The essay Producing Cosmopolitan Sexual Citizens on the "L" word is a case study that explores what lesbians do when appearing in media. Burns and Davies examine the popular Showtime television series The "L" Word based on the Cosmopolitan life styles of the lesbians represented on the show. The essay is less about representation and more about what lesbians do on screen do along with questions of production and consumption. This essay addresses they ways in which the lesbians portrayed on this show are associated with a lifestyle that limits what they can or cannot do on screen. Burns and Davies seek to illustrate how the "neo-liberal" lives that the characters lead on the show are not very realistic and that they further present an image of lesbian women that does not allow for political or social discussions to take place. The majority of the characters in the L Word are wealthy and beautiful living pretty extravagant lives . The contention of this article is that this show is more about the portrayal of these women as a part of a consumer market and not to accurately portray the lifestyle, politics and social concerns of this demographic. .
This essay points out the fact the way that the main characters of The L Word are viewed as cosmopolitan middle class to upper middle class lesbians does not allow for diversity in representation.
In an effort to understand the perspective presented in this article; I watched the first three seasons of a new Lesbian themed,award-winning online web series Venice.. Venice was created by an actor who portrayed one half of a lesbian super-couple on the US soap opera, Guiding Light. When the soap opera was cancelled in 2009, the fans of the on-screen lesbian couple wanted to see more of the couple. The two actors portraying the lesbian couples are both featured in Venice. I watched this series critically to determine if the ideas suggested in the article were evident in this series. As noted in this article the cast of Venice is also comprised of middle to upper-middle class lesbians who seem to be operating in a very homonormative setting. The central character Gina is a high level interior designer and her ex-lover Ana is a photographer. In the scene below, Gina's new love interest is a lawyer who is helping on a project to design a hotel in London. The interaction in this scene positions both Gina and her lover as clearly cosmopolitan lesbians who consider themselves to be the target demographic for the hotel they are designing.
This series takes place in Venice Beach California and most scenes are either shot on the beach or in beautiful homes or apartments. There are two actors of color in the series and one plays Gina's assistant and the other plays the waiter at the bar where everyone seems to frequent. Although both actors have slight story lines they are both clearly not in the same income bracket or of the same social status of all of the other actors portrayed in the series. The male African American character is gay and the female character of color is apparently straight and apparently has not had a date, since her last boyfriend as she put it tried to kill her. The African American assistant Michelle seems to spend 80% of her on screen time supporting her boss' life. Similar to what is discussed in the L Word case study, the actors of color are placed in the show to add depth to the white characters. In the scene below the two African American actors' interaction, dress and dialogue clearly convey a more "urban" flair.
All of the love scenes or lesbian interactions take place between the middle and upper-middle class featured actors in the show. As in the article, the lesbians portrayed in this series do not address any issues other than issues relevant to relationships, career and sex. The show additionally seems to be focused on cosmopolitan lifestyles and consumerism. What is interesting however about this show is that since it is a web series, the show receives and responds to feedback provided on line via the show's blog, twitter and email. As this show is in its third season with a steadily growing fan base, it is quite possible that since there are so few depictions of lesbians on television, fans have decided to watch the show purely for entertainment. Since the L Word and Venice seem to have been very popular with lesbian audiences even though there is little or no depth to the characters or the lesbian interactions; the reality may be that this cosmopolitan portrayal of lesbian images without a political voice is precisely why so many tune in. Maybe, the fans are watching this show just because they enjoy seeing lesbian relationships represented even if the representations aren't entirely realistic. It could be that just like heterosexual audiences, lesbians and homosexual audiences watch fictional TV to escape the reality of their lives.
The article In the Wake of It Gets Better written by journalist and blogger, Jasbir Puar is a critique of the popular viral marketing campaign aimed at addressing the increase in gay teen suicides. The campaign features various spokespeople sharing post-high school stories of how each of them--"made it out" of high school and went on to live productive happy and often gay lives. The issue that the author has with the portrayal of gay men in the video campaign has to do with the campaign's rather simple response to a complex issue suicide among gay teens. The cosmopolitan way in which the creator of the campaign and his partner present themselves along lack of diversity in the overall campaign are also problematic for Puar. She believes that the two gay men in the video represent just one aspect of the gay experience and that their cosmopolitan lives are not realistic portrayals of typical gay couples. Although I agree with some of the writer's points, I do beleive that there is some value in this campaign in that it seems to be reaching its target market.
I went on to watch several of the spots on You Tube and I found a diversity of stories and representation in the videos. Additionally, there were non-gay spokespeople addressing the overall issue of bullying and teen suicide. Based on some of the comments posted on these videos, I do believe that the target market is receptive to some of this messaging. However, Puar makes a very valid point in stating that the founder and his partner are not good representatives of the typical gay experience, they are more of a representation of a white monied, traveled and privileged couple that do not provide realistic solutions to this complex issue. Unlike the the cosmopolitan and unrealistic portrayals of the Lesbian image in shows like The L Word and Venice, these videos are not supposed to be entertaining, they are supposed to be a part of a solution regarding teen suicide. Therefore, it is important that these messages are not packaged into nice little sound byte "fairy tale" stories that all end in a simple phrase--"It gets better."--because sometimes and for some teens it does not get better and the harsh reality of that truth should be addressed by providing young people with strategies for survival and not a nice story with an unrealistic perpetual happy ending.
