LGBTU characters and relationships on our screens

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

The opportunities to portray gay people in the media are few and far between, rendering it a hard task for the diverse LGBTU community to be reflected fully and realistically.  As people become more open minded though, queer storylines are increasing.  A realistic depiction of gay people is however well overdue.

Creating an interesting gay storyline is not easy, the simple ‘coming out’ plot is wearing thin. These days it takes something more unique to keep an audience captive.   Take the 2009 EastEnders storyline involving Muslim Syed Masood falling in love with out and proud, Christian Clarke.  Here the struggle between faith and love was depicted by forward thinking writers and scrutinized by millions of people.  Similarly, Chester soap Hollyoaks also raised the bar with creative queer storylines.  Local hard man Brendan long struggled to come to terms with his sexuality, becoming violent in response to his feelings.   It has depicted the relationship between love and violence well, highlighting that any couple, be they same sex or not, can experience domestic violence.

There has been one recent ‘coming out’ story that has proved extremely successful in generating headlines.  This involved the first Coronation Street lesbians, Sian Powers and Sophie Webster.  They were  taken to the hearts of the British and seemed to have a blooming relationship.  For once could we expect a happy ending? Nope, no such luck.  When Sian discovered Sophie was unsure about the wedding, she fled the altar and later found out Sophie cheated on her.  Last year Sacha Parkinson (Sian) handed her notice in and recently exited Coronation Street while Brooke Vincent has remained in the soap.  They could have feasibly parted under happier circumstances; why couldn’t their relationship have remained steady til the end?

Coronation Street's Sian and Sophie

This is another important element homosexual relationships depicted on TV; we rarely see a happy ending.  Think back over the last few years of queer couples in TV and movies; can you think of more than a handful of instances where a gay couple has remained happy in their relationship?  The short-lived Queer as Folk UK provided a happy ending, but sadly the longer (and I believe better) US version did not for main characters Brian and Justin.  Similarly, John Paul and Craig Dean from Hollyoaks also saw a happy ending, along with Rachel and Luce in the 2005 film Imagine Me and You.

However, gay relationships on TV have generally not fared well, they have either been plagued by death, affairs (frustratingly often with the opposite sex) or have been pushed apart by situational circumstances.  Such examples include Christopher and Heinz from 2011 drama Christopher and his Kind who were separated by the expiration of Heinz’s visa and the fascist uprising.  Similarly, 2010 movie The Kids Are Alright saw Jules and Nic split mid movie (however they later got back together) due to Jules affair with Paul, the children’s sperm donor.  This movie was critically acclaimed, but I walked away from it feeling somewhat disappointed.  The movie entertained the idea that the biological parents of the children will copulate, even though the children were not conceived this way.

I’m not saying that a happy ending is always best.  It is often more interesting to have a blighted or dramatic ending, life doesn’t tend end up with two people walking into the sunset.  My gripe is that compared to heterosexual couples, we rarely see a gay couple that make it.

Here’s the bottom line.  Last year Stonewall did a study and found for just 46 minutes in 126 hours of TV programmes LGBTU people were portrayed positively and realistically; with the characters being shown as predatory, promiscuous or comical stereotypes half the time they appeared.  Moreover, Allsorts did an online survey asking whether TV and media accurately represent same-sex relationships.  A massive 98% said no.

Fingers crossed one day we will see more homosexual couples and characters on TV, ones we can admire, relate to and hope to emulate.  Here’s hoping.