Current Events > Netflix responds to mentally stunted TV watchers who cry about sexuality

(+) Yeah! (+)

PostCrisisJ2 posted...

maybe people just don't like bitches, regardless of sexuality

what does that have to do with complaining about gay characters apparently being forced on people?

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fire_bolt posted...

Excellent strawman you got there, fine craftsmanship. Way to ignore all the people ITT talking about how any character whose defining trait is their sexuality sucks

I literally addressed that in the paragraph you deleted from the quote you took of me

You can't just delete the part you don't like from the quote you take of me, and then tell me I didn't address it LMAO

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Homophobes btfo

VipaGTS posted...

what does that have to do with complaining about gay characters apparently being forced on people?

the people complaining about gay characters or straight characters are bitches

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People always talk about how these gay characters are shoehorned into their games but like I can't think of any examples at all

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I meant to say media not games*

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CruelBuffalo posted...

https://twitter.com/netflix/status/1258156383792279552

Very CE circa 2010 dont shove your sexuality in my face but would be cool with

https://youtu.be/0Lu0Bo75NDI

That's 90% of the Ps4 board in 2020.

It gets tiring.

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Vicious_Dios posted...

Netflix can add all of their gay-oriented shows that they want, I'm just not going to watch them.

Everyobody gets what they want.

So you're saying you're not going to watch Kimmy Schmidt because there's a gay character? What about Best Picture winning Moonlight?

BTW, Titus Andromedon is a fantastic example of a good gay character. I know several people who are very similar to him (one with a name like Cosmos Volcandrius - fake name, but similar to real name). Titus is gay, not afraid to show it, but also lives his own life.

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VipaGTS posted...

Why?

Because getting emotional and responding to trolls is a really bitch made move, especially for mega corporations.

Companies in general need to stop responding to trolls, doesn't even apply to gay characters or anything. It worked with Wendy's cause whoever was running that had some wit about it, but half the time these companies social media managers fail to hit that mark and it just looks bad.

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ChocoboMog123 posted...

So you're saying you're not going to watch Kimmy Schmidt because there's a gay character? What about Best Picture winning Moonlight?

I don't even watch TV much these days, so I don't know what even Kimmy's show is about, and Moonlight has, like, zero view-appeal to me, but if you like either of them then more power to you.

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ClunkerSlim posted...

Kind of a weak response on Netflixs part. Original guy was clearly talking about Netflix shoehorning gay characters into shows, not saying gay people arent necessary in real life, like Netflixs tweet is implying he said. Im all for inclusion, but does everyones life really look like the cast of a CW show? At a certain point it starts to kill the realism. Im not saying representation isnt important, but when every show is just ticking boxes then it becomes more annoying than inclusive.

Is this post low-key homophobic or is it just me?

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I just thought of a gay character and a straight character whose entire schtick is their sexuality and they are both amazing characters in an amazing show. Mac and Dennis from IASIP. Granted these guys are obviously the exception and not the rule.

I suppose I shouldn't say their entire schtick but those are pretty significant parts of their characters.

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At this point the complaints about the complainers are getting more annoying. Gay characters are getting on TV more and instead of getting happier, people find the idiot online not happy but otherwise not impacting their life to be angry about like they have to keep the persecution complex alive and well.

Maybe it's because I'm older and as such remember the inclusion that was the Superfirends (that we now see as really bad stereotypes), or Smurfette (that even feminists now complain never got to be more than "the girl") to not look as some modern efforts as similarly clumsy. Like when Curtis showed up on Arrow and could get through a scene without referencing his sexuality, but that improved when he went more full cast. It's fair to say outside of characters for comedic effect, no one leads themselves with who they fuck, and few times that happens even in comedies, it isn't seen as a virtue, and for that matter, their character isn't really in their sexuality, but their promiscuity.

I get people want this, but it's been 25 years since the likes of Sailor Uranus and Neptune first crossed my path so gay in and of itself doesn't do it for me anymore. There needs to be more, and people would do well to get other people don't see depth or character in one limited feature. The more you lead with that one feature, the more we think there's nothing under the surface.

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I know a guy who LOVES the Last of Us but refuses to play the sequel because one of the main characters is trans.

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cymbaline posted...

Is this post low-key homophobic or is it just me?

Possibly but it's also just plain stupid. "Realism" lol. Only time these clowns care about "realism" is when it involves sexuality or women

Is this post low-key homophobic or is it just me?

What the fuck? Not in the slightest. Jesus Christ, these users must really have an extremely low threshold on what constitutes what is actually 'homorphebeec, u gaiz' and what isn't.

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fan357 posted...

I know a guy who LOVES the Last of Us but refuses to play the sequel because one of the main characters is trans.

And that's not even true.

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cymbaline posted...

Is this post low-key homophobic or is it just me?

I'm not familiar enough with that poster to say for sure, but I do think that it is valid to point out that every single group of friends is not a multi-racial gathering including LGBT people and that at times it can feel like that's basically what the baseline has been set to, regardless of how well it meshes with the overall setting and plot of the show, with deviation from it being a risk that has to be taken for specific purpose.

Representation and acceptance in media is an important factor to eroding bigoted views over time, but as somebody who has lived in a variety of both urban and rural settings, I can see how somebody who was born and raised in bumfuck southern Illinois like where I'm at now feels like that just isn't representative of what life is like for them.

lightwarrior78 posted...

At this point the complaints about the complainers are getting more annoying. Gay characters are getting on TV more and instead of getting happier, people find the idiot online not happy but otherwise not impacting their life to be angry about like they have to keep the persecution complex alive and well.

Maybe we wouldn't complain about the complainers if the complainers weren't everywhere.


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Now I'm hungry for pumpkins, thanks a lot
>_>

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fire_bolt posted...

I'm not watching Lucifer for the sexytime aspects, I like the psuedo-religious themes.

I watch Lucifer for both
:P

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fire_bolt posted...

So my issue here is that in general I don't give a shit about a character's sexuality. I'm not watching Lucifer for the sexytime aspects, I like the psuedo-religious themes. If I want to watch something for the sexuality I'll just go watch porn.

As such, any character whose defining aspect is their sexuality is, by default, poorly written whether they're straight, gay, bi, pan, or asexual. A plot line of a character struggling with their sexuality can be good story fodder, as Bojack Horseman did with Todd, but if the entire character is just "I'm sooooo gay" then just don't. And that's the problem. Some shows do alternate lifestyle characters very well, but ones that do them poorly expect us to just accept their shittily written token characters in the name of "social acceptance" when the real problem is they have written a shitty character.

What about sex education? The entire show is about sexuality and its amazing tbh.

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Makeveli_lives posted...

What about sex education? The entire show is about sexuality and its amazing tbh.

Literally never heard of it, but in general I make exceptions for shows where literally the sexuality is the point. Like, nobody watching True Blood for the enthralling storyline. I skip over those regardless unless I'm just in the mood for gratuitous sexual content, and I wouldn't complain about gay characters in it. It'd probably be a refreshing change of pace from the main characters hetero'ing up the place all the time
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CyricZ posted...

And that's not even true.

Is it confirmed that Abby isnt? I havent delved super deep into it because I dont want every single detail spoiled.

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Like all you have to say is "I don't like poorly written or poorly motivated characters."

If your complaint is "This character's only quality is 'gay'", then your issue is not with them being gay, it's about the writing of the character.

Calling them an "unnecessary gay character" tips your hand about what you're really against.

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enjoy your social engineering!

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CyricZ posted...

Like all you have to say is "I don't like poorly written or poorly motivated characters."

Lets be fair, they inevitably do use this as a fig leaf when it's pointed out that their issues seem to be solely with lgbt+ characters

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The choice of wording may be poor, but it is a legit criticism in today's media. There definitely is an issue with an overzealous representation quota that can negatively affect a production. That doesn't mean the opposite end of the spectrum that cries foul at the mere mention of a gay person is correct. There's obviously a balance to it due to a clear lack of representation over the last few decades due to bias from such people.

feels like they are acting as if a character in a netflix show isnt focused on the first 3 -4 episodes when he /she finally does get an episode itll be to reveal he/she is gay
some shows do it but i dont think is that common to complain about it


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CyricZ posted...

Like all you have to say is "I don't like poorly written or poorly motivated characters."

If your complaint is "This character's only quality is 'gay'", then your issue is not with them being gay, it's about the writing of the character.

Calling them an "unnecessary gay character" tips your hand about what you're really against.

If there was a slew of poorly written characters whose only defining feature was they liked red trucks when people complained about it they wouldn't say "man I'm sick of the poorly written characters" they would talk say "man, I'm sick of these red truck people, wtf netflix?"

Them being gay or intersectional or whatever isn't the problem, but it is a distinguishing feature of the trend. And likely why they end up being underwritten, because they are token or quota characters without much thought put beyond that.

To omit this detail is to act like gayness is something not mentioned in polite conversation. When in fact it is completely normal, it should be treated as such.

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How exactly is a character being gay any more of a "shoehorn" than, say, a straight character mentioning their opposite sex partner again?

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nemu posted...

The choice of wording may be poor, but it is a legit criticism in today's media. There definitely is an issue with an overzealous representation quota that can negatively affect a production. That doesn't mean the opposite end of the spectrum that cries foul at the mere mention of a gay person is correct. There's obviously a balance to it due to a clear lack of representation over the last few decades due to bias from such people.

Do you have any recent examples of this?


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joe40001 posted...

If there was a slew of poorly written characters whose only defining feature was they liked red trucks when people complained about it they wouldn't say "man I'm sick of the poorly written characters" they would talk say "man, I'm sick of these red truck people, wtf netflix?"

Them being gay or intersectional or whatever isn't the problem, but it is a distinguishing feature of the trend. And likely why they end up being underwritten, because they are token or quota characters without much thought put beyond that.

To omit this detail is to act like gayness is something not mentioned in polite conversation. When in fact it is completely normal, it should be treated as such.

Except most of the complaints come from people who don't even watch the series in question or before the show/movie even comes out. They get upset and start assuming the character will be horrible due to "agendas" and what not. They don't actually complain about wanting a better written LGBTQ character.

ClunkerSlim posted...

Kind of a weak response on Netflixs part. Original guy was clearly talking about Netflix shoehorning gay characters into shows, not saying gay people arent necessary in real life, like Netflixs tweet is implying he said. Im all for inclusion, but does everyones life really look like the cast of a CW show? At a certain point it starts to kill the realism. Im not saying representation isnt important, but when every show is just ticking boxes then it becomes more annoying than inclusive.

Since they are not being shoehorned in Netflix is in the right.

Gay characters existing isn't a problem.

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Vicious_Dios posted...

Netflix can add all of their gay-oriented shows that they want, I'm just not going to watch them.

Everyobody gets what they want.

Pretty much this.

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lolife67 posted...

Except most of the complaints come from people who don't even watch the series in question or before the show/movie even comes out. They get upset and start assuming the character will be horrible due to "agendas" and what not. They don't actually complain about wanting a better written LGBTQ character.

That's just you strawmanning. Most people don't care if the person is LGBTQ they are just annoyed if that's literally the only trait and particularly if it's orthogonal to the show's plot itself.

I think most people who post memes like this are watching a lot of netflix and they are encountering this in the shows they watch.

It's like Itchy and Scratchy And Poochie, but instead of Poochie stopping them on the way to the fireworks factory to rap about himself, it's a random side character stopping the plot to make it about them being gay or whatever.

It really has nothing to do with the gayness, it's just super annoying when a side character stops the main plot with an episode about them and stuff nobody cares about.

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Key and Peele had a good skit about this. Though that was more about reality.

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fire_bolt posted...

Literally never heard of it, but in general I make exceptions for shows where literally the sexuality is the point. Like, nobody watching True Blood for the enthralling storyline. I skip over those regardless unless I'm just in the mood for gratuitous sexual content, and I wouldn't complain about gay characters in it. It'd probably be a refreshing change of pace from the main characters hetero'ing up the place all the time

https://youtu.be/Hd2ldTR-WpI

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the only time it seems forced is when they just "have" to make a reference that the character is gay or whatever like bringing in an unnecessary offhand comment or bringing in a completely unnecessary extra as a love interest and then it's never brought up again.

the best way i've ever seen it addressed is in season 3 of jessica jones where her new assistant is apparently trans. never once was it brought up, never once did she show any telltale signs of flamboyant behaviour and never once was there any unnecessary filler just to showcase her identity.

i only found out about it a while after while looking up info about the season.

it's almost crazy to think that if you write somebody as a normal character and treat them as a normal character, then people might actually think of them as a normal character!!

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people are really dumb with their "people can't be anything but a straight white dude unless it's strictly necessary" shit
it reminds me a lot of the "i love you people, honest, i just don't want you being visible or open around me" crap that people toss it to pretend that they're not bigots

joe40001 posted...

That's just you strawmanning. Most people don't care if the person is LGBTQ they are just annoyed if that's literally the only trait and particularly if it's orthogonal to the show's plot itself.

Um, no. That's me reading post after post about this subject and drawing a conclusion. What characters would you say are being poorly written that get complained about? What straight characters get lambasted for being "shoehorned in" because they're straight, as opposed to simply speaking about the writing?

joe40001 posted...

I think most people who post memes like this are watching a lot of netflix and they are encountering this in the shows they watch.

Which shows?

joe40001 posted...

It really has nothing to do with the gayness, it's just super annoying when a side character stops the main plot with an episode about them and stuff nobody cares about.

That isn't the general complaint though and, even still, the same thing happens with side-characters that are hetero yet nobody brings their sexuality into it. They just complain about how stupid the plot line was.

Women/minority characters have to jump through several more imaginary hoops so they're not part of an agenda.

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fire_bolt posted...

So my issue here is that in general I don't give a shit about a character's sexuality. I'm not watching Lucifer for the sexytime aspects, I like the psuedo-religious themes. If I want to watch something for the sexuality I'll just go watch porn.

As such, any character whose defining aspect is their sexuality is, by default, poorly written whether they're straight, gay, bi, pan, or asexual. A plot line of a character struggling with their sexuality can be good story fodder, as Bojack Horseman did with Todd, but if the entire character is just "I'm sooooo gay" then just don't. And that's the problem. Some shows do alternate lifestyle characters very well, but ones that do them poorly expect us to just accept their shittily written token characters in the name of "social acceptance" when the real problem is they have written a shitty character.

This.

CruelBuffalo posted...

https://twitter.com/netflix/status/1258156383792279552

Very CE circa 2010 dont shove your sexuality in my face but would be cool with

https://youtu.be/0Lu0Bo75NDI

Also lol

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No one answered the question someone asked.
Is there any netflix original shows that doesn't have a character who is gay?
When every show has it, it does sometimes seem more like tokenism, even if we are past the point of them being stereotypical.

Also, I am watching Ozark now, and there is a character, but I'm in season 2 now, and he is really fleshed out.


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DoubleDare posted...

No one answered the question someone asked.
Is there any netflix original shows that doesn't have a character who is gay?
When every show has it, it does sometimes seem more like tokenism, even if we are past the point of them being stereotypical.

Also, I am watching Ozark now, and there is a character, but I'm in season 2 now, and he is really fleshed out.

I dont think Bojack Horseman has a gay main character.

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It's just wild to me that there is an apparently sizeable amount of people out there to whom the appearance of a gay person in a TV show is actively annoying. Like wtf

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DoubleDare posted...

No one answered the question someone asked.
Is there any netflix original shows that doesn't have a character who is gay?
When every show has it, it does sometimes seem more like tokenism, even if we are past the point of them being stereotypical.

Also, I am watching Ozark now, and there is a character, but I'm in season 2 now, and he is really fleshed out.

marriage story
the irishmen
roma

do you mean television only?

fan357 posted...

I dont think Bojack Horseman has a gay main character.

When I was typing it I thought Bojack as well.
Either way, the shows I have watched that have a character that happens to be gay has still been great.
Like if I was ignorant and stopped watching Ozark just because the one dude was, I would be missing out on a greaat show. Again if Netflix was writing these characters like the 90s, yea it would get real old real fast. But they aren't, they are written well still and who cares really, most of the time its a secondary character anyways, and they are still well written.

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