Effect of TV on Acceptance of Homosexuality by Straight America

Vox says the effect is clear.

 HRC also offers this helpful guide to coming out. If you, yourself, are considering doing so, it's well worth a read!

Of course, every unique coming out story helps along the cause of LGBT visibility. But it also seems likely that fictional coming out tales featuring film and television characters had a dramatic influence on the push for equality, too. As my colleague Todd VanDerWerff noted in the A.V. Club. "I think it's undeniable that the relatively rapid normalization of gays and lesbians within American society (a struggle that continues, I should add) has been helped by how many popular sitcoms in the '90s had a gay character. … If people on TV didn't seem too upset by it, then why should the viewers be upset?"

To celebrate National Coming Out Day and to celebrate how far we've come in a relatively short time, here are three memorable TV coming out moments.

1) Ellen

"What's his name?" "Susan."

It's no exaggeration to say that television — and, really, American culture at large — was fundamentally altered on April 30, 1997. On that night, ABC aired Ellen's now famous coming-out episode, "The Puppy Episode." The two-parter was the highest-rated episode of DeGeneres's series, pulling in a record 42 million viewers. It even won an Emmy and a Peabody. Ellen would be canceled one year later, largely due to low ratings, but in part because of this episode. In spite of the backlash Ellen received for her decision to televise her coming out, it's impossible to deny her legacy: within a few months of Ellen's cancellation, NBC aired Will and Grace, a show featuring two out-and-proud gay men.

2) Will and Grace

"I think you're missing the silver lining, here. When you're old and in diapers, a gay son will know how to keep you away from chiffon and backlighting."

It's hard to imagine a world where Will and Grace would have made it to TV without Ellen. And the series subtly acknowledged its debt to Ellen when she appeared in season three as, of all things, a nun.

Although the series was named after its main characters, it was supporting players Jack and Karen who quickly became fan favorites, due to their larger-than-life antics. Jack, played by the inimitable Sean Hayes, was out. He was proud. And he didn't give a damn about who knew it — except for his mother, whom he kept in the dark. In one of the most memorable episodes of the series, Jack's friends encouraged him to finally come out to his mom, which resulted in some terrific TV. The comedy of the situation came from how absurd it seems that anyone — let alone his own mother, who, as Karen points out, isn't headless! — couldnot know that Jack's gay. And yet, there are many LGBT people who, for reasons they can't always explain, go to great lengths to hide in plain sight. Though he might have seemed so obviouslygay, Jack's coming out helped tell that story.

3) Six Feet Under

"What …. part of you isn't my son? You're all my son."

"You know, Rico, I'm a homo." And with that, David Fisher (Michael C. Hall) came out on Sex Feet Under, one of the most beloved and acclaimed shows of the 2000s. Viewers knew David was gay the entire time, knowing full well that he and Keith (Mathew St. Patrick) were more than "racquetball partners," as David liked to put it.

David slowly begins to come out toward the end of the first season, and the entire journey makes for fantastic television. The scene that has stuck with me all these years later is when David finally has the coming out conversation with his mother (Frances Conroy).

The writing of this scene is absolutely brilliant, weaving together themes of gayness and death. At one point, David accuses his mother of looking at him like she looks at a corpse — "It revolts you, but you make yourself bear it." Hall's and Conroy's performances are masterful, which is why this moment remains authentic more than a decade later and why David and Keith remain some of the most powerful portrayals of gay men ever seen on television.

What Effects Does TV Have on Kids?

Tales from the Crypt (comics) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A distinguished colleague writes:

Michael, from my own perspective, media effects is one of the most difficult questions in sociology. Indeed, I began my career as a media researcher in 1989 with a focus on children and television advertisements. And now I have a definitive answer.

To cut to the chase, it think that Steven H. Chaffee from Stanford captured the essence in a personal conversation we had in the 1999, shortly before his death.

For many years he said, we (at Stanford) tried to answer the question, “Does television affect children?”  After 20 years, hundreds of studies and millions of dollars, we essentially failed to come up with an answer.

The reason he said was that he asked the wrong question.  The question we should have asked, Chaffee said, is: Howdoes television effect children?

In other words, would should not have asked a “yes” or no” question, but one of method and degree. How does television shape attitudes and behaviors of children? A strong or a weak force? What is the complex interplay of influences that act upon childrenat the individual and social levels — as an innocent child becomes cultured to the ways of adults? 

So Chaffee's research on television concluded impotently: "Some children, in some conditions, some of the time” — that was the summary of all his findings.  And yes, that gets you the position of Dean of Communications at Stanford University, and the approval of the advertising to children industry: "We can’t say, so it’s okay.” 

There are too many independent variables to be able to make a clear and statistically valid cause-and-effect statement.  Too many moving parts, too many inputs.

So, Michael, if you want to know about the effects of TV (specifically sitcoms) on viewers (specifically kids under 10)? I have the answer:

"Some children, in some conditions, some of the time.”   That's pretty definitive.