We Both Had the Veal Piccata and She's Gay!

As a society, we tend to subconsciously judge the people around us whether unintentional or not. This is evident in the realm of homosexuality and one of the best examples is in a fictional world which most of us indulge: TV. Although the younger and more open-minded generations have for the most part accepted the idea of homosexuality, it is not always portrayed kindly on TV (if depicted at all). The show that I picked is Two And A Half Men, a very funny comedy about two brothers (Alan, an about-to-be divorcee with a child and Charlie a lifelong bachelor/womanizer) living together in a beachside Malibu apartment. The pilot episode does in fact face homosexuality and a bunch of the subsequent complications but in a very different and messy way. As Alan's marriage crumbles, he deperately tries to change to please his wife, who in turn tells him that she believes that she is gay. After twelve years of marriage, Alan is obviously shocked at his soon-to-be ex-wife's conclusion (similar to the Jim McGreevey scandal). He cannot believe that he didn't notice anything during any of the time that they were together. He is also completely embarrassed, had he turned her gay? Was this his fault? This episode broke that homosexuality barrier, one of the most controversial topics on television, on the very first episode and although this didn't evolve into much of a storyline, it did make for some good laughs and even more self-evaluating. In Charlie's words, "Judith's turning gay," showed many heterosexual privileges that Judith no longer would have. As evident in Alan's reaction, she would no longer be able to expose her sexuality without fear of judgement or negative consequences. This would also have an affect on her son, a ten-year-old who has already having a tough time with his parents separation. Although this show is a comedy and lives up to that genre every week, it did tackle the issue of homosexuality and did so in a funny but meaningful way.