Hello My Name Is 'Hal Sparks' and I'm Straight

[Guest Les]

QAF has become a true disaster! :'(

[+ deej]

I actually liked this evening's episode.

 

I'm very glad that a TV drama (soap opera) is tackling issues like gay bashing, relationships (personal, family, and other), drug abuse in the club scene, HIV status, unprotected sex, and everything else they've tackled. Tonite's coverage of internalized homophobia was particularly well done.

 

What are you looking for? Prime time porn? That's not what it's meant to be.

[BewareofNick]

deej,

You and I are in total agreement here. I love QAF and yes, I love the lesbians too

[guyinsf]

I enjoy QAF. I watch it every week, and tape it for a friend who doesn't have cable, much less Showtime.

 

I still think the show is the equivalent of a gay "Dynasty", including the predictable writing and frequent bad acting. I think that's what part of what makes it fun for me. (That and the hunky guys like Michael's new prospective boyfriend -- yummy!!!)

[Guest LG320126]

>deej,

> I love QAF and yes, I love the lesbians too

 

Nick, that's taking things just a little TOO far! :-)

[Guest spendlove]

I'm not sure what the title of this thread is supposed to mean. Sparks has done a creditable job of portraying his character. Is there something offensive about a straight man portraying a gay character? Should only black men be allowed to portray Othello? In that case we will have to destroy the tapes of Olivier doing that role.

 

I must have missed the part of yesterday's episode that showed 'internalized homophobia,' though I didn't leave the room or channel-flip since there are no commercial breaks. All I remember about it is that Lindsay had a problem with her parents and Michael had a problem having sex with an HIV+ guy. Not sure what 'internalized homophobia' has to do with any of that.

[+ deej]

The internalized homophobia I was referring to was "Ted"'s reaction to the HIV+ boyfriend. It's a reaction I see far too often among people I know. I think they handled it well and honestly.

 

I was thrilled, however, to see the Brian character's statement to Justin: "Don't EVER let ANYONE fuck you without a condom! I want you to be around for a long time." -- it's a pretty strong statement coming from the show's slut.

[+ deej]

Oh, and I understand the thread title perfectly. Sparks' every interview LOUDLY SHOUTS that he is straight. In case you didn't hear that, he's straight. Oh, by the way, have I mentioned that he's straight? ;-) Did you hear the rumor that Hal Sparks is secretly straight?

 

Methinks the lady doeth protest too much. }> (Apologies to Shakespeare for butchering that reference.)

 

Gale Harrold, on the other hand, didn't come out of the closet as straight until 3/4 through the first season. He just coyly avoided the question. Why does it matter so much to Sparks? And remarks like saying kissing another man was like kissing his dog didn't help his image any.

[Guest sniper]

I don't think it's fair to label fear of a fatal disease internalized homophobia. For a lot of people, fear of ANY disease is a big factor in their lives. Growing u[, I knew a kid who moved his bed to the other side of his bedroom when his parents got a microwave because he was afraid of radiation.

 

Condoms do break sometimes, even when people are careful. A LTR probably involves a lot of condoms. Odds are probably good that - EVENTUALLY - transmission will occur. I can't really hold it against someone if that makes them unable to go through with intercourse.

I think the show did a disservice in not exploring the sexual alternatives that the couple had. There are plenty of things you can do that are essentially risk-free, but by god if they can't fuck and suck, there is no hope.

[Guest Thunderbuns]

>Oh, and I understand the thread title perfectly. Sparks'

>every interview LOUDLY SHOUTS that he is straight. In case

>you didn't hear that, he's straight. Oh, by the way, have I

>mentioned that he's straight? ;-) Did you hear the rumor

>that Hal Sparks is secretly straight?

 

 

I know just what you mean and completly agree. Michael is my least favorite character on QAF, He's so immature and whines all the time. Bet he whines all the time in real life too.

 

Dr. David was my favorite but they killed him off last season. Why, I'll never know - it sure didn't advance the storey line!

 

Another actor who protests to much about his "straightness" is Eric McCormick of Will & Grace. Why are these guys soooooo terrified that they might be mistaken as gay. They themselves must know what they are, so what's the big deal? Unless they are closet cases!!!

 

Thunderbuns

[Traveler North]

I do enjoy QAF weekly. However, tho it is exploring new venues, I do not understand one thing. Nowhere in the show have I see a guy walking around naked in an apartment scene with his penis showing. It may sound like I am oversexed, but so be it. I do not believe I am. I do not mean to say the program should show sex action. But if a guy comes out of the shower or walks around naked, there is never a full shot of the person from the front. It just shows a lack of reality in a program that explores real gay problems. The Maupau series on ShowTime did not hesitate to show penis after the gay character had had sex with his hero movie star.

[+ deej]

<<Nowhere in the show have I see a guy walking around naked in an apartment scene with his penis showing.>>

 

You missed the first episode of season 1? :+

[+ deej]

>He's so immature and whines all the time

 

Yep. But at least he has a cute butt. :9

 

I think Dr. Dave's departure was because Chris Potter wouldn't sign a multi-year contract. At least that's what I *think* I read. He didn't want to get pigeonholed. (And he's another that made really disparaging comments about "playing gay" in interviews.)

[Troyster]

I also read somewhere that the actor who played Dr. David was st8 - perish the though. He was complaining in the interview about the sex scenes -- wonder if that's why he left the show?

[Guest Les]

Well I agree with much of what you said Deej,

especially in the first season...

but the show seems to have lost its way now

that it doesn't have the British blueprint

to follow.

In the original they killed off the Ted

character with the drug overdose...a shame

they didn't follow that part of the outline.

Also did you notice that Emmet had said

earlier that he was 'modestly' hung and now for

what comes across as a desperate plot ploy he's

hunglike a horse.

The Lezbos are really ridiculous...does anyone

know any gay women like them? I certainly don't

and my younger sister is a dyke...and I'm fortunate

enough to count many gay women as friends.

Where's the greased back hair,no makeup, sensible shoes

and

the omnipresent keys dangling from their back pockets?

Michael's whining is getting on my nerves.(Bring the

Doc back)

I liked Brian more as a slut.

Mom is just too too.

It sometimes feels like an old 'I Love Lucy' rerun

without the charm or wit...but I'll keep watching if

for no other reason than to complain how bad its getting.

[Guest spendlove]

>I don't think it's fair to label fear of a fatal disease

>internalized homophobia.

 

I agree. I am tired of hearing people come up with their own rules for how gay people should behave or think and then label anyone who disagrees "homophobic." Unless some election was held that I never heard about, no one has been elected to define what being gay means.

 

I have not read interviews with Sparks, but if he often makes a point of saying he is straight maybe that has something to do with the tendency of some gay men to claim that certain actors or celebrities are secretly gay even when they have no factual basis for saying that.

[Guest Thunderbuns]

>I also read somewhere that the actor who played Dr. David

>was st8 - perish the though. He was complaining in the

>interview about the sex scenes -- wonder if that's why he

>left the show?

 

Next you'll tell me that Tom Cruise is joining the cast as Jason's new lover (just after he let's Brian fuck him in the back room at the club)

 

And he (Cruise) spends the next 50 years suing every fag who suggests he isn't st8

 

Thunderbuns

[Traveler North]

I guess I may have missed the first episode but I saw most of the rest and my comment is still valid. There mave been many episodes during the first season and now in the second where the same pattern is evident. Show should explore real problems in realistic context.

[+ Axiom2001]

deeg, I could not concur with your stance more...... ...discussed QAF with my good friend today, and we both discussed this! I was the one who said the same thing as you alluded to in your message here!

Apparently, solid minds think alike! AXIOM2001

[Guest seraph250]

I agree with sniper. HIV infection is not synonymous with being gay and it makes no sense to call people homophobic because they are afraid of HIV. That's not homophobic, just sensible.

[+ deej]

OK, so I used the wrong term. It's still an issue I'm glad to see exposed no matter what you label it.

 

We're definitely developing two "levels" of homosexual: neg and pos and there's quite a lot of needless friction between the two. I *do* know people who view HIV+ individuals as second-class citizens. (Note that I said "know", not "hang out with".)

[Guest Bitchboy]

I'm not sure where the gay guys (and gals) portrayed in QAF really exist, but not in my neighborhood, I assure you. And poor Sharon Gless! Who would have thought she'd get stuck in a silly Lucy wig? She's become even more ludicrous than Tyne Daly and that's saying something.

 

Yet, with all its imperfections, most notably the horrendous acting, I am strangely addicted to it. Nowhere on TV, not even Sex and the City, can you see such hot beautiful scrumptious bodacious juicy male ASS. I sure like my ass pantless. It's worth the cable fee alone.

[Guest PhxMasseur]

Ted's reaction seems pretty hypocritical to me. Last season a whole episode was devoted to the fact that he barebacked in the back seat of a jeep, with a stranger that he later found out was positive. Now he's against any sex with an hiv + person even with a condom? The best part to me was when Michaels mom and uncle were talking, and she asked what will we do if Michael becomes positive, and his answer was, we'll deal with it!

[+ deej]

>I'm not sure where the gay guys (and gals) portrayed in QAF

>really exist, but not in my neighborhood, I assure you.

 

Lucky you. :9

 

I see bits of someone I know in each and every character.

[mmk]

>>I'm not sure where the gay guys (and gals) portrayed in QAF

>>really exist, but not in my neighborhood, I assure you.

>

>Lucky you. :9

>

>I see bits of someone I know in each and every character.

 

 

I agree with you deej-I do see character traits of all of the characters on QAF in people that I know and myself as well

 

Maybe the show does go over the top sometimes but I think that their characterizations are dead on target. Even though the Pgh that I live in is not like the one they live in (it is kind of a running joke with Pittsburghers), the show protrays all sides of being gay, not just one.

 

My theory is that if people get upset by the show or the way they portray people, it is because they see a bit of themselves in some of those characters and they do not like the negative light they are shown in.