled upon the comic from which the picture was taken. Turns out it was from the X-treme X-Men Volume 2 storyline. Basically, it's a Wolverine and Hercules from a parallel dimension. But I'll take it anyway.
In the story, Wolverine and Hercules are two of the strongest heroes from their world, but the queen of that world prohibited homosexual relations, so they had to keep their relationship secret. When Zeus found out about them, he sentenced both of them to Tartarus because only he was allowed to sleep with mortals. What I love about the story is that both Wolverine and Hercules are the epitome of masculinity, yet they are in love. Finally, here's an official muscle-bear couple that caters to a wider audience and challenges stereotypes.
In the story, Wolverine and Hercules are two of the strongest heroes from their world, but the queen of that world prohibited homosexual relations, so they had to keep their relationship secret. When Zeus found out about them, he sentenced both of them to Tartarus because only he was allowed to sleep with mortals. What I love about the story is that both Wolverine and Hercules are the epitome of masculinity, yet they are in love. Finally, here's an official muscle-bear couple that caters to a wider audience and challenges stereotypes.
Another striking feature of this particular comic is that Wolverine's sexuality was not made front-and-center. The writers came up with his character and wove his sexuality into the story in a way that was not gimmicky. The subtlety of it actually complements the general plot instead of detracting from it. It should come as no surprise that many people see it "unrealistic" that someone so masculine as Wolverine could ever be gay in any Universe, which means the message is being sent to the right places.
I guess what I'm saying is instead of incorporating gay characters in a way that shouts "Hey! Our show/comic has a gay character! Look at how totally not homophobic we are!" writers should work on making the characters people who we can relate to. Not all gay guys care about the latest in spring fashion. Many of us you can't even tell apart from the average straight guy. And yes, we do come in more than one size.
