Brief Nip/Tuck thought

[rivkat]

While I struggle with the last 500 words of my Yuletide story ...

I am told that the executive producer of this show is a gay man. I wonder, then, why the average gay man on the show is a murderous queen? I hate to buy in to crude "images of" analysis, and as geekturnedvamp pointed out to me, everyone's fucked-upness on this show is connected to their sexuality, but it still feels icky to me to have all the gay characters (except Liz) be vile along with all the straight ones (except Kimber).

Comments

[chase820.livejournal.com]

Well, Sophia Lopez was pretty nice. Though I guess you could argue that after her surgery she's actually straight.

BTW, could you e-mail me a link to the challenge website when the Yuletide story is done? Or is the story going up in here, too?

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

The story will go here after the big reveal of authors, which won't be for a while, so I'll send you a link when the stories go up.

Yeah, I thought about trying to sort out the transgendered folks and distinguish them in this post, but I gave it up because that discussion would have required so much qualification. I miss Sophia Lopez -- but she's not like most of the MTF patients we've seen; the other two who've repeated are both murderers, so they're kind of in the same boat as everybody else.

[piper47.livejournal.com]

I don't think *all* the gay characters have been vile. I never thought Ava was vile. Although, yeah I guess she was... so nevermind. I always felt bad for Ava in the end though, but yeah she was *way* messed up. All those characters are though, I think the only "normal" person on the show is Liz.

And well Annie. ;)

Nip/Tuck icons (http://www.livejournal.com/community/beforethesun/5617.html#cutid1)

[piper47.livejournal.com]

You gotta feel bad for Cherry though... that wasn't like she's a crazy murder. That psycho nazi was going to kill her. While it wasn't self-defense shooting him, there were probably so many emotions, and so much anger, not to mention "ow pain", her shooting him wasn't deliberate.

And did Ava kill anyone? I don't think so. Although there was kinda sorta incest-y things going on there, so that was bad on a whole different level.

Still liked Ava though.

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

I always had a bit of fondness for "Annie is the Carver" as a theory. If that kid survives her parents, it'll be a miracle.

Right, everybody is totally screwed up, so it's not as if the equation gay = fucked up is overtly made; rather it's human = fucked up. But I can't help feeling that N/T is a show that's easy to watch and have your homophobia confirmed, just because being gay is still the marked category. We're allowed to sympathize with the main three characters, who are all straight (*koff*) and given reasons for their fucked-upness, while the gay people tend to be defined by being gay and monstrous. I'm also distressed by the way that Sean, who the other characters treat as the moral compass, has behaved with vicious homophobia this past season.

Thanks so much for the icon link!

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

It wasn't crazy murder, it was premeditated! (Premeditation can happen really quickly, as it obviously did here.) She didn't need to do it and she lett Matt talk her into it (he's a murderer too, like his mom).

Ava killed her son! And left him to rot! I can understand affection for her, though, especially for the way she fucked with Julia's head.

[piper47.livejournal.com]

If that kid survives her parents, it'll be a miracle.

No shit! When child protective services came in, I was like "Take her away!! Save her!!"

;)

I never really felt like the show was homophobic, or promoting homophobia at all. I think, the show just thrives on showing the dark side of everything.

Actually the show has only ever portrayed one "gay" character. Liz.

All the other "gay" characters have been transgendered.

The show *is* however "religious-phobic". I'm not religious by any means. But anytime they have showed religion on the show, it is these religous freaks who are basically *dangerous*.

The show really does just thrive on showing the evils of all sides/groups. No one is safe. Even our core three are screwed up and more often than not, in the wrong.

And no prob on the icons... *everyone* should have Nip/Tuck icons. :)

[meret.livejournal.com]

Technically, he stabbed himself, but Ava certainly drove him to it by molesting and abusing him all those years.

I think LJ is messing up with sending comments again, so I'm reposting from my LJ to make sure you see it. - I still haven't received your story at either address. Maybe you could try sending it from another of your addresses and see if that helps at all? I'm sorry about all this trouble! If you need to find someone else to beta whose email is more compatible, that's fine. I know you're on a time crunch. I'm happy to do it if you want to try again though.

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

She also did nothing to help him when she might have tried to save him -- but why should that day be any different from the rest of his life?

I got the story in, so don't worry about it. Thanks for your willingness -- I really don't know what happened.

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

Quentin was bi (which counts as gay for homophobia purposes) and not transgendered, from all we know. Granville Trapp -- the HIV+ guy who wanted to fuck without his partners knowing his HIV status -- was gay. The married serviceman who fucked Quentin was bi/gay (and I guess picking a guy who'd be conflicted about homosexuality made some sense, since it wasn't likely he'd try to give Quentin a reacharound, but it still seems pretty risky to Quentin's secret).

Good point about religion. Religion can be a source of comfort and strength, and these characters can't have that in their lives or the storylines don't work.

[meret.livejournal.com]

She also did nothing to help him when she might have tried to save him -- but why should that day be any different from the rest of his life?

Totally!

Sorry I wasn't able to help with the story. I'm glad you got it finished in time. :)