This is “Point/Counterpoint in the Blogosphere…” where we take a look at what has YOU talking. Today, I’ll be showcasing two related discussion points about a particular topic, to help you keep up with some of the hot topics in comic fandom.
The television show Heroes has become quite popular among many comic book fans and has naturally generated quite a lot of discussion. The most recent topic of interest has to do with the sexuality of one of the characters on the show.
For those not following the issue, the character Zach on Heroes was originally hinted to be gay, with behind the scenes comments confirming this. However, more recently, the word has shifted, with official behind the scenes commentary re-affirming his heterosexuality. Naturally, this has caused a lot of interesting discussion.
Point:
Dorian at Post Modern Barney reacts to this news:
Excerpt:
Should that decision stand, and not be reversed by negative publicity pointing out the blatant homophobia of this change, it would be disappointing, but not surprising. Gay characters tend to be invisible to non-existent in science fiction, despite producers and writers talking a good game about “gender blind” universes, and the popularity of science fiction in the gay community. (Seriously, we all seem to be big geeks for it.) But, at the end of the day, there are no gay characters on Battlestar Galactica, no gay characters on Star Trek (apart from the occasional pandering lesbian tease), no gay characters in Star Wars. Even Captain Jack, on Doctor Who and Torchwood, would be better described as omni-sexual than gay.
Counterpoint:
Lyle at Crocodile Caucus has a more optimistic take on the news:
Excerpt:
In short, there’s now pressure to set things right with those angered by the change and (again, if the rumor is true) the person who instigated it won’t be able to make a similar incident happen again. Hopefully, that’ll lead to a gay character on Heroes who’ll have a bigger part in the series’ story than Zach did.
What are your thoughts?
December 15th, 2006 at 10:41 am
See, I always just thought the popular kids were calling him derogatory names associated with being gay because that’s what such students do to the skinny alt-geeks. I never really thought it was meant that he actually was gay.
I’m cool with it either way though. Be gay or be not — he’s one of my favorite supporting characters on the show. And I admit it would’ve been nice to have a gay guy without being a stereotypical one.
December 15th, 2006 at 1:44 pm
Yeah, Considering how much character he has shown, I find it very disappointing that anyone should think that his sexuality should be his defining trait.
December 15th, 2006 at 3:31 pm
I always saw the kid as having a crush on his cheerleader friend…honestly.
December 16th, 2006 at 12:29 am
I agree with everyone. I’ve booktalked at high schools and middle schools in Hawaii and in Indiana, and the “gay” epithet is used just as Anun said – to verbally bash someone “different” from the popular “norm.” “That’s so gay,” and “You’re so gay” are common insults made by the unimaginative “popular” kids, such as the queen bitch cheerleader on Heroes. I never thought of Zach as actually gay. I just liked him for who he was.
December 16th, 2006 at 4:21 am
FYI, a key part of the story with Zach is that NBC promotional materials dropped some obvious hints that the character was intended as gay or at least questioning (like a MySpace profile for the character that listed ‘Not sure’ for sexual orientation), only for publicists to say otherwise later. So some people (who payed closer attention to the show than I have) watched the show seeing the set up.
December 18th, 2006 at 10:31 am
I’m straight. I was a nerd in high school, and still am, and a lot of people called me gay because of that. I can’t help but resent the reading of Zach’s possible heterosexuality as an example of “blatant homophobia.”
I’m sorry that there aren’t more gay characters in the media, because then there might be room for characters like Zach to be straight after all.