queer as buffy
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1:24 p.m.Queer as "Buffy:" TV's best gay show
taken from planetout entertainment news
Hello, Island Natives!
I know there's more gay sex in one episode of "Queer as Folk" than you can find in a sex club, but that doesn't make it good TV in my mind. "QAF" is like MTV's "Undressed," a guilty pleasure best viewed with a bottle of lube and the sound off. "Sex and the City" is more my speed, but it's less about gay issues than it is about shoes. Pound for pound, the best gay story line on TV is on a little horror-action show about a former cheerleader who kills demons. Jerk off to the "QAF" cuties all you want: The best gay TV is "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
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To be perfectly honest, I was shocked to find out that Joss Whedon, creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," is straight. He wrote the cute dialogue in "Speed" that made Sandra Bullock a star. His original "Buffy" film was filled with self-obsessed, witty-bitchy girls who could have kicked the asses of all the Heathers in "Heathers." How could someone like this not be gayer than Christmas? Despite the handicap of his sexual orientation, Whedon has managed to churn out arguably the best gay characters and story line ever to grace the small screen.
In season four of the series, dependable and sweet budding witch Willow Rosenberg found lesbian love in college with equally sweet Tara Maclay. In one of the sexiest nonsexual moments in TV history, Tara and Willow discovered their mutual attraction while locking hands and using their powers to stop heart-stealing demons from cutting them open alive. That episode, "Hush," was not only nominated for an Emmy, it also marked the gay turning point of the series. Over the next two seasons, "Buffy" viewers were treated to a mature and engaging lesbian plot filled with realistic turmoil and issues, as well as some hot girl-on-girl action. What more can you ask of a series?
That "Buffy" has flown under the GLAAD radar is a total crime. As other, lesser shows have reaped accolades and praise at GLAAD's annual dressy events, Whedon and his terrific cast and crew have gone virtually unrecognized. So, too, the series has avoided much of the conservative criticism heaped on other shows. Around the same time as the gay "Buffy" scene, "Dawson's Creek" made the news for its gay kiss -- while "Buffy" went unreported. Perhaps that shows how seamlessly integrated into the show the gay stuff is. When gay characters are done right on TV, it shouldn't be news.
This May, "Buffy" goes off the air after seven terrific seasons. Willow has a new love interest, a tough, ass-kicking slayer named Kennedy, but we may never know what comes of their romance. Also, the clueless-about-his-own-homosexuality character, Andrew, will likely never realize he is gay. It was fun while it lasted, though. And now that we can look back at the show as a whole, I think it's high time GLAAD got off its high horse and handed Whedon a Vanguard Award (given to members of the entertainment community who have made a significant difference promoting equal rights for the GLBT community). After all, what's the point of having an award for the best gay TV if it doesn't honor the best gay TV?
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