2006 61 min 1-932869-08-5 This film has subtitles English

Further Off the Straight & Narrow

New Gay Visibility on Television, 1998-2006

or

Synopsis

This important documentary picks up where Off the Straight & Narrow: Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals & Television (1998) left off. Since that video's release in the late 90s, which coincided with the last episode of the popular program Ellen, there has been a marked increase in the presence of GLBT characters on television.

Against the backdrop of political and social issues affecting the GLBT community, such as gay marriage and AIDS, Further Off the Straight & Narrow takes a close look at sitcoms, reality shows, and premium cable programming as it explores how representations of GLBT characters have become more complex and varied in recent years.

The film acknowledges the expansion of GLBT representation on television and the resulting possibilities for inclusion and recognition opened up for today's gay youth. However, the program also raises questions about how this queer presence on television is shaped by the imperatives of the commercial media system.

Further Off the Straight & Narrow argues that the evolution in GLBT representation, like many transformations in a commercially-driven media system, may be best explained less by a sudden commitment to social justice on the part of big media than by advertisers' recognition of the potential of directly targeting GLBT consumers with programming specifically designed to attract their attention.

Featuring interviews with Howard Buford (Founder & CEO, Prime Access, Inc.), Joshua Gamson (University of San Francisco and author, Freaks Talk Back), Larry Gross (Director of Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern CA), Lisa Henderson (Professor of Communication, University of Massachusetts-Amherst), Katherine Sender (University of Pennsylvania), and Suzanna Walters (Indiana University).

Introduction | Going Mainstream: Network Narratives | Mighty Real: Gays and Lesbians in Non-Fiction TV | A Piece of the Pie: Segmenting Audiences | glbT: New Transgender Visibility | Here & Queer: Gay Television in Context

(Viewer Discretion Advised: Contains Sexual Imagery)

Release Date:2006
Duration:61 min
ISBN:1-932869-08-5
Subtitles:English

Trailers

Watch the trailer

Filmmaker Credits

Director, Producer, Editor
Executive Producer
Editing Assistants
Paul Falzone
Editing Assistants
Christopher Finlay
Editing Assistants
Lindsay Grow
Editing Assistants
Nicole Rodgers
Editing Assistants
Nick Walsh
Narrator
Renai Ellison
Audio Editor
Zeke Fiddler
Audio Producer
Rodney Whittenberg
Audio Producer
MelodyVision
Camera
Melvin Epps
Camera
Third Eye Productions
Commercials Courtesy Of
Mike Wilke
Commercials Courtesy Of
CommercialCloset.org
Titles
Mike Enright

Film Festivals

2008 Hungary LGBT Film Festival

Resources: Downloads and Related Links

Praise

"Further Off the Straight & Narrow makes an invaluable contribution to queer media studies, and is a superb documentary companion to Epstein and Friedman's ground-breaking The Celluloid Closet."
Montreal International LGBT Film Festival
"...does an entertaining job of calculating the impact of gay images on television since Will & Grace made its debut."
Seattle Times
"...Well-paced, and full of apt examples..."
Anthropology Review Database
"Recommended"
Educational Media Reviews Online
"...presents an academic and fascinating examination of the subject..."
PopMatters
"A nuanced assessment of the portrayal of sexual minorities on television. Further off the Straight and Narrow is an essential part of my courses."
Jack Banks
Associate Professor of Communication
University of Hartford
"...Does a superb job of presenting and supporting the issues surrounding the GLBT community in mainstream television..."
Counterpoise