Gay overtones?!?
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superturbo4 — 18 years ago(January 13, 2008 11:38 PM)
This just goes to show, society has changed alot since then. because of all the pedos running around free, people's thoughts of kids doing shows back in more innocent times has changed alot. No longer is it cool to show kids that bare, thus the thought of gay this or that, oh they must be freaks etc.
There was nothing wrong with it whatsoever when it aired, otherwise it wouldn't have aired to begin with!
People have changed as has television itself! No era will ever be the same from whatever it use to be, times change and things either improve alot or get much worse. Simply cos the kids walked around freely with less clothes on doesn't make'em gay or freak-ish, for all you know the studio probably was like a furnace at times with alot of heat!
You haven't taken into account the now adult child actors from the series that have grown up and are now doing adult jobs in the industry in Canada! Gay Overtones? i think not.
ST4
"He is one, we are three, it is the strength of three that will defeat himtogether. General Zod" -
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realplayer54 — 17 years ago(July 09, 2008 06:43 AM)
Am I just a homo, or did anyone else get a homoerotic vibe from this show? Think about it; cute teenage boys, frequently shirtless in locker rooms, and other times, not to mention the ongoing scene of a dirty boy in tattered shirt chained up in a dungeon. Come on! Anyone else notice this, or am I a freak?
Why can't it JUST be erotic? Girls are turned on by that stuff, too, you know. Besides, I believe there were girls in the dungeon too.
I spent my entire childhood growing up. What a waste. -
porfle — 17 years ago(August 27, 2008 12:08 AM)
Besides, I believe there were girls in the dungeon too.
OH MY GOD, so the show had misogynist overtones too!!!
http://www.bumscorner.com
http://www.myspace.com/porfle -
laeyisoracle — 17 years ago(January 01, 2009 06:47 PM)
You ask, "Am I just a homo", then try to place the PC card. That's like fire and ice. Don't know if you stand for being politically incorrect, or politically correct, cause it sounds like you stand for both, which would warrent the question, "Why even ask about the shirtless boy thing?". I mean, people were more politically incorrect back then, but we were also more decent. Strange that, in this day and age, people are more PC, yet are more indecent. I DO think we've gotten worse, as a society. Like I say, for constantly saying we've come so far, it's more like we are compensating for the removal of decency and politically incorrectness.
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kohntarkosz — 16 years ago(May 04, 2009 05:08 PM)
I don't think they were intended to be "gay overtones". It's like Doctor Smith and Will Robinson hanging around together on Lost In Space, or the whole Batman and Robin thing, or Marcie and Peppermint Patty in the Peanuts comics/cartoons. That is to say, the creators didn't concieve the material in question to represent any kind of gay relationship, it's only in retrospect that someone looks back and says "Wait a minute". Tim Burton said that was the very reason why he didn't use Robin in the Batman movies he directed, because he knew that issue was gonna come up, if not on screen, than certainly in the audience.
As for You Can't Do That On Television, the sometimes shirtless boys were meant to appeal to girls in the audience. But, the thing is, there's gay teenagers, too, and they probably thought Kevin or Brody or whoever appearing on screen without a shirt on just as enjoyable. And remember, it's perfectly ordinary for 13 or 14 year old to be attracted to 13 or 14 year olds. It's only in adulthood that it seems vaguely creepy. -
Kastore — 16 years ago(August 09, 2009 07:02 PM)
I grew up on this show and never picked up on any of that. The examples you mention were intentionally done to either set up a joke (prime example - the skit where Alisdair is naked in the library while studying body parts) or to fit with the scene (the boys were actually fairly well covered-up in the dungeon scenes).
So no, no gay overtones that I can detect. Although one could make a definite argument for WAM fetishism underlying the slime/water gimmicks.
If I ever go down, I hope I don't get the Potato Judge. -
BruciferTX — 15 years ago(April 03, 2011 06:48 AM)
You didn't mention your age at the time you were watching the show, but if you were, like I was, a teenager, about the same age as Alasdair (odd spelling!) or better yet Kevin Kubusheskie, then no, you were not a freak. You were, as you said, 'just a homo' teenage boy, who enjoyed seeing shirtless boys in a very male-oriented atmosphere (locker room) or in a vulnerable situation (dungeon). Not sure what year I discovered it, but when it first aired (Feb 1979) I was 11 years old. And I know for a fact that I knew I was gay by the end of that school year. Well, I knew I liked boys instead of girls - not sure if I knew yet that the word 'gay' also had that meaning, in addition to the usage in the Flintstones theme song. LOL!
But I know I discovered the show sometime between then and finishing high school, and I know ONE of the reasons I liked it so much was that it DID show cute boys with their shirts off, and sometimes chained up or tied up (in front of the firing squad) and that that appealed to me beyond the humorous element. And I DEFINITELY remember having a MAJOR crush on Kevin with his beautiful long hair! And I think I probably saw Christine (Moose) as the 'best friend' type of girl considered (I would learn MUCH later in life) as a 'f*g-hag'. [SERIOUSLY, though, we REALLY need to come up with a better term than that! Maybe 'Fruit Fly'?] ANY way, I digress.
I have to agree with the prior comment about the content not being intentionally written with a 'Gay Overtone' (or undertone), but it definitely had a homoerotic element for me, just like this new 'Ultimate Fighting' show on Spike! LOL! -
coreydude — 14 years ago(July 16, 2011 06:40 AM)
as a gay teen myself in 1980s i certainly enjoyed those hot shirtless boys showing some skin. no way you can make a childrens show today that has a cute bare chested 14 yr old boy chained spreadeagled to a dungeon wall. the nanny state would go balistic.
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chrbubb-386-447636 — 12 years ago(June 16, 2013 06:13 PM)
I've been watching the formerly "missing" episodes from the original 1979 season and there are a few gay overtones in some of those episodes.
In one episode
Gordon Smith: Dad, can I take the Corvette to the dance tonight?
Lance: Don't you wanna take a girl instead?
Gordon: Aww, but Dad (brief pause while he lets his wrist sort of dangle in a "stereotypically gay" manner)
In another, the kids announce a disco dancing contest for couples only, and Kevin Somers mentions (albeit in sort of a joking way) that same-sex couples are welcome to participate as well "if that's what you like" or something like that. -
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carrowsboy — 9 years ago(April 20, 2016 06:44 AM)
The show certainly had an undoubted level of kink to itespecially to be centered around kids.
Little boys in drag, an alcoholic politician for a father, a sleazy stage manager always talking about going to see a "dirty" movie to a group of kids aged 8-12, etc
I mean the show was originally titled 'Whatever Turns You On.'
That had to have raised a few eyebrows.