Bea and Rock Turning On...

[Andre]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvfgaW_q8rY

[R!ck]

now it's poppers and god knows what? HAHAHA when smoke was Lucky's and high was Gin

[JER Soaps Fan]

What the HELL was that? And on what show? And this clearly was the era when every celebrity, regardless of vocal talent, sang on the air.

[Ms. Walsh]

That is some crazy s**t. Who the hell wrote that song?

That's obviously from the 70s because I can't imagine the networks airing a song about doing drugs during any other decade.

That's really Rock Hudson?! Wow...he looks a lot different from the movies I've seen him in. I don't know how people who watched that didn't even suspect that he was gay. I think singing a duet with Bea Arthur and that mustache would have been a dead giveaway.

Bea Arthur is my idol. She was amazing in Mame. That movie was soooooooooooo bad, but she was so good in it. I was willing to put up with Lucille Ball's atrocious performance just to see her.

[JER Soaps Fan]

Oh my God, I just did the research.

It came from 1979's "The Beatrice Arthur Special."

She had her OWN special?

Again, she has no vocal talent!

Wow.

Those really were the days.

Okay, question: everywhere I see this clip mentioned they say it's the 'gayest' thing they've ever seen. Why? I don't get it. What's so gay about it? It's silly but what's gay? I just don't get it.

[Ms. Walsh]

Well, Rock Hudson was gay. Nobody knew about it until he died from AIDS in the 80s. He was one of the first celebrities to have died from the disease, and since he was always looked at as a leading man in movies, it was a shock to find out that he was really gay. There was a lot of controversy because before he died, he was on Dynasty and kissed Linda Evans' character. At the time, nobody knew how AIDS was spread, so they were worried that she had contracted the disease from the kiss and had her tested for AIDS.

And as for Bea Arthur, well...she resembles a man since she's so tall and has a deep voice.

Also, she's done a lot of emasculating roles, like her character in Maude And then, of course, she was on Golden Girls, which has a big gay following. They did a lot of storylines about homosexuality on the show.

There are websites that reference the fact that a lot of gay men watch GG. If someone says that a man is a "friend of Dorothy" it's implied that he's gay. I think the origin came from Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, since Judy Garland is a gay icon. On GG, Bea's character's name was Dorothy, and I've seen people say, "Thanks for being a friend of Dorothy." (a play on the saying and the GG theme song).

[JER Soaps Fan]

Yeah, but see I don't think it has to do with Rock being gay and Bea being, well, Bea. I think it's just the musical aspect of it and the campiness. THey say it's so campy that they think they turned gay by watching it. That's what I don't get. Meanwhile, on SNL they do broadway like musicals all the time but anyone can enjoy that without such labels. Hmm...still confused, but thanks for the great education on "friend of Dorothy!" I never knew that! That rocks!!