Channing Tatum Gay Baiting?
Whether you prefer to call it gay baiting or queer baiting it’s all basically the same thing. It’s when they take two straight guys and put them in homoerotic situations, but never actually follow through with anything gay. The most interesting part about this, for me anyway, is that it actually does boost attention and interest. And when it happens on TV it usually boosts ratings for TV shows that would otherwise tank hugely.
In this link about Channing Tatum and Bear Grylls working together on Grylls’ TV show, Running Wild with Bear Grylls, they make some interesting comments about previous shows.
Bear Grylls is bound to have the highest ratings in primetime if he keeps this up.
The 40-year-old adventure show host made love to America’s television sets two weeks ago when he convinced Zac Efron to remove his shirt before strapping their half-naked bodies together. The pair rappelled down a jagged cliff into a body of water for some of the most homoerotic Sean Cody-esque programming we’ve ever seen.
Sean Cody produces adult all male entertainment films. You can find out more about that with a simple search.
Is this kind of entertainment exploitation? I’m not sure yet because I haven’t seen the show (I will). I know a lot of you are probably thinking I’m talking about something harmless now. Or, I’m being too sensitive. But I also know we’re not supposed to race bait, and I agree with that. And if I were a straight actor nowadays I’d watch out for this kind of trap. It just might stick with you. Oh, it’s funny and amusing to see “that gay shit” and some will be entertained and others will be quietly turned on. But at what expense down the line?
Adam Joseph Gay Weatherman
When I spotted this story on social media this week I wasn’t going to post about it because I thought it was too localized to the Philadelphia region where I live. But now that I can link to it on a global level I think many will find it interesting. I also think the back story about Adam Joseph as a gay man is mentionable.
First, the Philadelphia local news market is a very family orientated business in the sense that most of us who’ve lived here and grown up here for most of our lives think of local news personalities as friends…or at least comfort zones. You don’t normally see local news personalities coming and going around here. When they get a job at a TV station they usually stick with it for life.
And openly gay weatherman, Adam Joseph, is one of them. He’s been doing the local weather report for an ABC affiliate station for as long as I can recall. Before him, I could tell you who did the weather, too. They really do stick with these jobs for life. In any event, Joseph recently came out in public, with a story about his husband and his newborn baby. For those of us who live in the Philadelphia area and who are gay, this wasn’t a huge surprise. The baby was, but not the gay part.
Adam Joseph, the hunky meteorologist at 6ABC in Philadelphia, has grown his fan base by tenfold this week after coming out as a partnered gay man and beaming new father in one adorable Facebook post.
In a way, I find this a little bittersweet, especially since so much is changing. We all knew it but wouldn’t say it aloud. I even feel guilty mentioning the earlier forum links and I know intellectually I shouldn’t feel that way. But when you’re raised to believe gay and shame are synonymous it’s a difficult habit to break…even for me.
