I think it’s great that people are relating to Connor and other characters on the show on a lot of different levels. And the fact that there are members of the LGBT community, and friends of the community, that are feeling just pleased and happy to see a character on TV that is depicted in maybe a positive light, I think that’s great. I don’t know that I feel a responsibility necessarily. I think for me at the end of the day, it’s a job and I just go in and I’m glad that Pete [Nowalk]’s written a real honest character. I try to do my best each day to take it and run with it.
I am glad that people are talking about it and that it’s sparked the conversation. I think that that’s the aim of entertainment. And if we can have a dialogue about it, it can become more accepted. TV is sort of catching up and it’s been very black and white what we’ve seen on the screen and very paranormative and patriarchal and I think that now that we’re exploring it, it’s something that’s being talked about which is great. And even now, there’s a lot of content being made that is shedding an honest light on who people are and real people and at the end of the day that’s what Pete [Nowalk] has created. Real people. And that’s fantastic.”
— Jack Falahee, who plays gay law student Connor Walsh on ABC’s How To Get Away With Murder, in an interview with E!
Sammy Schlipshit
Big finale’ with super surprise last night…..
Damn, now what am I going to do until the end of January?
Will Annalise now need to defend her whole crew from a murder charge?
Thank you Miss Shonda.
MarionPaige
on “How To Get Away With Murder” The main black male student looks like he has moss on his head. And, this Annalise looks so bad is some shots without her hairpiece the show could pass for a horror movie. In some cases HTGAWM is like those Law and Order episodes, as long as the shots are moving swiftly between one character making speeches and another it’s fine. However, when one character has to actually carry an extended scene through acting, the show falls flat.
With respect to the gay scenes, there is this implication that gay sex = anal sex. One reviewer of the show actually accuses the show of employing “bottom shamming”. I think it’s great that gay has advanced to the point where a gay character can be a sexual predator on tv and get away with it. But, the gay sex scenes don’t come across as having been written by a gay man – even though they apparently are being written by a gay man.
My how far Shondra Rhymes has come, from the evil black woman sitting back and allowing poor TR Knight to be called names to her being “honored” by HRC.
MarionPaige
what I dislliked most about the UK’s Queer As Folk was this repeated “theme” of the lead male character being a sexual predator. Some how on “How To Get Away With Murder”, the gay character / predator is less repulsive.
Scribe38
@MarionPaige: His character isn’t a predator. He is a law student willing to do what ever it takes to win, just like every other student on the show. THEY all have questionable morals. He also has bottomed on the show, so there isn’t any bottom shaming. As far as hair of the black characters, what the hell is wrong with you? That is what black peoples’ hair actually look like, when we are not pressured by by society to change and fit into white society. The best scene of the season is when the lead pulled off her wig, eye lashes, and make-up and was real with the state of her marriage. Btw if you dislike the show, you could always just watch something else.
MarionPaige
I just called “all the black people” and they did confirm that they all use the same hair stylist and have the same hair texture.
MarionPaige
btw, Alfred Enoch plays the lead “black” male student. The actor’s father is English, his mother is Brazilian and his hair looks like moss. they should give him a weave or shave that shit off his head.
Paco
I really love this show, but I am very disappointed with his character. He doesn’t seem to have any brains or skills other than what happens below his belt. Everything about his character has been nothing but sex and it would be nice to see him be able to solve a problem without just relying on being a sexual predator. Sad for a law student that should be able to show some smarts about himself. Just a dumb male bimbo so far.
The good thing is that his character is being confronted with the consequences of his sexcapades to problem solve. Hopefully by next season he will have discovered that not all issues can be resolved by dropping his pants.
Sammy Schlipshit
@Paco:
“not all resolved by dropping his pants”????
Really? Usually worked for me.
redcarpet30
The scenes are hot, I’ll give them that, but they are hot like a Sean Cody gay-for-pay porn vid where everyone is overly perfect looking and the sex is mechanical and over the top. I have a nagging feeling that constantly reminds me I’m watching straight men act gay. Even the best straight actor can only do so much to convince me his character is gay.
I had the same problem with Brian on QAF. Could always tell he was a straight actor. There is an intangible element a real gay guy brings to gay sex scenes that a straight actor just can’t.
Alan down in Florida
I’m surprised nobody (and you know who I mean) has started blathering that the character isn’t really gay because he has admitted to having sex with women. Just saying.
SteveDenver
Gaydilocks and the Three Complaints:
“This gay is too gay.”
“This gay is played by a straight actor.”
“This gay is too [white, oversexed, stereotypical, young and fit, fill-in-blank].”
Will gay characters ever be “just right?”
derek mcgillicuddy
I wouldn’t agree with the actor that his character portrays gay people positively. The one episode of the show I have watched I found very disturbing: he seduces the office boy and betrays him, which anguished the boy so much he opened a window in his office skyscraper (not too realistic: you cannot open city windows for that very reason), and leapt to his death. The gay character showed no regret whatsoever, and I believe most gay men would be overwhelmed with guilt at what they did.
Is the message here that we gay people are just as shitty to each other as straight people?
I think this program is trying its best to be a network copy of “Damages,” and on that show there is also not a single admirable character.
It is sad.
MarionPaige
somehow I get the feeling that “Body Heat” is the inspiration for “How To Get Away With Murder”, that the Annalise character picked that freakshow set of students because they were stupid – the reason Kathleen Turner picked William Hurt in Body Heat.
Blackceo
@MarionPaige:
“on “How To Get Away With Murder” The main black male student looks like he has moss on his head. And, this Annalise looks so bad is some shots without her hairpiece the show could pass for a horror movie.”
Please go and say this comment to a room full of Black people. Just let me know the time and place so I can be there to see them DRAG YOU FOR FILTH!!!!! You have just absolutely got to be f**king kidding me with that comment.
@Scribe38:
“As far as hair of the black characters, what the hell is wrong with you? That is what black peoples’ hair actually look like, when we are not pressured by by society to change and fit into white society. The best scene of the season is when the lead pulled off her wig, eye lashes, and make-up and was real with the state of her marriage.
YES!!!! All of that!!!! I don’t know if u know the backstory of that scene, but it was actually Viola Davis’ idea to do that scene and Twitter blew up when she did it with everyone talking about how amazing that scene was. Huffington Post said the scene challenged ideals of Eurocentric beauty that is constantly shoved in our face and supposed to be “the standard” for beauty. I thought it was one of the most powerful scenes on TV I’ve ever seen because of the message behind it. Annalise was taking off her armor and showing her true self, full of vulnerability and insecurity. Viola Davis earned herself an Emmy nomination with that scene alone and didn’t say a word. That’s how you get away with acting.
As for Connor, I love him. You’re never going to please everyone with a gay character, but I absolutely love his character and love the steaminess of the gay sex scenes. Shonda Rhimes has Thursday nights on lock with Scandal and How To Get Away With Murder.
MarionPaige
Angela Davis (and most of black america in the 60’s) managed to (in your words) “challenge ideals of eurocentric beauty” without scaring the horses. In fact, one person most successful at challenging eurocentric beauty (in my opinion) was the Frenchman Jean-Paul Goude who used Grace Jones as his canvass.
james_in_cambridge
@MarionPaige: His hair looks fine and he’s a hot little piece; you’re just being a dick. And not in a good way.
DarkZephyr
@MarionPaige: are you clinically depressed? You are never anything but negative.
Merv
Apparently, I’m alone among white guys here, but I think the guy who plays Wes on HTGAWM is one of the hottest guys on TV, period. I love his hair style, his posture, and his super cute face. And I don’t care that I sound like a fourteen year old girl!
derek mcgillicuddy
We are all 14-year old schoolgirls at heart.
Chico
@derek mcgillicuddy: I’m wondering if we saw the same episode because after the young man killed himself, his character was upset in the role he played leading to the demise. It was a short lived moment, but it was there. This minor inconsistency aside, I agree with you. The sexuality may be loose but the questionable morals and whatever-it-takes attitude doesn’t present the character in a positive light.
derek mcgillicuddy
@Chico: Yes, the young man who leapt to his death had problems, but was pushed over the edge when exposed as the source of the leak. I felt that the character who seduced him was rather remorseless at having pushed the kid over the ledge as surely as if he had opened the window himself and said “it is a nice day for flying.”
MarionPaige
There is this video on youtube of Jack Falahee and Alfred Enoch being interviewed while they are drinking from pineapples. It took me a while to figure out that Falahee was referring to Enoch as Alfie.
Merv
All of the main characters have major moral and ethical flaws. It’s part of the appeal of the show.