Subject: "MEDIAlert!" [A] - RESEND, 08.11.97
From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 02:46:29 -0400 (EDT)

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INDEX:  "MEDIAlert!" - 08.11.97 [Part "A" ONLY]

-ITEM 1:  "Fall Repeats: Homo (Non) Sexuality" [ABC, Ellen; UPN; Head Over
Heels; Patrick Bristow; Paul Rudnick].

-ITEM 2:  "An Uninformed Opinion" [New York Post; CUNY/CLAGS; Eve Kosofsky
Sedgwick; Jane Austen and the Masturbating Girl].

- ITEM 3:  "Good People" [People Weekly; Andrew Cunanan; Jeffrey Trail].

[Part "B" ("Media/Briefs" and "Web Watch") posted separately].
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M   E   D   I   A   l   e   r   t   !
___________________________

August 11, 1997   Al Kielwasser

[1]

F A L L  R E P E A T :   H O M O ( N O N ) S E X U A L I T Y

Over the past few years, there certainly have been MORE lesbian and gay
characters on prime-time television.  Yet, in many ways, these images are
also MORE OF THE SAME.  Despite the recent increase in number, today's
lesbian and gay characters share at least one unfortunate trait with their
media ancestors -- they are all, oddly, asexual.

That trend promises to continue into tomorrow, if the network's Fall plans
are any indicator.  As television's first lesbian lead moves into the new
season, for example, "Ellen" is not likely to get a girlfriend.  ABC's
entertainment chief, Jamie Tarses, recently told a convention of TV writers
that the network plans "to move slowly in developing the Ellen character as
an open lesbian" (Reuters/Variety, July 23).

"Ellen will, at some point or another, be dating or pursuing relationships,
but that is a bit down the line," Tarses explained.  "Our feeling is this is
a realization that the character has just made, and now must explore making
that decision....  It's going to be about baby steps for this character to
get comfortable with the decision she's made."

In response, one reporter at the convention asked if "Ellen's" audience might
"see any baby kisses."  "You know, we haven't gotten that far down the line,"
Tarses replied.

In real life, ironically, sitcom star Ellen DeGeneres was able to come out
and -- without much deliberation -- "pursue" an open, honest relationship
with another actress.  As entertainment reporter Andrea Orr points out,
however, ABC's homophobic hesitation is typical of most networks -- which
have permitted lesbian and gay roles "but have avoided heated controversy by
denying those characters much of an on-air sex life" (Reuters, July 23).

This Fall, a sitcom for the UPN network -- "Head Over Heels" -- will feature
yet another asexual queer.  In the new series, openly gay actor Patrick
Bristow will play "Ian," a celibate bisexual character.

At a recent UPN press party, Bristow explained:  "My character has chosen
celibacy as the most suitable way of life for himself.  Instead of being
someone who people try to figure out, 'Is he gay or is he straight?', he's
someone who we know has been omni-sexual in his past and has dated and had
relationships with both genders.  He has a lot of mystery."

Kinney Littlefield, a reporter for the Knight-Ridder News Service (August 1),
found a simpler explanation in Bristow's tortured excuse.  According to
Littlefield, "Making Ian's love life past-tense is an easy way to avoid the
on-screen conundrum of gay or bisexual romance."

Even Bristow has complained that hetero- and homosexual characters "are not
equal yet."  "I couldn't give an actor playing my partner even really a peck
on the check without it raising somebody's eyebrows," he conceded.  "And yet,
straight people can French-kiss for 15 minutes without taking a breath."

Such heterosexist bias is not limited to television, but warps the roles of
lesbian and gay film characters as well.  A number of Hollywood movies have
included a sort of "faux lesbian" sexuality, entirely directed by the
masturbatory fantasies of STRAIGHT men.  For the most part, however, lesbians
and gays on the big screen are not much more sexual than their small-screen
counterparts.

As screenwriter Paul Rudnick ("Jeffrey") points out, the industry has yet to
produce an "openly gay film heartthrob."  "Gay characters are usually limited
to being comical sidekicks, or deeply noble and tragic characters," according
to Rudnick ("New York Post," July 7).  Simply put:  Hollywood's homosexuals
are not very "sexy."

Whether in film or television, the unfair restraint placed upon sex, love and
romance is especially problematic for lesbian, gay and bisexual characters.
 A character's whose life is defined by sexual identity is, in effect, denied
an identifiable sex life.

Especially on television, lesbians and gays are not only rendered sex-less,
but essentially love-less as well.  Even when they are characters in late
prime-time, ADULT HOMOSEXUALS are not permitted to kiss, cuddle or
romantically hold hands -- things that HETEROSEXUAL CHILDREN can do on
Saturday morning cartoon shows.

Something of a "don't show, just tell" policy, this media bias diminishes the
liberating capacity of all lesbian and gay characters.  Without social or
romantic elaboration, even breakthrough portrayals like "Ellen" will become
increasingly less innovative -- and more insulting.

As long as they are denied fuller lives, the message conveyed by such
characters is essentially homophobic.  Lesbian and gay love is too sickening
to be seen.

Along with other critics, media researchers Darelene Hantizis and Valerie
Lehr agree that many of the television characters touted as "positive" may
actually work toward a negative end.  Inasmuch as homosexual desire
challenges the most basic precepts of heterosexism, these sex-less media
conventions represent "a containment of the threat."

Denied relationships with each other, lesbian and gay characters are
ultimately deprived of "community."  Not coincidentally, it is only through a
sense of community that any minority group can convert personal pride into
political action -- and challenge the bigotries of an oppressive majority.

* * * *  ACTION  ALERT!   Insist that well-intentioned networks finally adopt
a fuller (and more equitable) approach to the sex lives of lesbian, gay and
bisexual characters.  Contact:  Mike Sullivan, President, UPN Entertainment,
11800 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025 (e-mail messages can be sent
directly from the UPN web-site, www.upn.com/email2.htm);  Jamie Tarses,
President, ABC Entertainment, 2040 Avenue of the Stars, Century City, CA
90067, e-mail [email-masked], web-site www.abc.com (copy any
correspondence to ABC Broadcast Standards, 77 W. 66th Street, New York, NY
10023-6201, fax 212-456-2381).

[ Re/Sources:  "Sexuality Issues in Popular Culture and Media" is one of
several annotated bibliographies distributed by the Sex Information and
Education Council of the United States; it includes references and resources
on AIDS/HIV, youth, gender, and homosexuality (SIECUS, 130 West 42nd Street,
Suite 350, New York, NY 10036-7802; this bibliography is also available
online, at:  www.siecus.org/siecus/pubs/biblio/bibs0016.html).  Darlene
Hantizis and Valerie Lehr's essay "Whose Desire? - Lesbian (Non)Sexuality and
Television's Perpetuation of Hetero/Sexism" appears in "Queer Words/Queer
Images" (New York University Press, 1994), an anthology edited by R. Jeffrey
Ringer. ]

[2]

A N  U N I N F O R M E D  O P I N I O N

Recently, an editorial in the "New York Post" (July 27) waxed homophobic on
the subject of higher education.  Specifically, the newspaper railed against
below-average standards at CUNY -- the City University of New York.  As
evidence of a general academic decline, the editors cited lesbian and gay
studies.  Such scholarship is akin to idiocy, in the opinion of the "post."

Headlined "CUNY's Misplaced Priorities," the editorial begins by noting:
 "The City University of New York may not be able to turn out teachers who
can win state certification, or lawyers who can pass the bar exam.  But,
according to the 'Village Voice,' it's 'building a department of the hottest
queer theorists in the country.'"

"The main evidence of this claim is that CUNY's Center for Lesbian and Gay
Studies (CLAGS) is bringing to campus this fall Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, known
among other things for delivering a paper to the Modern Language Association
entitled 'Jane Austen and the Masturbating Girl,'" the editorial continues.
 "Whether the university has more surprises up its sleeve remains to be
seen....  But we wouldn't be surprised if it did.  A convoluted sense of
priorities is integral to the decline that CUNY has experienced over the last
three decades."

The remainder of the editorial takes a roll call of related problems at the
university, ranging from "inflated grades" to "open admissions."  With pity
for "students who will have no real future," the newspaper concludes that:
 "CUNY continues to fall short in its most basic task -- graduating folks who
can function well in the increasingly complex municipal economy."

While all homophobia is based in ignorance, the "Post's" editorial is
especially stupid.  The newspaper advances a stale fear of new ideas --
attacking "queer theorists" with the sort of narrow-minded rhetoric once used
against proponents of a round earth.

The notion that lesbian and gay studies necessarily diminish or exclude
"basic education" has no basis in reason.  A course on lesbian and gay
literature is still a literature course, after all.

Historically, however, heterosexual elites (mostly white, wealthy, and male)
have preferred to think only of themselves -- literally -- substituting
egomania for education.  Even today, most universities overwhelmingly teach
what effectively amount to heterosexist courses (if not courses in
heterosexism).  Yet "straight studies" are seldom cited as the cause or
consequence of any academic decline.

In faulting lesbian and gay studies, the "Post" commits a classic act of
scapegoating.  Faced with complex social problems, bigots have always used
the media in this way.  Rather than search for real solutions, it is easier
to blame someone else.

In the "Post's" blameful opinion, moreover, it is clear that the editors have
not read what they ridicule.  Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick has made numerous
contributions in the area of lesbian and gay studies (and is an expert in
19th and early 20th century literature as well).  Yet, the "Post" is ready to
disavow her work on the basis of one paper -- and even then, on the title
alone.

Ironically, Sedgwick's paper concerns the history and cultural impact of
"masturbation phobia" -- the same paranoia exhibited by the "Post."  In the
opinion of salacious and simple minds, anything that refers to masturbating
women must be "pornographic," especially if its attributed to a lesbian
academic.

Neither the only nor most current of Sedgwick's many essays, "Jane Austen and
the Masturbating Girl" first appeared in the Summer 1991 issue of "Critical
Inquiry."  The paper was subsequently published in an anthology of Sedgwick's
work (Duke University Press, 1993), in which she chronicles -- and deflates
-- the tendency of journalists to cite the paper's title as "an index of
depravity in academe."  If editors at the "Post" had bothered to read
Sedgwick's book, they might have offered something more original than a dumb
repetition of homophobic cliches.

In drawing conclusions from titles alone -- to foment sweeping accusations
and uninformed blame -- the "Post" finally exhibits the very ignorance it
decries.  Homophobia and hypocrisy often go hand-in-hand.

* * * *  ACTION  ALERT!   Educate the editorial staff; send remedial comments
to:  Marc Kalech, Managing Editor, "New York Post," 1211 Avenue of the
Americas, New York, NY 10036-8790, fax 212-930-8540, e-mail
[email-masked] (or [email-masked]), web-site
www.nypostonline.com.

[ Re/Sources:  The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies was established in
1991, as the first university-affiliated program of its kind (in the U.S.),
"encouraging research on the lives of gay men and lesbians from
multicultural, multiracial and feminist perspectives."  In addition to a
newsletter, CLAGS publishes a directory of lesbian and studies (CLAGS,
Graduate School of the City University of New York, 33 West 42 Street, Room
404N, New York, NY 10036-8099, tel./fax 212-642-2924).  Eve Kosofsky
Sedgwick's anthology "Tendencies" was published in 1993 by Duke University
Press, Box 90660, Durham, NC 27708-0660. ]

[3]

G O O D  P E O P L E

In the wake of Andrew Cunanan's death, newspapers and magazines remain
fixated on the serial killer's life, dwelling in particular on any salacious
details -- no matter how irrelevant.  As evidence of Cunanan's "obsession"
with sadistic sex, for example, media outlets ranging from the "National
Enquirer" (August 5) to "Prime-Time Live" (July 30) have circulated
photographs of a single S&M videotape -- "Roped & Delivered" -- which Cunanan
reportedly owned.

Offering something of an alternative to such coverage, a recent issue of
"People" magazine (August 11) shifts the focus from "gay murderer" to
"murdered gay."  The magazine profiles Jeffrey Trail, the first person to be
killed by Cunanan.

Trail's life is recalled in a personal , four-page memoir -- "One Good Man"
-- written by his sister (Candace Parrott) and illustrated with family
photographs.  "Jeffrey Trail was more than Andrew Cunanan's first victim,"
the magazine announces, "he was a beloved brother and son who won't be
forgotten."

To be sure, this article is a loving tribute that attempts to humanize an
individual gay person.  That effort seems all the more worthy in the wake of
widespread reporting on a "homosexual killer" (and the demonizing effect of
such media backwash on the entire gay community).  

"People's" effort is not perfect, however, and the flaws -- however slight --
point to a significant problem in media coverage generally.  In the
mainstream press, biographical sketches of lesbians and gays tend to favor
assimilationist traits over all others -- in terms of both "who" and "what"
gets emphasized.

Because the conservative and semi-closeted Trail was not out to his parents,
the family photos included in "People" show no signs of homosexuality.
 "Jeff's 1995 Christmas-card photo featured his pet weimaraner Melissa,"
reads the caption of one picture.  Another photograph -- of Trail alone -- is
captioned with an explanation that he and Cunanan "were friends, never
lovers."

Though the article mentions that Trail did have a lover -- Jon Hackett --
there are no photos of him, with or without Jeff, accompanying this piece.
 Trail is shown with his dog, but not his boyfriend.

Of course, Trail's homosexuality is not excluded from "People's" profile.
 There is no overt attempt at occlusion or denial here.  But neither is there
any pride.

"People" might have titled the article:  "One Good GAY Man."  But it did not.
 Before the article ever mentions that Trail was gay, in fact, he is first
identified as a "Naval Academy Graduate and Gulf War veteran."

As with many well-meaning (and yet heterosexist) accounts, Trail's
homosexuality is defended solely on the grounds that it is irrelevant.  Being
a solider is good.  Being gay doesn't matter.

When describing homosexuals who happen to be "bad," sexual orientation cannot
be emphasized enough -- or so it would seem in the mainstream press.  When
attempting to portray lesbians and gays as "good" people, however, the media
tend to downplay homosexuality -- often to the point of dismissiveness.
 Obviously, neither extreme is very humane.

* * * *  ACTION  ALERT!   "People" deserves supportive praise (for doing
better than some), as well as constructive criticism (some things could still
be done better).  Contact:  Norman Pearlstine, Editor-in-Chief, "People,"
Time & Life Bldg., Rockefeller Center, New York, NY 10020, fax 212-522-0794,
e-mail [email-masked], web-site www.people.com.

[End of Part "A"]

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AUTHOR NOTES

The editor of "Gay People, Sex and the Media" (New York:  Haworth Press), Al
Kielwasser's media criticism and research have appeared widely in both
mainstream and academic publications; he was twice elected Chair of the Gay &
Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation/San Francisco Bay Area.