"Boy Meets Boy" (Aug. 26)

[+ Charlie]

James got more likeable when he became angry at having been set-up by the producers; however, I wish he had the balls to express his fury at being "betrayed" openly to the smiling bitch rather than just to the camera. Andra may not always be so pleasant to deal with, but at least she is open and honest about her feelings. If I were trying to "connect" with James, I would find him very frustrating and would wonder if it was worth the trouble.

 

I still think Franklin is a good actor, who will come up with some smarmy response to excuse his deception, if James chooses him. What I find intriguing is that Brian and Wes are such similar types that I had difficulty telling them apart in the larger group, yet both ended up in the final three, with Franklin, who is so different from either in looks and personality.

[duke37]

RE:

 

>James got more likeable when he became angry at having been

>set-up by the producers; however, I wish he had the balls to

>express his fury at being "betrayed" openly to the smiling

>bitch rather than just to the camera.

 

How could you tell? James has basically one facial expression. Anger, happy, inquisitive. All basically one expression. I would have settled for at least him stamping his little foot in his fury at the deception. But not just that basically worried look and the nervous grin I have come to love. Heck my 80 something dowager aunt can work up more of a conniption.

 

Andra may not always be

>so pleasant to deal with, but at least she is open and honest

>about her feelings.

 

Yeah I had to her admire her epiphany that she is playing in to the hands of the producers of the show. Now if she only figures out James treats her like shit and her children and husband she abandoned back at home are starting to forget what she looks like.

 

If I were trying to "connect" with James,

>I would find him very frustrating and would wonder if it was

>worth the trouble.

 

You said it there brother. When he was doing his Columbo impression with Brian asking "Do you have a secret?' and then airily pretending not to have any reason to ask the question, Brian should have called him on it. For example he could have said "Don't try and do airhead, it doesn't suit you babe". That assumes that Brian is any smarter than James. Nice guy and easy on the eyes but to borrow Will's comment "Not the sharpest tool in the shed".

 

>I still think Franklin is a good actor, who will come up with

>some smarmy response to excuse his deception, if James chooses

>him. What I find intriguing is that Brian and Wes are such

>similar types that I had difficulty telling them apart in the

>larger group, yet both ended up in the final three, with

>Franklin, who is so different from either in looks and

>personality.

 

Not so intriguing. It seems to happen on all of these shows. For example in the Bachelor the "leading man" said the same kind of stuff endlessly about wanting to make a real connection and yet went for the blonde with the big cans in the end. Here we get talk about showing the reality of gay relationships and he goes for the pretty boys with the great abs.

 

I guess everyone thinks Franklin is the straight?

 

Jeff

[Guest bighugbearphx]

RE:

 

>I guess everyone thinks Franklin is the straight?

 

My "gaydar" picked him out from the first episode, and I am still 90% convinced he's straight.

 

But a couple of things Wes said had me thinking.

 

1. When James asked him for a "secret 60% of his friends don't know about", he said that it was the fact that he is gay. (When James responded sheepishly that he already knew that, he challenged James asking why he thought he was gay.)

For one thing, it makes you suspect he realized that's what James was fishing for (They said that the gay mates have no clue there are straight people in the group.) And, c'mon, if Wes is acting like he normally acts around people, would even 6% of ANY group not perceive he is gay? Doesn't sound right.

 

2. When they were talking a bit about relationships, Wes consistently referred to a potential love interest as "a person" rather than using the male gender.

 

On the other hand, Wes's tears in reading Sean's goodbye note seemed genuine, and I don't see that as likely from a straight guy.

 

FYI, on Bravo's website, the popular choice as the straight one is Franklin. Yet, 37% say that James will choose Franklin as his date, 51% say Wes and only 12% Brian.

 

In his shoes, I'd probably choose Brian, since he is the only one I am sure is gay. But it is very likely he will choose Wes, even though James may have some suspicions, since - if he is being honest - they obviously have a great connection. He may think that, if Wes is THAT good of an actor, maybe he deserves the $25K.

[eastbayguy]

RE:

 

>>I guess everyone thinks Franklin is the straight?

>

>My "gaydar" picked him out from the first episode, and I am

>still 90% convinced he's straight.

 

Well, from a game strategy perspective, when they started putting guys together in groups for elimination, the people eliminated from the groups Franklin was in were always straight. That is likely manipulation on the part of the producers to ensure at least one straight mate remained in to the final round.

 

I'd also vote for Franklin being the straight one also, although he sure does look good in his undies. Perhaps he can be recruited for our team? }(

 

Did anyone else catch the sort of surprised look on Wes' face when he was quizzed along the gay/straight angle? Just a guess here, but I'm thinking he was prepped with an answer or two by the producers, and was surprised that James really did ask him a question predicted backstage by the producers.

 

You also wonder how many takes they did with James and the host? Did James loose it the first time around and they ended up with no usable footage? If he's really that chilly emotionally, I'd go along with those who think he's not worth catching. That whole thing looked staged or at least practiced.

 

Did anyone catch the previews for Bravo's upcoming series where they unmask the goings-on in reality TV? As I've posted earlier, this is all reality TV in name only. The amout of rigging and manipulation behind the scenes is significant.

 

--EBG

[axebahia]

RE:

 

>I'd also vote for Franklin being the straight one also,

>although he sure does look good in his undies. Perhaps he can

>be recruited for our team? }(

 

Look, I think you've all been missing the point here. Even if Franklyn says he is straight does that mean he is straight? I think you need to be a bit bi-curious to go on a nationally broadcast show like that. My bet is that his dick's been sucked by a guy and he has pounded a butt already. If I were James, I'd choose him, and seduce him!

[eastbayguy]

RE:

 

>Look, I think you've all been missing the point here. Even if

>Franklyn says he is straight does that mean he is straight? I

>think you need to be a bit bi-curious to go on a nationally

>broadcast show like that. My bet is that his dick's been

>sucked by a guy and he has pounded a butt already. If I were

>James, I'd choose him, and seduce him!

 

I hereby selflessly volunteer to comfort all mates not chosen in any way they require comforting.

 

And these days, to your point, who knows? I just ran across a study wherein 70% of college age males admitted to at least some level of same-sex fooling around. Included were things like mutual masturbation, etc. Would agree with you that being on a program called "Boy Meets Boy" implies a strong level of interest in the subject matter.

 

--EBG

[FrancoDiSantisxxx]

14:99

 

>

>And these days, to your point, who knows? I just ran across a

>study wherein 70% of college age males admitted to at least

>some level of same-sex fooling around. Included were things

>like mutual masturbation, etc. Would agree with you that

>being on a program called "Boy Meets Boy" implies a strong

>level of interest in the subject matter.

 

 

Unfortunately, on this site, there tends to be the conceptual underpinning by some of the posters that all men can be had and/or that all men have a price. In the instance of this show, apparently $25,000 is a sufficient inducement, but also perhaps is any potential career boost (for example, to Dan, as an actor) either directly or indirectly from being on this show. Even if there is no upside potential of gain, either in actual financial benefit or indirectly, apparently Americans have become the kind of culture where the need to either be validated or to expose oneself in a public arena far outweigh any privacy, good or common sense concerns one may or should have.

 

While we sometimes like to think that only "trailer trash" goes on television shows such as Judge Judy or Jerry Springer, the fact of the matter is that the imperative to have some measure of fame, no matter how fleeting, is strong enough to get individuals to eat strange things or pretend to be straight (on a show such as The Bachelorette or pretend to be gay on this one.

[Will]

Boy Meets Man

 

If I remember correctly, Charlie and I were among the curmudgeonly set who originally sneered at this show, but then capitulated. After last night's episode, however, I think I was right in the first place. If those are the most interesting and attractive gay men to be found in Los Angeles, I think I may turn in my membership card as a Friend of Dorothy.

 

The producers were very clever to choose James as their, well, protagonist. He is incredibly good-looking, and very sweet. However, he's turned his life and his will over to the care of Andra, probably, I think, because he has very, very little idea of who he is, what he wants, and what he's about. Watching him last night, I came to the conclusion that he's not just not very bright. He's downright dumb.

 

To me, it doesn't make any difference who's straight. I agree with others that Franklin is a likely candidate, but so is Brian, who protested once too often that he was "jealous." About Wes, there can be no doubt, because he has turned himself into a poster-boy for the Gay Stereotype. I won't be surprised if James chooses him, because of the three Wes is the only one who can outdo James in the sillier-than-thou game. Furthermore, only Wes shares James's almost girlish conviction that "connections" and "romantic" events are reliable indicators of good things to come. In any event, James is just too thick to interest Franklin for long and too dim-witted emotionally to keep up with Brian, who to me seems the most sensitive of the three.

 

I'll watch next week, as the producers want me to. But I really don't care any more. If James chooses Franklin, and Franklin turns out to be gay, I'll bet that Franklin will be so bored with James by the time they get to New Zealand that he'll dump James for a kangaroo. James is gorgeous, to be sure, but I imagine that he's just as unimaginative in bed as he is at the dinner table.

[BuckyXTC]

RE: Boy Meets Man

 

I find my sentiments to be in close alignment with those of Will. I think James is incredibly boring and sort of goofy. And while I think Franklin is the best looking and most interesting of those remaining, he is probably the straight one.

 

I was sad to see Robb eliminated. I thought he was one of the better choices. All in all, the whole show seems pretty lame to me, but then, what isn't lame on TV these days?

 

I found the latest episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy much more entertaining, though it can wear thin pretty quickly as well.

[buckguy]

RE:

 

Saw this after missing a few episodes due to travel. These guys certainly don't seem to be the hottest or most interesting for James or anyone else---and what's with Franklin and that hair. Wes seems too into this and was too willing to talk about the kiss, etc. If he's the audience favorite, then the producers have apparently found their audience. It would be funny if he was the straight guy, although I understand that he works or has worked at a gay community center.

 

It's been hard for me to figure out what James' story was, but last night helped. He must be pretty naive (or just needy or self-absorbed) if it took him this long to figure out what the show was about. Andra seemed to think it was all about her, which went a long way in explaining her relationship with James, esp. when they also mentioned the husband (& I guess there also are kids). If he's pretty clueless about himself and things around him, he'd be the perfect catch for some self-involved faghag, but I wonder what's going on with hubby.

[Guest]

RE:

 

What I don't understand is why James didn't give each of the mates a long, wet French kiss. I think it would be very difficult for a straight guy to fake that. Was he prohibited from Frenching the suitors? And I've always thought Franklin was the straight one, but now I'm wondering about Wes...

[Paul Revere]

RE:

 

I agree about the French Kiss strategy. I don't think that James tried hard enough to determine who was straight.

 

At first I thought the show was stupid, and I thought it was a lousy trick to toss in straight guys among the potential mates. Then I got hooked on the show, and it was kind of interesting. Although I agree with others, the more we see of James, the less interesting he becomes. He looks good, and he is pleasant enough, but there doesn't seem to be much there.

 

I am beginning to think that Wes is the faker, but its hard to tell. He cried over the note from Sean, but maybe they connected as straight guys.

 

I checked out the Bravo website, and was surprised when I counted, and seven of the 15 mates were straight. That isn't a twist, thats a serious attempt by the producers to humiliate the lead guy, and reinforce the old wive's tale, that gay men just want straight men. So now I'm pissed again at the producers. Tossing in two or three straight guys may have been a twist, but 7 of 15 is just sick. Couldn't they find 15 gay guys who wanted to embaras themselves on this show? (And I still don't believe that Dan is straight.)

 

And who would have thought that Andra was married and had kids. I had thought that she and James were so Will and Grace, and they would end up together forever.

 

And am I the only one in America that can't understnad how you can have a gay dating show, where the lead guy is looking for a real connection and a relationship, and no one has asked who is top and who is a bottom. It might be nice to make a "connection" with one of the mates, but if they are both big ole bottoms, that trip to New Zealand will just be a trans-Pacific shopping trip!

[axebahia]

RE: 14:99

 

>Even if there is no upside potential of gain, either in

>actual financial benefit or indirectly, apparently Americans

>have become the kind of culture where the need to either be

>validated or to expose oneself in a public arena far outweigh

>any privacy, good or common sense concerns one may or should

>have.

>

>...the fact of the matter is that the imperative to

>have some measure of fame, no matter how fleeting, is strong

>enough to get individuals to eat strange things or pretend to

>be straight (on a show such as The Bachelorette or

>pretend to be gay on this one.

 

I must say that this post seems pretty naive to me. Don't you deal with a lot of "straight" clients? I think you really misunderstand what straight guys think, if you think that a 100% straight guy would go on a show like that and pretend to be gay. Isn't that why nobody takes Hal Sparks from Queer as Folk seriously when he claims to be straight? PPlleaseee!

[axebahia]

RE:

 

>And am I the only one in America that can't understnad how you

>can have a gay dating show, where the lead guy is looking for

>a real connection and a relationship, and no one has asked who

>is top and who is a bottom. It might be nice to make a

>"connection" with one of the mates, but if they are both big

>ole bottoms, that trip to New Zealand will just be a

>trans-Pacific shopping trip!

 

Very perceptive point!

[taylorky]

RE: Boy Meets Man

 

i think wes is the alleged straight one.

 

in my opinion he is just an atypical sissy straight guy.we have a friend that he reminds us of......

 

as for james bleccccchhhh!!!!ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ:(

[Guest Bitchboy]

RE: James is a zero

 

If anyone wonders whether intelligence and perception are part of sexual attraction, just look at the number of posters who have been turned off by James lack of either. Most of us thought he was gorgeous on show number one; now he gets very few affirmations. He's turned me off bigtime with his silly little snits. If he nods his head in assent one more time as one of his "dates" makes a point, I'll vomit. He and Andra, an ugly and snide cunt whose husband must be having a ball while she's away, deserve one another. Ugh to all of them.

[Will]

RE:

 

>I agree about the French Kiss strategy.

 

Yes, yes, yes! But I don't think that James wasn't trying; I'm afraid it didn't even occur to him. After all, this show isn't about marriage and life-long partnership, it's about a sexy trip to New Zealand. What gay man in his right mind would get this close to the final choice without having even kissed all three?

 

>I checked out the Bravo website, and was surprised when I

>counted, and seven of the 15 mates were straight. That isn't

>a twist, thats a serious attempt by the producers to humiliate

>the lead guy, and reinforce the old wive's tale, that gay men

>just want straight men.

 

Again, Yes, yes, yes! At first, I thought they had set up the group to resemble the kind of random sample that gay men everywhere face, so that "the public" could understand that gay men have a completely different problem to straight men when it comes to dating: who's gay and who's not? Franklin is a perfect example of the ambiguity that is more and more common in that age group. By that, I mean only that a very large number of middle-class, educated, white men, which these seem to be (come to that, was there an African American or Asian American in the original group?), don't find it necessary to "act" masculine any longer. They are who they are, and don't worry about it. Franklin reminds me of, literally, hundreds of young men I have known personally. Neither their behavior nor their demeanor says "Straight" or "Gay." And that, of course, compounds the gay man's problem when it comes to finding guys to date.

 

BUT: Now, I think you're absolutely right about the producers. I didn't know that 7 of 15 were straight. In a way, that's sort of disgusting, because it doesn't mimic real life at all. A gay man who lives in Los Angeles and is as good-looking as James is should have built-in, auto-pilot gaydar. Hell, I'm an old fart and most of those boys didn't fool me. So what's with James?

 

Finally, who do you think comprises the audience for which this show was designed? Suddenly, I'm not so sure that the show is at all "gay-friendly."

[Will]

RE: James is a zero

 

Right you are! Rent boys, take notice.

[+ Charlie]

RE: James is a zero

 

The producers are smarter than I realized, if they have succeeded in getting a sophisticated group of consumers like ourselves watching the show regularly and debating not only its merits but which characters are gay and straight. I find James a bore and I think the notion of finding true love in this manner is ridiculous, and yet on some deep level the premises of the situation must appeal to me, or I would switch over to ESPN.

[Bilbo]

RE: James is a zero

 

I haven't watched this show at all, partly because we don't have cable. But wouldn't it be just too delicious if it turns out that James is straight? Otherwise, wouldn't there be at least one person on this board who is still smitten with him? Take that, America! (Maybe they've started talking about Andra's husband to prepare us for the jolt when James is her husband!)

[woodlawn]

RE: James is a zero

 

>a sophisticated group of consumers like

>ourselves

 

Given that a number of people here have confessed to spending time on dreck like "Big Brother" and "Bachelor" I don't think that description is completely accurate.

 

Let's not despair of the American television audience as a whole, however. I note that last week the special on 'Nefertiti' on the Discovery Channel got higher ratings than 'WWE Raw.'

 

 

>watching the show regularly and debating not only

>its merits but which characters are gay and straight.

 

I've watched the show because I was curious to see how both gay men and straight men would behave in such a situation, a situation like none other I have ever observed or heard of.

 

>I find

>James a bore

 

I'm not sure what anyone expected. He's a 'benefits administrator' in a law firm, which means he's a clerk who handles the paperwork for the firm's health plan. There are plenty of people in L.A. who use clerical work in law firms to support themselves while trying to pursue all sorts of other ambitions -- the songwriter Billy Ocean did this at one time -- but apparently James is not one of them. I suppose one can argue that this makes the show more 'realistic' or 'representative.' Most gay men are not fascinating, accomplished people any more than most straight men, after all.

[Guest Yog-Sothoth]

RE: James is a zero

 

>The producers are smarter than I realized, if they have

>succeeded in getting a sophisticated group of consumers like

>ourselves watching the show regularly and debating not only

>its merits but which characters are gay and straight. I find

>James a bore and I think the notion of finding true love in

>this manner is ridiculous, and yet on some deep level the

>premises of the situation must appeal to me, or I would switch

>over to ESPN.

 

 

On some deep level, I realized when I first learned of this show's concept, that it was not gay-friend, but was actually sadistic and vicious to gay men.

 

So I have never watched it. I look at this thread only to see how and when the series has ended, so I will know when Bravo will be safe to watch again.

 

As far as who wins or who loses, I think whatever happens these folks are all bastards.

[phage]

RE:

 

> A gay man who lives in Los Angeles and is as good-looking as

>James is should have built-in, auto-pilot gaydar. Hell, I'm

>an old fart and most of those boys didn't fool me. So what's

>with James?

 

It’s hard to see what you aren’t looking for. We have known since the beginning that there were straight men in the mix while James was operating under the assumption that they were all gay men looking for love.

 

I can’t figure out why everyone is having so much trouble believing that he would just assume that some of them were “straight acting” gay men. It’s as if the general consensus is that those type of men just don’t exist and that is why James should have spotted it.

[jackhammer91406]

James squared

 

Phage,

I find myself in agreement with you so I am going to buy a lotto ticket as soon as I log off.

I did notice a perceptible difference in James after he was informed of the twist and like others, I have to assume he was more animated in his anger than we saw. Others have mentioned that these type of shows are made or broken in the editing.

I don't find James so banal that I would kick him out of bed or anything and I think it's safe to say he made his early choices based on the fact that he assumed all of the guys in the house were gay. It is easy for the rest of us to say "I knew this or that guy was str8" because we were hip to the fact that str8 guys were there. The groupings during eliminations were clearly manipulated to assure there would still be str8 guys until the end.

I have always figured that Franklin was str8. But in the recent episode, Wes and Franklin were the visibly emotional guys after the other mates left, while Brian remained apparently not as visibly moved. So now I am wondering if Brian is the str8 one. If Wes is str8, he should get an agent and start what will no doubt be an amazing acting career.

To me, Franklin is the fantasy guy...Wes is the obvious compatible guy, and Brian is the best body and man of mystery.

 

As for James and Andra being married...SHAME ON YOU for throwing that twist out there. Now I have to think about that for the next week.

 

 

[Guest Yog-Sothoth]

RE: ""Boy Meets Boy" (Aug. 26)"

 

From BAY WINDOWS newspaper (Aug. 28, 2003) in the "So They Say" column:

 

"[On] 'Boy Meets Boy'...a handsome gay man--his name is James--has his hands full with 15 other handsomes, all scheming for his heart. Some of the sharks in this pool are straight--but for $25,000 they can pretend to like boys. James doesn't know about the twist, but should he shoot straight, he gets no man and no moolah, only a great big sack of demoralization. Meanwhile, the gay-for-pay gets the dough, along with the satisfaction of knowing he tricked a practicing homosexual. Despite the ironic gay-friendly sheen, it's TV's cruelest show."

 

-- Columnist Wesley Morris, BOSTON GLOBE, August 3, 2003