i wouldn't go see king kong in the theatres because it looks dumb. frankly, a gay king kong would look even more stupid ...

Oh, and the King Kong and Star Wars examples were supposed to be ridiculous, over-the-top suggestions, attempting to satirize the whole situation. Sorry if I failed.

That is kind of condescending dont you think?

Of course it is Doc. It is easier to disparage that which you think is below you.

Neither "define their lives by their sexuality" - they both are just ordinary folk going about their lives who happen to be gay and don't make a big deal of it.

That is the key. I can't help but think there is a silent majority who are like those two, and probably find the sensationalizing of Hollywood to be a slap in the face.

nope, dharmagirl, i disagree that i defined my life by my sexuality just by saying i'm gay. do you say you are married and have a husband (or if you're male, that you have a wife ... sorry, didn't see the screen name at first, but why assume anyway)? does that mean that you have just defined your life by your sexual preference? i don't think it does. and i don't think that just saying i'm gay defines my entire life by my sexual preference.

would i see a story about straight ranch-hands who fell in love? probably if it looked compelling. i see plenty of movies and shows that have straight characters in them and i do find the stories just as interesting as some of the movies with gay characters ... that was exactly why i mentioned the star wars movies! no gay characters in ANY of those and yet i still found them interesting... geez, i am NOT so shallow as to only want to see gay movies ... that was part of my point!

i think the media does tend to over-sensationalize a gay movie or story or whatever. and as bluedev suggests, i wish they'd just let it go. and, i did NOT say that philadelphia was a gay movie! i put it next to longtime companion, yes, but because it was a compelling story to me. as someone else said, philadelphia was about a guy who happened to be gay ... and it was a better movie for that. i didn't say it was specifically a gay movie ... in fact, i went to see longtime companion with a straight friend who was awaiting her HIV test results ... back in the late 80s when those results took forever. both of those movies were about HIV/AIDS to me ... not about "being gay."

and, i also, just to set the record straight, don't think that just because some people have no interest in seeing brokeback mountain think that those folks are auomatically homophobes. the story doesn't look compelling to you ... fine.

as for using king kong and the star wars films as "over the top" examples... not necessarily. i knew you were kidding about king kong, which is why i attempted to make a joke about king kong in chaps ... i'm sorry if that didn't come across as the same joking tone you were using. there is a long tradition in sci-fi, tho, to play with various things like sexual orientation, so i wasn't being snitty by bringing those up in my example. and, i honestly liked the movie 8 mile, too. and not because eminem's character has a gay friend in it (actually, i didn't realize the dude was supposed to be gay until someone else pointed it out). whatever ... didn't matter ... i found the story compelling.

brokeback sounds compelling to me. a really floofy "girl" movie about two straight ranch hands in love would bore me. something a little more realistic about two straight ranch hands in love ... sure, i'll go see it.

all i was trying to do was point out exactly what bluedev says in one of his comments: i don't go see a gay movie b/c i'm gay any more than he goes to a "white" movie because he's white. i go see any movie because it looks compelling.

didn't mean to cause a ruckus ... i actually thought i was supporting bluedev's point about wishing the media would chill out some.

didn't mean to cause a ruckus ... i actually thought i was supporting bluedev's point about wishing the media would chill out some.

No worries ender. After I read it, that was my take on your comment as well. Thanks for stopping by again!

(It never seemed to bother me that Jodi (on SOAP) - Parated2k

Man, Soap is ancient.

I love that sh*t.

I've seen the first and second seasons and enjoyed the hell out of them.

Jodi was a great character. It did help that Billy Crystal took the role....

Hollywood plays to their own social ills, surely not society hopes in general.

Just think, if Hollywood creators used the views of the majority. Shows like Little House on the Prirrie and Joan of Arcadia that foster healthy character related choices and normal family issues would be on. But no... what we have are shows the likes of Will & Grace, a dysfunctional wacky job of a Jewish woman, a dysfunctional lawyer that's hoping for a normal life but surrounds himself with wacko's, a worthless entertaining flamer that has no regard for safe sex, and a sleazy entertaining wealthy divorcee with no character .

We have a new gem on the block. The new dysfunctional "Out of Practice" family that showcases a confused young psychologist that's not accepted by his MD family, MD dad that prefers air head receptionist verses bright dominating MD wife, a single plastic surgeon hetro son that will nail any woman, and a confused writer son that hasn't came out of the closet yet followed by his lesbian sister that wants acceptance from her confused prominent MD mother.

How is it we've got one show with so many folks lacking character, multiple gay family members and fosters an hours worth of dysfunction on a network channel. None of us are perfect but lambasting viewers with so many dysfunctions can only mean one thing, their spoon feeding us for some reason.

Have the producers and writers figured out if they combine situation comedy with dysfunction and unacceptable magically gay issues, society will laugh it's way into numb acceptance of such ills without a fight. I hope not... We watched it half way through and turned the channel!

i really miss joan of arcadia ... i still can't believe they cancelled that show and replaced it with some girl who talks to ghosts (or whatever it was). i think joan of arcadia was the last tv show i watched with any real regularity. was season two ever released on dvd? i got season one ... but i haven't seen season two anywhere yet.

Have the producers and writers figured out if they combine situation comedy with dysfunction and unacceptable magically gay issues, society will laugh it's way into numb acceptance of such ills without a fight.

I think it's laziness on the part of writers. It's much easier to write a marginally funny story about a dysfunctional family where hilarity ensues than to make a happy, well-adjusted family's life watchable and interesting. (For example, see "7th Heaven".)

I think it's laziness on the part of writers

You could very well be right. However, a little face time with some writers and producers at a few Hollywood type party's in years past leads me to believe otherwise. All it takes is listening to their personal, professional and social ideals and watching them challenge their boundaries of acceptable behavior. It's not hard to imagine them in charge of a studio incubator with enough money and creative power to affect creative direction, TV programming, and out comes what appears as socially acceptable and normal Will and Grace and Out of Practice.

To add credibility to the my theory, it's commonly known there is an unmeasured population of viewers that believe to some extent TV characters reflect a microcosm of real life. They also believe partial themes are taken from real life, which we know that to be true. Then isn't it likely those same viewers could question and or modify their personal choices and behavior based on what they think social trends are, as seen on TV. Just look backwards at forms of media and theorize the relationship between what the media presented then and what direction our society has taken up to today.