Bi Media Watch:Lady Gaga and "State of Play"

[MetaSexual2]

I'm doing some thinking about how media perceptions shape both public perceptions of bis and also how we let them shape our perceptions of ourselves.

Like it or not Lady Gaga is becoming the latest media poster child (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1189132/Lady-GaGa-poses-semi-nude-Rolling-Stone-My-attraction-women-makes-boyfriends-uncomfortable.html) for female bisexuality. She headlines Rolling Stone's hotlist for the year, so it looks like the trend is continuing to be one of cutting-edge cool for bisexuality (at least for females) .

I recently saw the movie "State of Play" and there was a bisexual male character who was portrayed as an amoral con man. I think this is a pretty common thread for media portrayal of bisexuals. I'm picking up on this repeating theme that somehow having an ambiguous sexuality is related to having ambiguous ethics.

Any one have any thoughts or other examples?

[IanBorthwick]

Watch LOGO, you'll see we Bi-Men get played like harps from hell as the butt of all the Anti-Bi jokes and stereotypes. I watched it until my heart broke and then I had it removed from my DISH network package.

One movie in particular, I cannot recall the name, had one of the guys from Kids in the Hall playing a bisexual male friend of this gay couple that was always heartbroken by women. The gay couple tolerated his emotional outbursts and said snide things in a soft way so they seemed to be giving advice about him getting his head on right and sticking to men. Even somethings said about it being his own fault he lost his last boyfriend for cheating on him with a girl. <sigh> Hope that gives you enough clues to find it, as I think it was originally a Lifetime Movie Network movie they ported to LOGO as gay appropriate material.

[littlerayofsunshine]

Women get flack too. Won't see a bi-girl in a sitcom. Even though I think it would make a good story line. Get one made for TV movie, but that was a serial killing lesbian prostitute. So not so helpful. And then there is porn:rolleyes: Girls gone wild, Yeah that will help people understand and be more considerate and respect us. Angela was an icon for me before she went all humanitarian ...lol Wheres the humanity??

[**Peg**]

Won't see a bi-girl in a sitcom.

Karen in "Will and Grace" was bi.

[TaylorMade]

Karen in "Will and Grace" was bi.

Eh, was she someone I wanted to be?

Nope. The closest TV ever came for a good, meaty bisexual character of any gender was Detective Tim Bayliss (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Bayliss) from Homicide: Life On the Street. He didn't come out till season 7, but he counts. He wasn't amoral, he wasn't crazy. . .actually he was really sensitive and thoughtful, and very human (back problems and all). I loved him and really started to get into his character. My dad said my "crush" on him started to tip him off.

<SIGH> I don't think TV will ever make a character like him again.


http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/crowley/500/illuminati/tv/hlots/Tim4.jpg

*Taylor*

[littlerayofsunshine]

My understanding was that Karen was strictly dickly except for one night she got drunk. but maybe that was my mistake.

I just remembered that there was a girl/girl relationship in Sex in the City. I didn't see the whole episode though or a whole of any expisode.

[evilpanda]

*Sigh* They can't all be Torchwood, but can't some of them try?

is Jenny on the L Word bi, or is she just confused and genuinely stupid? i've given up trying to figure out the intent of the show's creators.

this bi chick thing is such an obvious fad. everytime i read megan fox talking about her sex life in a magazine, i picture her rolling her eyes at the bullshit her publicist is making her say. plus, she came out to Maxim and not The Advocate. that should say something.

(is lady gaga really on the cover of The Advocate or is that a rumor?)

and the public perception of bi guys is just plain depressing.

[mryanne58]

One of the doctors on 'House' is openly bisexual. I can't think of her name, but she's cute:)

[llllllllll]

the bi gal on house is 13,not sure of her off stage name

[littlerayofsunshine]

mryanne you are so right. I forgot about her.. She's cute too. I don't get hbo's and showtimes :( I know I miss out on some good shows.

I would like someone to tell me mine's a fad. 22 years being bisexual and I am only 30. But one thing about bisexuality as a fad.. It has to lead to a bigger acceptance. Like Bell bottoms. They are doing more and more documentation about naturally occuring bisexuality among animal species. It has to lead back to us eventually. * Now I got that stupid song in my head: You and me baby ain't nuthin but mammals, so lets do it like they do on the discovery channel*:banghead:

Now what we need to understand. Men are the ones that made female/female bisexuality such a hot and tawdry subject. Why can't they use the same power to do the same for m/m. Just throwing that out there. I know alot of women that would support the effort.

[cand86]

I recently saw the movie "State of Play" and there was a bisexual male character who was portrayed as an amoral con man. I think this is a pretty common thread for media portrayal of bisexuals. I'm picking up on this repeating theme that somehow having an ambiguous sexuality is related to having ambiguous ethics.

Gah. You know, at this point, I don't even really mind all the stereotypical portrayals of bisexuals as promiscuous, greedy, sex-obsessed, indecisive, polyamorous, "in a phase" and whatnot . . . I just want us not to be portrayed as evil. No more homicidal killers (Catherine Tramell in "Basic Instinct", Suzie in "Wild Things", Laura/Lily in "Femme Fatale", Quention Costa of "Nip/Tuck") or essentially morally ambiguous folks (Julian Noble as a hitman in "The Matador", now adding in conman Dominic Foy of "State Of Play). Please, Hollywood? Pretty please with a cherry on top?


My understanding was that Karen was strictly dickly except for one night she got drunk. but maybe that was my mistake.

I think these (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAAktl4zkZc) videos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_AMCbWkCwM) definitely show Karen's bi side. :)

[littlerayofsunshine]

*Bows down to the Cand86*

You have taught me a fine lesson. May I have anathah?


I knew I loved Karen for some reason :tong:

[meteast chick]

"Oh, sometimes men love women,
and sometimes men love men.
Then there are bisexuals,
though some just say they're kidding themselves..."
- "The Bisexual Song", from Friends

I will freely admit bisexuals face a double standard. It's like it's okay to be one or the other, but God forbid you straddle the middle.

To note a few...Alice on the much beloved and much missed series "The L Word" was bi. In recent years she has pretty much stuck to women, but the show sticks by the character storyline that she's bi. Jenny wasn't bi, she was just confused.

Amanda Donohoe as C.J. Lamb on L.A. Law is listed as the first recurring or regular bi character on a primetime series.

Christine Taylor's charactor Kate in Dodgeball was bisexual, but assumed gay by her rebuffing the main characters advances, her mean dodgeball throw and the introduction of her girlfriend at the end, but when one of the other characters announces he knew she was lesbian, she said "I'm not lesbian, I'm bisexual!"

Johnny Depp as confirmed his character in Pirates of the Caribbean is bi.

I got those by myself, but there are more at http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoBisexuals.

Seems most characters are written to jump the fence in a night of drunken revelry(Karen on Will and Grace) and then right back again with nary a mention of ever going there to begin with, or go and never come back.

I was hoping to avoid this, and this wasn't exactly a character, but then again sort of was...but what about Tila Tequla's "Shot at Love"?

luv and kisses,
xoxoxoxoxoxox
meteast

[evilpanda]

really. johnny depp played captain jack as bi. now, i have to watch that movie again.

in the next STAR TREK movie, Sulu should be either gay or bi. I think George Takei would bless the decision with all his heart and it wouldn't be inconsistent with existing Trek canon because Sulu is never shown as having a girlfriend, but he does have a daughter named Demora. (He is only straight in the Mirror Universe, the same world where Kira, Dax, and Bashir are evil bisexuals.) Given Trek's history of denying LGBTs an openly queer character in their all-inclusive universe, this should be their amend.

I also think John Cho has an amazing ass.

[MetaSexual2]

Wow gang, lots of good stuff for me to process here. Thanks be for the bisexual metabrain :)

Taylor - "Homicide" is not a show I ever would have picked up on as having a bi character, good stuff.

I'm amused that both Captain Jacks are bisexual, or pansexual really, given their flirtation with anything vaguely attractive and/or humanoid. Sure it plays into the bisexuals will sleep with anything stereotype, but at least its done as camp.

cand86 - Karen was definitely one of those amoral bisexuals I was thinking of :tongue:

The tvtropes site is great meteast, lots of good stuff there.

evilP... you can't just say something like about Cho that without providing documentation ;)

[MetaSexual2]

I missed the whole Tila Tequila thing being as it really didn't register in the media in the UK. I take it she was seen as being another one of those bi-for-media-purposes-only celebrities?

At some point I'd like to go back and look at Bowie's career and see he how he has been received at various points over the last few decades. I think he may be a good barometer for general attitudes towards bisexuality in the media.

[FalconAngel]

Outside of a few "edgy" and/or subtle, minimalist/marginal character references, the vast majority of Bisexuals on film and TV are women. Almost no men, and the ones that are major characters and men are usually portrayed as some extreme or the other.

They need to have more realistic portrayals of Bisexuals (male and female) in the media. There seems to be no problem portraying Gays in all of their personality/behavior types and variations, but nothing more than a limited and singular view of Bisexuals.

You would think, that with all of the Gay/Bi/Sexuality friendly writers, directors and producers, that there would be more balance in that area now that sexuality is not really a taboo subject any more.

[evilpanda]

just watch Harold and Kumar 2 for a glimpse at the new Sulu's beautiful cheeks. Kal Penn's is nice, too.

john cho would be perfect if they ever decided to make a biopic of Lt. Dan Choi, the recently dismissed gay soldier. the two are virtually identical. jesus, why am i so fixated on cho all of a sudden?

[IanBorthwick]

One of the doctors on 'House' is openly bisexual. I can't think of her name, but she's cute:)

And a constant recipient of derision from House himself in EVERY episode.


Gah. You know, at this point, I don't even really mind all the stereotypical portrayals of bisexuals as promiscuous, greedy, sex-obsessed, indecisive, polyamorous, "in a phase" and whatnot . . .

In christian homophobe america, you just described "evil" dear.

[allbimyself]

And a constant recipient of derision from House himself in EVERY episode.

Uhhh, EVERYONE is a recipient of derision from House. Besides, House obviously has homoerotic tendencies toward Wilson. Can't blame him there.

I haven't followed House that closely but I don't think 13 was portrayed in a flattering light either.

[IanBorthwick]

Uhhh, EVERYONE is a recipient of derision from House. Besides, House obviously has homoerotic tendencies toward Wilson. Can't blame him there.

I haven't followed House that closely but I don't think 13 was portrayed in a flattering light either.

I didn't say House alone though. 13 got it from everyone on the staff it seemed, even Wilson.

[TaylorMade]

Taylor - "Homicide" is not a show I ever would have picked up on as having a bi character, good stuff.


Yup . . .He's been a personal icon of mine. If I wanted to meet and marry a bisexual man, I'd want him to be like Tim Bayliss. Plus, the actor that played him (Kyle Secor) is average guy hot and built kinda jock like -6'5" and a certafied Karate/Kung Fu instructor- so . . . yowza. :p

*Taylor*