Dog Day Afternoon

The HBO comedy series “Entourage” has become a household name for television lovers around the country. The show is a half an hour of sex, drugs, and partying. The glamorous lifestyle that Vince, the movie star, and his three best friends, Vince’s entourage, lives makes for a very entertaining show. Being that Vince is a star living in LA, he obviously has an arrogant yet very comical agent virtually controlling his every move. Ari Gold, or “the most powerful agent in the business” as he calls himself, has been Vince’s agent ever since “Vinny and the boys” came out to LA. Ari is known for his quick, on the spot humor and boisterous personality, especially in public places. The character who feels the wrath of most of Ari’s jokes is his newly hired assistant Lloyd (a homosexual man). It is almost as if Ari feels as if he is powerful enough to be able to stereotype and emotionally abuse Lloyd without any consequences. He not only attacks his sexual preference but also his ethnicity (Lloyd is of Mongolian descent). The relationship between Ari and Lloyd provides the show with humor but also displays the heterosexual outlook and attitude in television.
In the third season of “Entourage” there is one episode in particular (although the majority of the episodes would apply) that displays Ari’s heterosexual personality. The episode titled “Dog Day Afternoon” includes Ari’s pursuit of a new client. Jay Lester, an A-List TV writer, just fired his agent and Ari is quick to set up a meeting to discuss their future “together”. He decides to bring Lloyd along because Lester is a homosexual. Ari explains the situation fully to Lloyd:
Ari: He’s never had a straight agent. If I’m going to be his first, I have to show him that I am a friend to the gay man.
Lloyd: But, you’re not a friend to the gay man, Ari.
Ari: Lloyd, this is a big one. So just go grab your best dress and know that today your love of c**k is a huge asset to this company.
At the lunch meeting, it is obvious from the get go that Lester is very attracted and interested in Lloyd. He even spoon feeds Lloyd some of his meal and uses the word “silly” to describe Lloyd’s rule of not eating off someone else’s plate. While this feeding so to say is going on, Ari can barely watch. He makes faces of disgust and basically covers his eyes to hide himself from the seemingly “gay” act. Making a long story short, Lester calls back Ari and agrees to sign him as his agent; however, there is a catch. Lloyd has to deliver the papers to Lester for him to sign them. Although concerned, Lloyd agrees to meet Lester at a gay bar in LA that night. As the night progresses, Ari feels guilty about making Lloyd sell himself in order to sign Lester so he makes a guest appearance at the bar. Surprisingly, Ari steps in and sticks up for Lloyd. He simply tells Lester that his agency “may be pimps, but they are not whores.” Along with other sub-stories, “Dog Day Afternoon” is a classic episode because of Lloyd.
This episode, along with many of the other episodes of “Entourage”, includes a lot of homophobic humor. It is used, in my opinion, because it is something that has been deemed a humorous topic throughout society. Lloyd is very comfortable with his sexual preference and it is obvious to everyone that he is a part of the gay community. It seems that whenever Ari is under pressure or stressed out, he takes it out on Lloyd being a homosexual. His jokes hit on topics such as Lloyd’s voice, fashion sense, and dating history among many more aspects of his life. At times Lloyd just rolls his eyes and shrugs it off but other times Ari’s seemingly playful jokes really irritate him. Ari essentially has power over Lloyd; he can fire him whenever he pleases. This component of their relationship contributes to Ari’s actions towards Lloyd’s lifestyle. I chose this particular episode because of one main reason: Ari’s attitude changes 180 degrees from beginning to end. During dinner with his wife (a very pretty older woman) Ari begins to feel guilty about making Lloyd do something he does not want to do in order to get himself a very prestigious client. He quickly and illegally turns the car around on the LA highway to “rescue Lloyd”. At the club, Ari explains to Lester that the club is in an area of town that “he only drives through fast.” Although this is another attack on the gay community, Ari is undoubtedly sticking up for his flamboyant assistant. On the way out of the club, while being grabbed and touched by people in the club, Lloyd lets Ari know that he is appreciative of what he did for him. This act by Ari does not take away the fact that he mocks homosexuals, but this episode shows that he does understand where to draw the line. Heterosexism is and will be a part of TV, movies, athletics, and everyday life for a long time to come. Society has to be able to reduce the usage of "gay jokes" and public mocking of the gay community in order for it to come to an end. Could this actually be done?