This week, Ben wrote about the gay kiss on daytime soap “As the World Turns.” This week it was also reported that Buffy, from hit comic series, film and Warner Bros. television series starring Sarah Michelle Gellar “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” slept with a girl in the comic book.
While some critics are writing this off as a marketing ploy to draw attention to the comic series, in this ABC report, GLAAD applauds the new character. From “RENT” to “Will and Grace” to the “L Word,” there are more and more gay characters in sitcoms and film. I find this to be the mainstreaming of gays and lesbians in popular culture. More and more it is happening without the negative connotations and the characters are being portrayed as more “normal” and with less hype within the storyline – just as it is in the real world.
This progress, however, does not translate to all cultures. While the demographic who is watching “As the World Turns” and reading “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” is being exposed to gays and lesbians, there are more demographics – within the United States – that are not as progressive. For example, millions of Latinos watch Spanish-language programming. And, as I have mentioned before, gay characters are always portrayed as being over-the-top and sometimes, negatively in such programming. Not only that, but, gay characters are few and far between in comparison to what we see in the General Market. The people being influenced by these programs are less likely to become progressive.
So, what happens to the Latino who watches both English and Spanish programming? What about those who only watch English programming but hold their culture dear to them? Since they are neither here nor there, they create a new place for themselves; little by little we are seeing more and more Hispanic filmmakers in gay and lesbian film festivals across the country. There is still a ways to go, as these festivals are for very niche audiences, but with the right approach from both General Market and Hispanic individuals, I hope to see both meet in mainstream-land in the future.
Si tienes algún comentario sobre este blog o sobre alguna película o programa que hayas visto con un carácter gay latino, comenta sobre ello.
If you have a comment on the blog or on a gay character you have seen, feel free to comment below.
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