My So-Called Life Character Analysis

I want to elaborate on this isolation by using the character Rickie Vasquez from ABC’s 1994-1995 television series My So-Called Life. Wilson Cruz portrays a fifteen-year-old bisexual boy of color caught up in the storm of mid-nineties adolescence in this short-running cult classic, and it is Rickie’s unique development as an early queer T.V. character that I want to discuss. First and foremost, Rickie presents a unique opportunity for queer characterization in that he is one of the few GBF characters who are not white. I am hesitant to call this a coincidence, both because of our society’s foundation of institutionalized racism and the fact that being a gay best friend assumes certain spaces of privilege. To be fashionable, one cannot be poor and homeless; to have a sharp tongue, one cannot be preoccupied nursing a black eye. Rickie faces all these obstacles—he …show more content…
However, thanks to the unique social environment, this trend poses threats to gay men that have never been seen before. Faux-acceptance replaces homophobia in modern discourse, encouraging the gay best friend to assimilate into heteronormative society by deflating the gay male experience from a diverse and rich sense of self to a two-dimensional supporting sitcom character. The idea of the gay best friend reinforces heterosexual dominance covertly by accessorizing gay men behind a promise of companionship and validation. The gay best friend is a trap for the gay male community, tempting them to reject their identity and thus preserve the heteronormative dominance. We cannot fall for this trap; we cannot sacrifice what has been fought so long to build. It is fantastic that such an embracing of the gay community exists, but the gay best friend is not a genuine embrace and those who wish to truly celebrate gay culture must begin seeing their gay friends as friends. Not gay