Will & Grace

Will & Grace (W&G) is, for the most part, a funny show. It's also a good looking show which, for me, helps its re-watchability. I mainly tune into W&G reruns when I want something gay and fun to watch, so the New York conspicuously sophisticated interiors add to the fluffy escapism.

Many jokes on W&G seem racy even years after they originally aired. The heavy use of "fag" and "queer" for humorous effect now seems a bit shocking as both words have begun to get the n-word treatment in TV shows and on the radio. 

W&G's frankness about gay male sexuality is still surprising. Gay males on TV and in mainstream films still largely seem to be well behaved neuters who are only interested in a monogamous relationship. There are plenty of field playing straight guys on TV and in the movies but any gay guy character you'll see will probably be respectable sexually. 

But despite W&G's still edgy take on the gays it also presents almost all gay men as the standard mainstream gay cliche of boys who are very nearly girls in their love of fashion, cooking, grooming, shopping, interior design, show tunes, and divas. W&G also presents most lesbians as mannish, blunt women with no sense of humor.

Of course W&G is a sitcom and anyone expecting a sitcom to reflect real life is probably someone who looks to Warner Brothers cartoons to learn about animal behavior. And W&G  isn't any worse than more recent portrayals and jokes about gays and lesbians in TV (Modern Family's gay couple are essentially queer clowns.). Even a lot of queer cinema or pro-queer films go with the stereotypes, as does most the mainstream queer media.

I like W&G, it's fun to drop in on from time to time. The gay male characters on the show are sort of exotic to me as I know no gay guys like them (no gay guy I know is a snappy dresser or has a sense of interior design that's any better than the straight guys I know). But then I also know no one like Karen. 

But if I ever had to deal with anyone like Will or Grace in real life I'd do whatever I could to make our interaction as short and final as possible. Then I'd go have drinks with someone like Karen.