media portrayals

[Holmes]

I was just wondering how do you think and or feel about media portrayals of bisexuals in general? Good, bad, indifferent?

[Falke]

What media portrayals?

[12voltman59]

When they have portrayals of bisexuals in the media--to me-the treatment generally seems to be negative.

In most Hollywood fictional stories--they tend to cast bisexuality as something that doesn't really exist--they tend to hold the view that people who "say they are bisexual" are actually gay---but don't want to admit they are.

But if they do "regonize" bisexuality exists--they also tend to portray bisexuals as being very predatory and vicious people who usually come to a bad end as a result of their "negative" sexual activities.

I can think of such negative story lines regarding bisexuals in top TV dramas like "Law and Order" and "CSI" (Las Vegas and Miami editions)

Reportage of bisexualtiy by the network news operations is not much better--they tend to make out bisexuals as a bunch of bored, middle class suburbanites who "swing" to ease their lives of incredible boredom and emptiness--and the bisexualty usually plays some role in a criminal case they are reporting on--usually the murder of some of the parties they are reporting on.

[evilpanda]

mostly bad.

the most hurtful offender is Star Trek, which has interspecies mating, but no gay relationships, although i always took dax as being bi, by means of a high concept alien conceit. but, deep space nine uses bisexuality as a sign of evil. all characters that are played as bi are either shady, immoral, or just plain sick. the only explicitly lgbt characters are the mirror universe dopplegangers of kira and dax, with bisexuality used to express their depravity and devious scheming.

they can't all be torchwood, i guess.

[izzfan]

What media portrayals?

You took the words right out of my mouth. LOL!

[evilpanda]

This should get you sufficiently motivated to set the record straight with anyone you know who owns a TV. Ah, yes. i noticed even Torchwood crapped out a bad bi.

Depraved Bisexuals
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DepravedBisexual

Everyone is Bisexual
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EveryoneIsBi

There's No Such Thing as a Bisexual
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoBisexuals

[Holmes]

actually I thought the episodes where Dax wanted to join with a former partner was handled rather well, even though it was called the gay episode. STNG also had the world were the inhabitants were ostracized because they identifieed as male or female and they would try to fix them to nuetral. Although Ic anagree with the whole bi's are depraved and predatory from many shows and news reports.

[evilpanda]

actually I thought the episodes where Dax wanted to join with a former partner was handled rather well, even though it was called the gay episode. STNG also had the world were the inhabitants were ostracized because they identifieed as male or female and they would try to fix them to nuetral. Although Ic anagree with the whole bi's are depraved and predatory from many shows and news reports.

personally, i take those episodes as good for their time, but insufficient in 2009. star trek has a history of using aliens as stand-ins for humans to illustrate our prejudices. but, it's 2009. i think we're beyond that now. not that a token gay character who makes a big deal out of it is the right way to go either.

what bugs me the most as a trek fan is the number of characters that were created as LGBT characters, but made hetero at the last minute. the list, as far as i can tell, includes ensign ro, ezri dax, seven of nine, malcolm reed, and lt. hawk.

sci fi shows should just go with the Everyone is Bi model because, in the future, i really think monosexuals are going to be a fringe minority.

[12voltman59]

Actually the new version of Battlestar Gallactica (that just ended its four or maybe it was more like 4.5 year run--sniff!!) handled human sexuality rather well--whiile most characters were "straight"-they had a fair share of those who did have relations with those of the same gender and it was just accepted by everyone else as "being good."

They had one of the Caprica Six "skin job" cylons, who had an intimate relationship with the commanding officer of the Battlestar Pegasus and for a short time the commander of the refugee fleet since she was an Admiral (who out ranked Adama who at that point was only a Commander)--played by Michelle Forbes. Forbes also played Ensign Ro in Star Trek and a number of other great roles where her sexuality was also "up in the air" including one of the great dramatic TV shows of all time in my view, NBC's "Homicide: Life on the Street." Forbes played a slightly out of control medical examiner in that program but, she was still, a very compelling character. That show incidently had one of its main characters, Det. Bayliss-go through a time where he was discovering his desire to "switch hit." The writers had Bayliss get involved with a few other male characters created for that purpose--the reaction of his homicide team partner and a few others who found out--was dealt with realistically--they weren't happy about his choice to do so--but they respected him enough--they didn't interfere or make moral judgements or "out" him--a disclosure that could have been detrimental to his position as a homicide squad detective considering the fracked up nature of Baltimore PD politics and more importantly--his partner's (I forget the character's name-but this role was played by the awesome Andre Baugher) decision to stick with Bayliss and not dump him by seeking to be assigned a new partner simply because Bayliss had come to consider himself "bi" and was acting on his "desires.")

A major male character in BSG--Gaeda--had an intimate relationship with another guy and his comrades were "down with it"---in fact one of his friends told him that they had been taking bets he and the other guy would hook up and that everyone was happy they had done so---

I do have to honor the writers and creators of the new BSG for generally creating an overall great show--to me--I put it as one of the best fictional programs to have ever "aired" on "televison." I also am pleased they took the tact they did with sexuality--the "Caprican society" of BSG had come to accept that people's sexuality is not set at only one temp, to use that metaphor,-- in this fictional society---it was fine that people were free to fall in love with someone of the same or opposite gender as they saw fit.

May our civilization one day be so reasonable, rational and dare I say it?? Enlightened!!!?????

[Doggie_Wood]

Did anyone see the episode of Cold Case where the two high school guys who were best buds. And one of em fell in love with a trans-girl. She was hot too!!:tongue:
All she wanted was for peeps to see her for who she was.
The guy who fell in love with her was ashamed in front of his dad and bowed to his wishes, not his own.
She ended up comitting suicide.
Such a tragedy.

[MaybeSayMaybe]

Check this out:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/04/hatshepsut/brown-text

They never come out and say it, but maybe the queen just plain liked the idea of being a king....

[alegrias]

What media portrayals?

Nicely put. According to the media, we don't exist, or are a tag-along with gays, lesbians, and transexuals.

[evilpanda]

Did anyone see the episode of Cold Case where the two high school guys who were best buds. And one of em fell in love with a trans-girl. She was hot too!!:tongue:
All she wanted was for peeps to see her for who she was.
The guy who fell in love with her was ashamed in front of his dad and bowed to his wishes, not his own.
She ended up comitting suicide.
Such a tragedy.

i saw a great doc on BBC America on the life of a transgendered teen. if she were a bit older, like, not a teen, i would totally go out with her in a heartbeat. she looked damn good.