Ugly Betty Creator In Revealing Interview
April 9, 2008 by Tom
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AfterElton.com has a two part, in-depth investigative story about the state of gays in prime time television, and Ugly Betty’s co-creator Silvio Horta is featured prominently. The story itself would have been worthy of a referencing post here, but it gets even more interesting because Horta drops a few little Ugly Betty spoiler-ish nuggets into the interview.
For one thing, Justin is gay.
OK, that sound you just heard was the sound of thousands of readers simultaneously saying, “ya’ think?”
Horta says, “It really just popped into my head. … I tried five different types of kids, and they all felt the same. Then suddenly, I thought – What if you had a little gay kid? I wrote him that way, and it was like: This is fun! This is interesting and different.”
I do believe this is the first time anyone in an official capacity with Ugly Betty has ever revealed anything about Justin’s sexuality. I mean, yeah, I know…showtunes, obsessive over his “figure”, the gift of a fashion eye – but the producers have always remained amibiguous. Considering his age, this was most likely a smart move. I just found it interesting that Horta broke the longstanding policy of being coy about the whole thing.
More after the jump!
Other interesting Horta quotes from the interview:
About ABC: “…things have gotten to a point where it doesn’t matter” whether a character is straight or gay, he acknowledged, “Maybe ignorance is bliss. I mean, I am creating gay characters on a network that doesn’t have a problem with it.”
About a possible kiss between Marc and Cliff: Ultimately, Horta said he wouldn’t want to include a kiss just as a political “statement,” but that if it did happen, he wouldn’t want it to be a mere throw away either, because it is something still rare on television.
This is, in my opinion, why Silvio Horta is so successful. He gets it. He won’t introduce controversy for its own sake, but he’s not afraid of it, either.
On Ugly Betty’s diverse fan base: “If you’re a young kid struggling with your sexuality,” or a Latina dealing with body issues, or a trangender person, or “any number of these pieces that stem out of our show … it’s important because people see themselves in these characters and they feel a sense of pride and a sense of ‘I’m not alone.’ There’s something I can look forward to; there’s someone I can relate to.”
He also believes that for the average “middle class, straight, white guy” or for viewers who “don’t necessarily fit into these pieces … it’s funny, and they’ll enjoy it and they’ll be moved by it. And I think subconsciously it has an effect.”
“middle class, straight, white guy” – hmmmm. Silvio, have you been reading Ugly Betty News?
Bravo! to Horta to have such a diverse amount of characters! I think it is wonderful how such a variety of characters all come together.
“Ugly Betty” has a very wonderful, diverse group of characters. I think Horta’s responses were very thoughtful…and the two-part article at afterelton was very interesting and well-written!
I’d like to know where ugly betty really came from, it sounds like something rom MY childhood all the kids made fun of me, I was the school dirty out cast, nobody liked me, they twisted my name around and made dirty sneers, my name is Bettie, did one of the creeps in dows prarie school mckinleyville california make this up?
my name is Bettie, did someone at Dows Prarie school in california make this up? those kids were really mean, I was the kid they picked on in school, is that where this came from?