It was my group’s responsibility to create a presentation that relates the TV show “Will and Grace” to the class theme of radical romance, and to use that presentation to engage the class in a scholarly discussion. My group members and I met on four separate occasions outside of class to talk about the show and how we could energize the topic. I think the work was evenly divided, and all of us managed to contribute something important and relevant to the discussion. It was my job, and I use that term loosely because we all chose topics that we were most interested in, to talk about the relationship between the characters Jack McFarland and Karen Walker. I spent hours watching the show, building an argument. The first thing to capture my attention was the extremely physical relationship the two characters had, even though Jack’s character is gay. Building off of that, I wondered why the show needed to create a sexual energy between the two, so I decided to talk about the heterosexual biases of the writers and the necessity for heteronormative themes to keep the attention of a largely heterosexual audience. I also tied my topic into Alex’s, whose was the similarly heteronormative relationship between Will and Grace. Our group went on to explore the representation of homosexuality in the media, how the series might pertain to “The History of Sexuality,” as well as other outside texts, and the way the show was perceived by a general population and their views on the issue of homosexuality. Again, I feel that the entire group pulled its own weight and came together to produce a quality and active presentation.
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