Queer As Folk Redux

[TommyPaine]

Spent a good part of January rewatching the series, which I only watched sporadically when it first aired. All the message boards around the show are at least 5 years old, so I thought JUB might be a good place to start a discussion/rehash conversations you last had in 2005.

Some random thoughts:

1. I was surprised by how relevant it still feels, even 14 years later. A lot of the gay marriage, anti-gay amendment stuff seems less dire now as gay marriage is legal in many more states, but we are still far from out of the water on that. And the debate on promiscuity versus domesticity continues today

2. Casting was amazing - Gale Harold in particular, makes you believe Brian could be be the golden boy/slut, there is something incredibly sexy but real about him - he vaguely looks like Ashton Kutscher-- he's thin, in good shape, but no six-pack abs, no bulging biceps -but something so incredibly sexy about him nonetheless. Randy Harrison was well-cast too- and the two of them had incredible chemistry, all the more interestng because Harold is hetero in real life.

3. It's a good thing they had good chemistry because they spent an awful lot of time kissing and lying together naked. I was surprised by how much graphic portrayals of sex were a part of the show and how much like the "good parts" of Jackie Susanne type novels they often felt. Not that I am complaining, but Sean Cody and Corbin Fisher could learn a thing or two from them.

4. They managed to make the whole Brian-Justin relationship relatively believable, so that the ending made sense. Though I was surprised that none of Brian's friends ever slapped him and said "you've been in love with this kid from the first time you laid eyes on him... you were a successful, relatively well-adjusted 29 year old and you were so googly-eyed you showed up at his high school prom. Don't let him get away."

5. Brian's distrust of all heterosexuals - "there are two kinds of straight people - the ones that hate you to your face, and the ones that hate you behind your back" - was a common enough POV back then. I wonder if kids growing up now, particularly in more accepting parts of the country, still feel that way - it was why Brian identified with the club scene so strongly- it was the only place where he felt safe from judgement.

6. I'd like to think that Brian and Justin wound up together - that Justin decided to be a big fish in a small pond after a year or so in NYC, whether or not he got swept up in the art world-- Justin was an "old soul" by the end of the series and unlikely to change dramatically the way I've seen a lot of people in their 20s change once their careers take off.

7. The story lines for a lot of the other characters on the show seemed far more cartoony- Emmett in particular, with the football player and the rich old man. The lesbians veered from realistic to over the top and Mel was just so consistently miserable (though plenty of people in real life are.) Michael and the professor always seemed a little forced-- didn't really feel the chemistry there-- and I always wondered why Brian never forced Michael to finish college (not sure they ever mentioned Brian going to college, but I'll assume he did, given his job)-- given that Brian could pretty much force Michael to do anything.

8. Brian always used condoms and always managed to make them seem sexy, not cumbersome.

9. They managed to show the full range of gay characters too - from Brian, who rarely read as "gay" to straight people, to Emmett who was pretty femme, with a full range in between. That's really rare to see, as network television tends to play gay characters as pretty femme - Cam and Mitch from Modern Family in particular come to mind. Brian may have been gay, but he was very sexy to straight women (who made up the lion's share of the show's fan base) - I'd love to see more characters who fit that bill.

10. Even though her character was not particularly believable, Sharon Gless did a great job of selling her.

If anyone else has recently watched the show or just feels like taking a trip down memory lane, I'd love to hear from you.

 

[TommyPaine]

One more thing-- while I understood the rationale for the ending (including the fact that open-ended series finales were very "in" in 2005) I thought it was sort of a cop-out. I get that Brian would be looking for an out given both his fear of commitment/growing old and his deeply held belief that he didn't deserve to be loved, and that Justin had been trained to never try and force Brian's hand, but the whole premise was based on an untruth.. Justin did not need to be in NYC full time to win over the art world. Brian certainly had the funds for Justin to go up there for a week or two every month, which would have been plenty. For that matter, Brian had the funds for Justin to fly up on a moment's notice to talk to a gallery owner if that was necessary... a more realistic ending might have had them going through with the wedding and moving to the country but with foreshadowing that there were issues and resentments they'd both have to deal with. Just like everyone else.

 

[jensu846]

5. Brian's distrust of all heterosexuals - "there are two kinds of straight people - the ones that hate you to your face, and the ones that hate you behind your back" - was a common enough POV back then.

I loved that line too. I said it to one of my female friends once, she got mad and said it could be applied to everyone, so that wasn't a fair statement. I dunno.
I watched it religiously when it was on, dreaming that my life could be that cool, but of course it never really could be. At least not where I live. Havent thought of that show for a while, thanks for bringing back some cool memories!

 

[SFLMAN]

I loved this show. Have the entire series on DVD. I would love to see a movie version just like they made a movie of Sex and The City and soon Entourage.

 

[TommyPaine]

5. Brian's distrust of all heterosexuals - "there are two kinds of straight people - the ones that hate you to your face, and the ones that hate you behind your back" - was a common enough POV back then.

I loved that line too. I said it to one of my female friends once, she got mad and said it could be applied to everyone, so that wasn't a fair statement. I dunno.
I watched it religiously when it was on, dreaming that my life could be that cool, but of course it never really could be. At least not where I live. Havent thought of that show for a while, thanks for bringing back some cool memories!

The show was shot in Toronto and presented a very glamorized version of Pittsburgh - it seems there is no gay district there, or certainly not one the size depicted on the show.

And I don't think anyone really has that glamorous a life

Thanks for sharing though.

 

[TommyPaine]

Found a great interview with the show's writers that sheds a lot of light on how they perceived the final episode: http://bjfic.livejournal.com/2528384.html

 

[GregKII]

I think I was 15--so about 2004/2005--when I first discovered the show although I came into it on sort of the tail end of the series, I was absolutely intrigued. Me being the horny teenager that I was, I was just glad to be seeing some sex--of any kind--on TV. Back then, I didn't really catch any of the morals or bear the brunt of the emotional weight that Queer as Folk was throwing at me. I re watched the series a few years back and I look at it quite differently. Although, I still have a sort of nostalgic place for it in my heart when I think about first watching it.

The show was truly a masterpiece, and a flagship sort of series for gay television. I don't think that there's going to be another show like it ever.

The relationship between Brian and Justin was passionate and loving, yet aloof. I remember getting so frustrated with Brian for pushing Justin away on the numerous occasions that he did. Or for Justin when he ran off with that dreadful violin player!

I found myself invested in Ted's troubles, sympathetic to Emmet's innate desire for acceptance or better still, someone to love and love him. Sometimes I wanted to slap Ben for making a choice I thought stupid. Or shake Michael because he never seemed to quite get over Brian. Back then I was thinking "well what a sappy show about gay guys"

I realize now that these feelings of frustration or happiness, or sadness are all a result of good writing executed by amazing actors. If a show doesn't make you upset, or allow you to empathize with some of the characters than what good is it, really? Not only is this a show that I can relate to--being a gay man--it's a show with universal themes that have that dirty little twist everyone likes.

I love this show, and I really want to go back and watch it again! Great show.

 

[TommyPaine]

I think I was 15--so about 2004/2005--when I first discovered the show although I came into it on sort of the tail end of the series, I was absolutely intrigued. Me being the horny teenager that I was, I was just glad to be seeing some sex--of any kind--on TV. Back then, I didn't really catch any of the morals or bear the brunt of the emotional weight that Queer as Folk was throwing at me. I re watched the series a few years back and I look at it quite differently. Although, I still have a sort of nostalgic place for it in my heart when I think about first watching it.

The show was truly a masterpiece, and a flagship sort of series for gay television. I don't think that there's going to be another show like it ever.

The relationship between Brian and Justin was passionate and loving, yet aloof. I remember getting so frustrated with Brian for pushing Justin away on the numerous occasions that he did. Or for Justin when he ran off with that dreadful violin player!

I found myself invested in Ted's troubles, sympathetic to Emmet's innate desire for acceptance or better still, someone to love and love him. Sometimes I wanted to slap Ben for making a choice I thought stupid. Or shake Michael because he never seemed to quite get over Brian. Back then I was thinking "well what a sappy show about gay guys"

I realize now that these feelings of frustration or happiness, or sadness are all a result of good writing executed by amazing actors. If a show doesn't make you upset, or allow you to empathize with some of the characters than what good is it, really? Not only is this a show that I can relate to--being a gay man--it's a show with universal themes that have that dirty little twist everyone likes.

I love this show, and I really want to go back and watch it again! Great show.

Thanks for sharing your memories Greg. I 100% get what you mean about quickly becoming invested in the character's troubles and wanting to slap them/stop them from making mistakes. And I agree with your take that there will never be another show like it.

One of the things that made QAF so great was the casting. Gale Harold did such an amazing job of portraying Brian's vulnerability, the fact that what he said did not often match what he felt. Randy Harrison did a great job of showing Justin becoming an adult. And the onscreen chemistry between them was amazing.