Reuters.com
TV review: Queer as Folk
Thu Aug 4, 2005 9:59 PM ET
By Ray Richmond
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - And so it ends. "Queer as Folk,"
the series that brought graphic depictions of fellatio and anal sex
to the American mainstream, departs the Showtime air in an important
way -- that is, utterly without controversy.
"Queer" has been about more than just rampant copulation, likewise
pulling open the curtain on the social and political mores that
define the gay community. Yet the show's provocative legacy is
destined to be its no-holds-barred eagerness to shock with scenes
roughly akin to soft-core porn.
To say that "Queer" goes out with a bang is too good a pun to pass
up, of course. As we bid adieu to the show at the end of its fifth
season, Brian (Gale Harold) and Justin (Randy Harrison) are getting
ready to tie the knot. Lesbian couple Lindsay (Thea Gill) and Melanie
(Michelle Clunie) move to Canada. Michael (Hal Sparks) has been asked
to represent the Committee For Human Rights. And Ted (Scott Lowell)
finally gets real about his relationship with Tad (Ben Bass).
It provides a satisfying capper to a series that perhaps hasn't
received sufficient credit for paving the way to greater content
freedom in television. What proved shocking at the turn of this
century is no longer a big deal, in part because "Queer as Folk" has
taken gay sexuality literally out of the closet and plunked it down
in our living rooms -- often with brazen candor. A behavior once
considered scandalously taboo as far as TV was concerned is now just
another piece of the landscape, and creator-producer-writers Ron
Cowen and Daniel Lipman deserve significant credit for single-
handedly engineering the transformation (as does Showtime for bravely
giving it the platform). While the soap opera-esque "Queer as Folk"
wasn't always great television, it has been revolutionary nonetheless.
in the Aug. 8th issue of Us
Weekly there is a small, small write up about QAF. It also had a pic
of Gale and Randy. I don't have a scanner but here is what the
article reads:
After five years, the gay drama flickers out. Brian (Gale Harold) and
Justin (Randy Harrison) prepare to wed, and Ted (Scott Lowell) gets
insight into his relationship with Tad (Ben Bass). What will Lowell
miss? The "opportunity to make the worl a better place by showing off
my naked butt," he kids Us.作者: linda0524 时间: 2005-8-6 00:42
While the soap opera-esque "Queer as Folk"
wasn't always great television, it has been revolutionary nonetheless.
*******
[s:249] 仅仅这样而已？？作者: 模棱两可 时间: 2005-8-6 01:33
这些评论只是一个人的观点而已，不用在乎它。作者: qqqq2046 时间: 2005-8-6 13:01 标题: the Salt Lake Tribune：Showtime's 'Queer as Folk' ends its 5-year ru
http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_2915030
Looking back: Hailed by some, but damned even by some members of the gay community, the drama blazed new trails
By Michael N. Westley
The Salt Lake Tribune
As the last scenes play Sunday on the finale of Showtime's gay drama, "Queer as Folk," viewers will be treated to a subtle throwback to the show's beginning.
Fans who tuned in for the series' first episode - which shocked gay and straight viewers alike with its unapologetic portrayal of homosexual life - may recognize the repetition.
And without giving up the goods about whether Brian (Gale Harold) will retire to the country with Justin (Randy Harrison) or if Melanie (Michelle Clunie) and Lindsay (Thea Gill) take their young children to Canada, one hint can be dropped.
Listen for the song.
Heather Small's "Proud" ended the inaugural episode of "Queer as Folk" on Dec. 10, 2000. The song's themes of breaking free and moving forward offered hope, not only for the characters but for acceptance of the gay and lesbian community.
Executive producer Dan Lipman said it was clear Showtime was after something different when it approached him about re-creating the British series "Queer as Folk" for an American audience.
"It was meant as a very outrageous, graphic, in-your-face, not politically correct view of gay life. We, of course, accepted the challenge," he said.
But as Small's voice boomed at the end of the first show and viewers sat stunned - fresh with the introduction of the show's eight main characters and its nearly pornographic depiction of two of them in bed - critics wailed a mixed chorus.
Hailed by some as innovative, the show was panned as sensational and inappropriate by others, including members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community.
"Because everyone in the general public that will watch it sees all the sex, drugs and says, 'that's the typical gay lifestyle,' " said Mel Nimer, a 55-year-old accountant and small-business owner who lives in Salt Lake City.
But criticism from within the gay community that the show was not an accurate portrayal of gay life didn't faze Lipman.
"We thought that the gay community would embrace it. A lot did and a lot didn't . . .
"I'm so proud that we were able to do this show the way we wanted to do it. Showtime never said no to us. They never said anything - complete and utter carte blanche in this show," Lipman said.
That freedom allowed the show's producers to explore a wide range of topics: sex, addiction, HIV/AIDS, politics, discrimination, gay bashing, marriage, adoption, love and relationships.
"Many people have never seen men relate to each other in a loving and tender way," Lipman said.
"Queer as Folk" paved the way for shows like Bravo's "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" and Showtime's "The L Word" and boosted the popularity of prime-time sitcoms with
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gay characters like "Will and Grace," said Kathy Sanchez, media manager for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, a national group dedicated to promoting fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating discrimination.
"It's been really historic. It's one of the first times that gays and lesbians got to see ourselves on TV in something other than the safe-bet friend or the neighbor. We were portrayed with authentic flair as real three-dimensional characters."
Craig Brimmer, a 28-year-old Salt Lake City man who was watching the second-to-last episode of the show last Sunday at Try-Angles, a small gay bar on Salt Lake City's west side, said the show "pushed borders."
"We were always waiting to see what they could get away with, but more because there were boundaries that needed to be pushed and things that needed to be seen," said Brimmer, who has watched the show with friends at a local pub since its first days.
"It created a reflection of ourselves that we can't always see," he said.
Watching Justin come out to his parents, Brian survive testicular cancer, Ted (Scott Lowell) battle an addiction to drugs and porn, Michael (Hal Sparks) and Ben (Ben Bruckner) struggle with HIV within a committed relationship and Emmett (Peter Paige) parade as the show's bubbly, witty fashionista helped viewers deal with issues in their own lives.
"It gave me confidence to come out to my parents," said John Kippen, 27, who was part of Brimmer's group at the club Sunday. This fifth season, the group agreed, has delivered more surprises and depth. It was heavier on drama, but more politically charged, and every character was used to explore an issue. With one episode to go, writers have a lot to wrap up: Will Ted find himself? Will Emmett find love? Will Michael and Brian make peace?
In the end, "Queer as Folk" will go out as it came in, with a song of hope.
mwestley@sltrib.com
Queer as Folk" concludes Sunday on Showtime at 8 p.m, preceded by a "farewell" special at 7:30 p.m.作者: jill_liu 时间: 2005-8-6 15:31
August 6, 2005
An End to Notches on the Headboard
By NED MARTEL
"Queer as Folk," which has its finale on Showtime tomorrow night, was just a more honest "Sex and the City." Carrie Bradshaw and company enjoyed a turnover of partners that seemed more appropriate to gay culture, and those women discussed the tawdry details of their escapades in gay-worthy repartee. The writers even winked to the connection by naming Carrie's most eligible prospect after a gay-pornography legend.
So it stood to reason that television audiences were ready for an all-male version. And when Showtime came out with the gay ensemble drama "Queer as Folk" five years ago, the initial shock was really not because of all the restroom-stall sex. Instead it was a revelation that real gay men could speak their minds on television instead of having their thoughts channeled through babes in asymmetrical skirts or, to go back a decade, through the silver foxes of "The Golden Girls."
Overnight, Brian Kinney (played by Gale Harold), the überstud of "Queer as Folk," became an accumulator of headboard notches that would put Samantha Jones to shame and that made her double-entendres seem like an also-ran's at a drag contest. A gay coterie in Pittsburgh followed Brian's lead: Emmett, the shop girl who dreams of stardom; Ted, the repressed accountant who loves Callas; Michael, the comic-book enthusiast and doormat; Justin, the boy wonder who just might be an Important Artist.
In short order the woes of this clique found a predictable rhythm. The shows introduced new loves (a gazillionaire sugar daddy, a classical music virtuoso, a closeted football star), each of whom upset the balance among this ersatz family of friends. Each satellite romance met some resolution, always with a rainbow-bannered lesson.
The show was always tackling this subtheme or that. Of course, there was an incident of gay bashing, a romance wrecked by crystal-meth abuse, a probate dispute when a dead man's family attacked the surviving partner, an Internet-pornography addiction that led to a business prospect, and most tediously, the sharing of biological children with a lesbian couple. Imagine the possible complications, and they all basically showed up in the scripts, never with as much depth or surprise as befits the newness of this subject matter. The adolescent dialogue was too often rushing toward a dramatic climax, sounding unbelievably oratorical, and then sashaying on to another crise de coeur.
Like its all-female precursor, "Queer as Folk" delighted in its own wordplay, losing its audience with groaners. (A straight mom tells her embittered son, "By the look of your face, I should have ordered a sour-apple martini.") To their credit, the "Queer" guys were much less afraid of the dark side than the "Sex" gals had been. Of course, parental acceptance is an issue throughout gay and lesbian life, and we saw the humiliatingly loud embrace of gay culture in Michael's case and unwavering hostility in Justin's.
The men were always wedging themselves too far into each other's business, both personal and professional. Toward the end of this final season, the coldhearted Brian balks when Ted insists on consoling him. But it's not as if Brian doesn't have a grasp on his own damage: "The fact that I drink like a fish, abuse drugs and have more or less redefined promiscuity doesn't help - much. As a result I've lost the two people in my life that mean the most to me."
"There," Ted says. "Don't you feel better?"
"No," Brian replies. "But I'm sure you do."
All along, Brian has served his purpose in tamping down the irrational exuberance of gay liberation. He's a smug sourpuss, and he gets away with that because he's butch and sexy and could fly to Mardi Gras in Sydney on a whim. What he lacks in self-doubt he makes up in a chilly, informed cynicism. This season has become, in a way, Brian's song as he rebounded from cancer and felt his own acute losses. He knows where he made mistakes, but the force he really blames is none other than the gay-rights movement.
The more the gay world has made its demands known about assimilation, the more its quirks and freedoms and faults have come into fuller view (on shows like "Queer as Folk," when you think about it). Brian says he doesn't want the juicers and Ginsu knives that come with marriage. He accuses his gay friends who do of defection.
All this leads to an incendiary ending, one that toys with a main character's life, as I guess all series finales must these days. The last episode begins with typical opening credits - a silly, swishy Gap ad of gay life - and ends with nut cases and histrionics and "I should have told you this before" hugs. In this sad denouement, the show proves it has moved past its initial usefulness, except that it helped "The L Word" get a time slot. In fact many in the gay audience now watch "Queer as Folk" as a civic duty and also to howl in mortification at the countless stereotypes.
It's too bad that pioneering productions don't know how to bow out gracefully, that hits often hang on too long. (Not true of the original British version, whose brief run is still revered for its élan and impact.)
Above all there's an impulse to thank the straight actors in the "Queer as Folk" cast, although it's never completely clear which are heterosexual, for doing things that didn't come naturally. It couldn't have been easy to put bodies through such motions. But of course, swimming against the behavioral stream is familiar to the gay legions who tried not to be gay, who groped for answers, who learned their orientation by acts that went against their instincts. For that artistic challenge, the cast deserves spirited applause, if not a call for "Encore."
Queer As Folk
Showtime, tomorrow night at 10, Eastern and Pacific times; 9, Central time.
Ron Cowen, Daniel Lipman and Tony Jonas, executive producers; Sheila Hockin, producer.
WITH: Michelle Clunie (Melanie), Thea Gill (Lindsay), Sharon Gless (Debbie), Gale Harold (Brian), Randy Harrison (Justin), Scott Lowell (Ted), Peter Paige (Emmett), Hal Sparks (Michael), Robert Gant (Ben), Harris Allan (Hunter), Peter MacNeill (Detective Carl Horvath).
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company Home Privacy Policy Search Corrections XML Help Contact Us Work for Us Back to Top作者: jill_liu 时间: 2005-8-7 23:52
"Queer as Folk," which has its finale on Showtime tomorrow night, was just a more honest "Sex and the City."
我最反感把QAF和Sex and the City放到一起说.作者: from912 时间: 2005-8-8 13:23
QAF的确和SEX AND THE CITY完全没有共通点，直到SATC结束，我也搞不清楚它试图告诉我们什么，除了无数的华服美女，美则美矣，全无灵魂，看完就算，完全没有感动。QAF却让我想的很多，关于勇气，希望以及生活态度……
不过作者有一点说的对，QAF的主创们的确不懂如何优雅的谢幕。看看S5作者: vanii 时间: 2005-8-8 13:29
同意楼上两位的观点。我甚至只看了一集半SEX AND CITY，太无聊了。
至于这个REVIEW嘛，谁来大体说一下，实在没心情看。
For those who missed the final episode of ‘Queer As Folk,’ it was a tear-jerking pleasure..
By Brian Moylan
Friday, August 12, 2005
YES, I WAS a big “Queer As Folk” hater. For years, every time the popular Showtime drama started up another season, released another DVD or dropped a new CD compilation I would grunt and roll my eyes.
After the second season, I stopped watching entirely. As far as I was concerned, it could continue on with its outlandish plots, cartoon-like characters, mediocre acting and preachy premises without me to witness this train wreck.
Last Sunday, however, when the final “QAF” episode of the show’s fifth and final season aired, I tuned in for the first time in three years and found myself surprisingly moved.
As usually happens in a planned ending of a long-running TV serial, all of the storylines wrapped up fairly neatly. Melanie (Michelle Clunie) and Lindsay (Thea Gill), who recently reconciled after a messy breakup over a sexual indiscretion, moved with their two children to Canada, where they could legally get married and raised them in a much more gay-friendly environment.
Michael (Hal Sparks) and Ben (Robert Gant), who bought a house in the suburbs during the show’s final season, adopted the sometimes-troubled and always-obnoxious Hunter (Harris Allen), much to Debbie’s (Sharon Gless) delight.
Ted (Scott Lowell) and Emmett (Peter Paige) found opportunities for love (maybe) with two hotties from their pasts. Ted acknowledged that he would be just fine with or without a man, though he spent the better part of the final season worrying about his looks and looking for love in all the wrong places.
As for Brian (Gale Harold) and Justin (Randy Harrison), they called off their wedding so Justin could pursue an art career in New York. Brian, a changed man, stayed behind, possibly to resurrect the bombed-out Babylon. Or maybe just screw around with every hot (or not) man and his own life some more.
And in the final scene, a remembrance of the series’ early episodes as a trail-blazing sexpot, the whole gang could be seen partying at the club.
I admit it: I was sobbing.
It was a bit like the death of a great-aunt. Here’s this family member that you’re not especially close to and only see on holidays and special occasions. She was a bit feeble and annoying at times. But once she’s gone, you remember just how much she meant to you.
Even if you didn’t watch “QAF,” it was always there: at Pride celebrations, advertised in gay media, touring a club version of Babylon to those cities around the country who wanted a taste of Pittsburgh. You couldn’t get rid of it.
That’s part of what was good about it. Even though it had a huge straight following, it was the first show that was entirely ours. What is Pride going to be like without a “QAF” actor or two (straight, gay or closeted)?
That visibility is a credit to its executive producers, Ron Cowan and Daniel Lipman, and its actors, three of whom are openly gay — Gant (Ben), Harrison (Justin) and Paige (Emmett). All of them were always willing to talk to the gay press, attend gay events and fund-raisers, and even campaign for political causes during the last presidential election.
“I think in retrospect it was groundbreaking in comparison to anything that has been done on TV before with gay content,” says Stephen Tropiano, author of “The Primetime Closet” and an authority on the history of gay television. “They delivered what they promised: a sexually explicit show. There really isn’t anything to take its place, at this time.”
Nothing — including that lesbian Showtime program — ever will.
Before the final episode, Showtime prepared a 30-minute farewell special with comments from the actors, writers and producers, many of whom noted that it was the first program to depict explicit gay sexual relationships. Just as many commented on the number of people who had contacted them about the positive impact “QAF” had on their lives.
Today, with three gay television networks (Here!, Logo and Q Television) and counting, we will undoubtedly be seeing plenty more shows with gay themes. I hope at least a few will include some hot sex scenes and that they’ll be involved in community work.
But “Queer As Folk” will always have pride of place as the groundbreaker, the first. It was brave, bold and pioneering. For that, we should all be proud.作者: shakeme 时间: 2005-8-16 10:35
看不懂