In the midst of his May 10 Media Research Center Culture & Media Institute column complaining that Hollywood “has long used its influence to purposely swing public opinion in favor of homosexuality,” Paul Wilson writes: “In 1973, ‘An American Family’ was the first television show to feature an openly gay character (Lance Loud) ‘as an integral member of family life.'”
Loud was not a “character”; he was a real person who came out as gay during what’s considered the first reality TV show, 1973’s “An American Family.”
Aside from confusing real people with fictional characters, Wilson seems quite put out that Lance Loud was treated as “an integral member of family life.” Can’t have that, can we?
That comports with the overall theme of Wilson’s piece (not to mention the MRC’s overall anti-gay agenda), in which any depictions of gays that are not outright hostile are “pro-homosexual,” even if they commit the offense of treating gays like normal people. Wilson can’t that either, apparently.
Wilson also complains that the 1970s show “Soap,” in which Billy Crystal played a gay character, was kept on the air “despite the fact that the show consistently lost money.” Wilson falls into the trap others at the MRC have fallen into, buying into the fallacious assumption that profitability equals quality.