The queer fantasies of the american family sitcom

Abstract

While starring in popular family sitcoms, Kirk Cameron of Growing Pains (1985–92) and Angus T. Jones of Two and a Half Men (2003–15) fulminated against the lax morality depicted in their fictional households, biting the hands of producers who were very generously feeding them. Cameron skyrocketed to fame and teen idol status in his role as Mike Seaver yet complained to the producers and writers about transgressions against his sense of Christian morality—such as a fantasy sequence implying that Mike had consummated his relationship with his girlfriend—stating that such a scene “crosses the line in my conscience . . . and since I’m the guy who has to get up there and do this in front of millions of people, I don’t want to do it.”1 Jones, while earning roughly $8 million annually, lambasted Two and a Half Men as “filth” and urged viewers not to watch it, stating, “It’s the number one comedy, but it’s very inappropriate and its themes are very inappropriate. I have to be this person I am not.”2 One would presume that these actors, notwithstanding their deeply held religious convictions, would understand that their occupation requires them to play roles that might not accord with their personal views. The inherent ridiculousness of Jones’s proclamation—“I have to be this person that I am not”—is true of every actor in every part, and his assumption of the role of teen regulator of American morality smacks of righteousness rather than rightness.