Ugly Betty: The Gayest Show On Television
Move over Will and Grace, your title of the Gayest Show On TV has been usurped by the wittier, slicker and vastly funnier Ugly Betty. I will admit I was a bit resistant, even skeptical when I first heard about Ugly Betty. Firstly it sounded like a rip off of The Devil Wears Prada a film that (much to the chagrin of most of my friends) I hated. Secondly, I tend to steer away from "blockbusters" whether they be film or TV with a few concessions here and there of course. One day whilst whiling away the hours at my former desk job, I was watching some episodes of LOST (one of my concessions) on ABC.com and saw that they had Ugly Betty episodes available. It was already about halfway through the first season so there were plenty of episodes to watch so started at the pilot just to give it a chance. The moment I saw Vanessa Williams being injected with Botox by her assistant, I was hooked. I ended up catching up with the entire season over the next two days and I loved every minute of it. It's stylish, flamboyant and very, very gay.
Ugly Betty treats it's fashion industry subject matter with great prowess and ability and the "lavender touch" throughout the show is unmistakable from the writing to the amazing costumes. One recent show's entire plot revolved around Betty and her adorably nerdy boyfriend Henry attending a showing of Broadway's Wicked. While, the stories and settings are key elements, it's the show's characters that really give Ugly Betty its "flair."
Gay characters on TV shows are nothing new, but Ugly Betty's characters have such a vivaciousness and gusto that it's hard not to like them. One of the main characters is admittedly out of the closet, one is obvious but not stated and yet a third is a transgendered character. Mark, the aforementioned assistant is performed with much delicious aplomb by actor Michael Urie. Sure he's a stereotype, but you love him anyway for all his bitchy goodness. Justin, Betty's school aged nephew played by the uber-talented Mark Indelicato is also unabashedly gay although it's never been actually said. He loves musical theater, crafts and giving his saucy mother fashion tips reminding me so much of myself in my youth that's it's in turns endearing and terrifying. The amazingly sexy Rebecca Romjin (Mystique in the X-Men movies) plays the former Alex Meade, now turned Alexis Meade, a tranny with a knack for trouble who wants nothing more than to return to her family's good graces.
Some may complain that these characters are stereotypically over the top, but the same can be said for all the characters on the show. However this doesn't mean the writers don't attempt to humanize their characters. There have been some truly heartbreaking and exhilarating moments such as Alexis' first real foray into a bar as woman. She meets a guy for the first time that she thinks is really into her. As it turns out the guys was doing it all for a bet with his friends and calls Alexis a freak. The ballsy Wilhelmina Slater (Vanessa Williams) quickly rectifies the situation by coldcocking the guy right in the middle of the bar much to the delight of the bar patrons and the audience.
Justin has gotten his due as well. While on the subway with his mother and father on the way to see Hairspray on Broadway, the subway breaks down causing Justin to start acting out the beginning of the show for his parents and the other subway riders. After a man on the train calls him a "fairy", Justin's father (who happens to be a bit of a thug and somewhat homophobic) tells the man that Justin is telling him what happens in the show and "When he is done you are going to applaud" causing the whole train to erupt in claps and whistles.
For all his foibles, the character of Mark has had some surprisingly human moments that involved coming out to his conservative mother (it did not go well) and his recent relationship with Cliff, an overweight photographer. This last storyline is one that really struck close to my heart. It was one of the first, if not THE first time I have ever seen a gay man portrayed on TV that wasn't either stereotypical or completely body and face "perfect." It was a refreshing and realistic move for a show like Ugly Betty. Not all of us are drop dead gorgeous underwear models with perfect bodies. A lot of us are scruffy, slightly overweight and don't shop at Abercrombie, The Gap or Prada. We like to go to see Hitchcock and art house films and don't get hooked in by the latest Hollywood crapfest. I think this typifies completely why I love Ugly Betty so much. Its underlying message is one of acceptance of things that aren't perfect and don't have to be. In fact, it revels in this acceptance of imperfection, something I would like to see more of now and then in the mainstream media.
You can catch Ugly Betty on ABC, Thursday nights at 8pm EST. Episodes are also available on ABC.com soon after they air on the netwok so you can catch one if you miss it or the DVR has a heart attack. The first season of the show is also available on DVD which you can purchase through our Amazon store.
[images courtesy ABC.com]
Fruit Brute
Posted to Gaiety, Hot Stuff, TV on 8 November 2007
· Comments (9)
Other stuff like this: gay, mark indelicato, michael urie, rebecca romign, tv, ugly betty
I adore Ugly Betty, It is so smartly written (makes me fear the writers strike all the more).
I love Cliff too, he is so sassy in his own way and is not going to take crap from anybody.
Side note, I hated the group that did the singing (but I think that is just a side effect of being in love with the origional cast)
Other side note, the new sites are great and the color schemes are fantastic.
Yeah, Mark's new storyline really hit me in the last spot in my black hollow heart. This season really cemented my love for this show.
I think one of the best part of Ugly Betty is that all of the protagonists are over-the-top yet very human. All of them are victims of ambition, anger, and are survivors of harsh realities. All of them sacrificed much of their humanity to be where they are (what they think is the top) and to get what they think they deserve (whether they worked hard for it or not).
For one thing, I would do some of the things Wilhelmina did if I was in her shoes. I mean if I worked my butt off to make a company successful only to have the position I worked hard for taken by sheer nepotism (from all I've seen, it seems like Fay Sommers didn't do too much and Wilhielmina did most of the bulk of the work that led to Mode's success). Also, anyone noticed that Wilhelmina started out much like Betty?
I hope they keep the quality of the show (and give harder choices for Betty like the deal she made with Wilhie to get her dad back to US, and less whiny). Also hope the Writer's Strike don't affect it to much.
I wanted to hate this for so long cause I thought it was just another banal sitcom (and because in my elitism I'm naturally suspicious of things that get good reviews). Finally, my roommate sat me down and forced me to watch a few episodes and forced me to love it. Mark... swoon.
First off i just wanna say i love this site and its journies, but i found one of the comments a little off.
I know this isnt a research site or even a very large social awareness site or anything but i think that what needed to be included in the article was the history of the show. By equating it to the devil wear prada we are totally ignoring its Latinidad - "Betty La Fea" the original novela which this is based off. The comment by fruit brute in which he compared it to the Devil wears prada completely alienates the Latino involvement in the story line. Yes i know they do it on the show, in a campy manor (her being mexican or that some characters are gay is not a very large issue because they are in new york), but i felt the need to introduce the latino/ethnic experience of homosexuality in this article. It is interesting to see the difference of the American and Colmbian versions of Ugly Betty / Betty la fea and understand the different cultural boundries not only by the gay/straight, but the American/Colombian(Latin).
Both stories are told from different perspectives - Latino-Hispanic, American-Anglo. In Latino cultures which idolize the ideal of the macho man, homosexuality is an extreme counter-point to masculinity(more than in american culture), so to be able to see a show like this (Both shows share some similarity but are not the same) we can see both cultural views on gay men.
Well since i started rambling im just saying its important to show introduce the fact that the Latin side of homosexuality has a different view of it and that comparing it to the devil Wear prada rejects the hispanic portion in favor of an Anglo view.
If u dont understand this read up on machismo and the Latino community. then ull understand.
You do know that Ugly betty is the adaptation of a colombian soapopera "Yo soy Betty, la fea"
I haven't seen Ugly Betty yet, as it has not made it to south america so I don't know how much was changed. But Betty la fea has everything you mentioned, it was refreshing here too, to see a protagonist that was just human.
characters where the best, and eventually the plot was excellent as well. Just keep Watching it, if it is as good as betty la fea then it is worth every minute of it.
Actually what I said in the article was that my initial reaction to the show was that it "Sounded like a Devil Wears Prada rip-off" I wasn't actually saying that it was, nor did I mean to gloss over it's Latino roots. My point in writing the article was to highlight the gay friendliness of the US show. I certainly should have mentioned the show's roots but had hoped to save that for a separate article. Thanks to michael-sama for bringing up this very important point.
Best show on television.
Though the Hindi version is kind of awful.
I was hooked on Betty from episode 1. I even went as Betty for Halloween (and I must say, I was far uglier than Ugly Betty). I was so worried it would have that second season downfall and it wouldn't be as engaging as its first season, but I was very wrong. This season has topped last in every way possible and if we learned anything from watching last season, we know it's only going to get better. Oh, and did anyone else swoon and giggle like a school girl when Cliff held Mark's hand? *raises hand*
Ugly Betty is such an amazing program to watch on a Friday night! :)
It is full of giggles and sometimes tears...
The british love it!
We all think that 'Ugly Betty' is gorgeous!