Gay representation in Beaver Falls

Whether it’s someone coming out, someone finding out that someone else is gay, or suspecting that someone is gay, how public media handles it can be make or break.

If something like a television show is even vaguely negative when it comes to being anything other than heterosexual, it could alienate queer people and send the wrong message to other people who discover that someone is not hetero. It’s as simple as a character making a gay joke without punishment, or having a character distance themselves from a friend who’s recently come out.

People need to be told that gay is okay, something that shouldn’t be a big deal, something that isn’t terrible. That’s where Beaver Falls  comes in.

I’ve probably only seen three episodes of this show, but something stuck out in the episode (Series 2, Episode 4) that I caught on E4 in the early hours of today.

Mac

Let me explain the episode very quickly: there’s a guy, the basketball team’s ‘ace’ player (Mac), who kisses another guy (Barry) when supposedly high. He lies about it to everyone, saying that it was in fact Barry who kissed him. In turn, everyone thinks that Barry is gay and some people taunt him. At the end of the episode the truth is revealed, Mac admits it to his wife and gives back their wedding ring with tears in his eyes.

Pretty standard plot. It wasn’t the plot that caught my eye, it was the way that the characters acted, especially the guy who gets kissed.

I’m going to play a little game called What I Expected vs. What I Got:

Some of the guys call Barry gay since they think he was the one who kissed Mac

What I Expected: Barry to get mad and assert his masculinity, somehow proving that he isn’t gay because he’s offended by their jeering and wants to appear as heterosexual as possible

What I Got: Barry runs off, annoyed. He then admits to his girlfriend that he was mad, but not because they thought he was gay...but because they were using the word ‘gay’ to attack him

Everyone finds out that Mac might be gay after he goes crazy and punches someone several times for calling him a ‘fag’; he then runs away

What I expected: Everyone to be shocked and talk about it in an unpleasant way

Mac confronts the basketball player who called him a 'fag'

What I Got: Barry vehemently insists that he’s the gay one, potentially putting his reputation on the line and trying to show a video (that some of the kids tried to secretly capture) of him kissing Mac for a laugh in the woods so that he can ‘prove’ his homosexuality to everyone

Barry finds and joins Mac, sitting next to him

What I Expected: Slightly awkward silence, Barry questioning whether Mac likes him and being concerned about it

What I Got: Barry teases Mac by asking if he thinks he’s ‘cute’, then asks if he always knew deep down, thereby taking an interest

Barry had every right to feel a little awkward, just like if anyone you don’t fancy kisses you, but he didn’t, he still treated him like a good friend.

Barry

I would also like to add, at no point does Barry use the abhorred phrase ‘no homo’ even as a joke (like a stupid spell to keep the gay at bay; god forbid anyone falsely assume that someone is gay).

These are the key points to take from this:

1. Barry got mad because people were treating being gay as a bad thing, NOT because he was being called gay
2. Barry gave no shits, twice, that people assumed he was gay; his main concern (the second time) was protecting Mac who was clearly distressed
3. Mac comes clean and accepts his sexuality, meaning he didn’t try to repress it or lie for the sake of his wife; a good message for queer people - hiding who you are, especially if you’re in a heterosexual relationship, can be damaging the longer that it’s left
4. Barry did not feel awkward around or avoid Mac even though he’d kissed him

I’ve not been this impressed with how ‘gay’ issues are handled on a TV show in a long time. Sure, there are shows that promote queer lifestyles, but this was handled so well.

It wasn’t a case of ,‘he’s gay, oh well’, it was, ‘he’s gay, it’s fine to be gay, and I feel comfortable, nothing has changed’.

So there we have it – Beaver Falls  gets my queer seal of approval!

Feel free to watch it on 4OD – Series 2, Episode 4 – if you’re in the UK to see the episode for yourself.