As a relative private person, I am often interested in celebrities and their publicized lives. We as consumers of popular culture are not satisfied by solely engaging with the artist’s work. We also want to know about the artist’s personal life. Reality shows are created to serve this urge to uncover the artist’s lives as an attempt to familiarize and relate to the artist on a personal level. In many ways, Ellen DeGeneres is an example of the urge to unravel the personal life of a celebrity. In Ellen’s case, her sexuality was publicized gradually through the two sitcoms, Ellen (ABC 1993-98) and The Ellen Show (CBS 2001-3) and finally The Ellen DeGeneres Show (CBS 2002-present).

Jennifer Reed analyses the character evolution of Ellen from queer to openly lesbian then to famously post-lesbian, using the respective sitcoms and show. The challenge of this analysis is that it connotes a linear evolution which culminates in the final stage of post-lesbian. Nevertheless, Reed offers an stimulating discussion around the politics involved within each stage. I was particularly drawn to the post-lesbian discussion in which Reed termed as a stage where being gay is irrelevant. The post-lesbian attempts to reconcile heterosexuality and lesbianism through using other markers to liken the two. For example, The Ellen Show releases episodes where Ellen struggles with universal challenges such as change, family drama and dating. Therefore, the show attempts to liken Ellen to the heterosexual viewers who experience the same challenges. Moreover, the post-lesbian stage purposely diverts the narrative from sexuality by explicitly abandoning any political identity. Ellen does so by conforming to a heteronormative lifestyle and replacing her difference sexuality with a difference in the character’s place from urban city to small town. As a result, the audience believes they are accepting of lesbianism without acknowledging any difference within a lesbian identity.

I think that the currently Ellen DeGeneres talk show has mastered the post-lesbian stage which is troubling. The show follows a typical talk show narrative of interviewing celebrity guests, talented individuals and playing fun games. Rather than focuses on Ellen and her sexuality, the talk show concentrates on the conversations with the guests. I see this as an attempt to regain some power over her personal life. After years of being publicized in regards to her sexuality, I would argue that Ellen is no longer the spectacle but rather a participant of the post-lesbian era. However, liberating it may be to think that lesbianism is irrelevant, the danger is an inevitable disregard of the genuine challenges and discriminations faced by those who identity as lesbians.

Sources:

Reed, Jennifer. “The Three Phases of Ellen: From Queer to Gay to PostGay.” Queer Popular Culture: Literature, Media, Film and Television. Ed. Peele, Thomas. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007, 9-27. Print