Even before LOGO’s A-List: New York premiered in October, some of you made very clear you didn’t want a show like this on television. But then it aired, and some of your minds changed; many of them didn’t. But even before going into production, A-List’s producers knew there’d be plenty of push back from The Gays. And they had no intention of showing the best side of gay men, anyhow.
A few weeks into the show’s debut, cast member Reichen Lehmkuhl relayed, “If you think we’re a bad representation of the gay community, it’s like, every gay person knows … we all know the way these seven guys, including myself, act on the show are an accurate representation of the way a lot of gay people act.” It sounds just like what producers are saying now.
Dominick Pupa (pictured center, between Derek and Reichen), the show’s executive director and a producer behind hit-or-miss reality shows like The Real Housewives of New York City and The Cougar, tells Edge he “knew people would hate it without watching it. … People would have wanted to see the ideal, but that’s not necessarily an accurate portrayal of gay people. I felt a responsibility to show real gay people – and not the ideal. What people consider the ideal of any community (be it gay or straight) is one-half of one percent of the population. But the show is not about the gay community – it’s about six gay guys that live in New York.”
And that’s fair! Reality shows about gay people — especially those on a gay network — don’t have some inherent responsibility to show us in a positive light. Some of us are douchebags, narcissists, and unkind to others. You might not want to be friends with these sorts IRL, but on television? They’re fantastic characters.
As for your complaints about A-List’s cast leading pretty un-A-list lives: “These guys do lead an A-List lifestyle,” insists Pupa, “but in the confines of New York City…we all live an A-List lifestyle, but to someone else in another city this would be extreme living.”
And to someone else in another city, extreme living now has zero appeal.
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What the world – and especially America needs is real gays, the people who love and interact with them – and NOT from NY or LA or SF! The world is full of people more interesting than superficial, promiscuous individuals as “portrayed” on this show or shows like the “housewives” debacles!
Film that – and you’ll have a hit – like Real World started out, when Reality TV was Real!
Didn’t this happen when “Queer Eye” aired? Everyone got in a tizzy because heaven forbid that gay men that can decorate be representatives for the gay community. This post is very true in that any reality tv show that shows any group of persons is hardly representative of any community. It’s all fodder, entertainment. If you don’t like it, don’t watch it. Just do your thing and don’t worry. Great write up.