Homosexuality in the Media

This past weekend, I saw the movie “Valentine’s Day.” In case you live under a rock and have not heard of this movie, it has almost every actor under the sun in it. That is, except Morgan Freeman, which is odd since he seems to be in everything. It is the story of one Valentine’s Day in Los Angeles, and chronicles the lives of seemingly random strangers who all seem to intertwine with one another.

Two of these strangers are Sean Jackson (Eric Dane), a successful football player, and Holden Bristow (Bradley Cooper). Why are these two characters so important? Because they are the only two gay characters in the movie; however, I don’t think the people who made the film want you to know that.

The two characters are not seen together until the very last scene of the movie. The fact that Cooper’s character is gay is kept a secret until that moment. The scene is sweet and tender, but was ruined by the movie audience laughing and moaning at the idea of Cooper and Dane “being gay together.”

The reaction of the audience was extremely disappointing to me, and got me thinking about how homosexuality is portrayed in our media today and how it affects the ideas and attitudes of the general public. Was this reaction because it included two gay characters in an otherwise heterosexual movie? Or was it because both actors are most well known for their somewhat womanizing characters, Dane’s “McSteamy” from “Grey’s Anatomy,” and Cooper’s Phil from “The Hangover?”

Whatever the reason, the reaction of the audience was reprehensible in 2010. Why is it that as a society we are still so threatened by homosexuals in the media? I’m sorry, let me rephrase that. Why are we so threatened by strong homosexual men in the media? We love it when gay men play assistants who jump around, wear fashionable clothes and act like a stereotype.

Take Mark from “Ugly Betty,” Lloyd from “Entourage,” or even everyone’s favorite, Jack (and even at times, Will) from “Will and Grace.” These are not characters that portray gay men. They are caricatures that portray what straight people think gay men are like, and what they want them to be. The characters in “Valentine’s Day” were strong men who happen to be homosexuals, and it is time that the media started to realize that fact. It is time to bring more of these characters into our films and television programs.