Oh, let's get controversial here for a minute. One of greatest hot button topics when trying to provoke a literary or philsophical discussion is sex. And why not? We all like to read about sex. Sex sells. Sex is great - its naughty and nice at the same time. And it's a surefire way to get people to pay attention.
But these days, it seems like sexuality is being thrown in there extraneously. It's gotten to the point where people are equating one's sexual identity to be their identity. I got started on this by reading this article, although it's a topic I've been thinking about for sometime. There are many real life examples of this (the flamboyant male homosexual) and non-real life (any movie where there are two guys = gay).
I'm getting tired of seeing characters defined by their sexual identity. If you ever read any behind-the-scenes on Watchmen, you'd know that Alan Moore gives everyone has some sort of weird sex thing. Comedian's a rapist. Silk Specter I is a rape victim, then gets some sort of Stockholm thing and has a kid with said rapist. Nite Owl can't get it up unless he's doing superhero stuff. Sally is supposed to be like a concubine to Dr. Manhattan, who is drifting further and further away from humanity (and thus, sex). Rorschach is the child of a whore, so who knows what's going on his mind.
There's even things that aren't overt. Some gothy looking chick who's in the "pre-Watchmen" is a lesbian and is later murdered for it. Ozymandias, the main villain, is supposed to be gay. Hooded Justice is supposed to be gay. Captain Metropolis is supposed to be gay (and Hooded Justice's lover). All this has nothing to do with the story, its just supplementary tidbits. But it totally changes the characters if you have this in mind. It turns the Watchmen into some home for sexual deviants. Alan Moore says he mentioned these things because he thinks part of identity includes sexual identity. That's true, but it's never at the forefront like this. Not saying characters can't be gay. But don't make it the character.
It's like the XKCD cartoon. First panel shows a guy screwing up a math problem on the chalkboard, and his buddy says "Wow, you suck at math". Next panel shows the exact same thing, only the person screwing it up is a girl. The buddy's response is "Wow, girls suck at math." We're never going to get equal rights for genders/sexual preferences, unless we stop putting everyone's sexuality out on the forefront. Because its obnoxious.
Sure, I have a sexual identity. Sure, it influences my decisions. But it's in the background. It doesn't rule my life. Not everything I do is based on sex. And no one knows my sexual preferences. They don't need to know. And we all get along fine. Imagine those gay guys who every other word involves some kind of innuendo. It's mostly on TV, I know/hope that most homosexuals aren't like that. But some are - that's why they have gay pride parades. It's not for civil rights. Marches for civil rights have been done, so I'd know if it was for civil rights. It's to show off.
I don't shove it to the forefront where everything I say and do is based on getting laid. Why? Because its rude, and it's not me. It's no one. And there are too many people trying to shove it in where it doesn't belong - both authors and critics. Let's not try to create lives that revolve around sex. Let's keep it in the bedroom, because privacy is a good thing. We need more privacy. Because lack of privacy affects both you and me, I say as I write my private thoughts on my public blog.Labels: sex