The Closet

Tonight, I went to hear Michael Wilke talk about the Commercial Closet at ADC (formally the Art Director's Club). Sponsored by IBM, the event did an excellent job taking a comprehensive look at representations and stereotypes without falling into the oh-so-familiar trap of hashing-to-death the concept of 'marketing to the LGBT audience'. I have to admit that it was fascinating to think about each of the commercials in its historical context (given the fact that I was a Sexuality and Society major for two semesters in college) - but it was also pretty disheartening to learn how many of the commercials depicting gays in a positive light ran ... oh ... once (after 9:30 PM mind you) before being 'discontinued' while ads encouraging people to laugh at homosexuals were shown over and over and over again to the giddy delight of straight folks everywhere.

There were two ads that actually shocked me - and it takes a lot to shock me these days. The first was a Saturn ad which used music from Deliverance to scare four men out of camping in the woods by referencing male rape. The second was an ad for TJ Maxx which ends with a flamboyant gay man pounding out three notes on his piano. Sounds harmless enough ... except when you know that the three notes he plays are F-A-G. I wonder sometimes what the fuck people are thinking when they create things like this.

In other news: Choire has proven himself to be an excellent advice-giver.