An Obsession with Homosexuality?
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| Title: | An Obsession with Homosexuality? |
| Creator: | Melody C |
| Date(s): | 09 November 2008 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | House |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | An Obsession with Homosexuality?, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
An Obsession with Homosexuality? is a 2008 essay by Melody C. It was posted to OpEdNews.com.
Some Topics Discussed
- the show House, M.D.
- House/Wilson
- same sex relationships as represented on television
- slash
- TPTB's queerbaiting
Excerpts
I am about to divulge to you a somewhat shocking secret about women -- not all women but certainly many of us ... maybe even someone you know. This secret will disclose one of the reasons that "Brokeback Mountain" was wildly successful. It's also explains why a large number of gay male romances are read by women.
My recent show of preference had been "House" and specifically the House/Wilson relationship. The series had shown an uncharacteristic openness to the slash audience until recently. This openness seemed to exist due to a couple of writers and producers who would happily add "subtext" (a winking suggestiveness between the characters in the dialogue) to the series to please the huge audience of slash fans. Unfortunately one of the other producers and one of the series' actors (Robert Sean Leonard who plays "Wilson") have recently expressed significant distaste at the mere suggestion that House and Wilson might be "more than friends". When interviewed recently for TV Guide, Hugh Laurie ("House") made the thoroughly acceptable remark that he didn't see the characters as gay to which Leonard replied "thank you" as if the alternative possibility would be an insult to him. What a disappointment to see such a gifted actor whose work has seemed so sensitive and intuitive appear to lean so heavily toward homophobia.
One would have hoped that House (that once-brave series which has championed reason and logic and eschewed sentimentalism) would have respected its whole audience enough to just steer clear of the entire matter. But sadly House just gave us their one and only foray into regular character gayness ... two hot girls kissing. What a surprise. It's an insult to the series and an offense to their audience to pass off this as a replacement. There was even a scene featuring one of the female characters examining her semi-naked lover for a spider bite. It was pandering to the worst sensibilities of the audience. If "House" didn't want to tackle a regular gay or bisexual character, why not just ignore the rest of the world rather than create the most stereotypical "acceptable gayness" of all?
You'll notice that the female character isn't gay, though. We must always keep the male perspective as the central focus. Heaven forbid she be seen as not wanting to have sex with men!
One wonders if Olivia Wilde (who played the regular "House" character now depicted as bisexual) would suggest such a storyline was an "obsession with homosexuality" as Robert Sean Leonard bemoaned regarding the House/Wilson concept (I wonder if he was bothered by an "obsession with heterosexuality" during last season's "Amber" storyline). Not that it would have mattered. Women, you see, are just expected to "deal with it". Olivia doubtless would have just had to suck it up.
Yes, they want the slash women to watch but they clearly don't value our opinions or our audience participation. So goodbye, "House", you might have been a ground-breaker, or at least an enjoyable series for everyone I know to watch (subtext included). Now you're just yet another symptom of the overarching problem in this culture that women's opinions are unimportant, gay men are condemned by some men's sexual identity problems, and lesbians are either used or abused or both. I'll continue reading House/Wilson fan fiction but my viewing of the series itself is now in the past.