ABC's 'FlashForward' seems more like a step backward for gay characters on TV

Our video correspondent out in Los Angeles, Alan Frutkin, recently sent me a clip he did for this Thursday's return of ABC's FlashForward, the network's other fantasy action-drama (besides Lost). The sit-down (posted after the jump) features an in-depth interview with actress Christine Woods, who plays FBI agent Janis Hawk, who, on the show, sees in her flashforward being pregnant—and is flabbergasted because she's gay.
  Having already written a few posts for MediaFreak about how I think this show has suffered greatly since its decent premiere (and is basically doomed to failure), I'd like to chime in one last time before its relaunch. Alan's video, part of Mediaweek's "Gay TV Now" series, helped me realize at last something that's bothered me about the series all along: It's trying to force its "edginess" down my throat in a less-than-graceful manner.

  I must admit, the initial concept of the show was pretty cool: Everybody on Earth saw a few seconds of their future during a "blackout." We're still unsure (at this point in the season) whether it was man-made or came from some higher power. Some people see redemption in their future, while others see nothing (i.e., because they're going to die). Some flashforwards connect to others, and on and on, ad infinitum, the plot spirals.
  However, that something that had bothered me about the show came more clearly into view while I watched Ms. Woods's interview: She speaks energetically of playing a gay character on TV, and how she's embraced the new fan base of gay people who've embraced her portrayal of a lesbian who sees a pregnancy (unexpected? unwanted?) in her flashforward. The entire time, I wondered: Is Ms. Woods gay or just playing a gay character? (And does that matter?) And if she's just playing a gay person, is it an accurate portrayal or just a "TV" portrayal?  
  Now, I'm not going to sit and judge Ms. Woods's acting abilities (or sexual preference), but it seems like an awfully simplistic presentation of homosexuality. She talks about the thumb ring she wears in the show getting a mixed reaction from her "gay friends," some of whom didn't realize it symbolizes lesbianism. (The producers sure thought so; I had never heard of that in all my years.) It is revealed to be just that in an episode where a former Nazi tells her so, with obvious malice. (Think of how Lecter talked to Clarice in Silence of the Lambs.) "How fiendishly convenient!" I remember thinking. A Nazi is the only one with accurate gaydar! (None of her co-workers seemed to have caught on.)
  And in one of the show's less-than-poignant moments, Woods's character has an "uncomfortable" conversation with a doctor at a hospital about her impending flashforward pregnancy. To explain why she thinks it would be weird that she was pregnant, she tells the doctor, "I don't like penises" and "I'm super gay" to get her point across.  
  I must say, not being gay, I felt like these comments were forced, at the very least. I, for one, strongly believe gay people should have the right to adopt kids and become pregnant and get married. But to attempt subjects like this in such a, well, childish manner, made me feel like FlashForward had gotten it wrong. Way wrong.  
  I'm sure there will be scads of people who disagree with me on this topic. Any portrayal of homosexuality on TV works in favor of broader acceptance down the line, they might say. And I would agree. But this show's portrayal of homosexuality makes me feel like Hawk and her gayness are being presented to me as if she were a museum display—rather than a normal human being.  
  Am I wrong in feeling this way?

—Posted by Will Levith