Coming Out: Gossip Girl’s Gay Storyline
Like many Gossip Girl fans, I wasn’t surprised at Eric’s outing on last week’s episode. I was taken aback, though, at how well it was done. True, it was sensationalized and glammed up at Asher’s party - but at home, over the table? That was brilliant.
I love that Georgina outed Eric to his family at the table. No, I don’t believe that most gays and lesbians are outed by their sibling’s evil enemy at the dinner table - but I think that being outed often comes from situations beyond their control and that felt honest.
I also really enjoyed Kelly Rutherford’s portrayal of Eric’s mom. As a mom myself, I understand - no matter how politically incorrect it might be to say it out loud - that you don’t want your children to be gay. Not because of the stigma that you would face (which maybe matters a bit more in the elite circles of the Upper East Side) but because, as a parent, you constantly worry about how society treats your child. And let’s face it, although our society has certainly progressed in terms of its acceptance of gays and lesbians, it’s still tough to be homosexual in today’s world.
I grew up in rural North Carolina where I wasn’t exposed to homosexuality except what was on TV. And clearly, pre-Ellen and pre-Will and Grace, TV did not portray gays and lesbians in a flattering light. And perhaps it was one too many episodes of Jack pretending to be gay on Three’s Company but I grew to believe that being homosexual was a choice. That is, until high school.
I had a “Jenny” moment in high school. Remember when she accused Eric of being jealous of Asher because she thought that Eric was in love with her? I’ve been there.
In high school, I had a friend whom I call J. J used to hang out with me and my then boyfriend quite a bit. I felt that he was just a bit too clingy - especially as prom approached and he grew increasingly moody. I thought that we needed to have a talk. So, I sat J down one day and explained that while I was really flattered that he had a crush on me, that it was not in the cards and he needed to understand that and give me some space. We could, I reminded him, always be friends.
He looked at me with such disbelief. He did not, he explained, have a crush on me. He did, however, have a crush on my boyfriend. He was gay.
Wow.
I had no words. But you know what, that was actually the best thing. Not saying anything. Because I let J talk. And he talked about his friends and his family and how hard coming to terms with his sexuality had been for him. It had clearly been a struggle for him. And in that moment, I realized that nobody would ever choose to feel that way, to be treated that way, to constantly worry about being found out. It was a defining moment for me.
I started looking at the world a lot differently after that. I saw the injustice of my church chasing a good friend out of town when it was revealed that he way gay - in their minds, gay = pedophile and they would not allow him to continue to teach at church (he was a highly respected elementary school teacher outside of church). I witnessed girls being ostracized and teased on campus if they chose to be open about their sexuality. And most chilling, I watched in horror as the story of Matthew Shepard unfolded - you may remember that he was the young man who was beaten to death by two men simply because he was gay.
I now have a completely different view of homosexuality. I believe that everyone has the right to be happy. And I understand that life is not one big fun episode of Will and Grace.
I hope that the producers don’t drop the ball on this story line. I think it would be great to see Eric deal with being dumped by Asher and move on to find someone else - ooh, a prom episode would be awesome. It would also be interesting to see how Lily continues to come to terms with Eric being gay and whether that would interfere with her relationship with Bart, who, I am just guessing would not be terribly supportive.
Where do you think the story line would go? Are you happy with the portrayal of gay characters on Gossip Girl? Do you think it’s realistic? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Tags: connor paolo, eric van der woodsen, erik van der woodsen, gay, Gossip GirlRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Gossip Girl Cast, Social/Impact Issues
3 opinions for Coming Out: Gossip Girl’s Gay Storyline
Lauren
May 12, 2008 at 3:57 am
First I have to say, I´m a bit relieved that they ‘chose’ Eric´s character to be gay because he always seemed like that and neither Chuck, Dan nor Nate seemed like they were gay…
Kelly I really liked what you wrote about your friend! I have a friend who is gay too and he´s just the sweetest person I´ve ever known. He´s my best friend, I can talk with him about anything. When he told me that he was gay he seemed so upset because other´s who thought that he might be gay were teasing him and he didn´t know how to handle the situation and he just felt ashamed of it but after a while he cam to me and said ‘Well I like boys so what? let the people think of me whatever they want, I am who I am.’ And that´s damn right, I mean I can´t understand that most people say ‘how can he be gay? That´s disgusting, that´s not normal!’ I mean how would you feel if someone who is homosexual would come up to you and say ‘How can you be heterosexual? That´s disgusting, that´s not normal!’ you know what I mean?? I just thing that either gay or not, we all have to be happy and the ones who are gay don´t cause any harm on us, do they?
I think that the character Eric on Gossip Girl, may give the people who are gay a chance to be brave enough to come out, at least in front of their close friends. I just hope that the producers don´t exaggerate too much with the whole situation.
The thing is if you don´t know anyone who is homosexual you usually are against homosexuals but as soon as someone comes up to you and says “Hey I´m gay” than you have to cope with the situation. Some can deal with it, others can´t. It´s everyone´s business and I´m not telling anyone to really like homosexuals, but I think we should except them, the way they are excepting heterosexuals, don´t you think?
brooke
May 12, 2008 at 9:22 am
Do you think it is funny that both humphrey’s accused both van der woodsen of being jealous!
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Jun 20, 2008 at 3:15 pm
[…] Eric comes out. […]
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