Journal article
TV in black and gay: examining constructions of gay blackness and gay crossracial dating on Greek
Spectator (Los Angeles, Calif.), Vol.31(2), pp.63-69
10/01/2011
Abstract
Unlike the "race neutral" characters of these and other 1960s television shows, Calvin has romantic relationships, but he has little connection to the black community. Because Calvin is not "made black" and is disconnected from other black people, the assumption is that race is "neither an issue nor much of a plot point. "15 In other words, Will & Grace, Modern Family, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and the U.S. version of Queer as Folk are among the accepted versions of televisual gay life whereas Spin City, Noah's Arc, and Greek, which feature black gay men, are anomalous. Because we're the only two gay guys that you know? [...]you like Moroccan food and Broadway divas.19 More than a matter of simple personality differences though, I argue that their break up speaks to the historical treatment of crossracial relationships on television where there has to be a "valid" reason why two people from different races cannot be together romantically that can serve as a proxy for race. Because of contemporary television's "post-racial" rhetoric, where race ceases to be a differentiator, there must be other "differences" that help to explain why a crossracial couple cannot be in a relationship.20 In this case, it is differences in cuisine and preferred leisure activities that mark the relationship as doomed.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- TV in black and gay: examining constructions of gay blackness and gay crossracial dating on Greek
- Creators
- Alfred L Martin Jr
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Spectator (Los Angeles, Calif.), Vol.31(2), pp.63-69
- Publisher
- Federation Internationale des Archives (FIAF)
- ISSN
- 1051-0230
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 10/01/2011
- Academic Unit
- Communication Studies; African American Studies
- Record Identifier
- 9984309742902771
Metrics
3 Record Views