Sorry, Glee. We are never, ever ever getting back together

Don’t worry; I have no illusions that anyone from Glee would actually see this. I just couldn’t resist the post title.

It seems perhaps the good folks from Glee have become alarmed (amused?) by the loss of lesbian viewers of their show due to their outright derision towards the “Lesbian Blogger Community“, and vowed that they would get them back. Because in season 4, episode 13, they make a full on play towards bringing the gay girls back into the fold by name-checking the afterellen blog, and using Naya Rivera as bait (by actually bringing her back to the show and giving her some lines and stuff).

Supposedly, this is all a set up for the upcoming Valentine’s Day episode in which Naya Rivera’s Santana Lopez makes out with Dianna Agron’s Quinn Fabray which is, I guess supposed to seal the deal on the “really we don’t hate lesbians, and no this isn’t a sweeps week lesbian kiss stunt like all those other shows, really” pass that Glee is making toward the homo girl community.

From what I’ve read, the Season 4 episode 13 show that just aired has a huge trans-phobic transgression in it and a “bad touch” sexual assault, but never mind those; the Afterellen blog is fully on board with the lesbian redemption of Glee, after being publicly acknowledged on the show.

Fortunately, the Autostraddle blog is like Afterellen’s saner older cousin ready step in and shut that down because she’s been around this particular block with you and others like you, Chris Brown.

As for me, my Glee hate-watching enjoyment these days has developed to the point of letting episodes pile up on the DVR and reading Riese Bernard’s scathing recaps on Autostraddle each week, which you should be doing too, regardless of whether you’re gay or not, because that is some funny shit.

Continue ReadingSorry, Glee. We are never, ever ever getting back together

Ryan Murphy does hate lesbians, apparently

Via Vulture magazine, some interesting commentary of last night’s Glee episode, which I have yet to see. Glee Recap: Carefully Chosen Bells and Whistles — Vulture.

Speaking of chaos, if you’re a casual Glee fan, you might have missed out on exactly how directly last night’s episode knocked down the fourth wall between it and the show’s more vocal fan base. It all starts when Sam leaves a trail of Cheerios for Brittany, which she eats off the floor as she makes his way to him. This is a rare moment of character-related continuity for Glee, since last season Brittany ate a candy bar right out of an actual cat’s actual litter box. Sam tells her that he likes her and they do a surprisingly nice rendition of “Something Stupid.” But when Sam leans in for a kiss, Brittany backs off, and when he asks what’s wrong, Brittany says, “It’s like all lesbians of the nation — I don’t know how they found out about Santana and I dating, but once they did, they started sending me tweets and Facebook messages on Lord Tubbington’s wall. I think it means a lot to them to see two super-hot, popular girls in love, and I worry if they find out about you and I dating, that they’ll turn on you and get really violent and hurt your beautiful face and mouth.”

Angry, violent lesbian stereotype aside, the problem with Brittany’s explanation is how transparent of a reference it is to the Twitter kerfuffle that’s been brewing lately between Ryan Murphy and some of the more ardent Brittany-Santana fans (a group that obviously isn’t comprised exclusively of angry lesbians). Essentially, it really is just that: a spat between fans who are mad at the creator of their favorite TV couple and the creator who’s mad at them for being mad. (The dispute gets more complicated when looked at against Murphy’s track record with lesbian characters on his shows.) Frankly, if I were Ryan Murphy, know what I’d do instead of getting into Twitter spats? I would float on a raft of rubies in a swimming pool full of melted-down gold while negotiating the purchase of the Boston Celtics.

If you don’t want me to watch your show, Ryan, that’s fine – just say so. No need to be a hateful jerk about it. I have better stuff to do anyway, like writing more fully-crafted thoughtful lesbian story lines of my own. I honestly would be perfectly happy with a Brittany/Sam storyline except that:

  1. The sum amount of screen time that Brittany and Santana got through their whole relationship was less than what they have shown for Brittany and Sam in one episode.
  2. Santana’s coming out story was really terrible in a whole bunch of ways.
  3. Ryan Murphy has been such a hateful bitch over twitter towards lesbian fans of Glee.

Glee has done wonders for gay male visibility on television with Kurt and Blaine’s story lines. They’ve been pretty shitty when it comes to lesbian story lines, however. Santana’s coming out storyline was a pretty sexist slap in the face to lesbian fans, and Murphy has been cranky about the backlash to that episode ever since.

All of our regular television programs have been languishing on our DVR since I’ve spent so much time writing lately, and we’ve been particularly neglectful of Glee given my ambivalence about it over the last year. Not even listening to Lea Michele singing can get me to turn on the show anymore. I haven’t quite deleted them, but I may be fast-forwarding through most of the episodes for the Rachel Berry scenes going forward. It feels weird to take that approach to a show that has actual gay characters, as opposed to mere heavy lesbian subtext like Rizzoli & Isles and Once Upon a Time. But being openly hostile to legitimate criticism about lesbian visibility is really problematic.

Continue ReadingRyan Murphy does hate lesbians, apparently

Lesbian Web Series

There aren’t too many mainstream television shows with lesbian main characters, but there is no shortage of online web series and shorts. Many of them are independently produced and rely on viewer contributions to keep production going. I’ve only seen the Girl Trash series so far, but have read reviews here and there — enough to assemble this list so I can start watching. I’m betting maybe you’ll be interested in watching, too.

Anyone But Me
Introducing a new generation: gay, straight, and ethnically diverse struggling with identity and modern relationships. From the Executive Producer/Writer team of Susan Miller (L Word and Thirtysomething) and Tina Cesa Ward (In Their Absence) Anyone But Me is shot on location in New York City and Los Angeles.
Seasons On, Two and Three are complete.

Girltrash!
A 9-episode web series by Angela Robinson, the sequel Girltrash! All Night Long is in production as a movie. It appears that the series is temporarily offline while the site is under construction. Robinson is a director and screen writer who worked on a number of series including The L-Word.

Out With Dad
A teenage girl and her single father. Rose is coming of age and coming out of the closet. All he wants is for her to be happy, and out with Dad.
Season One is complete, Season Two is coming shortly.

We Have to Stop Now
Dyna, sleek and cerebral, and Kit, quirky and spontaneous, are a couple. They are also a couple of therapists. And despite their wildly different methods, they’ve written a singular book on marriage called “How To Succeed In Marriage Without Even Trying”. Trouble is, their own marriage is falling apart, even after years of work with their own therapist, Susan. So, they’ve decided to call it quits. However, once their book hits No. 1 on the New York Times Bestseller list, they’re both not so sure that “quits” is a good idea…
Season One is available to watch free, Season Two is by subscription.

Vag Magazine
VAG MAGAZINE is not your grandma’s feminist magazine, though we support her as a woman. Go behind the scenes at this hipster third-wave feminist magazine with founders FENNEL, SYLVIE, and BETHANY, staffers HEAVY FLO (a hero on the roller derby circuit), REBA (truly a legend of gonzo feminist pop culture journalism), and MEGHAN (the lone holdover from fashion magazine Gemma, which the Vag founders bought out with the proceeds from their Etsy shop), as well as enthusiastic intern KIT, as they teach you how to be a better woman. This six-part web series stars and was created, written, directed, and produced by comedians from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.

B.J. Fletcher: Private Eye
With an all Canadian cast and crew, featuring Lindy Zucker and Dana Puddicombe in the leading roles, B.J. Fletcher: Private Eye is a distinctly new and unique production bringing to life strong female characters with the right balance of action, comedy, and diversity.
Seasons One and Two.

The Real Girl’s Guide to Everything Else
A journalist, nearly dropped by her agent because her work is too smart, political, lesbian and feminist, goes undercover as a glitter-wearing, shoe-obsessed, Cosmo-drinking straight girl.
Season One (Six Episodes) is available, with season 2 coming soon.

Seeking Simone – The Web Series
Seeking Simone is a lesbian web series about online dating. Follow the adventures of Simone Selkin as she dates her way through gay Toronto!
Season One and Two appear to be complete.

Girl/Girl Scene
Based on the lives and loves of four young friends, this series boldly goes where no other has gone before: between the sheets and into the minds and hearts of unapologetically queer women living in middle America. But underlying the many shocking and controversial moments is an important drama exploring the intoxicating extremes of modern day life and love.
Season One – Episodes 1 – 5 are available

Cat on The Prowl
A weekly video blog chronicling the attempts of out comedian Cat Davis to meet women in L.A. Part interview show and part comedy show, the series aired over 40 episodes in 2008 and 2009.

Venice
Venice is a web soap opera series and the creative concept of long time friends and artistic partners Crystal Chappell and Kimmy Turrisi. Venice focuses on the life of Gina Brogno — a single, gay, self-made interior designer — living and working in Venice Beach, California. The plot follows Gina’s human experience in connection with her various love interests, brother Owen, father The Colonel and myriad other characters that make up Gina’s network of relationships.
12 Episodes are available via subscription

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