Friday, November 08, 2013
Queer as Folk: British Production
Set in Manchester it showed on BBC 4 in England. The first surprise is that it lasted only a two seasons. Having watched the version shot in Toronto, Canada that lasted 6 full seasons I was a bit disappointed having missed the part about it being only three disks.
The series covers a lot of the same territory as it’s American mirror but the action is much telescoped lacking a great deal of the exposition given in the subsequent edition. The Lesbians have the baby Stuart fathered in the first half hour. Vince is his faithful side-kick who works in a grocery store and lives with a Mother who affirms his lifestyle choices and has a male boarder/friend. Charlie Hunnam plays teenage Nathan Stuart’s young stalker who is still in highschool or 6th Form and has a faithful female friend. Charlie is just growing into the stunningly handsome hunk he will become in later years.
Vince has a female employee who has an eye for him. He is not ‘out’ at work. Stuart drives a company car, a Jeep which is vandalized by young homophobes. The nature of Stuart’s executive position is not immediately apparent. It rapidly becomes apparent that the American version picked up a lot of the same themes but enjoyed the luxury of giving them much greater development. All the characters we see live the same promiscuous gay lifestyle shown in the American Version. They engage in heavy petting and man on man action complete with foreplay. The British Midlands lingo takes some getting used to.
I watched this because I wanted to see the series that inspired the American Edition. This is no show for homophobes or rednecks but if you can get by the explicit sex in the end ‘Folk’ is about 29-year-olds coping with settling down, making commitments, and getting on with their lives.
The series covers a lot of the same territory as it’s American mirror but the action is much telescoped lacking a great deal of the exposition given in the subsequent edition. The Lesbians have the baby Stuart fathered in the first half hour. Vince is his faithful side-kick who works in a grocery store and lives with a Mother who affirms his lifestyle choices and has a male boarder/friend. Charlie Hunnam plays teenage Nathan Stuart’s young stalker who is still in highschool or 6th Form and has a faithful female friend. Charlie is just growing into the stunningly handsome hunk he will become in later years.
Vince has a female employee who has an eye for him. He is not ‘out’ at work. Stuart drives a company car, a Jeep which is vandalized by young homophobes. The nature of Stuart’s executive position is not immediately apparent. It rapidly becomes apparent that the American version picked up a lot of the same themes but enjoyed the luxury of giving them much greater development. All the characters we see live the same promiscuous gay lifestyle shown in the American Version. They engage in heavy petting and man on man action complete with foreplay. The British Midlands lingo takes some getting used to.
I watched this because I wanted to see the series that inspired the American Edition. This is no show for homophobes or rednecks but if you can get by the explicit sex in the end ‘Folk’ is about 29-year-olds coping with settling down, making commitments, and getting on with their lives.
# posted by garthmailman@gmail.com @ 9:38 am 
