During
the panel, Graphia (who has written for several shows,
including Carnivale, Roswell, Chicago Hope,
and China Beach) said that sometimes the resistance
to gay and lesbian characters comes not just from the
networks or advertisers, but other writers. When Graphia
suggested a lesbian story line for Carnivale (HBO),
which chronicled the lives of a group of traveling circus
performers in the 1930s, she said she was met with ''some
homophobia in my own writers room.''
''It
was like this big wall of resistance,'' she said. ''This
actually got said to me: 'Back in the '30s, they didn't
have lesbians.'''
Um,
putting aside this assertion's complete historical inaccuracy,
have these writers seen the extremely poor hygiene standards
of the men in Carnivale? That alone would have
turned at least a few women gay. Throw in all the swearing
and spitting, and Clea DuVall's strange effect on women,
and I'm surprised the human race propagated at all during
that decade.
YOU
TAKE THE GOOD, YOU TAKE THE BAD...
Good news for children of the '80s: on May 9th, the first
two seasons of The Facts of Life is finally being
released on DVD! Technically, this isn't a lesbian
show, but it's so popular among lesbians that I'm using
my powers as a Professional Lesbian to grant it honorary
status.
Now
a whole new generation of budding lesbian and bisexual
women can be introduced to the show, and the really important
questions in life. Like, do you want to be Jo and date
Blair, or be Blair (minus the shoulder pads and big hair)
and date Jo? How did Nancy McKeon end up being straight,
and Lisa Whelchel a fundamentalist Christian? And who
thought Pippa was a good idea?
If
only Mrs. Garrett were here to supply the answers...
