Any gay DUers giving up Showtime/Queer as Folk because of DC 911

[Prodemsouth]

Just asking, know it is a popular show. I don't have cabel. Just want to find out if your outraged enough at DC911. But they do seem to have some shows that many gays view as positive.

[veganwitch]

1. what happened to earthlings??

i heard showtime was working on a lesbian equivilant to QAF.
QAF is interesting as it is fun looking at gay men, but the shows treatment of solving all gay problems in sitcom expediency (while giving token attention to the token lesbian couple) doesnt sit well with me.

[Prodemsouth]

2. Ok, if they had "earthlings" and you liked it would you cancel

because of DC911? The Bush propaganda piece.

[veganwitch]

11. hell no

of course.

[rusty charly]

4. i gave up showtime

BECAUSE of the dreadful crap that is Queer as Folk. Couldn't bear it after the first season. (and i got showtime to see it after loving the brit version, which i bought on DVD)

so i don't need to dump showtime for DC 911

[jumptheshadow]

3. No

Not for one movie. Let the guy be a drooling Bush groupie. I think his movie will speak for itself.

I give Showtime much credit for unveiling "Queer as Folk" at a time when nobody else would have touched it. They're also going to be airing a lesbian show sometime next year. So they screen a dumb movie by a fawning right-winger? I don't want to overreact and throw the baby out with the bath water.

If, however, we start to see G. Gordon Liddy and Oliver North in starring roles then we might reconsider.

[joeybee12]

5. I Loathe Queer as Folk

The first season was interesting--half good, half bad, but ground-breaking. The second season was abysmal--as a gay person I found it so offensive--I mean, it panders to us--the writing is atrocious, the acting horrible, the plots simplistic. Can't there be a better written, performed, etc. show on television about gays? It's a lazy show and they're kind of throwing it in our faces with "See, you have to watch it, there isn't anything else for you!"

That said, I don't know if I'd boycott Showtime over one movie. Then again, boycotts really are the only thing that get people to take notice--hit them in their pocketbooks and they'll finally listen.

[DemLikr]

6. Couldn't agree more, joeybee. QAF is soooo lousy

and there's not enough raw sex to make up for the lousy writing/acting, etc.

Sharon Gless is disgusting.

[joeybee12]

9. Ever see the British Version on which Showtime's is based?

I have those on DVD--they're wonderful. Showtime stole the first season's plot lines, and essentially the dialogue. Anyway, it was a lot more realistic, and gritty. Also, the plot was essentially the Brian and Mike characters approaching 30, spending all their time in bars, and it's time to move on. That's sort of what Showtime covered in the first season, and then--lo and behold--they didn't move on! It's the same old stuff. The British version was about a turning point in these guys' lives, and the American version made a slice of life into a lifestyle.

[Touchdown]

23. Try Six Feet Under

Granted, it's on the competition's channel, but the gay characters are more human, more complex, and MUCH more likeable than the ones on QAF. The stories are interesting, emotional, and IMO much more intelligent than most of what's on TV.

I heard Jeremiah was coming back in the Fall, but that was last spring. I really got into that show, and another one that they cancelled, called "Going to California", which is a travesty, since they only got to Texas. If they cancel Jeremiah, I just might cancel Showtime. I have a DVD player for movies. I watch QAF just because I pay $10 a month for the channel, and feel compelled to get my money's worth.:eyes:

[Prodemsouth]

8. Don't know about North, but may just see Liddy on QAF

see the Vanity Fair Thread on MSGOP. Read Liddy's remarks and tell me what you think? Seems to me remarks about another dudes' "member" have always seemed strange to me. What do you think?

[joeybee12]

12. I think the most sexist men are closet cases

I don't want to over-exaggerate, but all this male-only bonding is latent homosexuality. Wasn't Liddy in prison? Probably got his first tatse there.

[homaffectional]

7. I gave up Showtime a while back...

Of course I first ordered Showtime for the exact purpose of watching QaF, but I only wound up keeping it as long as I did for another show that is far superior IMO - Soul Food.

While IMNSHO, one would have to look very hard to find even one redeemable feature to QaF. In a poll taken a while back, Michael scored as one of the most positive characters on TV and Brian as one of the most negative.
If you ask me, neither one is all that. But at least Brian is street-smart and successful. I'd rather know what I'm doing than be a complete loser like Michael is.

Also, Gale Harold scored as one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People on TV". It just goes to show how fickle TV audiences are. They will just allow what they see to influence how they think. IMO, Gale is not good looking at all. But I'm sure the str8 women and gays alike just bought into the self-congratulatory hype the show puts on the Brian character enough to brainwash them into believing the actor was actually a good looking man. I tell ya, TV audiences - not the most independent bunch around...

Just about the only QaF episodes I'd recommend were the episode where Lindsey and Melanie got married and the one right before that. Other than that, I hope this show gets put out of its misery soon. It's a shame that people credit this show with putting gay issue on the table when I feel that shows with one gay character out of an ensemble of mostly str8 characters expose gay issues to audiences that wouldn't normally watch it. Those shows such as Six Feet Under, Buffy, Dawson's Creek etc are far superior to this self-loathing pile of mish mash.

It's a shame that the producers themselves and some of the actors such as Peter Paige (I really don't like him) are too clueless to understand
that this show doesn't really do the gay population in this country all that much good at all.

When I air these views out with people who watch this show, not too shockingly they don't get it. They assume I think the show sucks because it has too much sex in it? (What use is all that sex if the lead characters are all so ugly, anyway?) My problem with this show is how it's handled, how it's written, and how bitchy the main characters are. No one seems to get it.



Anyway, obviously I can't comment on this "DC 911" thing... are you saying that the show pulled a variation of 9/11 that took place in Washington D.C.? Well if so I hope that means that the tackiness and sensationalism of this show has finally caught up with it and it will be enough to bring this show under. When are we going to get a real show with gay leads? The way I see it, the closest thing we've come to it is Six Feet Under.

[veganwitch]

10. i love six feet under

didnt get to watch much of the last season (and i also thought that they got "what happened last season??" syndrome.) im glad brenda left (maybe?) that ho was getting under my skin.

[homaffectional]

20. My HBO was yanked...

between the penultimate and final episode of the 2nd season. :(


I hear from a friend who watched the 3rd season that there's more ghosts than ever. It's gone from being Six Feet Under to Sixth Sense. I'd have to see it to actually judge how well they're doing this interesting new plot twist...

[jumptheshadow]

13. I agree with you on the following points:

1) Six Feet Under takes a deeper look at gay characters than QaF. The Wire's Kima character is also much more realistically portrayed.

2) QaF is, for the most part, poorly written these days and it's getting harder to watch.

However, I like the Michael character, mainly because I identify with him -- and I'm not considered to be a loser. I've met several Peter Paige type of characters, small town Southern gays who have nice values.

Perhaps because I am a bit older I very much appreciate the fact that Showtime added Queer as Folk to its lineup. There was nothing like it on television for decades. I will be loyal to this network's management for quite some time because of it.

If we want better gay and lesbian shows then we certainly have the talent in our community to produce them.

And if we want more accurate depictions of 9/11 and the Bush administration then we will spend our money on the books and movies that tell the truth.

[homaffectional]

19. Clarification time...

However, I like the Michael character, mainly because I identify with him>>

But how do you identify with him exactly?

-- and I'm not considered to be a loser.>>

Depends on if you have the characteristics with which Michael has been labeled a loser by me.

I've met several Peter Paige type of characters, small town Southern gays who have nice values.>>

LOL, is that what you thought I meant when I said I didn't like Peter Paige? The reason I don't like him is because of something I heard him say on Larry King Live. He goes... "Anyone who's gay who doesn't like QaF must feel that way because they're not actually watching the show... it must be because they're only reading negative press reports." LOL, seems like he's excluding the option that someone could actually watch it and not like it. I can't stand people who are so idiotic in that way they daren't think someone doesn't like their precious project. And let's not forget the fact that people who are writing these negative press reports are probably not doing so without watching it themselves before reviewing it. He is a total idiot.

He also says that the reason people don't like the show it's because they're ashamed of their own sex lives. LOL, more stupid conjecture and riciculous assumptions. As I continue to say the reason I can't stand QaF is not because the characters are having sex (what primetime show is not filled with characters who have more sex than Traci Lords did during her troubled youth?). I can't stand how bitchy and self-loathing the characters are.

[QC]

14. Giving up QAF would be no sacrifice.

Count me as one of those who watched the first season, then part of the second, and stopped.

[warrior1]

15. No and

I'm not giving up "Dead Like Me"

[jumptheshadow]

16. An additional thought

It's not like this movie touches on a human rights issue like discrimination against gays or minorities.

We're just dealing with somebody who has a different opinion than we do on a historic event.

The Dixie Chicks had a right to their opinion. This guy can have his opinion. We'll let the Joe Conasons and the Will Pitts write the books that will inspire screenwriters to give us more accurate movies.

(Edit: Yikes, the typos.)

[joeybee12]

17. It's more than simply an opinion

This movie really is propoganda--it's trying to present fiction as history. Face it, Dumbo turned his tail and fled. If Showtime wants to air this crap, fine, but they shouldn't expect people who are offended by it to finance it, which is what you do when you subscribe to the channel.

That said, the movie appears to be so over the top that I think the negative publciity it is generating will far outweigh any benefit from some simpleton who sees it and says, "Yup, that's what he diden, alright. He dun showed them ragheads."

[jumptheshadow]

21. "Over the top"

Yes, it sounds that way, doesn't it? If this movie wasn't about about such a tragic subject it might be almost be viewed in a campy light. I mean, the movie sounds so off the wall I almost expect Shelley Winters to come back from the dead in a cameo role. I think a lot of folks in their living rooms are going to want to throw beer cans at the screen.

Freedom of speech is as delicate as it is important. I would contend that we should fight our battles carefully. The right-wingers want us so polarized that we are all reacting emotionally, rather than with reason and facts. I'm saving my ammunition for the important battles (the ones that involve human rights).


(Note: I was traumatized by 9/11. I'm actually making progress if I can crack a bad Shelley Winters joke when referring to a movie about the events on that day.)

(Second note: It's brunch time. See you later.)

[w13rd0]

18. Actually...

...it's not just a matter of "another perspective". It's historical revisionism. And we know how prone the US populace is to swallowing propaganda...

[msmcghee]

22. Re: Bush/Superhero of 9/11 on TV

Everyone here at DU sees through the bullshit - but there are many many sheep and morans throught this country who will brifly switch their cable boxes from Faux to Showtime tonight to see their tough talkin' terrorist-killin' superhero in action.

And they will see exactly what they want to see. And that will frimly lock into concrete their "Bush/Superhero" meme - that could be in some danger from a disturbing clash with reality that even they could not ignore in the coming days.

This blatantly false, well-timed propoganda piece will do it's job well for PNAC and the BFEE. Karl Rove understands memetics very well.

i.e. just because we know it's bullshit - don't think it will look that way to those who desparately want assurance that their support for Bush was right all along.