Rescue Me

Well ... after watching two episodes, I have to agree that there are touching moments and storylines, but the show is just so male that I got up and left the room a few times. No interest in knowing about the lives of men and their d**k measurement contests, and some of the dialog was just stomach churning for me.

But if it is that young male demographic watching, the lesbian character and a father who deals with it so well are good signs. Perhaps good influences on the audience. But I won't be watching again for a minor character.

I did enjoy parts of Denis Leary's fatherly talk - "You should be free to be who you want to be. That's why your grandparents came to this country ... so you could be a lesbian." LOL

angie in NM
http://xenawp.org

Goddamnit. Why can't I live in the US so I don't have to wait 2 years for all the good shows.

Denis Leary rules. A lesbian storyline makes it even more interesting.

I don't know which episode I just saw... I'm in Canada so it's probably completely not in sync with the US... but it was very funny. And it was probably set BEFORE his daughter came out...

The gist of it is that Dennis is to check on this dead buddy's wife... make sure she's not dating. He goes to her house, and sees her with a woman. Nothing to show that it's a romantic relationship, but iffy. You can see his confusion. 8)

He then bumps into the wife at the grocery store with the same woman... and they have a really odd exchange. When he gets home, the dead buddy is waiting for him (uh... he talks to dead people sometimes it seems) and Dennis proceeds to tell him about this "dike-y looking chick" who was with his wife and that his wife paused before introducing the woman as her "friend"... Anyway, it was really funny. And he goes on to say that he's super pro-lesbian and that he wishes his daughter were gay. 8O I mean you don't hear THAT often!

Anyway... it was a gay-themed show all around and quite funny at times... and hope some of you got to see it.

This show is starting in the UK tonight on Sky One at 10pm if anyone over here wants to check it out :D

So Sheila is dating a woman. The woman just beat the living crap out of Sheila. I've never seen domestic violence in a lesbian relationship and it just seems unbelievable to me. The storyline makes no sense because clearly Sheila is in love with Tommy and they don't have kids so why is Sheila still with her.
I'll be damned if anybody lays their hands on me and I stay with them.
I just don't understand it.

[quote:3b85841e93="JBLuver"]So Sheila is dating a woman. The woman just beat the living crap out of Sheila. I've never seen domestic violence in a lesbian relationship and it just seems unbelievable to me. The storyline makes no sense because clearly Sheila is in love with Tommy and they don't have kids so why is Sheila still with her.
I'll be damned if anybody lays their hands on me and I stay with them.
I just don't understand it.[/quote:3b85841e93]

Domestic violence in same-sex relationships isn't really that "unbelievable"; in fact, it's often referred to as the "double closet" because law enforcement and support centres may not take it seriously, and the gay community doesn't want/need the negative publicity associated with publicizing domestic abuse.

There are many reasons that abusees stay in violent relationships (not just for the kids): fear, low self-esteem, resource availability, lack of support (emotional and financial), etc. They don't stay because they want to; they stay because they think they can't leave.

I'm not familiar with this particular instance, but FYI it's hardly unheard of.

I just saw that episode too and I'm not real happy about it. That scene was really horrific, I changed the channel. All the relationships are really messed up, but none of the straight couples beat each other up. Bette and Tina had their fight, but that made sense. Sheila and FemaleTommy just seem to be there for shock value.

For better or worse, they seem to be including quite a lot of gay/les themes on this show. Didn't they just have a storyline with the Chief's son being gay, and having sex with his boyfriend in the house? Then he has a (very gay) birthday party, and all the firefighters come, and start trying to 'get down with the gays' because they realise it will make them more attractive to women?

For those not in the US: you can read detailed recaps of this show over at [url]www.televisionwithoutpity.com[/url] (which is a pretty useful resource in general I find).

Claudia, Rescue Me has had positive story lines about gay characters this season but not about lesbian characters. This season hasn't dealt with Tommy's daughter's lesbian relationship, it seems to have just faded into the background. Sheila and femaleTommy are the only lesbian characters this season and Sheila seems to be faking it anyway to get back at the real Tommy. Their "relationship" is only there for shock value and crude humor. They seem to be isolated from the main characters in the show. In comparison, the chief's son has a complete, loving and positive relationship with his partner. And they have lots of fabulous friends and live in a real community. I love this show, but last night it was disappointing. There are just too few examples of lesbians on television, and it's upsetting when they are portrayed as violent and unstable.