F is for Family: Gay Characters and Beefcake circa 1974

Comedian Bill Burr specializes in "the absurdity of political correctness," which usually means "the absurdity of not telling homophobic jokes," but I don't find his bits at all homophobic.  Gross maybe, but not homophobic:

When two dudes get married, how will their arguments differ from a man and a woman?  No punching the wall just above their heads.  You go for the liver shot.

His animated F is For Family is likewise utterly lacking in homophobia.  Instead, it reminds me of Married...with Children.  15 years ago, as a recent high school graduate, Frank (Bill Burr) found his dreams shattered when his girlfriend became pregnant.

Now it's 1974, he's lost hair and gained some pounds, and he hates his life: a dumpy house in a working-class Catholic neighborhood, a horrible job as a baggage handler at an airline, a nagging wife, three crazy kids.  He watches sports, drinks beer, and says "f..." a lot.

Through two seasons, each member of the family survives individual catastrophes.

1. Frank is promoted to manager, then fired on Christmas  Day.  He deals with the "humiliation" of his wife going to work, schemes to get his job back by sabotaging a coworker, changes his mind, and gets embroiled in a hostage crisis.

2. Sue (Laura Dern) gets a job selling Plasta-ware, and invents a salad-spinner.  But the company president takes credit for it.

3. Surly 15-year old Kevin (Justin Long) dreams of rock stardom, and gets his big break when his record producer neighbor, Vic(Sam Rockell), hires him for a birthday-party gig.  But things fall apart when Kevin has sex with Vic's girlfriend (and Vic, incidentally, is fired.  The girlfriend doesn't have any consequences).

4. Wimpy 11-year old Bill (Haley Reinhart) deals with the psychotic bully Jimmy.  After a stint at military school fails to reform him, Bill and his friends try the ultimate prank, which backfires and sends Jimmy to the hospital.

5. Sarcastic 8-year old Maureen wants to join the Computer Club at school, but Frank forbids it because computers are for boys.  She suffers an eye injury in a sledding accident.

As a child of the 1970s, I enjoy the 1970s references, especially the parody versions of some of the horrible commercials and tv shows of the era.

There is a surprising amount of beefcake for an animated program, with several characters who like to display their biceps and baskets.

And a surprising lack of homophobia.  Even the bullies don't seem particularly homophobic.  "F" never stands for "fag."

There are several gay-subtext characters, probably intentionally.  Kevin has two friends, Bolo and Lex, who constantly make jokes about their attraction to men:

Discussing a cute girl: "I'd give a thousand guys hand jobs just to see her boob."

Neighbor Babe Bonfiglio is obviously into Vic.  His son, Philip, is obviously in love with Bill, and doesn't blanch at being called his "girlfriend."

Plus two "secretly gay" characters, which makes sense, given that this is the homophobic 1970s, only five years after Stonewall.

Louis Gagliardi, the head of Frank's union, is sleeping with his chauffeur.

Greg Throater (pun intended), who dresses and acts like a Castro Clone, constantly makes jokes implying that he likes sex with men.  Eventually he realizes that he actually is gay.  He tries to come out to his wife several times, but she won't believe him.  Which also makes sense, given that this is the 1970s.

F is for Family has been renewed for a third season, which airs November 30th, 2018.