By Dear Gay People,
Do you miss the days when the hit supernatural series ‘Charmed’ was still playing on TV screens? If you do, you’re definitely not the only one!
During it’s run, Charmed developed a huge cult following among the gay community and we have a strong inkling that gay men had a lot to do with how Charmed managed to become the second-most watched television series on Netflix recently!
But what is it about Charmed that made gay men tick? Check out the following 7 reasons to explain the phenomenon of Charmed worship among the gay male community!
1. Strong female leads
Gay men have always gravitated towards strong female role models and Charmed certainly has plenty of those. By featuring powerful witches who save the world on a weekly basis, it should not come as much of a surprise that gay men would naturally gravitate towards the show. With 178 episodes, Charmed also holds the record for being the longest-running TV series featuring all-female leads!
2. Hot male characters
While the male characters played second fiddle to the female leads in Charmed, they did serve the very important purpose of providing us with much needed eye candy! From the demonic bad boy Cole Turner played by Julian McMahon to the angelic dream husband Leo played by Brian Krause, Charmed provided us with a diverse range of hot men to suit all of our varying preferences!
3. Themes of forbidden love
There were many relatable themes in the show and one of them was the very relatable theme of forbidden love. From the forbidden romance between Leo and Piper to Cole and Phoebe, not being allowed to be with the one you love was something that the gay community could easily identify strongly with.
4. Having to hide their true identity
Another highly relatable theme was the fact that the Charmed ones had to constantly hide their supernatural identities from the rest of the world. Not being able to publicly reveal their identity is another thing gay men can identify with since we’ve all been forced to hide in the closet at one point or another!
5. Charmed was an underdog
Despite its hit ratings, Charmed never received the critical acclaim it deserved. Even up till today, many ardent fans of the show find it a real travesty that Charmed did not manage to win a single Emmy during its 8-year run.
In fact, the show didn’t even get the treatment it deserved from its broadcaster. Holly Marie Combs had this to say about the show’s ending
The WB never treated us well, so we didn’t expect a lot of farewell wishes and flowers or cards.
Since gay men have a tendency of identifying with the underdog, it helps to explain why Charmed managed to grow such a large gay fan base.
6. Charmed was tacky and campy
Let’s face it, Charmed was a pretty tacky and campy show and gay men seem to love all things tacky and campy. There are few things tackier and campier than grown women muttering rhyming poems to vanquish evil demons!
7. Gay men have good taste!
Quite simply, gay men have good taste and they definitely know how to appreciate a good show!
Despite its lack of Emmys, Charmed was a genuinely good show with its well-developed characters, engaging and emotional story lines, great sense of humour, nicely choreographed action scenes and beautiful costumes and settings.
You might also like to read:
Dear Gay Men, Let’s Stop Hating Each Other!
I Hate Straight People And This Is Why
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Great post! I grew up watching charmed before I even really understood what being gay meant, but I think subconsciously I was relating to it as a gay boy/child/man. *signs into netflix, clicks on charmed*
Thanks for the kind words Matt! Glad to see that we weren’t the only ones who were enchanted by the magic of Charmed!
I just like fantasy… none of these are reasons why I liked the show… the fact that only female witches were good and that male warlocks as kind of annoying to me, and the fact that the only good guys were half naked men made the girls seem sluty making it a little bit of a turn off. I really just liked the magic and the whole good versus evil … I am gay but I don’t see how any of that had to do with me liking the show…..
Golden Girls = 180 episodes
Charmed = 178 episodes
Fact 1 – not entirely true