Saturday 12 July 2008

My romance with the alternative romance genre continues

I’ve thought very hard about writing about this particular TV show. I thought, if I write about this then I will be thought less of because of my attraction to this melodramatic soap opera type. I will be ridiculed for believing and buying into something that is so blatantly made for a specific section of our community. Those who crave cheap romance and get off on the age old love story where friends fall in love can never seem to get it together, ever. Every episode you are tortured, with hope that they might just get it together but alas, it is not meant to be. Ohhh and they came so close this one time….

I kept thinking and thought, hey. Fuck it. This is a brilliant series and one should share what one thinks is brilliant, right? Right! And this is what this blog is about. What I love and want to share. With myself mostly but maybe somebody else out there in cyber ether will identify.

Queer as Folk, American Version, season one and two! Season three, four and five just get too serious and stale and clichéd and just plain boring!

In Queer as Folk I got introduced to Brian Kenny. Brian Kenny is a gay man, who is utterly gorgeous and can (and often does) have anyone he chooses. He is oozing sex and has no inclination towards monogamy. He is who we all would probably like to be and so, so much more. Enter Michael, his best friend since childhood. The only person he’s still not had except; for this one time that they jerked each other off as horny teenagers. Michael and Brian will never be together because that is just the way the writers chose to spin this tale, but I always had hope. Season three, four and five crushed that hope and I hate the writers for it!

There are a few more characters in the series that are really great and one or two that have been very poorly cast. One of whom is the high school kid who falls in love with Brian and turns out to be Brian’s Kryptonite. I think the only reason this guy (Justin was his name) made it into the show was his uncanny resemblance to Matt Damon. I know… Matt is cool and all but he does not make a believable gay man. Even in the Talented Mr Ripley you could feel him trying to cling to something that is just not there in him. The gay man that strives to be sexy and enticing. Just does not work.

The other characters are okay until, enter Zen Ben who would kill my hope that Brian and Michael would end up together.

If you have a weekend to kill or have called in sick at work and need something to keep you going for a good couple of days, get Queer as Folk, American Version Season One and Two. It is funny, it is not for children which is always a bonus as you can always get some nudity, man on man, girl on girl, action, what ever you are into. It is supper sexy without being obscene. Well at least I think so. Do not watch it with the folks though.

It is really what it is. A melodrama with a heck of a lot of nudity and you will fall in love with Michael and want to be Brian!

After watching all the seasons I tried to delve into the L Word. I could only stomach one season of it. It confirmed what I already knew. Girl on Girl is just not meant to be sexy. They tried to replicate Queer as Folk, it just did not work for me. Girls are just different. There is tenderness and loving and no space for being casual about it. We are intrinsically deep and form attachments. There is just nothing casual about us, and if we try, we fall on our asses and remember the embarrassment for eternity. This is a good thing.

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