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ricki could have been one of two of my best friends in highschool and UNi... I was in Theatre, and I swear every gay male in my class came out to ME that year...roflmao.I was beginning to wonder what it was about me. I have also had a couple of guys say " If I was into girls I'd totally be into you." snerk. S'was O.K. I wasn't heartborken but one time by that phrase the other times it was just silliness.

I like that when the wrote for him they didn't pull the punches, they created a beliveable cahracter who went through real pain trying to fit in the horror we call highschools. Remebering this was long before "will & Grace" or "Queer as folk" etc. Vary curageos of that group of writers

ignore typos they only cover up for my bad spelling

i agree, he was a believavl character, which made me really like his character and wilson cruz did the job very well.

Wilson Cruz did such an honest portrayl. He should have won an emmy or a Golden Globe or something. He was awesome.

remembering the time period thiss came out he really was a very BRAVE actor to take on that part.

wicked wrote:remembering the time period thiss came out he really was a very BRAVE actor to take on that part.

Yes, it was before shows like Will and Grace, Queer Eye, and Guess the Gay Man (or whatever that other Bravo show was), Queer as Folk, Big Gay Al and Stan's gay dog, etc... but the nineties were still pretty open-minded. While I'm sure Wilson and the producers did get some friction for the character of Rickie Vasquez I'm not sure that in terms of the public audience (Wilson did have to come out to his friends and family and endured a lot -- being kicked out -- as a result) it was that huge of a thing. By that time I'm pretty sure that Ellen had come out on her show. And, with AIDS awareness and the Queer Civil Rights movement and everything, the GLT communinity was less marginalized than it had been in the past. Just as an example, by the mid-nineties there were many queer and homosexual characters appearing as leads in mainstream films.

ellen didn't come out till April 1997, three years later ,just as a side note.
Many of my Gay Friends still feel marginalised. How many of the gay character were/are played by gay actors...I mean they are so hard to find.
Sorry If I sound bitchy, I don't mean to be.

There weren't many gay characters on TV in 1994. Gay teen characters were even more rare. I can't think of any other gay teen characters besides Rickie. However, the writers didn't actually show him involved with anyone. As I wrote earlier in this thread, it would have been interesting to see how the writers would have dealt with this issue in subsequent seasons. Would they have been able to show teen boys kissing? Would they have shown him being hassled for being gay? Even if the writers wanted to pursue these plot lines, would ABC's censors have let those shows air?

TomSpeed wrote:There weren't many gay characters on TV in 1994. Gay teen characters were even more rare. I can't think of any other gay teen characters besides Rickie. However, the writers didn't actually show him involved with anyone. As I wrote earlier in this thread, it would have been interesting to see how the writers would have dealt with this issue in subsequent seasons. Would they have been able to show teen boys kissing? Would they have shown him being hassled for being gay? Even if the writers wanted to pursue these plot lines, would ABC's censors have let those shows air?

I somehow doubt they would have shown a male on male kiss....hey have they shown a male on male kiss yet...I mean toher than Showcase or bravo or HBO? I'm really not sure...well maybe in Will & Grace. In 1994, it wasn't very likely. I'm sure the writers would have tried. I think they did kinda show Ricki trying to avoid being beaten up in school , and being hasseled for being "Different" reda "Gay". My personal thought is that they would have done more story lines along that avenue.

You are right, Wicked. Rickie is hassled for being gay, or at least different, in "Guns and Gossip." Also, I agree that overt male-male kissing would have not likely been done, I wonder if Rickie would have asked guys out, held initmate conversations about relationships with guys, and things like that. Rickie's story would have needed to go somewhere if he remained a regular character on the show.

My experience with gay men in highschool in a small town, 2 of my frineds were openly ( well as openly as possible in the 80's in rural ontario...so not very , but openly gay to me anyway.) Was that although they had crushes on guy in school they never tried to make it a reality with the guys in school. They tended to have relationships with women, which appeared heterosexual, but remained mostly platonic, or with older men they met outside the town we lived in. I also knew some people who tried like hell to be straight, and it really was very painful for them.Like I've said before for some reason I am a magnet for gay men to come out to me. Shrug I think it's because I never cared they were gay, Hell I grew up thinkig ernie and bert were gay, my moms boss was gay.I I knew that gay was just another state of normal but he time I was 6.

I think MSCL would have tried to show the pain of trying to live a "normal" life as a gay student in soceity at that time I think it would have been well done and sensitive to both the feeling of the young people and the networks fear of "making waves." I like to think Ricki made it out of highschool with not too many scars, and found the community he needed.
( HEY can ya tell I kinda relate to Rayannes<sp?> cahracter???BWA HAW HAW HAW...actually I was Angela inside virginal et' al, but dressed and acted like Rayanne!!)

i just watched the xmas ep today, poor rickie, i felt so bad for his character, this was a really good ep.

Both the character Rickie Vasquez and the real guy Wilson Cruz is amazing. Wilson really acted his role to the max and it just looked very natural like he wasn't acting. He put his heart and soul into his part because his role also had elements of what went on in Cruz's life. He didn't become swarmed by offers after MSCL, but I guess that's good in a way because TV sucks today and I think Cruz's calling was to speak out to people about what he stands for today. Great job.

I was in love with Rickie. Such a cool, smart, cutie.

Great thread on Rickie.

He is seriousy my hero, and I wish he was real because I would love to have a friend like him. Wilson Cruz did a PHENOMONAL job in portraying Rickie, and his character gives me hope for human beings in general; for Rickie was always so compassionate, honest, and expressive, and he dealt with the adversity that he faced in his life in such a respectable way. I will always remember how he trusted Angela and confided in her, and how they both seemed to help each other out. I love how he was so kind to Delia, and I love watching the interactions between him and Brian, because the two of them are really quite similar. Even though Rickie Vasquez was just a television character, he definitely means a lot more to me and to many other MSCL fans, I'm sure.