SOUNDBITES — “The notion that there could be ‘legal consequences’ for airing two men kissing on network TV in 2009 is stunning. After all, ABC regularly broadcasts kisses between Kevin and his husband, Scotty, on Brothers and Sisters. And that kiss between two male soldiers on Grey’s Anatomy was scorching.” —Brian Patrick Thornton, who kissed his then-boyfriend on live television in 1999 during a Today show broadcast [SM]
Brian Patrick Thornton
“The notion that there could be ‘legal consequences’ for airing two men kissing on network TV in 2009 is stunning”
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FakeName
Um, is someone actually saying that there could be legal consequences from the airing of two men kissing on TV?
FakeName
Oh, never mind. CBS is. CBS dumbasses. This is even weaker than the excuse they gave for not showing the grooms kissing on “Northern Exposure” and that was FIFTEEN YEARS AGO.
schlukitz
Huckabee Worries Gay Marriage Will Destroy Kids’ Minds
Now, just think what will happen when those kids see two grown men kissing on TV?
You know, this could get to the point where no one would want to pick up a gun and kill another person again.
I mean, who would be left to fight wars? *sarcasm font on*
Joseph
@#1, “legal consequences” is what CBS claimed when they blurred the video of Adam Lambert kissing his bandmate, yet they showed the Britney-Madonna kiss without blurring the video.
Rainfish
This is the same CBS (parent company – Viacom) who owns that milk-toast cable channel LOGO which has been so sterilized of same-sex sex that it might as well be the eunuch channel. Even the common curse word “goddamn” is blipped out every “goddamn” time; so frequently that you’d think that this was the 1950’s. And regarding semi-nudity, even butt shots, that you commonly see on the Fox (“family values”)Cable Channel (example: Nip Tuck), are expunged.
Contrariwise, Lesbian lip-locks (not that there is anything wrong with that)are more common on mainstream TV, and in close up, (example: HEROES) in prime time; while male homosexuals have to remain nelly asexual stereotypical castrated clowns where no touching is allowed. ABC’s BROTHERS AND SISTERS is a a rare exception to the occasional same-sex peck. But, even on that program, they rarely get to hump under the sheets like the straight characters do nearly every episode.
Lord knows, sometimes I think the only answer is that we need to migrate en masse and take over an entire state of our own — say Maryland. We need to get the hetero jack-boot off from our collective necks if we are to survive with our dignity intact. Perhaps then we could live out our lives freely. Maybe start our own broadcasting stations too. I’m ready to become a complete isolationist. Just take over an entire state (our very own Israel)and fuck a bunch of everybody.
scott ny'er
I agree with Rainfish.
But I do need to give some credit to LOGO. LOGO has shown Queer as Folk, and god knows that series has many shots of dudes kissing, which they’ve aired. I’ve even seen butt shots at times. Even tho LOGO needs to be more upfront on showing the sexual side of gays, it is STILL the best way for exposure to gay dudes. Even if said dudes are over the top like on Queer as Folk.
FakeName
I weep for what Logo could have been were it not for the greedheads at Viacom double-dipping by charging a subscription fee AND soliciting advertisers. Answering to advertisers invariably leads to compromising content. I refuse to watch movies on Logo because of the butchery the channel performs. I watched one episode of QAF a while back because I hadn’t seen it in a while and it was so shredded to remove the DIRTY WORDS and the GAY SEX that it was practically incomprehensible. What’s even more ridiculous is that Logo censors its online content too.
I tell ya, the SECOND that I become a billionaire, I’m starting my own gay channel and I’m doing it right. Just you wait.
I don’t give the networks any credit for showing women kissing either. In many instances these “lesbian kiss episodes” are nothing but cynical ratings ploys (and I include “Heroes” in that number and I mock them because it didn’t work). The recurring characters involved usually don’t identify as lesbian or bisexual and the actual lesbian or bi character is almost always not seen again.
Rainfish
Agreed, “scott ny’er”, Logo has allowed a few “butt shots” from Queer As Folk to slip by late at night, but if one was to compare gay-themed movies that have appeared on HBO or Showtime or HERE! and see how much they’ve really cut out on LOGO, then people can see how ridiculous LOGO is.
For christsake, LOGO even blurred out Michelangelo’s statue of David’s dick (in Frankenfurter’s Lab) during a song and dance routine when LOGO showed the Rocky Horror Show after twelve at night this year. That is even beyond Victorian prudery. And what is this about bleeping out all of the “goddamns”.
What the “bleep” is that all about? That’s “bleeping” silly!
And like I mentioned earlier, the sleazy “Family Values” Fox cable channel displays tits and ass on NIP TUCK all of the time, as well as on many of their other programs on its basic cable channel. Where is the hate mail on that?
Uh…double standard anyone?
So, no I don’t trust hetero control of our lives in the entertainment media. Just imagine a world where billboards, magazines, TV, Movies, etc. all showed provocative images of gay men sucking face, humping each other, and oozing sex all over the place all day long and where heterosexual images of innocent displays of affection are suppressed…blurred out…edit…expunged…non-existent.
Well…I can only dream, I suppose. 🙂
jason
Guys, guys, guys….I referred to this last year when I started getting involved in the study of human sexuality. What we have here is a “bisexual double standard”. Write it in your notebooks, scratch it in your dashboards…it’s important to never forget the words.
The bisexual double standard was invented by liberals about 50 years ago. It’s a social standard designed to prop up male heterosexual fantasy and accommodate their phobias as well. It bisexualizes women but keeps men strictly straight. From porn to Playboy, from art-house movies to Jerry Springer, this double standard says that it’s OK for a woman to bisexual but not a man.
Thus, female-female interactions (along with female nudity) are OK in the mainstream but male-male ones (along with male nudity) must be segregated into the “gay scene”.
Blame women. They are not innocent in all this. Most of all, blame liberals. They devised this double standard. Fight back if you wish. Do it intelligently, and don’t be afraid to take on women or liberals.
PopSnap
Ummm… nobody is saying that there would be legal consequences?
Swarm
Hang in on this till about 2:40 ..you go, sweet child!
on “the kiss”
http://tiny.cc/LYUJt
on “choosing to be gay” a year ago
http://tiny.cc/foUgi
FakeName
Bisexual double standard invented by liberals in the 1950s? Why am I suddenly picturing Jason wearing a propeller beanie lined with foil?
Attmay
@12 Fake:
Jason is right. Do you seriously think a conservative would have put out Playboy Magazine? Do you think a conservative would have put The Jerry Springer Show on the air? Even if they made money, which they do. This double standard is real and destructive.
@5 RainFish:
You have come to realize what I have known for years: Viacom sucks. Just about every channel they own has been virtually destroyed.
Nickelodeon:
—Then: A children’s cable network.
—Now: A more puerile, garish, loud and annoying version of the same. Nothing suitable for adults or older kids other than “SpongeBob Squarepants”.
Nick at Nite:
—Then: Vintage TV shows that haven’t been shown in syndication in years.
—Now: Recent sitcom castoffs (nothing predating “Home Improvement”, which premiered in 1991) from other basic cable channels, including “Everybody Hates Chris,” which premiered in 2005!
TV Land:
—Then: What Nick at Nite was and more.
—Now: The TV rerun equivalent of oldies radio: The same 20 shows over and over again (all of which are available on DVD), edited to sell more commercials, with all sorts of crap intruding all over the screen. And movies. That’s right, movies. By their logic, they should also be putting “The Andy Griffith Show” on The Movie Channel.
MTV:
—Then: Revolutionary cable channel devoted to music videos
—Now: Shitty reality shows for teenage losers.
VH1:
—Then: A more middle-of-the-road version of MTV
—Now: Shitty reality shows for the parents of the losers who watch MTV.
BET:
—Then: A black-owned and operated cable network with a wide variety of programs from music shows to 70s black sitcom reruns to talk shows.
—Now: The black MTV. And the current MTV, not the old one.
Spike:
—Then: Formerly The Nashville Network, a country-music oriented channel
—Now: Hetero male douchebag Central.
wwwl
They only care when the gay person isnt fictional.
Rainfish
@ Jason
Yeah right…uh huh…we “liberals” invented the “bisexual double standard”…uh huh…sure…next you’ll claim we “invented” the Internet too!
Uh…well…ok…you got us on that one!
…
—————————————————–
Jason also wrote: “Blame women. They are not innocent in all this. Most of all, blame liberals. They devised this double standard. Fight back if you wish. Do it intelligently, and don’t be afraid to take on women or liberals.”
—————————————————–
@ Jason
…I blame conservative Mormon Republican hermaphrodites, as well as flying squirrels.
I mean how unnatural is that?
You know, the flying squirrels part.
jason
Homophobia is evident in conservatives, and at least they don’t hide it. Liberals, on the other hand, hide their homophobia. It was liberals who invented the bisexual double standard as a means of keeping the male-male erotic interaction out of the mainstream.
It was liberals who used the media to promote and glamorize the female-female erotic interaction (in the form of female bisexuality) but not the male-male one.
Rainfish
@ Jason
You say “It was liberals who invented the bisexual double standard…” But you don’t explain exactly how that is.
Are you talking about Hollywood?
While some artists (directors, actors, etc.) may be “liberal leaning” the BIG MONEYED guys who run everything (the studio executives, the producers, etc.) are not…I repeat…not THAT liberal.
If they were, then we would more gay-themed movies…more openly gay actors…more openly gay everything coming from Hollywood and spreading faster than Adam Lambert’s legs across the nation — but we don’t. The reason why is because it is all about the money and keeping hetero-centric appetites satisfied.
It is also very much about “Conservative” business acumen. If there was a wide spread desire for two dudes sucking face and humping each other on TV and in Movies…etc. we would have it. It’s that simple. Even as success as Brokeback Mountain was, it didn’t start a trend. It was a fluke. A transient controversy that (while very well done) was still just a fluke.
Homosexual males are still too frightening to the average heterosexual male stereotypical image of himself, and just too dangerous to his culturally (brainwashed) induced fragile security blanket of male identity; so much so that we just scare the mint jelly out of the little sillies.
So, please elucidate on how this is the “liberals” fault.
I mean we true “liberals” are godlike and omnipotent and all that…but to blame het-male insecurities on us too. Come on!