Queer as Folk
Writer/Director
Written and directed by Russel T. Davies. This was the first TV show in the world where all the main and supporting characters were homosexual. Davies represented the homosexual characters in a truthful and realistic manner, as opposed to the usual misrepresentation of LGBTQ people at this time (and of which is still an issue today). The characters in the programme do not struggle so much with coming out, they are already openly and happily gay - being gay is something they just happen to be, much like in Banana and Cucumber. The show was so successful because of the way it normalised sexuality. It focuses on gay men in the club scene of the late 1990s. It received huge viewing rates on the first episode, numbers dwindled a little afterwards but remained impressive. It also received a high number of complaints because it was 'seen by conservative and homophobic viewers as a direct challenge to the heterosexual regime, and as an attack on the hitherto uncontested heterosexuality of the televisual representational arena'. The programme has a lot of sex scenes, which didn't sit well with some viewers. It touches upon race and gender issues also.
Setting
Canal Street in Manchester, the city's gay area. Some people in the LBGTQ community felt that Canal Street got an overly glamorised representation, but still depicted it as the safe and accepting space that is is. The 90s was when Canal Street really began to become the place that it is today.
Characters
- Stuart Allen Jones: Gay. A very sexually active character who is lucky with men - and he knows it. In the first episode we find out that he has a newborn baby with a woman, who is a lesbian for which Stuart was a sperm donor for. He is a man with few morals.
- Vince Taylor: Gay. Vince has a huge crush on Stuart, of which Stuart is aware of. Vince is not so lucky with men. He is in the closet at work, nobody knows that he is gay and his work colleague sets him up with women. He is a very insecure. Vince spends most of his time clearing up after Stuart.
- Nathan Maloney: 15 years old. Gay. New to the gay scene. Nathan and Stuart meet out on Canal Street, and proceed to have sex, even though Stuart is only 15 (Nathan tells him at first that he is in college, but Stuart gets the truth out of him). He becomes obsessed with Stuart, and follows he and Vince around. Nathan tells his best friend Donna that he is gay, and she is very accepting and encouraging.
- Phil: Gay. He and Vince were intimate. However, Vince dies and at his funeral his mother blames his death on his sexuality because she needs something to blame.
- Alexander: Gay. The 'queen' of the group.
