RQ: What is the relationship between media and audience when it comes to homosexuality on television.

Argument: Bury argues that media typically is problematic in it’s portray of homosexuals as fitting neatly into a stereotype, and that audience responses are usually pro-heteronormative.

Data Summary: Bury used the show Six Feet Under, and analysis of it’s online forums as data. It appears the author chose this show, because of it’s popularity as well as it’s changing narrative in how to represent David. What Bury discovered was that many fans of the show find comfort in the homosexual character David Fisher conforming to heteronormative ways, and are disturbed by any deviation from a traditional monogamous relationship. At the same time, they relate his responses to violence and fear, generally as relating to his sexuality. Any arguments against this popular opinion on the forums were ignored.

Sources Bury, Rhiannon. 2008. “Setting David Fisher Straight: Homophobia and Heterosexism in Six Feet Under Online Fan Culture.” Critical Studies in Television: An International Journal of Television Studies 3 (2): 59–79. doi:10.7227/CST.3.2.6.