Best.
Lesbian. Week. Ever.
by Sarah
Warn,
AfterEllen.com Editor A
weekly column highlighting lesbian pop culture news
Friday, March 17, 2006
BEST.
GREY'S ANATOMY. NEWS. EVER. (SPOILER ALERT!)
In a sign that the gods have clearly been reading this column,
one of the lead female characters on Grey's Anatomy
is soon going to be revealed to be bisexual. The
revelation occurs in mid-April, in an episode titled "Damage
Case", when the 40-something ex-girlfriend (and former
professor) of the character in question shows up at the hospital.
Now happily pregnant and in a long-term relationship with
a woman, the ex-girlfriend meets the bisexual character's
current significant other and inadvertently reveals the true
nature of their former (3-year) relationship.
I've seen the casting sides for the ex-girlfriend, and the
dialogue seems to point to the bisexual character being Cristina
(Sandra Oh), or, less likely, Addison (Kate Walsh). You know
I'm rooting for Sandra Oh--seriously, how could Cristina not
be bisexual? And she went to Smith!--but my girlfriend's partial
to Addison, just because Addison is, well, Addison.
An
even better idea? Make both women bisexual and have
them revisit their relationship from Under
the Tuscan Sun (2003). Then everyone's happy. Well,
except Burke and Derek. But that just leaves more men for
Meredith to sleep with.
MOST.
DESPERATE. RUMOR. EVER.
One series that will not--I repeat, not--be
getting a lesbian storyline this season is Desperate Housewives.
The tabloids have been working overtime this week pushing
this rumor
based on an anonymous source, who says, "In an ironic
twist to the false
rumors that plagued Marcia in real life, straight-laced
Bree is set to take on a secret gay lover."
Nevermind
that creator Marc Cherry told E! Online last month that a
lesbian storyline was definitely not on the table this season.
And that more reputable sources (like TV Guide) have said
that Bree is about to get involved with a guy played by Oz
star Lee Tergesen.
Hmmm,
Marc Cherry and TV Guide, or disreputable tabloids citing
anonymous sources? That's a tough one...
I
wouldn't be at all surprised to see a lesbian storyline
on Housewives next season, however, because Cherry
has indicated he would probably go there eventually, and
because there are only so many men the women of Wysteria
Lane can sleep with before the writers look for a way
to freshen things up. And nothing says "fresh"
like a secret lesbian lover. And Mentos.
QUEER
WOMAN IN THE KITCHEN
High-achieving, buttoned-up contestant Tiffani
Faison on the new Fox reality series Top Chef
casually mentioned on the show's second episode
this week that she and lesbian guest celebrity judge Elizabeth
Faulkner had both been in a magazine article about "queer
women in the kitchen". Turns out, Tiffani is bisexual,
although this doesn't come up much on the show. As she
tells The Advocate in their latest issue, "Sexuality
[is] a part of the show in terms of who we [are], but
there wasn't a gay camp we went to at night and talked
about things. It's about cooking and about the work."
Not
to dis Tiffani or her admirable work ethic, but between
her and the edited-to-look-straight-and-bitchy Project
Runway contestant Zulema, queer women on reality
TV lately aren't exactly looking like members of the neighborhood
welcoming committee. But I guess as long as Omarosa doesn't
announce she's a lesbian, our public image can't be worse
than straight women's.
LILY
TOMLIN REVISITED Veteran
movie critic Roger Ebert made this interesting observation
in a new interview
with AfterElton.com this week:
"Somebody
said to me they thought it was very interesting that
[this year's Oscars] didn't have a single gay presenter,
and I said to them 'What about Lily
Tomlin?' and they said, 'Oh, I always forget she
is gay. She's been gay for so long that I didn't think
about it.' I thought it was an interesting answer. They
looked right at Lily Tomlin and didn't see any gay people
on stage. That's important."
Speaking
of Lily Tomlin, I received an unusually clever DVD promotion
in the mail yesterday from 20th Century Fox for the upcoming
"Sexist,
Egotistical, Lying Hypocritical Bigot Edition"
of the 1980 comedy 9 to 5, about three women
who get revenge on their sexually-harassing boss. The
DVD was contained inside a fake yellow box of rat poison
identical to the one Tomlin used to accidentally poison
Dabney Coleman in the movie. There was also a fake internal
company memo from company chairman Russell Tinsworthy
promoting the DVD, and signing off with the company motto,
"Remember, a company that looks efficient...is efficient!"
Very funny. If
you haven't yet seen this movie--which also stars Jane
Fonda and Dolly Parton--I highly recommend it: it's classic
Tomlin, and you'll never look at Snow White quite the
same way again.
V
FOR "VERY LIKELY TO BE A BOX OFFICE HIT"
The
Natalie Portman-led V
for Vendetta, which opens this weekend, has a
small
but pivotal lesbian subplot. The sci-fi thriller set
in 2020 London includes a taboo lesbian romance destroyed
by the repressive government, with one of the imprisoned
lesbians saying in voice-over, “I still don’t
understand why they hate us so much”, as she is
tortured by being forced to watch a montage of L Word
scenes involving Max and Jenny over and over again.
That's
it for this week! Check back next Friday for a new installment
of Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. or read past
installments here.
Veteran
movie critic Roger Ebert made this interesting observation
in a new