Hi Glenn! AMAs, especially for comedy writers tend to aim a little more for the technical/humor stuff, so I might get buried here, but I figured it was worth a try regardless.
Sexuality always seems to be a topic of discussion both on the show and in interviews. Sunny isn’t a show exactly known for it’s aggressive stance on social issues, yet for a show that presents these things with a sense of grim neutrality, I feel like it’s actually done a better job that most when it comes to queer issues. Myself and many of my friends really enjoy that aspect of it a lot.
As a queer girl myself, Mac especially is a character that feels very validating, and even though the show never presents topical issues seriously, there is a very unique underlining story sort of unfolding in the background surrounding this character and his sexuality that is actually very sad. I was always so impressed with the development on that front whether intentional or not, the idea of taking someone who appeared to be a very straight man in the first season and constructing that arc for him (and maybe Dennis too? I know i’ve seen you say a few things about that). It’s validating. It’s healing. It feels good to see even though Sunny isn’t exactly Glee or Queer as folk or something, but that almost makes it better in my opinion because I really don’t need another show like that.
What I am getting at here is that in interviews, I do see a lot of talk about the sexuality of your characters, though it’s almost always on light hearted talk shows thus is often cut short and not fully discussed. I would be really interested to hear more on that from your point of view, as I always thought it was a very interesting route to take, especially considering you, Rob, and Charlie are three straight guys who have written a show for what is largely a straight male audience.
I apologize if this is taking these characters slightly too seriously, but they are actually pretty fun to deconstruct. On a slightly unrelated note, Dennis is probably my all time favorite character from any show, so thanks for creating him and making him such a wonderful creep.
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Hi Glenn! AMAs, especially for comedy writers tend to aim a little more for the technical/humor stuff, so I might get buried here, but I figured it was worth a try regardless.
Sexuality always seems to be a topic of discussion both on the show and in interviews. Sunny isn’t a show exactly known for it’s aggressive stance on social issues, yet for a show that presents these things with a sense of grim neutrality, I feel like it’s actually done a better job that most when it comes to queer issues. Myself and many of my friends really enjoy that aspect of it a lot.
As a queer girl myself, Mac especially is a character that feels very validating, and even though the show never presents topical issues seriously, there is a very unique underlining story sort of unfolding in the background surrounding this character and his sexuality that is actually very sad. I was always so impressed with the development on that front whether intentional or not, the idea of taking someone who appeared to be a very straight man in the first season and constructing that arc for him (and maybe Dennis too? I know i’ve seen you say a few things about that). It’s validating. It’s healing. It feels good to see even though Sunny isn’t exactly Glee or Queer as folk or something, but that almost makes it better in my opinion because I really don’t need another show like that.
What I am getting at here is that in interviews, I do see a lot of talk about the sexuality of your characters, though it’s almost always on light hearted talk shows thus is often cut short and not fully discussed. I would be really interested to hear more on that from your point of view, as I always thought it was a very interesting route to take, especially considering you, Rob, and Charlie are three straight guys who have written a show for what is largely a straight male audience.
I apologize if this is taking these characters slightly too seriously, but they are actually pretty fun to deconstruct. On a slightly unrelated note, Dennis is probably my all time favorite character from any show, so thanks for creating him and making him such a wonderful creep.
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