When art does justice to reality

It is often rare in the society that we live in where you watch a series on television or on your mobile that gives you a glimpse of the realities of the community that you belong in. This was the experience I received when I watched the superb Ryan Murphy produced Hollywood.

The series revolves around the narrative of young actors and actresses as they aim to make it in Tinseltown whilst producing and starring in a movie that might change the way that representation is done in Hollywood.

Ryan Murphy

The story is a very great storyline but the one aspect of the series that got my attention was the representation of gay men that was done in the series. It is a known fact that Ryan Murphy is never one to shy away from representation in his work. The series did justice to portray the harsh realities that we as gay men face in a world where you are told that it is an abomination to love another man and deny us of the right to walk in public, holding hands with the person that you love.

Jim Parsons as Henry Wilson

This is why, as portrayed in Hollywood, that a lot of gay men lurk in shadows and keep their sexual lives as matters that are dealt with behind closed doors. It is quite sad that in today's society that is to a certain extent accepting of the LGBTIQ community that there are still such realities. We must also not be naive to the fact that there is a difference between acceptance and tolerance. 

There was also another harsh reality that was portrayed in the series and that is the abuse of power by older, more powerful gay men over young and often sexually confused young males. I have been in certain environments where this would be the norm and would be seen as being 'cool' amongst the older gay men. This is depicted in the series in the character of Henry Wilson who is a notorious agent in the series. 

This is behaviour that does not quite shed a positive light amongst the gay community as I have heard men state that they would approach gay men to gain financially. This is a misconception that I have always fought against. The series communicates the message that this type of behaviour on the part of the older, gay men is from a place of loneliness and desperation. This is not truly the case as there are some gay men that I know to be happily single.

The story of the representation of the gay community is one that will be constantly developing. The important fact that cannot be overlooked is that we got a foot in the door when it comes to being represented. The first issue that was encountered was the issue of the stereotype that all gay men are flamboyant which is not always the case. We are lucky enough that there are shows such as "Noah's Arc" that show the variety of the gay man. I hope local television and movie producers would bring more shows that would show all the aspects of the gay man.