Just like Carl
I've put "My So-Called Life" on my Netflix list. I saw a piece of an episode the one year it was on and I did like it, but that was the year that Brian was born and I didn't exactly see a lot of television. So it has come out on DVD and now I get to see it.
There is a gay character on it named Rickie. In the Christmas episode he has been kicked out of his home, presumably because he is gay. In fact, he has been beaten. I watched the episode the other night and it was hard. I really wanted to go out and get Rickie and bring him home. He touches my heart, you know?
Tonight I watched it with the commentary on. Wilson Cruz, the actor who plays Rickie, spoke with the writer of the episode. Cruz said that the episode was hard for him because less than a year before he came out to his parents and his father threw him out. He also said that it was when his father saw the episode that he had a change of heart and called.
The whole thing is very powerful.
Halfway through Brian came over and watched with me. When it was done he crawled into the chair next to me crying. "I miss Carl."
"Because of the show?"
"He's just like Carl."
And he is. He really is. Not exactly, you know. But enough.
And I miss Carl too.
MSCL is amazing. A good gay storyline, too. Not ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteA long time ago, VH1 ran a marathon and I watched as much of it as I could (work interfered). I was mesmerized by the storylines, the acting, all of it. I am so buying the entire show.
ReplyDeleteI love the whole show, but I especially adore how Rickie is portrayed. Gay men are as various as any one else, but on TV they seem to either be Will or Jack (Will & Grace), you know? Either one extreme or the other. Men like Jack are sometimes called "fem" but they don't seem feminine to me. Jack has a certain in-your-face, loving-life-and-not-apologizing attitude that I admire, but I don't know what to call it.
ReplyDeleteRickie though has a gentleness, and a feminity to him without in the least being a caricature. In the commentary the writer said that Rickie embodied the essence of feminine beauty, and I think that is true. But he is real and complex.
Of course all the characters in MSCL are like that in one way or another. They fit types: the nerdy smart boy, the wild party girl, the super-student, the oh-so-pretty but not very bright boy. None of the characters is just that though, they are all interesting and multi-layered.
For those of you who have not seen it, be forewarned. It was cancelled and though it does not end on a cliff hanger it does not really have an ending. You will be left wondering what was supposed to happen next.
Oh, that was my favorite show when I was in junior high. Love love loved it. I was a Claire, but I wanted to be a Ray Anne. Kinda.
ReplyDeleteI totally loved that show. Now I am going to have to add it to my Netflix list.
ReplyDeleteDo you have any other suggestions where gay people are portrayed in a positive light?? My own son is reaching puberty and has been struggling with his sexuality and I was to make sure he has positive role models.