Don’t Saddle ‘Ellen’ With Useless Baggage Stay Put The Show’s Character Is Fine The Way She Is.

Once upon a time in TV land, it was impossible to get an accurate view of a disabled person’s life. Characters in wheelchairs, or developmentally delayed adults, were depicted as perfect and holy, except for their one fatal flaw. Call it the Tiny Tim Syndrome.

Then some shows broke ground. Benny in “L.A. Law” demonstrated that a man with a lower-than-normal I.Q. can work and love. Corky, the teen in “Life Goes On,” had Down syndrome and played it real. A doctor in “ER” walks with the help of arm crutches and it hasn’t really been explained. The subtle message: Those with disabilities shouldn’t be defined solely by their disabilities. They do many other things, too - such as becoming doctors.

Gays and lesbians are now stuck in the TV land rut where disabled people once languished. To find an accurate portrayal of the reality of homosexual life in America is nearly impossible. Gay men are almost always depicted as embarrassingly feminine and stuck in stereotypical jobs - window dressers, florists, caterers. Lesbians kiss each other on the lips for the shock value and the publicity the plot line garners.

Shoving “Ellen” out of the closet is a gimmick. Don’t fall for it. The producers know that all the hype and speculation surrounding the question, “Will she or won’t she?” will be great for ratings. Viewers who love “Ellen” are being manipulated. And those in our culture who are sick of gays and lesbians being forced on them at every turn are being manipulated as well. So they protest and threaten a boycott. Headlines are generated. Everyone’s talking - and watching - “Ellen.”

It’s a scam.

Ellen is a wonderful character - as she is. She’s smart, funny, clever. She’s an independent woman living an independent life. Why clog up the show with her sexuality? Plus, we know the politically correct producers would never depict the down side of being a gay woman in America today. The parents who reject their gay daughters. The fear of coming out - anyplace. The loneliness and desperation this lifestyle sometimes totes with it.

It will probably take a dramatic series - not a sitcom - to get to some of the non-P.C. truths about being gay in America, just as dramas finally depicted accurately the lives of the disabled.

So leave “Ellen” alone. And give us all a prime-time break.

, DataTimes MEMO: For opposing view, see “‘Ellen’ needs to be out of the closet”

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