Zak's Opinion: "Lost" is Lazy

Having finally watched last week's episode of "Lost", only one word comes to my mind about the outing of Mr. Friendly: lazy.

Lazy, because "Lost" had three full seasons to introduce an LGBT character, and they decided to do so only now. Then again, maybe I shouldn't be surprised: remember when "Lost" was lauded for its diverse cast? Before the Skajaju love decahedron relegated Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim, and Naveen Andrews to almost guest-star status? Yeah, I miss them yonder days too.

Lazy, because between the Losties, the Others, the Tailies, and now the Boaties, the writers and showrunners have had chance after chance to write in a faceted LGBT character. Instead they decided to go with a character who has (maybe) a D-level presence on the show.

Lazy, because even that D-level character is presumably dead. Way to represent, "Lost".

Lazy, because in the nanosecond between that character's outing and his exit stage left, his sexuality was summed up in two words: 'boytoy' and 'indulge'. I don't know; maybe "Lost" is set in the 1950s.

Lazy, because now Tom Friendly is likely to be remembered (if at all) as 'that gay character', instead of the onetime tough guy who seemed to lead the Others. Remember "The Hunting Party", "Three Minutes", or even "Maternity Leave"? Way back in seasons one and two?

Don't get me wrong; I don't need every gay character onscreen to be the next Kevin Walker or David Fisher. But when a character's homosexuality is played as a scrap, as the proverbial bone, it becomes less like inclusiveness and more like an insult.

Plenty of shows have gone without LGBT representation - "Prison Break" and "Friday Night Lights" are just two that come to mind - but I trust that when they do decide to earn their rainbow stripes, the storylines will be complex, or at least nuanced. Certainly I don't expect throwaway scenes played for 'gotcha' value.

Which is what Tom Friendly's outing felt like to me. And that's what irks me, even more so than the laziness. Maybe it's the ultimate validation in televisual LGBT representation, the casual tossing off of a character's homosexuality. But to me it felt like it was a 'gotcha' moment, and you can't get much lazier than that as far as characterization goes.

So yes, 'lazy' is the word that comes to mind. Sorry, "Lost", but color me unimpressed with your maiden foray into rainbow territory. Try harder next time, and maybe you'll get a much friendlier reception.

(And now you see what a bad idea it is to write only for the punchline.)

"Lost" returns April 24th on ABC at 10 pm / 9 pm central.

Image courtesy ABC

Comments

[Zane]

But!!! There's still LOTS of room for Lost to properly do just that. "Heroes" also doesn't have any gay characters.