Okay so, Pretty Little Liars! Yes, I may be a little late, but I
just recently began watching the ABC Family TV series and love it. In fact I started it two
weekends ago, from the beginning, and have already made it to season 3…I’m
catching up. Anyways, after the class where we discussed the influence and
effects of coming out in a mediated environment, I felt a scene and character in the show
demonstrated exactly that. Emily, one of the main four girls in the television series identified herself as gay and was going through the difficult process of coming
out to her parents. Click here to watch the actual
coming-out moment to her Dad.
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| Emily (Shay Mitchell) |
According to the Bond et al.
article, media is what younger individuals turn to when it comings to gathering
information during the coming-out process. With that being said, I believe that
Pretty Little Liars does a great job at showing the insecurities about coming
out as well as the process of completely going through it. As you saw, her
father came into Emily’s room and asked why Emily had been acting so jumpy and that
he and her mother were beginning to get worried. After thinking it was some boy
who they felt she might be threatened by, she simply tells him, “I’m afraid of
you and mom, because I’m not who you think I am.” This demonstrates the fear
that comes along with the process of admitting one is gay. By telling her father, shows the first step in the attempt to open up to her parents providing a sense of
family openness, which was described in the Bond et al. article (p.39). While such openness
is hard to establish in the first place, this article makes it so obvious why, for even television shows are
looked down upon for even having homosexual characters.
Having such
characters such as Emily displayed on primetime television shows, provides
these LGB youth who are looking at TV for information about the coming-out
process, giving them a character to also relate to. A character to show that
the process is possible, having such feelings towards the same sex is a real
thing, and there is nothing to be ashamed of. However, while there are these shows
that embraced openly gay characters, groups such as the Florida Family
Association felt such portrayal was wrong. This association launched a campaign
that I felt was very disappointing and straight up appalling. They
launched an anti-gay campaign, and pulled their sponsor after seeing the shows
romantic women on women relationship and felt as though it demonstrates, quote
on quote, “irresponsible imagery.” While this statement, alone, disturbed me,
they continue, saying:
“[They're] using salacious and glamorizing scenes portraying
young, pretty women as lesbians, sends the wrong message to these young girls,
a message that reinforces and legitimizes this homosexual lifestyle in a manner
that could affect these young girls' sexual identity for a lifetime.”
How is this sending the wrong
message to these young girls? When all it is doing is showing that they are accepted. It’s giving these LGB youths something to relate
to, something to turn towards as support and information. And, also, “portraying young, pretty women as lesbians”…
What!?? Implying that lesbians aren’t identified as pretty? Wow, no wonder these individuals have such a hard time feeling okay about
their sexual orientation.
Brittnee, I totally agree with you that Emily's coming-out on Pretty Little Liars is an excellent example of the difficulties and tension surrounding the process of dealing with one's sexuality. I, too, watch the show and have noted how refreshing it is to see a gay character who is not completely eccentric or flamboyant. I am glad that you have mentioned the backlash towards Emily's character. The fact that this Florida group think it's wrong to show "pretty" girls as lesbians is simply sickening.
ReplyDeleteWhen reading your post, I thought about the current research I doing for another class about Ellen DeGeneres's coming-out in 1997. I watched an interview with Ellen on Oprah after she came out... Audience members were condemning her for making her gayness public. Ellen admitted that it must be hard for people to see someone so "normal" coming out as gay. Oprah chimes in and says how before Ellen, most homosexuals were portrayed as "swinging from chandeliers". This is similar to Emily's character who is a well-rounded, beautiful young woman. The fact that she is not ugly or crazy is exactly what is frightening to these anti-gay groups. Like Emily, Ellen showed the world that your gayness doesn't have to be plastered on your face and obvious in your actions. Both Ellen and Emily are great examples for teens dealing with their sexuality - especially considering the degree to which Bond et al. claims teens rely on media to inform and support them in their process.