Diversity in TV

That's something that's been at the back of my mind since I got a TV and a subscription to Netflix, brought to the fore by this post at Towleroad: they've been running a series on "gay icons," highlighting all the usual suspects, but this one's a little different: Shonda Rhimes, whose visibility is not anywhere near the level of a Madonna or Lady Gaga, but whose influence is probably greater:

But what about an ally that’s leaving her mark on pop culture behind the scenes?

Enter Shonda Rhimes, a TV master so powerful that ABC handed her an entire night of their primetime schedule. Her shows have become some of the most talked about series of the last decade, blending steamy sex scenes, ripped-from-the-headlines commentary and so much soapy melodrama. But through it all, she’s also been committed to diversifying the kinds of stories we see on television. Her casting process for breakout hit Grey’s Anatomy made headlines for the “colorblind” role descriptions that yielded one of the most richly diverse ensembles on television.

Part of that inclusive approach includes telling stories of LGBT characters.

Eureka Cast

Their emphasis, of course, is on increasing visibility of gay and lesbian characters on hit TV series. What I've been noticing, watching older series (or the older seasons of current series -- I'm a binge-watcher who hates having to wait a week for the next installment) is that the overwhelming majority of series I've been watching are much more diverse than what I remember from the past: women in major roles, including leads, who are not window-dressing, but strong, independent characters in their own right (Audrey Parker (played by Emily Rose) in Haven, Rosalie Calvert (Bree Turner) in Grimm, just to name the two that come immediately to mind); and a marked racial diversity, including mixed couples, on just about every series that I've been watching (which include Haven, Grimm, Firefly, Arrow, and Eureka -- and which reminds me, I have to catch up on The Flash).

Nathan Wuornos' Dream

I have to say, though, that most of them do not include gay characters, with the exception of Torchwood, but then again, these are all older episodes, and limited pretty much to what's available on Netflix. I have noticed a tendency, however, for a lot of male skin -- major male characters in Haven and Firefly have nude or nearly-nude scenes, and both Oliver Queen (Steven Amell) and Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) spend a lot of time shirtless in Arrow. Another thought: there is some very interesting chemistry between Nathan Wuornos (Lucas Bryant) and Duke Crocker (Eric Balfour) in Haven.

What I do find interesting is that both DC and Marvel have incorporated gay characters into their comics (Marvel with rather more success than DC), but neither has made the jump to incorporating them into their films or TV series.

Eventually. Can we hope for a Young Avengers or Teen Titans movie?