Ok, So I did it. I spent two hours watching television, which as my friens will almost certainly know is totally abnormal. But it was gay television which at least as a sociological investigation was most enjoyable.

Bullshit.

And the guys were really cute.

(There, I said it!)

Ok, and while I’m rambling, my history teacher bears a striking resemblance to James, the Leading man on Boy Meets Boy. Very Weird, but somehow hilarious.

They aren’t very racially or socio-economically diverse, but then, it fits the audience, and while it’s hardly forgivable, I don’t think it makes the shows unwatchable. Also as Dave points out, it’s a little crewel that they guy doesn’t know that there are straight guys mixed in with the gay ones. But that of course flies in the face of stereotype complaints because the stereotype line between gay and straight as presented by the show is very blurred and I think that’s good. Also the fuzzy line between the butch and femme poles nicely flies in the face of the very polarized definition that we can thank Will and Grace for.

I am a little disappointed that the show completely divides male sexuality into gay and straight. (The loud laughing sound you all hear in the background is Chris Knittel, excuse him please.) There are a lot of bisexual folks out there, and I’m not sure how you could include it in a television show with out invoking the porn principal, and all the trash that goes along with that. Nine times out of ten people don’t really understand bisexuality. I mean on the surface it’s really a simple concept, but in application its a bit more difficult. Molly (among others) has been known to say (and I agree with her) that everyone (or at least 80% of people) are bisexual to some degree, thus I think people tend to round to either one side or the other more often than not, leaving the minority that identify as bisexual to some sort of wasteland that they obviously don’t disserve. I can’t really suggest a solution, but it’s something that pop culture (and by pop culture I mean pop culture as represented on television) is a long way from accepting.

The truth is that both of these shows are very Gay Male oriented, completely neglecting to recognize bisexuals, transgender people, and even lesbians. That’s a real problem. You know shows like “Will and Grace” made it with gay characters, but when you think about it there aren’t even Lesbians on TV, aside from the two on Queer as Folk, and the new Showtime show forthcoming, unless I’m missing something. So while I’m really impressed with the hunky wonderfulness that I’m starting to see, it’s only a start.

While I think Boy Meets Boy is my favorite of the two, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is really interesting. It’s witty, cute, and a lot of fun (this is television after all, so we’re not looking for a great deal of depth). The fashion guy annoys me to no end, and the hair guy is a bit not cool, and I think the culture guy is really great as is the food guy, and the rest of it’s a wash. This kinda show makes me feel like I’m a slacker for not having such a chic and perfectly styled life, but then I realized that it doesn’t matter that much and all it well.

The truth is that, as far as gay decorating shows go, I really much rather watch Christopher Lowell of the discovery channel. (Paula’s description: “He’s so flaming I’m surprised that his studio hasn’t burnt down.") Funny, but very true.

Well there you have it, I’d be interested to hear your reactions.Update:Another thing. I found the Fag Hag character to be bossy and pushy and just a general not good thing. The host was also trying to hard for the Dolly Parton look and even people who can pull it off don’t look prety. But thankfully they weren’t around too much.

If it were me I would have brought a lesbian, becasue I’m wierd like that, or I would have brought another guy, which would have made it wierd a little….

Oh, and all of the previews showed a lot of guy-guy smooching, and this episode didn’t have any, and I was disapoined by that, a lot. All the good stuff from the previews weren’t in this one, and I’m probably not going to see any more unless I get bored and someone Kazza’s it, or it’s on next week while I’m doing the tour.

Cheers