Queer As Folk directed by Charles McDougall and Sarah Harding

Rating: 5 Reviewer: Meg Series: 1999 Series I, Parts 1 and 2

The amazing thing about Queer As Folk is that it was a television show. In this video release it seems more like a movie with it's continuous action and story flow with barely noticeable spots where commercials of some sort might have been inserted. Furthermore it has very explicit sex, certainly more explicit than anything that might be seen here in the United States on prime or any other time. It also portrays a lifestyle heavily into cruising, a still very controversial subject on our more puritanical side of the ocean. The series has so many strengths. Its presentation of the three complex main characters, Stuart, Vince, and Nathan, are all augmented by thorough invovement from their families and friends, as important in their own ways as the central figures. I could write at length about each of the secondary characters, they are so well drawn. If two stand out, then Vince's and Nathan's moms deserve mention. Vince's mom is a woman of infinite patience and wisdom despite her flamboyant wisecracking and somewhat unconventional lifestyle. She is an intuitive mom who embraces her son and his friends and their problems with unconditional love. Always ready to become actively involved in their problems, she knows instinctively when to butt in and when to stay out. It's obvious that the love she extends to Vince and his pals is returned. Nathan's mom is a future Vince's mom. She finds out about Nathan while cleaning his room where she uncovers a pile of gay magazines. She accepts it with equanimity, but her struggle with her rebellious teenage son who doesn't appreciate her attempts to communicate is one that many parents find themselves engaged in regardless of sexual preference. She is committed however to maintaining contact with her sulky, irritable son and even begins to go herself to the pubs he frequents. In contrast to these two moms, is Stuart's mother. Stuart, the grand seducer, cruiser extraordinary, is the most distanced from his family. He and his parents lives seem disconnected. The most openly gay member of the triumvirate in his working and playing environments, he is completely closeted when it comes to his parents. Their upper middle class world is filled with their issues and their problems and he enters that world only when prodded by his sister, then quickly ducks out again. In general the female characters are strong. Donna, Nathan's best friend sticks by him through thick and thin, forming at times a necessary link with his mom whom she introduces to the gay club scene. She obviously believes Nathan is special and admires his daring and determination to, as the video cover says, "explode out" rather than "come out." But she stands up to him too when necessary, telling him at one point that she does too understand what it means to be oppressed. After all she is Black and female! The entire series is an exploration in relationships, in finding oneself, in the assumption of adult responsibility, and in discovering the essence of love. There are some complex questions here. Why does Stuart cruise so intensely? Is it because he is arrogant, callous, supremely self confident, a risk taker, and detached, or is it something else? Is Vince Stuart's unrequited true love and how much of that is Vince's fault for believing himself to be unworthy and rejecting anyone who shows interest, even his boyhood friend, Stuart? So, does Stuart cruise to sublimate his desire for Vince? Why does Vince feel unworthy? Will he ever realize that he is desireable, attractive, and a warm and caring human being who would make a wonderful lover and partner? Will he ever be able to respect someone who loves him? And just where does that rascal Nathan fit into the lives of the other two? What is a fifteen year old boy doing with two 29 year old men? What is there about Nathan that makes him so able to insinuate himself into their lives, even living in Vince's room at his mother's or making friends with the lesbian parents of Stuart's son? He gives new meaning to the name Lolita, for sure. Destined to be seen, destined to be a force of nature, Nathan blasts his way through the rites of boyhood passage. The movie is full of such questions that frustrate and intrigue the viewer at every turn. Stuart, seeming irresponsible, can demonstrate enormous sympathy and sensitivity at the oddest moments. Moments like stealing the keys to a dead friend's apartment so he and Vince can remove all the gay paraphenalia before Phil's mom comes in to sort his belongings. Or holding his baby, kissing the top of his head while the baby's mother and lover nag him. Or the tender moments with Vince when we know for sure how much Stuart loves him, followed by his deliberate sabotoge of their relationship to gain what he perceives may be happiness for Vince. Then his loss when he tries to continue without Vince and his exhuberant joy when Vince reappears. Stuart is a man of many emotional levels. His initial impression of careless arrogance is only the surface of a very deep pool. It is impossible not to love these characters. They are both appealing and fascinating. I wanted to know more about them and was glad to hear that the series will conitinues. I will be watching on Amazon for updates.