MovieChat Forums > The L Word (2004) Discussion > 1 thing that bothers me about this show....

1 thing that bothers me about this show...

posted 10 years ago by vanessa_julia_lutz
12 replies | jump to latest

They make it seem like everyone in the world just happens to be a (hot) lesbian. Teacher's assistant - boom - gay, boss - boom- gay, super hot parent of the kid in shay's class -boom - gay, so on and so forth. Real life doesn't work like that and it's not very realistic. Most people are straight, most hot girls you run into in life don't happen to be gay. I love the show though but it's more like a fantasy of what lesbians wish life was like, a world where everyone is gay lol

[–] scissorhands__emily 10 years ago

Haha yeah this is very true. I just watched an episode from season 2 with Bette meeting an artist. This was when Tina first started seeing Helena and Bette wants to bring someone to the Planet. She asks this artist to come. The artist instead invites her girlfriend though. Anyway just the fact that of course the artist is gay reminded me of your post.

I mean it'd be one thing if the characters consistently met lesbians at gay outings but half the time they meet them everywhere possible. I mean didn't they only question someone's sexuality once when Dana wanted to know if Lara was gay? That's the only time I remember them actively questioning. All the other times it's like they just knew. That is a downfall for the show to me. Same with everyone in a family being gay (Dana and her brother, plus it was implied her mom was closeted; Phyllis and Molly). But this show is far from realistic anyway. I mostly enjoy it as a guilty pleasure lol.

[–] SampanMassacre 10 years ago

Yes, true, in real life, hot lesbians aren't around every corner, kissing in public.

Damn reality!!!!!

[–] Kragey 10 years ago

Many lesbians, especially in major cities, form their own little community, and that's not hard for me to get. But what drove me nuts was, yes, everybody they met was a gorgeous woman who ended up being a lesbian. There was a distinct lack of heterosexual characters, no admirable men, and the one transgender character we saw regularly was poorly represented. You have to see it as an illogical fantasy world, or you won't enjoy it.

You're a sexual Disneyland.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Kragey 10 years ago

Get ready: they quickly turned Tim in to an utter jerk when he returns to LA for a visit.

And it wasn't lesbians introducing each other to lesbians all the time. It was people they met at random places or bumped in to. Visiting artist? Lesbian. Meat delivery lady? Lesbian. Phyllis? Fair warning, she's going to be a lesbian, and oh, so is her daughter, and oh, Helena's mother runs off and has a lesbian fling, too. Alice is bisexual! ...but not really, because she has a few goofy interactions with men, then decides "bisexuality is gross" and stops being the one likeable bisexual character in the series.

It just got annoying. You'll notice it more as the seasons progress, especially after season 3: every attractive woman they run in to is a lesbian.

Yes, many gay people spend time with other gay people, and they tend to create their own cultural world. But I don't know a single gay or transgender person who hangs out with zero straight people, and every person you randomly run in to isn't going to be a gorgeous homosexual.

You're a sexual Disneyland.

[–] lornamd-1 10 years ago

Character meets straight person and nothing happens doesn't make for much of a storyline. They would meet lots of straight people, but there's no reason to show that. Also they live in an area where a lot of gay people live.

When you're gay people are more likely to reveal that side of them to you. Not as many people are straight as you'd think.

[–] kcolli11 9 years ago

I can agree with you on the hot lesbian point, but I think the demographic in West Hollywood is different than other places in the US. Over one-third of the population in West Hollywood identifies as LGBT.

[–] catbookss 9 years ago

They make it seem like everyone in the world just happens to be a (hot) lesbian. Teacher's assistant - boom - gay, boss - boom- gay, super hot parent of the kid in shay's class -boom - gay, so on and so forth.

That's one of my few criticisms of the show as well. If they weren't lesbians to begin with, too often they were supposed heterosexuals in the closet just discovering they're gay, and about to come out, thanks to one of the other characters.

The first time it began to annoy me was when the blond delivered the flowers to Shane. I was relieved to find out that was a set-up, but then the same thing happened over and over again, and they weren't set-ups.

My other criticism is there were way too many sex scenes. I counted 6 in one episode. Come on. Also the sex scenes were too often exactly like all the others, so they became tedious and boring for me. Many of them were gratuitous, doing nothing to advance the plot or tell you anything more about the characters.

I don't mind sex scenes, I don't mind lesbian sex scenes, but I want them to not be gratuitous and so one-note. Around season 6 I started fast-forwarding through them.

[–] charactercombo 9 years ago

I don't see that as being a problem for this kind of show because if it was the other way around I am almost certain you could say the same thing.

However, I also understand what you are saying. I would want a show, such as this, to be ABOVE those cliches so that the audience who aren't part of that community could understand it better in a very real way.

"No more talking from things that don't talk!" - Jaye Tyler

[–] catbookss 9 years ago

I don't see that as being a problem for this kind of show because if it was the other way around I am almost certain you could say the same thing.

I don't know what you mean by that. The other way around, how? That if it were a male who seduced every lesbian women he came across and "turned them" straight I'd buy it? Sorry, but no.

However, I also understand what you are saying. I would want a show, such as this, to be ABOVE those cliches so that the audience who aren't part of that community could understand it better in a very real way.

Yes, that is what I'm saying; I'd have liked this show to be above those cliches, not so much because viewers who aren't part of this community could understand it better (although there is that) but because the reality is straight and gay people do intersect as part of their normal lives, and it doesn't always involve a gay person "turning" a heterosexual person into a homosexual person. That's just silly.

[–] dperth-33500 8 years ago

I think it's fair to say that the show is a fantasy. That's one of the things that makes the show so endearing though.

[–] Hollywoodshack 8 years ago

It's the world within a group of lesbians. It's not all sugar coated. Shane does Arianna Huffington's hair and Huffington doesn't like lesbians, at least in her part on the show. It's not "everyone in the world" even though the jazzy opening credits might fool you.