Visible: Out on Television

This is the first series on Apple TV+ for which I can unequivocally say it's worth it to pay for the service. (We've watched "The Morning Show", which started out iffy but ultimately ended up being pretty good, and "Servant", which started out good but was then really frustrating, typical of M. Night Shyamalan. There's also "The Elephant Queen" in the queue when we can get around to it.) . This five-part docuseries on LGBTQ visibility on television over the years was mainly really good, with a number of familiar talking heads, although not all of them said anything necessarily new or particularly interesting, but there was enough to really make me feel proud to be who I am. It also stressed the importance and necessity of representation and what it means for young gay kids to see themselves on the screen. 🙂 . It's an easy binge, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who, in these dark days of political grotesquerie, needs to be reminded how far we've come in the past 70 years of broadcast television. (There's a significant segment in the series about Harvey Milk, so after E03, we watched "Milk", since Shane had never seen it, and of course, my eyes welled up numerous times. Sean Penn's Best Actor Oscar was richly deserved for that role.)

I think everyone should watch this mini series. It shows that growth sometimes takes time but thankfully, through the sacrifices and determination of so many, growth is possible. Thank you for sharing your stories.

Awesome little mini-series on LGBT history. Some of this was more basic and common knowledge, such as the Stonewall Inn, which gets some coverage on here, but there are more obscure little factoids strewn throughout, too, such as how television characters in general were molded around gay and lesbians in television and cinema before it came to wide acceptance in modern society. In today's times, being gay is a non-issue as we have come to learn and grow, but it surely is inspiring and awesome to know what people growing up in the 50's, 60's, and 70's went through as a gay person under McCarthyism. It really brings a ton of respect to those people. Definitely a very eye-opening documentary that I feel LGBT people should watch as well as those of whom are allies or interested in the long, tumultuous journey toward acceptance.

It's crazy to think in retrospect but these people were in jeopardy of losing their careers, family, freedom, etc for making their orientation known. To think people had to live double-lives to keep from being renounced from society, considered mentally ill or a criminal over who they loved. It seems kinda silly today, but these were the struggles many others had to face.

Excellent tour through LGBTQ history and how television is a US cultural staple. Not only is this a celebration of the LGBTQ community, it explains the inequalities faced in the past, present, and the future. It is hosted by members of the LGBTQ community. Finally, it does not sweep anything under the rug, it fully explores the frightening and terrible events that have happened in the LGBTQ community since the invention of television.

A very detailed history of LGBT representation on TV from Beginning to End. All the casts, the stories, the footage, the conversation are heart-warming but bittersweet at the same time.