Community 3x06, "Advanced Gay"

Today, I'll analyze an episode of Community that aired a few weeks ago, entitled “Advanced Gay.” For those unfamiliar with Community, the show revolves around a group of students enrolled at Greendale Community College, who form a study group at the beginning of the series and become good friends. The group represents both sexes, different races, different religions, different ages, and generally people going through different stages of their lives. Gender diversity, however, is notably lacking.

In this episode, Pierce, the CEO of his family's company Hawthorne Wipes, a brand of moist towelettes, finds out that the product has gained popularity with the gay community, presumably for a use related to gay sex. The impetus for this rise in the sales of Hawthorne Wipes is a new, popular club song by a drag queen named Urbana Champaign (played by Shangela, a past contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race), endorsing the moist towelettes as a necessity for the (stereotypical) gay lifestyle. (You can watch Urbana Champaign's music video here, along with the rest of Shangela's scenes.) Pierce, a known homophobe, sexist, racist, and xenophobe suddenly adopts a more accepting attitude about the gay community, solely because they are supporting his product. He throws a party introducing a new line of moist towelettes called “Pride Wipes,” targeted specifically at this new demographic.

Firstly, I'd like to discuss the title of the episode. Community names its episodes humorously to resemble the titles of college classes. Often, the humor comes from the fact that the title of the episode uses terminology much more sophisticated than the actual subject of the episode, contrasting the ridiculous situations that the group find themselves in with titles that sound like academic theories. Examples include “Epidemiology,” the title of a Halloween-themed episode about a zombie epidemic, and “Cooperative Calligraphy,” the title of an episode that revolves around a conflict over a ballpoint pen. This particular episode title, “Advanced Gay,” apparently does not need much embellishment, as “gay” is already funny enough. A term like “homosexuality” or a phrase like “gender dynamics” would sound more academic and be very much in the style of Community, but the humor here is that the simple word “gay” is already a joke. Community's use of this word propagates the idea that “gay” is a silly thing, not to be taken seriously, with no more depth than being a source of humor.

The representations of the gay men in this episode adhere to the basic stereotypes of the sissy – voices in a higher register, often with a nasal quality; dramatic gesticulations and body movements; attention to fashion and appearance, including well-coiffed hair and tight-fitting clothes, often in bold or pastel colors and patterns. One man, Jason, gives a campy wink to Pierce, which is accompanied by a subtle “ding!” sound effect. At the party Pierce throws, called the “Gay Bash!” (another example in a long line of Greendale Community College's failures to make witty titles that just end up awkward or inappropriate), club music, flashing lights, shirtless men, and rainbow decorations abound. Not only does Community reinforce stereotypes about gay men and the gay community, it capitalizes on them for humor. The show plays up these stock characters to the extreme because, as we have seen from sources like The Celluloid Closet, the sissy is always humorous and does not threaten anyone's sexuality; he makes the man feel more masculine and the woman feel more feminine.

It's important to note that there are no representations of genders other than straight men and women, and gay men in this episode. Female members of the queer community are notably absent – Chang comments that the Gay Bash is “a real sausage fest.” As a comedy show, Community included gay men only because only gay men are funny in popular culture. The mass audience finds lesbians threatening to the idea of masculine and feminine gender roles in a way that gay men are not. A feminine, read “weak,” man can be written off and treated as nothing but a good source of humor; a masculine, read “strong,” woman is threatening to the power structure that keeps women at the bottom. Quite simply, gay men are only represented here because they get a guaranteed laugh from the audience.

There are a few moments where it appears that Community challenges the stereotypes about gay men, but they are fleeting and not very strong. First: When two gay men planning the Gay Bash ask Pierce if he would prefer peanut butter or chocolate chip cookies at the party, he responds, with his newly acquired support and enthusiasm for the gay community, “Rainbow, bitches!” They smile, pause, and repeat, “We can have peanut butter or chocolate chip.” This small piece of dialogue fights the stereotypes shoved onto gay men by undercutting those generalizations with a totally generic answer, as opposed to the flamboyant answer Pierce expects. The entire exchange only lasts about eight seconds, though, and the representation of stereotypical gay men continues throughout the rest of the episode.

Next, Community presents the objections that the characters Pierce and Shirley have to the gay community as the product of an out-of-touch, older generation. Pierce, who is known for his unabashed racism and sexism, is often portrayed as the villain of the group. He is chastised for his views, but often they are ultimately tolerated because he is in his 60s and has been encoded with an outdated culture of prejudice. Shirley, a conservative, Christian mother in her 30s or 40s, asks at the beginning of the episode, “What do Hawthorne Wipes have to do with the choice to be gay?” Shirley often makes homophobic and xenophobic comments like this. Her strong sense of moral righteousness is usually made to look ridiculous and out of step with how the world has progressed. The younger members of the group often criticize Pierce and Shirley for their old-fashioned prejudices and try to bring them around to a more modern and inclusive mindset, but in the end, the two are just excused as older and of a different generation's culture of thinking.

Finally, the last example of Community's possible promotion of a less stereotypical view of homosexuality is in Jeff's support for the Gay Bash. Jeff is the patriarchal figure heading the group and it is often made overtly clear that the group will follow his actions. When Pierce's even more bigoted father attempts to cancel the Gay Bash, Jeff takes up the cause. Britta challenges Jeff's motivations, asking if he is really offering support or trying to conquer his own father issues by solving Pierce's father conflict. Jeff denies this accusation, asserting, “This isn't about fathers, this is about a long-suffering community with a constitutional right to wipe whoever and whatever they want!” As the leader of the group, Jeff standing up against homophobia would be a huge gesture that the rest of the group would imitate. In the end, however, it is revealed that Jeff actually is dealing with father issues; his motivations of supporting gay rights and breaking down stereotypes are totally negated.

This episode of Community capitalizes on traditional stock representations of gay men to the extreme, purely for humor. There are a few fleeting moments of reversal, but they quickly disappear into more reinforcement of the stereotypes or are written off. The last lines of the episode (before the tag) are spoken by Chang; as he leaves for the night with Urbana Champaign on his arm, he asks Jeff, “Hey, Winger? You going home alone? Gay!” Presumably, Chang does not know that Urbana Champaign is not biologically a woman, which implies that he has been fooled or swindled by a transgendered individual. To add more negative connotations to the queer community, the episode ends with the use of the word “gay” as a pejorative.

You can watch "Advanced Gay" here.

Modern Family 3x07, "Treehouse"

This blog post will focus on the representations of different types of masculinity in last week's episode of Modern Family, “Treehouse.” For all of its strides in representing queer characters in a positive light, Modern Family still adheres to many of the conventional binaries of masculine/feminine and straight/gay. I find Modern Family an interesting subject, because of its representation of “nontraditional” relationships alongside the traditional nuclear family, and because all are presented as equally quirky. Modern Family has been received with popular and critical acclaim since its premiere in 2009; each adult member of the regular cast has been nominated for an Emmy Award, the first win going to Eric Stonestreet, a straight man, for his portrayal of Cameron Tucker, a gay character. For those unfamiliar with Modern Family, the sitcom centers around three branches of the Pritchett family: Jay, the patriarch of the family, and his much younger Colombian wife Gloria represent a May-December relationship; Claire, who is Jay's daughter, and her husband Phil represent the traditional, suburban nuclear family, along with their three children; Mitchell, who is Jay's son, and his partner Cameron represent a “nontraditional” gay family, along with their adopted daughter Lily.

I apply the term “nontraditional” to Mitchell and Cameron lightly, because the only nontraditional thing about them is the fact that they are represented; their sexuality is not unusual, merely the fact that they are visible on mainstream television. In all other regards, Mitchell and Cameron are unmarked: they are financially comfortable white men, who live in a suburban area. All of the aspects of their lifestyle – their nicely decorated home, their high taste in food, their put-together wardrobes – are the well-respected markers of gay men. As far as the portrayals of masculinity, Mitchell, as a lawyer, is the breadwinner of the household; Cameron gave up a career as a music teacher to raise their child. Cameron is more “flamboyant” than Mitchell, in terms of fashion, speech, and mannerisms. These aspects of their relationship uphold the masculine/feminine binary; the only way a gay couple could be well-received by a wide audience is if they only deviate from traditional gender roles and heteronormativity in one way.

In this particular episode, the A storyline revolves around Mitchell's challenge to Cameron to pass as a straight man and get a woman's phone number in a bar. Cameron asserts, “I could totally pick up any woman in here...I for sure could be a womanizer,” to which Mitchell retorts, “Or you could be someone who just stepped out of a machine called 'The Womanizer.'” Cameron immediately connects being a straight man with being a womanizer, as if the opposite of a gay man is hypermasculinity; Mitchell's response immediately correlates homosexuality with overt femininity. When Cameron approaches a woman as a straight man, he deepens his voice and changes his body language, so that all of his movements are led by his broadened shoulders. He sheds any physical markers that are associated with homosexuality and overcompensates with hypermasculine ones.

Cameron does succeed in getting a woman's phone number, but feels guilty and meets up with her later to confess; she is confused as to why he reveals that he is gay when she knew all along. Katie matter-of-factly states how obvious it is that he is gay, from “The way you talk and walk and dress, and your theatrical hand gestures.” If there even is such a thing as multiple masculinities or any masculinity other than the ideal in the world of Modern Family, the difference between them and the ideal is obvious and unequivocal. Male femininity and/or homosexuality are signaled by a certain manner of comportment distinct from that of straight, traditionally masculine men.

When Cameron asks Katie why she would offer her number to a man she knew to be gay, she responds, again matter-of-factly, “Oh, because I want a gay friend. Someone I can dish with, can give me guy advice, I can shop with.” Cameron reels back, appalled at the heavy stock she puts in such caricatures of gay men, saying, “Those are totally offensive stereotypes!” He is offended by the cartoonish stock character traits that have been assigned to all gay men wholesale, and for a moment the audience empathizes with him. Within the next second, however, she continues, “We could go see Julia Roberts movies together,” at which Cameron perks up and excitedly shares, “I know and she's as nice as she seems onscreen!” Their conversation picks up, “Shut up, really?! Is she?” “She is, yeah.” Just as seen in the How I Met Your Mother episode I analyzed in my last post, the producers of Modern Family put forward an idea that challenges traditional conventions of gender and sexuality, only to retreat immediately. As quickly as Cameron expresses offense at Katie's belief in farcical stereotypes about gay men, he falls into those exact stereotypes, with the gossipy tone of a teenage girl. The producers offer a progressive piece of dialogue that attempts to break down binaries, but immediately rescind it by forcing this gay character back into the only acceptable classifiers to a mainstream audience – easily excitable, attracted to products generally aimed at women, etc.

Given its mass appeal and popularity, I think it is safe to assume that part of the reason why Modern Family is so well-received is because it portrays an accurate yet humorous model of the real world – including how stereotypes about masculinity function. We know that these binaries between masculine/feminine and straight/gay exist in our world, along with people who defy them. There is a huge discrepancy in the representation of such people in popular media. I am a fan of Modern Family and I understand the need to attract and keep a wide audience. I also understand that small steps in the direction of progression are better than none. Perhaps soon enough, though, with all the small steps that have been taken by shows like Modern Family, Grey's Anatomy, and Glee by representing queer characters in the first place, the wide audience will be ready for dialogue that breaks down binaries and does not retreat immediately. I urge popular media to continue its slow progression in portraying multiple masculinities/femininities, but without feeling the need to qualify.

You can watch "Treehouse" here.

How I Met Your Mother 7x06, "Mystery vs. History"

By Kimberly Nguyen

This week, I will analyze an episode of How I Met Your Mother called “Mystery vs. History,” the sixth episode of the seventh (current) season. How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) is one of my favorite shows on television right now, so I almost don't want to find problems with it, but after this episode aired a couple weeks ago, my immediate reaction was disagreement with the dominant message put out by the show on two different issues related to gender. The first is the obsession with labeling and identifying people's genders, especially with soon-to-be-born babies; this is expressed through Marshall and Lily's desire to remain oblivious to their future baby's sex, and the conflict that arises from that decision. The second is Ted's fear that the woman he is dating might be transgendered, which is treated as a passing joke and is actually a joke that has come up at least twice earlier in the series.

We have previously discussed in class the need to identify children as either boy or girl, and assigning them everything from appropriate toys to colors according to their gender. In this episode of HIMYM, Marshall and Lily abstain from learning the sex of their unborn child, Lily stating, “We just don't want to burden our little angel with all kinds of gender-specific expectations. Boys can do ballet, girls can play football.” I was pleasantly surprised by the stance they took, especially since HIMYM is a sitcom meant for mass appeal and I found this to be a small but clever way to make a comment about gender assignment. This is shattered throughout the rest of the episode, however, beginning with the very next line. Marshall quips – with what I thought was a rather unnecessary joke – “Hell, the Green Bay Packers have been proving that for years.” The obvious joke here is that the Green Bay Packers are girls because, in Marshall's opinion, they do not play well. The writers of the show introduced a few lines of dialogue challenging the structure of gender role assignment encoded in us from birth, but felt that they had to immediately follow that dialogue with a comment reinforcing the structure as it is. It is as if they tiptoe forward and pull back sharply, so as not to alarm viewers and upset the status quo.

In the same conversation, Robin offers her two cents on the matter, saying, “Define gender roles early. All the other girls got a pretty dress and a cake when they turned fourteen...” The scene then cuts to a flashback of her fourteenth birthday, in which her father literally pushes a terrified and resistant Robin out of a helicopter to parachute down into a forest for a three-day survival challenge. To understand this joke, viewers must be familiar with Robin's relationship with her father, who wished so badly that he had a son that he ignored the fact that Robin was a girl and treated her like a boy, causing her great emotional stress. This extreme situation is obviously used for comedy, but is also a way of distancing the show and its producers even further from the brief support it expressed earlier for defying gender roles. This sequence shows that reversing gender roles can be ridiculous, as Robin's father is portrayed as sadly in denial that he did not bear a son, and traumatic to children, as Robin continues to carry scars from her relationship with her father because of this gender-bending.

Later in the episode, Barney plays a ridiculous slide show for Marshall and Lily, in an effort to convince them to learn the sex of their baby. Barney tells them that a baby of an unnamed sex will only receive generic gifts at the baby shower, while a clearly defined boy or girl can look forward to better gifts. This could be received as a message translatable to later in life: if your gender is not well-defined in adulthood, you will not claim all the good things you are entitled to, be they social relationships or material objects. The first picture in Barney's slide show is of a baby boy dressed in a baseball uniform, and the second is of a baby girl dressed in a princess gown, which Barney describes with a high, cartoonish voice. The gender binary is clearly drawn between blue and pink, sports and fashion, robust and gentle. The third picture in the slide show is of a baby dressed in a brown burlap sack. As ominous music plays, Barney warns, “But if you don't know the gender, little Fran is sure to be the pariah of the playground in this hermaphroditic burlap sack.” This firmly labels gender ambiguity and lack of gender definition as detrimental; people who are androgynous or who go against gender expectations are portrayed as undesirable, not just to the characters of the show but to the world.

The second gender-related issue in this episode is one which I have noted across seasons of HIMYM, and that is a negative attitude toward transgendered individuals. In this episode, Ted goes out with a woman named Janet, who he has just met. When his friends do some internet research on Janet, they uncover a huge secret, which Ted declines hearing before he gets to know her. The type of wild scenarios that he imagines her secret to be are a source of humor and a trademark of HIMYM. First, he imagines that Janet is actually a prostitute and is led out of the restaurant by two police officers; the entire restaurant bursts into laughter at Ted for being fooled into thinking she was actually interested in him. In the second scenario, Ted is in the men's restroom when Janet swaggers in, speaking with a deep voice, and pulls up her dress to stand at the urinal; when Ted objects, she says, “I'm a dude.” Ted gasps in horror.

This is not the only example of a queer-negative attitude I have noted on HIMYM. In season 2 episode 9, “Slap Bet,” Ted imagines that the big secret his then-girlfriend Robin could be keeping from him is that she “used to be a dude,” which she reveals in front of everyone at their wedding. In season 3 episode 8, “Spoiler Alert,” Ted imagines what huge flaw his then-girlfriend Kathy could have revealed to his friends at dinner while he was away from the table: could she have lied about an affair with a high school teacher and put him in jail for fun? Could she volunteer at a pound just for the rush of killing puppies? Could she have once had a penis?

The trend here is a man's fear that a woman he is seeing could secretly be a man or have once been a man. HIMYM has only provided images of transgendered characters that are hypothetical and closeted; the show has gone further by propagating the idea that being transgendered is something that people will not accept and will run away in fear from. In “Spoiler Alert,” being a post-op transgendered person is portrayed as on the same level as sociopathic behavior. I found this distinctly queer-negative attitude disturbing the first time it appeared, and have been surprised every time it has been repeated. It is not any kind of in-joke that bears repeating for effect, but it is used continually. Perhaps the humor comes from the idea of a man being fooled by very feminine looking male-bodied women. Perhaps it is a statement on heteronormativity, reinforced by the relationships of most of the main characters and by the hypermasculine rake qualities of Barney Stinson. For whatever reason, HIMYM has made it clear by its repetition of this joke that it will continue to cast transgendered people as the butt of the joke or HIMYM is simply not thinking of its implications about gender.

You can watch "Mystery vs. History" here.

I also found an interesting article about a Toronto couple that has decided to raise their newborn baby as "genderless." The response from readers has been largely negative.