Homosexuality Subjected to Bias on TV too

President Obama said in a recent interview with Rolling Stone that Fox News has a "very clear, undeniable point of view," a point of view not shared by the President.

Obama went on to say that the clearly conservative view held by Fox and enforced by Fox owner Rupert Murdoch "is ultimately destructive for the long term growth" of the country--a country Obama said has "a vibrant middle class and is competitive in the world." Obama is the Democratic party candidate from the 2008 election and has very liberal views unlike Fox which is said to have a very conservative bias.

On the other side of the political spectrum, James O'Keefe, a conservative prankster, was recently caught trying to pull off a prank that would show an obvious bias of CNN. He tried to make CNN anchorwoman Abbie Boudreau stubble upon a fake scandal. O'Keefe is known to have a strong opinion that CNN has a clear bias and he must have assumed that Boudreau would jump at the chance to uncover his conservative sex scandal.

Scandal is intriguing when it comes in connection with politics. Everyone has a bias, whether it be in politics, religion or another aspect of society. These biases cause networks like Fox to present things like homosexuality in a particular way--a way that may not always be true to reality.

A recent study showed that one in five television viewers--gay or straight--are unhappy with the portrayal of homosexuals on television. Some heterosexuals commented that seeing homosexuals portrayed as they are on television makes them uncomfortable as a viewer. Some homosexual viewers commented that the way homosexuality is shown on TV is nothing like the life of most homosexual persons.

Many homosexual viewers discussed how they want to see a homosexual character who is NOT defined by his/her sexual preference.

Just like political affiliates are branded with the names of conservative or liberal and every form of media has a, while usually unintentional, bias, characters on TV who are homosexual are branded with the cast iron rod burning HOMOSEXUAL into their television skin.

Characters branded with HOMOSEXUALITY are the subjects of scandal in many TV shows and movies--this is intriguing to viewers, but would it be as intriguing if the character wasn't defined by his or her sexuality?

We can see this branding in TV shows like "Degrassi" in which gay males are known on the show as 'the gay male.' Being gay is the entire importance of their character to the plot. In the movie Bound, actress Gina Gurshon plays the role of a "butch lesbian." This leads an inexperienced audience to believe that all homosexual men are known only for being gay and that all lesbians are "butch." The homosexual viewers said this was not true to reality and seemingly biased.

What is the true cost of intrigue, especially when it leads us to see a fake reality through a biased lens?