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Does Vicious mark the end of gay TV characters being invisible? Does Vicious mark the end of gay TV characters being invisible?
(5 months later)
"Ground floor: perfumery, stationery, leather goods, wigs and haberdashery …" The one reason a gay man growing up in the 1970s remembers that mouthful is that it was the curtain-raiser to the only regular TV appearance of a male homosexual – the flouncing Mr Humphries in Are You Being Served?"Ground floor: perfumery, stationery, leather goods, wigs and haberdashery …" The one reason a gay man growing up in the 1970s remembers that mouthful is that it was the curtain-raiser to the only regular TV appearance of a male homosexual – the flouncing Mr Humphries in Are You Being Served?
John Inman, who played Humphries, insisted at the time that he wasn't gay. It was a triumph for method acting, then. But Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft's creation highlighted almost every historic prejudice about homosexual men – Humphries was predatory, vain and lived with his mother.John Inman, who played Humphries, insisted at the time that he wasn't gay. It was a triumph for method acting, then. But Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft's creation highlighted almost every historic prejudice about homosexual men – Humphries was predatory, vain and lived with his mother.
Forty years on, ITV1 has served up Vicious. We're invited to conclude that the world has changed. A mainstream audience is now laughing with, rather than at, two grandes dames of British theatre, Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi.Forty years on, ITV1 has served up Vicious. We're invited to conclude that the world has changed. A mainstream audience is now laughing with, rather than at, two grandes dames of British theatre, Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi.
The first episode is a carefully crafted pastiche of a classic domestic sitcom. Instead of George & Mildred, it's Mildred & Mildred. (Anyone too sniffy shouldn't forget that George & Mildred lasted five triumphant series, its sixth only cancelled in 1980 because of the premature death of Yootha Joyce.) But it might be stretching a point to suggest that the campery of Vicious is radical, and some autopilot activists have been outraged at its caricatures.The first episode is a carefully crafted pastiche of a classic domestic sitcom. Instead of George & Mildred, it's Mildred & Mildred. (Anyone too sniffy shouldn't forget that George & Mildred lasted five triumphant series, its sixth only cancelled in 1980 because of the premature death of Yootha Joyce.) But it might be stretching a point to suggest that the campery of Vicious is radical, and some autopilot activists have been outraged at its caricatures.
In 2006 Stonewall published Tuned Out, research into the invisibility of gay people on TV. It found that in 168 hours of primetime broadcasting on BBC1 and BBC2, gay lives were represented positively for just six minutes. Most interesting, it found heterosexual licence-payers asserting that they expected the BBC, as a public service broadcaster, to be telling them honestly about communities they might not be well acquainted with.In 2006 Stonewall published Tuned Out, research into the invisibility of gay people on TV. It found that in 168 hours of primetime broadcasting on BBC1 and BBC2, gay lives were represented positively for just six minutes. Most interesting, it found heterosexual licence-payers asserting that they expected the BBC, as a public service broadcaster, to be telling them honestly about communities they might not be well acquainted with.
The BBC has since taken some commendable steps forward. (Equally welcome, at the time it also instructed its potty mouthed Radio 1 breakfast presenter Chris Moyles to stop using the word "gay" as a casual insult.)The BBC has since taken some commendable steps forward. (Equally welcome, at the time it also instructed its potty mouthed Radio 1 breakfast presenter Chris Moyles to stop using the word "gay" as a casual insult.)
It's not just the on-air appearance of role models such as Clare Balding and Evan Davis, notable for the brilliance of what they do rather than for the way they were born, that satisfies gay licence-payers and enhances the self-esteem of young gay people. It's seeing lesbian, gay and bisexual lives in the warp and weave of everyday broadcasting. (Jane Hazlegrove's arrival in BBC1's Casualty in 2006 as lesbian nurse Dixie, is a perfect example of how a low-key character in an ongoing drama can just happen to be gay.)It's not just the on-air appearance of role models such as Clare Balding and Evan Davis, notable for the brilliance of what they do rather than for the way they were born, that satisfies gay licence-payers and enhances the self-esteem of young gay people. It's seeing lesbian, gay and bisexual lives in the warp and weave of everyday broadcasting. (Jane Hazlegrove's arrival in BBC1's Casualty in 2006 as lesbian nurse Dixie, is a perfect example of how a low-key character in an ongoing drama can just happen to be gay.)
One of the recommendations of Tuned Out – derided by tabloid papers at the time – was that gay people should be included in game shows. That has changed too. In the last year we've seen the Sugar Dandies waltz into Britain's Got Talent, Coronation Street's Antony Cotton and his husband in Celebrity Mr and Mrs and Rylan Clark and Lucy Spraggan on The X Factor. Clark went on to be voted winner of Channel 5's Celebrity Big Brother three months ago.One of the recommendations of Tuned Out – derided by tabloid papers at the time – was that gay people should be included in game shows. That has changed too. In the last year we've seen the Sugar Dandies waltz into Britain's Got Talent, Coronation Street's Antony Cotton and his husband in Celebrity Mr and Mrs and Rylan Clark and Lucy Spraggan on The X Factor. Clark went on to be voted winner of Channel 5's Celebrity Big Brother three months ago.
Channel 5 proprietor Richard Desmond may be a social conservative but when the premium phonelines rang, he reconciled himself to what the public wanted. And one of the "gayest" shows now on Sky – and a worldwide hit – is Glee. The show is chock full of gay teenage and adult role models.Channel 5 proprietor Richard Desmond may be a social conservative but when the premium phonelines rang, he reconciled himself to what the public wanted. And one of the "gayest" shows now on Sky – and a worldwide hit – is Glee. The show is chock full of gay teenage and adult role models.
Glee is made by Fox. And Fox proprietor Rupert Murdoch is not making Glee out of philanthropy. He's making it to make money. (In 2012 the programme was America's fourth most successful in ad earnings per minute.)Glee is made by Fox. And Fox proprietor Rupert Murdoch is not making Glee out of philanthropy. He's making it to make money. (In 2012 the programme was America's fourth most successful in ad earnings per minute.)
That, in the end, may be TV's biggest driver of change. If gay people don't appear as a part of everyday life in their programmes, viewers deem broadcasters to be inauthentic. If an occasional sitcom featuring two bitchy queens causes outrage to some activists, the best retort is that far from that being the only characterisation of gay people – or old people – it's one of many.That, in the end, may be TV's biggest driver of change. If gay people don't appear as a part of everyday life in their programmes, viewers deem broadcasters to be inauthentic. If an occasional sitcom featuring two bitchy queens causes outrage to some activists, the best retort is that far from that being the only characterisation of gay people – or old people – it's one of many.
And amid the brouhaha over Vicious, don't overlook ITV1's other good new comedy offering this week. History Boys actor Russell Tovey stars in The Job Lot playing Karl, a frisky heterosexual. That a gay actor – and a pin-up for teenage girls – is convincingly playing a straight man in primetime, and no tabloid paper or harrumphing Tory backbencher has noticed, is possibly a bigger step in broadcasting history than the squawky arrival of Vicious.And amid the brouhaha over Vicious, don't overlook ITV1's other good new comedy offering this week. History Boys actor Russell Tovey stars in The Job Lot playing Karl, a frisky heterosexual. That a gay actor – and a pin-up for teenage girls – is convincingly playing a straight man in primetime, and no tabloid paper or harrumphing Tory backbencher has noticed, is possibly a bigger step in broadcasting history than the squawky arrival of Vicious.
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