The Objective Observer

 New RSS feed!

Gay and Lesbian Interest

• Of Meerkats and Men
• Gays - A Final Word
• The Science of Gay
• I Don't Care That You're Gay
• Homosexuals and Housing
• Gay Travel
• Gay Superheroes
• Of Queers and Men

South Park is, without question, the smartest, and funniest, show on TV today. This fact was proven once again with its 2003 season premier “South Park is Gay!” an episode where the proliferation of “metrosexualism” is explored.

Now, to be fair, South Park has not always been the smartest, and funniest, show on TV. While I have always found the show engaging and hilarious, it has evolved tremendously over the years. A good example of this is to compare South Park’s first foray into gay subject matter with its latest installment. The first South Park episode I remember that dealt with gay subject matter is the classic, “Big Gay Al’s Big Gay Boat Ride”.

“Big Gay Al’s Big Gay Boat Ride” was typical of early South Park, which is to say that South Park used to be 90% off-the-wall humor and 10% political and/or social commentary. This particular episode dealt with a gay male dog, Sparky, voiced by George Clooney, that became a social outcast because he could not be trained to stop humping other male dogs. This led to the introduction of the first openly gay South Park character, Big Gay Al who taught tolerance to young Stan by taking him on his “Big Gay Boat Ride”. This episode is classic early South Park. The vast majority of the episode is spent on off-the-wall humor focusing on Stan's attempts to make Sparky heterosexual. There is very little point to this other than to entertain. In the end Stan learns to be tolerant of Sparky’s behavior and this serves as the social commentary.

As I have said, this is pretty classic South Park. This was the formula for success that started with the original South Park episode, the one with Jesus and Santa fighting over the true meaning of Christmas. That episode was mainly sheer bizarre and uncontrolled mayhem with Stan and the boys providing their insight at the end on what they felt was the true meaning of Christmas. Ham and presents.

This season’s first episode is perhaps the best example thus far of South Park’s new formula, which has been slowing evolving over the last few years. This is to say that it is 90% political and/or social commentary and 10% off-the-wall humor. Now, this is not to say that 90% of South Park is not off-the-wall. It still is, but there is now more of a point to the off-the-wall humor versus simply being off-the-wall for the sake of being off-the-wall or an entertaining setup to a brief political and/or social point. It is, perhaps, tough to explain, but there IS a difference. Whereas before, the off-the-wall humor eventually led to a small political and or social statement, now there are more of those political and social comments more regularly dispersed throughout each episode. This episode eventually culminated in a completely bizarre and unexpected off-the-wall twist at the end with the introduction of Crab People. “Taste like crab, talk like people, Crab People, Crab People!” Funny stuff.

In many ways, the creators of South Park have effectively reversed their formula without “jumping the shark” and it has led to a much more intelligent and funny program. To be honest, I have no idea how they get away with the things they get away with, but thank goodness they do! So, is this simply a piece analyzing South Park’s evolution? Well, not exactly, although I do find such an analysis pretty interesting. No, there is actually a point to this and here we go. Deep breath...

Just as South Park has evolved over the last eight years, so too has society’s attitudes and perceptions of gays. One of the great things about South Park is their ability to keep up with current events. The term “metrosexual” is probably very new to a lot of people and it is likely that many never even heard the term until watching the latest South Park episode. Eight years ago, South Park episodes were trying to convey an attitude of tolerance towards gays. Now, South Park’s latest episode is railing against the veritable brow-beating with regards to gays and gay rights that we are constantly subjected to in the media. Gays have moved from being outcasts to having their culture co-opted by the mainstream, hence girlie men metrosexuals.

It is an interesting topic to discuss just where the line is between being a man and being a girl. It seems to me that the constant barrage of pro-gay literature and media have given many men the idea that they need to be more feminine and less masculine, but this is not really what women want. Women do not REALLY want girlie men. They want men that act like men. Or do they? In all honesty, who really knows what the hell women want, but the clash between being a masculine man and a feminine man is pretty evident in today’s culture.

Take two popular programs on TV today as evidence of this culture clash, “The Man Show” and “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”. On the one hand we have the call to the quintessential, stereotypical, chauvinistic man, “The Man Show” and on the other hand we have the show that celebrates the femininity of men, “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”. It is not bad enough that the gay equivalent of the word “nigger”, the word “queer”, has suddenly become an acceptable form of reference for someone that is gay, but the show actually tries to turn men into sissies. Is it coincidence that “The Man Show” and “Queer Eye” are on TV at the same time? I do not think so. I believe that shows like “The Man Show” are a response to the continued proliferation of gay culture in the media over the last eight to ten years.

Think about it. There is bound to be a backlash against the gay culture that is currently being rammed down everyone’s throats. No pun intended. Gays represent only about 1-3% of the population but TV programs about gays and the gay lifestyle make up a much, much larger percentage of TV programming today. In addition, gays, gay culture and gay social issues command a disproportionate share of news and other media as well. It is inevitable that people will get tired of it and look for something that challenges the mainstream. There may be an argument that shows like “Skin” and other increasingly over-the-top, sexually-related (heterosexually-related) programming is simply a knee-jerk reaction to the continued pummeling the public receives from gays.

For my part, I do not watch either “The Man Show” or “Queer Eye”. I find both pretty distasteful as they represent the two extremes between masculinity and male femininity and as such are both poor representations of what it means to be a man. Besides, my wife won’t let me watch “The Man Show”. OK, ok, to be fair, I wouldn’t watch it anyway, even if my wife let me. It definitely has some funny stuff and a copious amount of boobs, not to mention all of the silicone breasts, but it is also degrading to women and I would feel that I am insulting and demeaning the woman I love by watching it. Hey, that’s just me. I would much rather fondle my wife rather than my TV. My TV tends to shock me when I do that. I hate that.

So then, back to the point of all of this. The point is that it should come as no surprise to homosexuals when the backlash to gay culture comes home to roost…and it will come home to roost. Gays have made tremendous advances in recent years, literally going from outcasts to part of mainstream society. But these advances have come at a price, a price that homosexuals will eventually have to pay.

The advancement of gays has been pushed upon the public rather than the public having had an appropriate amount of time to come to grips with such an entirely new and utterly foreign culture at their own pace. America is still ruled by the majority and there are legitimate concerns about exposing children to subjects such as homosexuality as well as legitimate concerns over the health of the gay lifestyle. But gays, it seems, do not care one whit about the will of the majority or the very real concerns the majority has with the homosexual lifestyle. Unfortunately for gays, they will forever be in the minority and thus to a large extent will never be able to fully control their ultimate destiny. This “damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead” attitude among gays will ultimately hurt the cause of homosexuals in a manner that will completely eclipse today’s short term gains.

There are only three possible outcomes from such a rapid rise to prominence. One possible result is that the gay culture will become rapidly integrated and indistinguishable from mainstream culture. This is the outcome “South Park is Gay!” explores and it articulately expresses the extreme downsides of this outcome. I don’t know about you, but I, for one, do not want to be ruled by Crab People.

The second possible outcome is that this whole gay thing is just a fad. Guess what happens after a fad? Oh yeah, that’s right, it becomes un-cool. Gays will once again become pariahs simply because the fad is over and everyone will be embarrassed that they ever participated in it. Back in the closet you go, maybe you’ll get pulled back out after about 30 years.

And the final hap…hap…happy ending is that the majority will actively rebel against gay culture and pass a defense of marriage Constitutional Amendment and other laws to combat it.

Any way you go, the price to homosexuals will be steep, which is too bad because homosexuals have some legitimate gripes. Thus, the question becomes, will this price be a price gays are willing to pay? Oh, wait a minute, I forgot. It is too late to ask that question. The sale has already been made, all that’s left is to see if gays will pay by cash, check or credit card.