January 19, 2015

Billy Crystal's Gay Sex Face...


Actor and comedian Billy Crystal, who played America’s first openly gay television character on the ground-breaking 70's sitcom Soap, has had enough of our gay sex.
In comments reported on the TheWrap from this weekend’s TV Critics Conference, he says today’s more frequent LGBT storylines may be going “a little too far” and “sometimes I think ah, that’s too much for me.”

My first question... is this about sex on TV, or about gay sex on TV?  Very different issues... is there too much straight sex on TV? 

If Crystal thinks TV has gone too far with sex scenes overall, I think that is a fair conversation to have; what is the family viewing hour and are we respecting that? There used to be clear lines before and after 9 PM… much as I admire Grey’s Anatomy, is it appropriate 8 PM television? That is the conversation to have, not whether that explicitness is gay or straight.

"I did it (played a gay character) in front of a live audience, and there were times where I would say to [the actor who played his boyfriend], 'Bob, “I love you,' and the audience would laugh nervously, because, you know, it’s a long time ago, that I’d feel this anger. I wanted to stop the tape and go, 'What is your problem?' Because it made you sort of very self-conscious about what we were trying to do then. And now it’s just, I see it and I just hope people don’t abuse it and shove it in our face — well, that sounds terrible — to the point of it just feels like an everyday kind of thing."

Crystal says gay sex on TV should not be an 'everyday thing'.. but why not?  I think yes it should be every day, shouldn’t it? Or at least no different from non-gay romance and sex.

Gay people -- and straight people --- have sex... and hold hands, and talk about their relationships.... and it is all good on TV, as long as it is within appropriate shows and time slots... so yes on How To Get Away With Murder at 10 PM on a weeknight, likely no on NCIS at 8 PM. And it shouldn't matter gay or straight.

And really, shouldn't we all be way more worried about the guns and violence on TV? That is really way more disturbing.

And a note to Mr Crystal, should you be reading this.... bad choice of words, buddy... besides seeming vaguely homophobic, which you clearly aren't, do you really want to create the visual of a gay dude putting his sex in your face?  Well ok, but please, not in the family hour....