Story in the Mail on Sunday

[Stu]

'Roseanne' actress Sara Gilbert says her cross-dressing son in the show is NOT transgender and explains they created the character for reboot because he 'represents the world' today

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z53VThRIJi

[Wonderful Electric]

I love this! I never got to watch the show when I was growing up because I came from an era when there was only ever one tv in the house!

It’s very welcoming to have an example of a MUG wearing character with no pretense or excuses to hide behind.

[denimini]

That is encouraging; a lot of people seem to be more influenced by "soapies" than science or logic.

[moonshadow]

Why, that is good news. Perhaps 2018 will be the year of the MEN/BOYS in skirts as 2017 was mostly dominated by trans and boys who protested not being allowed to wear short pants.

Gilbert, speaking to Entertainment Weekly explains: 'He’s not a transgender character. He’s a little boy. He’s based on a few kids in my life that are boys who dress in more traditionally feminine clothing.

'He’s too young to be gay and he doesn’t identify as transgender, but he just likes wearing that kind of clothing and that’s where he is at this point in his life.'

I feel like this kid can relate to many here on this site. I'm not sure if I'd go so far to say he "represents the world today", maybe the world tomorrow. Of course, being at that age, I suppose kids like that are the future.

And in that case, the future looks bright!

Good lookin' kid. The leg warmers seem to throw the look off... but kids these days... eh? I yearn for the day when this type of thing is "normal".

Regarding Rosanne. I must say I really enjoyed the show growing up. However like Wonderful Electric, I grew up in a house with only one TV and half of the time we lived with Grandma who was certainly NOT into the Rosanne scene! Think more like Billy Graham. When dad and I lived on our own he would watch it from time to time, that is until she (Rosanne) made some kind of comment regarding some political thing at the time and pissed dad off something fierce and he basically forbid me to watch it any longer.

What I liked about Rosanne, is it just seemed like such a "normal American" show that depicted real life situations that the every day American family (of the 1990's anyway) might have to deal with. Unfortunately spins offs and reboots are seldom as popular as the original, so I don't know if will have the cultural impact of the original series, but should be a step in the right direction. I've had people tell me of various programs on NetFlix and other such services depicting skirt wearing men (normally kilts), mostly transgender people, and then there's the Jaden Smith crowd.

[crfriend]

I feel like this kid can relate to many here on this site. I'm not sure if I'd go so far to say he "represents the world today", maybe the world tomorrow. Of course, being at that age, I suppose kids like that are the future.

Hollywood, we've had a problem.

At issue here is that we're dealing in the world of fiction -- fiction bordering, quite likely, on fantasy. Art does occasionally imitate life -- harmlessly -- and sometimes life reciprocates, with frequently disastrous results. Try not to confuse the two (with the possible exception of one Sir Harry Paget Flashman [0]).

OK, so the kid character may be a possible amalgam of several individuals in real life, but the juxtaposition that would make it possible for the character to be based on one, or even two, is extremely small. The world is, after all, a very large place, and tends to be populated by individuals with small minds and narrow perspectives. Any child so behaving would likely have at least one parent who'd quash the behaviour in a New York minute -- and it takes three in that context to allow the very idea of "sartorial freedom" to blossom. The odds work against that. Even worse is what the child would face in what passes for a school system where bullying is largely enshrined as a method for weeding out off-"normal" behaviours.

And in that case, the future looks bright!

"My future's so bright I've gotta wear shades!", or so goes the song.

Regarding Rosanne. I must say I really enjoyed the show growing up.

I lived though the 1990s as an adult and found Roseann about as funny as Ellen Degeneres or Bill Cosby once he went political. I.e. not.

Will the "reboot" and the skirt-wearing kid make any impression? Who knows, and only time will tell. What I do know is that the sitcom [1] is a largely dead art form given the world in which we now dwell where the existential threats multiply by the day.

[0] Fictional Character. A creation of the mind of George MacDonald Fraser. Flashman VC, KCB, KCIE is an anti-hero modelled on the bully from Tom Brown's School Days who finds himself embroiled in historical settings of astonishing accuracy and in spite of himself always comes out smelling like a rose. An inveterate coward, one classic remark was, "I hate being on boats. There's nowhere to run."
[1] SITCOM is actually an acronym (Single Income, Two Children, Outrageous Mortgage). Contrast with DINK (Dual Income, No Kids). Both date to the 1990s.

[Uncle Al]

See what a difference in age can do to/for people

...SITCOM is actually an acronym (Single Income, Two Children, Outrageous Mortgage). Contrast with DINK (Dual Income, No Kids). Both date to the 1990s.

NOT REALLY - - SITCOM is an acronym for SITuation COMedy.
Your 'definition' was formulated AFTER the 'SITCOM' was introduced in the 50's
(Remember, I'm older than you ) "I Love Lucy" was a situation comedy.
The 'talking heads' shortened Situation Comedy to "Sitcom" when discussing TV show's.


Uncle Al

[crfriend]

See what a difference in age can do to/for people

...SITCOM is actually an acronym (Single Income, Two Children, Outrageous Mortgage). Contrast with DINK (Dual Income, No Kids). Both date to the 1990s.

NOT REALLY - - SITCOM is an acronym for SITuation COMedy.

Actually, that's a portmanteau [0]. However, I split hairs here.

Your 'definition' was formulated AFTER the 'SITCOM' was introduced in the 50's (Remember, I'm older than you )

It's a double-header in that regard. Isn't language grand!

[0] I have a few of those in my arsenal as well, although they're entirely politically incorrect.

[Stu]

Point of information.

The expression "sitcom" is what is known in linguistics as a "blend". There are many examples of blends, like "spork" (spoon + fork), "telecast" (television broadcast) and, of course "skort".

[Ray]

I'd say it was also a portmanteau.

[Stu]

Same thing, Ray. The more modern linguistic term these days seems to be "blend".



Stu

[Grok]

The skirt looks good on the kid.

[skirtyscot]

Daily Wail readers come across as unenlightened in the comments. Negativity by the bucket load: "No way am I watching that if he's in it" is the general message. It's quite funny.

[moonshadow]

Daily Wail readers come across as unenlightened in the comments. Negativity by the bucket load: "No way am I watching that if he's in it" is the general message. It's quite funny.

I noticed that too. I was inclined to write a comment but figured it was a hopeless cause.

Still yet I thought about turning the tables a little

"I agree with those who say this is filth... and while we're at at I'm getting sick and tired of all these women wearing trousers and acting like boys fighting villans and managing money and such! It's time to get back to good old fashioned wholesome family values where men dress and act like men a women dress and act like women by God!

.... see how asinine you all sound???"

[Fred in Skirts]

Now that would get some nice comments for sure!!!

[Sinned]

Your reply really dripped in sarcasm, Fred.