‘Will & Grace’ Prop Seen As Swipe: Mike Pence Poster At Gay Conversion Camp

Has NBC’s Will & Grace come back with a vengeance? Social media users have a few things to say about the use of the poster of Vice President Mike Pence at the mock gay conversion camp during the Will & Grace episode on Thursday night.

The show’s frequent swipes at conservatives have some suggesting the creators of the Will & Grace show have an agenda that goes beyond entertainment. Thursday night’s episode of Will & Grace also used “exaggerated stereotypes” like broad strokes when painting the “the right as homophobic,” suggests Fox News.

Mike Pence also got his share of “not-so-subtle jabs” when he was prominently featured in a poster at a conversion camp for young suspected gay people. In Thursday night’s episode, Sean Haye’s character, Jack, was beside himself for losing touch with his son. Jack explains to Eric McCormack’s character, Will, that there’s so much up against him to even attempt to have a relationship with his grown son.

Jack tells Will the type of life his son has made for himself, which sounds like the polar opposite of Jack’s existence. “He moved to Texas, married someone super conservative, and he didn’t even invite me to his wedding,” Jack tells Will.

The storyline has a twist when Jack discovers he now has a grandson in Texas and despite Will’s encouragement for Jack to give it a shot at bonding with the kid, Jack is dragging his feet over the suggestion. Then Jack learns that the apple might not have fallen too far from the tree, although it may have skipped a generation, his grandson just might be more like him than he first realized.

His grandson was sent to a conversion camp over suspicions that he is gay. The camp name is “Straighten Arrow” and they have a motto of “pray away the gay” and for more than decor purposes, they display a poster of Vice President Mike Pence.

So what’s up with the poster of Mike Pence? According to Amelia Hamilton, a TV reporter for the Media Research Center, despite the accusations of Mike Pence being tied to conversion therapy being around for some time, it has “never stuck” with the majority of the population. With that said, she goes on to suggest that “liberal minds” have the tendency to not let it go.

“Anything to keep pushing an oft-debunked myth, I suppose, right? Debunked myths, conservative stereotypes, and overwrought situations? It looks like Will & Grace know they’re not going to win anybody over by being honest.”

This is not an isolated incident when it comes to the Will & Grace show taking a swipe at the current administration, according to People Magazine. The magazine has composed a list of all the times that President Trump was lambasted during episodes of the show. From the get-go of this reboot show, Trump has been a target of humor with some very blatant jabs, like when they compared his skin tone to Cheetos.

There are also subtle jabs that come through via the props on the set, like how they used the Mike Pence poster. In one episode when Grace, who is played by Debra Messinger, scores the gig of redecorating the Oval Office at the White House, props are used to tell a tale.

While in the Oval Office, the items that were placed on the president’s desk were telling. According to People Magazine, a Russian-to English dictionary and a fidget spinner were seen as personal items of the president on his desktop. Those props appeared to be yet another jab at Trump.

Social media users did offer their disappointment over the direction taken by the reboot of the Will & Grace show. Many people who were fans of the original show are expressing their sadness over the politicalizing of the show. Some of the recent comments from Facebook are seen below.

• “Thought this show was hilarious back in the day. I knew without a doubt that this rebirth would be about politics instead of comedy… Not my kind of funny anymore.”
• “I loved the original, laughed out loud at every episode. Tried the new one for about 10 minutes and changed the channel.”
• “Used to love that show years ago!! Wouldn’t even bother watching now!! Hope the ratings suck as well!!!”

[Featured Image by Paul Sancya/AP Images]