Teens today don’t get how ground breaking and revolutionary THE REAL WORLD was back when it hit the airwaves in 1992. It rocked my world. It captivated everyone my age. It spoke to teens in a way that television never had before. It represented American youth, good bad and the ugly in a way that seemed respectful and almost educational.
I sat there in awe of the social experiment before me and I fell in love with seven strangers because they were REAL!
For the last decade, the show has become a heinous train wreck full of despicable human beings and STDs. If The Real World of my youth taught me tolerance and diversity, The Real World of today is teaching people how to be whores, rageaholics and walking breast implants.
Before you jump down my throat, I have watched the Brooklyn cast and for the first time in a long time, the show seems like the show I fell in love with 17 years ago. Sure I wanna punch some of them in the face and tell them to grow the fuck up but overall, this season has been about tolerance and diversity. I like that. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that they featured the AIDS Ride (and The Center) I participate in heavily.
So… out of nowhere this MTV flick pops up called PEDRO: THE MOVIE and I’m sitting here shaking my head. WTF?!
Why make a fictionalized account of something we all witnessed on television and in the closest thing to reality we could? MTV surely has thousands of hours of footage from the San Francisco season so I don’t understand what the purpose of this film is.
Why hire 3rd rate actors (sorry kids) to sleep and/or ham their way through scenes we all know, love and can probably recite word for word when you have THE ACTUAL FUCKING FOOTAGE?
The target demo for MTV today is not people that remember Pedro or what he did for the face of AIDS in America. I don’t want to rehash it all but he really did give a face to a disease people thought always happened to “them.” It hit home for a lot of parents and he made an impact on America. He was a gay man living with AIDS who was well spoken, incredibly smart, handsome and genuinely beautiful as a person. It was good for people to see this and for President Clinton to embrace him. It helped lessen the stigma.
So what I don’t understand is why they’re making this movie and not just airing a documentary to honor him with real footage of the real man that is Pedro Zamora?
It’s really working my nerve. This bugs the shit out of me. It seems like exploitation at its finest but for what reason? I don’t get it.
I had just come out to my family right before the San Francisco season aired and it was huge for me to see an openly gay and normal guy representing my life in some way, shape or form. I grew to admire what he was doing, his mission and his importance. I watched as he and Sean committed themselves to each other. I watched as he got sick and was hospitalized. I watched his funeral for heavens sake and cried my eyes out. It was real and it was important to me. That’s why I’m pissed.
Whatever…
Have I seen the film? No. I’m passing judgment because well, the previews and the clips I’ve seen are horrifyingly bad. I know that Dustin Lance Black wrote the screenplay but that means nothing. There shouldn’t be a screenplay. He lived his life in front of the camera for a reason, to teach people about AIDS and tolerance. This only cheapens his mission in my eyes. That’s my right and my opinion.
Here’s the only thing I’ll promote that’s accompanying this film. Here’s a clip of President Clinton talking about Pedro and the impact his life had on all of us. It’s tasteful which is more than I can say for what MTV’s concocted… allegedly!
If you want to see what the real Pedro was all about, check this video out. Someone has placed the 1994 tribute MTV did about Pedro on youtube. It’s a duped VHS recording and that makes it all the more kick ass.
Part 1:
The rest of the Pedro tribute videos after the jump… (more…)
The 20th Annual GLAAD Media Awards Nominees were announced today and there are some interesting noms this year. I’m psyched to see Torchwood, Greek, Skins, the Buffy comics, Rachel Maddow and Supernatural’s “Ghostfacers” on the list!
Here are the nominees for the 20th Annual GLAAD Media Awards:
OUTSTANDING FILM – WIDE RELEASE
Brideshead Revisited (Miramax Films)
Milk (Focus Features)
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (Columbia Pictures)
RocknRolla (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (The Weinstein Company)
OUTSTANDING FILM – LIMITED RELEASE
The Edge of Heaven (Strand Releasing)
Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom (New Open Door Productions)
Save Me (First Run Features)
Shelter (Regent Releasing)
XXY (Film Movement)
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
The L Word (Showtime)
South of Nowhere (The N)
Torchwood (BBC America)
True Blood (HBO)
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
Desperate Housewives (ABC)
Greek (ABC Family)
Reaper (The CW)
Skins (BBC America)
Ugly Betty (ABC)
OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL EPISODE (in a series without a regular LGBT character)
“Ghostfacers” Supernatural (The CW)
“My Maharishi is Bigger than Your Maharishi” Life on Mars (ABC)
“Slam” Ghost Whisperer (CBS)
“Tandem Repeats” ER (NBC)
“Unidentified Funk” The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS)
OUTSTANDING TELEVISION MOVIE
Affinity (Logo)
East Side Story (Logo)
Ice Blues: A Donald Strachey Mystery (here!)
Oh Happy Day (Logo)
On the Other Hand, Death: A Donald Strachey Mystery (here!)
OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY
Chris & Don: A Love Story (Zeitgeist Films)
Freeheld (Cinemax)
A Jihad for Love (First Run Features)
Saving Marriage (Regent Releasing)
Sex Change Hospital (WE tv)
OUTSTANDING REALITY PROGRAM
America’s Next Top Model (The CW)
I Want to Work for Diddy (VH1)
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (Bravo)
Shirts & Skins (Logo)
TransAmerican Love Story (Logo)
OUTSTANDING DAILY DRAMA
All My Children (ABC)
As the World Turns (CBS)
OUTSTANDING TALK SHOW EPISODE
“Don’t Ruin My Gay Wedding” The Tyra Banks Show (syndicated)
“Ellen & Portia’s Wedding Day” The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated)
“Gays in the Ghetto” The Tyra Banks Show (syndicated)
“The Pregnant Man” The Oprah Winfrey Show (syndicated)
“Transgender Triumphs” The Tyra Banks Show (syndicated)
TV Talk Podcast with GMMR and Ducky is back and sadly, the listener question podcast will have to wait another week because we decided to have a TV Bloggers Party instead!
Instead of doing our normal podcast we decided to have a late night girl talk about the shows that got us interested in television as kids, our first TV crushes and anything that popped into our sick little minds.
Hopefully you find us entertaining instead of annoying. Play along at home and share your favorite childhood TV moments in the comments section below!
Like many of you Keith Olbermann is an awesome kind of dude that helped get you through the long ass election process. He and Rachel Maddow are pretty much gods in my opinion and this video only helps confirm it.
Here Olbermann gives one of the most passionate and articulate commentary on the sad state of America given that California was able to pass Proposition 8 which bans gay marriage in California.
I hate this show but damn, they’re making it harder for me to ignore Dancing With The Stars. Not only has openly gay singer celebrity person Lance Bass been cast, his partner is none other than So You Think You Can Dance Season 3 Alum Lacey Schwimmer!
As much as I love my girl Lacey, I can’t watch… I won’t. I’m glad she got a professional gig on TV but I cannot watch this subpar dancing show. ’nuff said.
To find out who the rest of the new DwtS cast is, click here.
Hey kids, I’m going out of town for the weekend and wanted to leave you all with something to read in my absence (if you can pull yourself away from Olympic madness).
If you’ve been following my coming out series over at AfterElton.com then you know my childhood was a rainbow of fruit flavors and most of those flavors are quite embarassing!
This week I look back on the girls I dated that had one thing in common… each had hot brothers that came with the package.
In this week’s installment of my AfterElton.com series I look back on how swim trunks, shaved hunks and gay boys showering ruined my chances at becoming the next Michael Phelps.
That’s right, it’s an Olympics inspired tale about the fear and loathing that came with trying out for the swim team.
We threatened to never do another TV Talk Podcast if you didn’t flock to iTunes and leave us comments… well I’m happy to report that you love us as much as we love you! Thanks to your generosity, we are back and this week’s podcast is a lot of fun!
We revise our thoughts on Swingtown now that we’re both completely caught up (and loving it), we talk about my chat with Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) and her stint on Burn Notice plus some scoop on her new Fox pilot Inseparable.
Next we tackle one of the most talked about Fall pilots, J.J. Abrams FRINGE! Kath and I will review the plot, the mystery and the hotness that is Josh Jackson but don’t worry we don’t spoil anything for you! We’re good like that!
Then it’s time for some listener emails because you guys are cramazing!
Who wants to talk Comic-Con? No? Tough because we run down the shows that will be in San Diego and vent our frustrations over the scheduling. If you’re going to be in town for Comic-Con and you’re a reader or listener, let us know… we’d love to see you!
Before wrapping up this week we have a little fun with our TV version of F, Marry, Kill! That’s right, we each pick one we’d boink, one we’d marry and one we’d go Dexter Morgan on. join in the fun and leave us some comments about who you’d F, Marry and Kill based on our choices. We’ll read some of them on the air in our next podcast.
It’s Thursday which means that its time for another one of my AfterElton.com blogs. This week you can learn all about my embarrassing childhood dance routine and the humiliation of being the one “on top”!
I’ll miss tonight’s So You Think You Can Dance which pains me but I’ll survive… Gael Garcia Bernal may not though because I’ll be stalking his fine Y Tu Mama ass the whole time.
The newest installment of my new AfterElton.com blog series is up and this week I examine how Olivia Newton-John, roller skating and neon lights made me the gay man I am today.
Yesterday, AfterElton.com starting running a new series of blogs I pitched called HOW’D I MISS MY COMING OUT?
The first installment is about my semi-embarassing love affair with a certain popstar of the 80’s. Check it out and comment on AfterElton so they keep this thing running.
We said we’d be back with another TV Talk Podcast in a week but it took almost a week and a half, I think you survived just fine. GMMR was at the Upfront presentations so there’s plenty to talk about including her celebrity sightings, stalkings, and dancing partners. We’ll even talk about Joss Whedon’s DOLLHOUSE and J.J. Abrams FRINGE starring GMMR’s mega crush Josh Jackson. So You Think You Can Dance might get a couple minutes or five along with her time with The Office and Tina Fey!
Back to your regularly scheduled podcast, we head right into GOSSIP GIRL, AMERICAN IDOL, THE OFFICE, GREY’S, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and more. Plus, it’s the return of TWO IDIOTS TALK LOST (*we talk about the finale being this week but listener Michael pointed out that it’s not until May 29th – phew!) where we rehash the first hour of the three hour Season 4 finale, once again proving that even idiots can enjoy Lost. And as a bonus feature, we have a special guest to help us talk about the Season 3 finale of The CW’s SUPERNATURAL.
Sit back and relax because this Podcast almost hits 90 minutes. You read that right, 90 minutes of babbling, giggling, bitching, and TV Talk!
Have a question for Ducky and GMMR? There are a couple ways to contact us:
Free Voice Mail (Comments/Questions):
This is Dan and Kathie’s favorite method of contact because it allows us to hear from you and we use these messages live on our podcast to answer your burning television questions. It’s FREE and you don’t have to do anything but click RECORD BY PHONE on the box below and it will walk you through how to contact us!
It’s super easy and free to leave us a message:
Step 1: Click on “Record by Phone”
Step 2: Dial the number shown and enter the four digit code when prompted
Step 3: Leave a message
Step 4: Listen to our next podcast to see if we answered your question
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