Best.
Lesbian. Week. Ever.
by Sarah
Warn,
AfterEllen.com Editor The
lesbian pop culture column
Friday, April 14, 2006
A
LESBIAN AMONG THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE?
Everyone has their guilty pleasures, and the TV show Beautiful
People is one of mine. Never heard of it? That's
because it airs on the ABC Family channel--but let me assure
you, this drama about a single mother and her two teenage
daughters who move from small-town New Mexico to upper-class
Manhattan is not your mother's ABC Family show (or whatever).
It's more like a series you'd find on the WB--which means
it's predictable and everyone talks like they're professional
writers, but it's mostly a lot of fun so you don't care. The
writers and the actors really get the relationship between
the three women right (mom is played by Melrose Place
alum Daphne Zuniga--another reason to watch!), and their various
friends and love interests are entertaining. Plus, you have
to admire a show that, in a refreshing lack of pretense, just
flat-out calls itself Beautiful People.
And
now I finally have an excuse to mention it on AfterEllen.com!
The
youngest daughter's quirky 16-year-old friend Annabelle (Kathleen
Munroe) recently hooked up with the guy she'd been pining
after for years, only to discover she wasn't really very attracted
to him, after all. That, combined with the arrival of an alluring
new lesbian teacher at school, has prompted Annabelle to begin
questioning her sexuality. Things come to a head in the this
Monday's episode ("Best Face Forward") when Annabelle
meets the teacher outside of school on what she thinks is
a date, and admits to her friends "I think I might be
gay".
Is she? Isn't she? I suspect the writers may not settle the
question this season, since there are only a few episodes
left, but it will be fun to watch them pretend to try. And
the bonus for me? I finally have a legitimate reason to watch
the show! Well, legitimate-sounding, at least.
DIGGING
DEGRASSI
Continuing the lesbian teen trend, the lesbian storyline between
popular cheerleader Paige (Lauren Collins) and school outcast
Alex (Deanna Casaluce) on Degrassi: The Next Generation
finally came to the U.S. last Friday with the two-part episode
"Lexicon of Love" (you can read more about this
lesbian storyline here,
or visit the official
U.S. site). Alex
and Paige are no Ashley and Spencer, (Degrassi airs
in the U.S. on the same channel as South
of Nowhere), but the lesbian relationship is realistic
and engaging. It's a little disconcerting, however, to see
teenagers played by actual teenagers. Next thing you know,
they'll start casting actual lesbians to play lesbians, Latinas
to play Latinas, etc., and the whole system will fall apart!
BISEXUAL
RULES
In case you missed it, former Buffy actress Iyari
Limon came
out as bisexual earlier this week. And she actually has
a girlfriend! (A violation of Rule #14 in The Actress's
Guide to Coming Out as Bisexual, which very clearly states
that you should only come out as bisexual if you have a boyfriend,
and never actually date women, but we'll forgive her.)
Speaking
of openly bisexual women, Leslie was eliminated from America's
Next Top Model this week, but Tiffani is still in the
running on Bravo's Top Chef--and a frontrunner
for America's Bitchiest Chef, if they ever do a spin-off.
ANGRY
LESBIANS AT THE GLAAD AWARDS
Jessica Alba, Teri Hatcher, Jaime Pressly, Judith Light,
Laura Dern, Jennifer Tilly, Leisha Hailey, Mia Kirshner,
Paula Marshall (Regina on Out of Practice) and
the casts of Saving
FaceandSouth
of Nowhere were among the attendees at the 17th
Annual GLAAD Media Awards in L.A. last weekend, which
honors gay and lesbian visibility in entertainment. Melissa
Etheridge was honored for her role in lesbian visibility,
and Charlize Theron was presented with an award by actress,
friend and self-described “large, angry lesbian”
Jillian Armenante (Judging Amy) for playing “a
far larger, angrier lesbian than I could ever aspire to
be" in Monster
(2003). The
L Word also took home a prize, for "The
Show That Most Angered Its Lesbian Viewers This Season"...er,
I mean, "Outstanding TV Drama". A broadcast
of the awards airs this Saturday night on Logo,
and on VH1 on Sunday.
THE
MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE GAY MEN ARE ON TV AND LESBIANS
AREN'T
This week The Hollywood Reporter cited the legal
drama Women in Law (aka Sisters in Law),
which includes a pregnant lesbian lawyer played
by Kelli Williams, as one of the shows most likely to
make it into ABC's lineup when the new fall schedules
are announced next month. Although there is a plethora
of
fall TV pilots featuring gay male characters, Women
in Law is the only potential new network TV series
with a prominent lesbian or bisexual character, as far
as I know. With Out of Practice probably getting
the axe and ER's Kerry Weaver, well, who cares
anymore, lesbians on primetime network TV next season
are going to be as hard to find as a lesbian scene in
Basic Instinct 2. Or a happy couple on The
L Word. Or anything funny about the last few seasons
of Will & Grace.
To
add insult to network TV injury, CBS just announced an
all-star edition of Big Brother will begin in
early July, comprised solely of players voted on by the
fans--which means, God help us, we may get another season
of Ivette.
Before
you get too jealous of our male counterparts, however,
you should know that a majority of the new gay TV characters
are married to women, putting the Married Gay Man on the
fast track to becoming the gay man's Pregnant Lesbian.
Gee, think all the TV writers saw the same Oscar-winning
movie last year? I wonder...
ONE
MORE THING
Don't forget to watch Beautiful
People on Monday night!
That's
it for this week! Check back next Friday for a new installment
of Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. or read past
installments here.
And
now I finally have an excuse to mention it on AfterEllen.com!
DIGGING
DEGRASSI
ANGRY
LESBIANS AT THE GLAAD AWARDS