Realrockerhalloween
The original queer as folk was a statement that gay wasn't a stereotype with a lisp or acting feminine but normal everyday people and was the first to show explicit sex scenes between same sex couples. Unlike the American version it showed a more realistic portrayal of what to expect from the gay scene like all hookups won't be Abercrombie models or the harsh homophobia to come once out of the closet. Only running for two seasons it managed to tell the story of two friends, Stuart and Vince, who have known each other their whole lives share a special bond and learn it has turned into love. A wrench is thrown in when a one night stand, fifteen year old Nathan wants to be with his first love Stu and will doing to prove himself worthy.Unlike the happily ever after presented in the remake the two friends actually end up together. Nathan is shown as the annoying obsessive teenager instead of a water down romantic who gets what he wants and providing false hope perusing a relationship will make it come true.Another addition I liked was Vince was shown to be a grown up instead of a mamas boy who struggles to get out from under her thumb and his passion for Dr. Who rivals my own making him very like able. Also adding in humour was brilliantly written making it fun instead of boring mellow drama from Brian Kinny missing Justin for the 18th time.Queer as folk is by no comparison better in most ways then it's American counterpart for refusing to water down raw material to please the fan base. It truly was an exceptional series.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU
QUEER AS FOLK That is a series that can only be British. I remember in the early 60s, or is it slightly later, a theater that played one big success in London at the time in Charring Cross Road, "No sex Please, we are British". Times have changed and this series is quite typical of that change. Sex, sex and sex, stopping one inch from hardcore sex, and gay what's more. And yet that film is a lot more than these few erotic episodes. First it is deeply committed to diversity in sexual orientation. All the nuances and shades of gayness are exploited and shown in the most funny and comical way, never derisive, never aggressive, but always in a comic orientation of its own. You cannot imagine the diversity of shades and personalities you may or might find in this community. In fact you have to dip yourself in it, or even soak yourself in it to know. But be careful though to know what you're doing otherwise it might become another famous play on Charring Cross Road, viz. "The Mousetrap". Second it strikingly confront the problem of age in a sexual community that is too often marked by transience and instability, especially since these couples are not recognize by the law and do not have the right to marry and create a stable home. That implies gay people are more or less forced to cruise all their life, to be the hunter or to be the prey. That is so clearly shown with the main character who is practically never having two helpings of the same dish. But that is true till a fifteen year old boy he seduces decides to ask for more insistently. That makes the main hero Stuart think maybe he is losing something that will never come back, his youth and he maybe should think of the future and not only of the present, or at most the balance of the hunt and how many people, I mean men and boys, he has shagged. But Stuart has another problem with his childhood friend, Vince, who is gay too, who would like to get Stuart or who would like Stuart to get him, but he is shy and he does not want to find himself involved in the great unstable sexual looting of the vast world. So he gets attached to an older man and this episode, both for Stuart and his friend Vince, is a revelation, an epiphany. They discover they have something in common that they cannot find at all with anyone else, and that is exemplified with the various actors who played Doctor Who. They have a past in common, a tremendous level of personal commitment to each other, generally called friendship, and a sexual attraction and even passion they can easily release, provided they get away from their common environment that is a mousetrap to them, viz. Manchester. Third the series does not hesitate to show what sex is for young male teenagers (fifteen or so) and here the fifteen year old boy, Nathan, is our study case. Nathan, is the living example of that age. Provocative and yet shy, exhibitionistic and yet modest, passionate and yet reserved, light-headed by principle and yet over-thoughtful. In fact he knows one thing: he wants sex. He knows a second thing: he wants gay sex. He finds danger and difficulties exciting, so why not try the macho jock at school who is of course both straight and homophobic, even if… when he closes his eyes and lets himself go, he may accept a helping hand. But this young chick, Nathan, has to learn one thing: Stuart is too old for him. He, Nathan, can only be some kind of a cherry on a pile of ice-cream for Stuart's birthday or any other celebration. But he has nothing in common with Stuart except his sex and his sexual attraction and orientation. And that's the meaning of the second series. The first series had finished nothing at all and we were hanging in midair. But the second series gives an end to every character and the last episode ends up with a hot scene on a hot parking lot in the hot state of Arizona between the hot cities of Phoenix and Tucson with a hot gun and a not so hot contrite "Sorry!" from a hot muscular truck driver who could very easily get involved in some hot gay bashing episode, like at the beginning of Stephen King's "IT". Just get the full two series and watch them for fun, enjoyment, and eventually, if you are in the proper mood and orientation, for pleasure.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines, CEGID
notmicro
American audiences are likely to have a difficult timefollowing the details of this drama, due to the extremelyheavy regional English accents. I've watched a huge amount of Brit TV over the years, but found with this production that I was missing easily about one-third of therapid-fire dialog. You still get the gist of what's happening,but sometimes several sentences go by where you've absolutely no idea what's just been said, or who some newcharacter is.Otherwise, I loved it, found it suprisingly absorbing; youreally get caught up in the drama of the character's lives. The incessant drinking / smoking / bar scenes / sex / drugs/ techno music does get to be a bit much after a whiletho. Plus none of the characters seem to have ever heardof foreplay! They have sex at the speed of a porn-tape onfast-forward.
Brett Cullum (BrettC)
Through a good connection I got VHS copies of the entire show, and I watched them all several times. This series will never make it uncut to the United States! It has some pretty graphic scenes, but it's not ever pornographic. What it is -- the smartest, most well-written, heartbreakingly real television show I have ever seen. Forget ER at its best! This is a show about real people, and they just happen to be gay. It's sad that nobody has agreed to air it uncut here in the US. HBO wants it, but they will edit it severely. Now when does a cable channel that will show SHOWGIRLS or any theatrical US release with extensive nudity decide that a couple of seconds of male nudity is too much. I am tired of protecting kids! I couldn't see EYES WIDE SHUT intact and now this. We are the most backwards civilized country in the world. But enough about that, if you ever get a chance to see QUEER AS FOLK...it is well worth it. Rarely have I seen anything so unique and gripping.
