A TV JOURNEY INTO OUR SUB-CULTURE
From The Sea Beyond to Queer as Folk: how the LGBTQ+ community is portrayed in TV series
Compared to the past, TV like cinema is giving a very vivid picture of the LGBTQ+ community of our time. This is a big step forward, considering the first appearances of characters from the rainbow world with a faithful portrayal, in which to animate ‘lived life’ stories were sporadic. On TV, the ‘Queer as Folk’ series created by Russell T. Davis, in the late 1990s, was fulminating. The British version, which lasted only two seasons, became world-famous thanks to its American remake that, like a tornado from 2000 to 2005, catalzyed attention on itself, for the frank and sincere story about a group of men looking for love in a hectic Pittsburgh. After the success of ‘Queer as Folk’, more attention was paid to the rainbow world, trying to portray the environment in which the community moves, in order to give the audience as a true picture of the rainbow world as possible.
Over the last few years, we have been facing a number of stories, that have focused precisely on the representation of the LGBTQ+ environment. Reasonably, with a view on the world that represents us, we have selected three TV series from three different nationalities, in order to portray three realities in which the community moves.
THE SEA BEYOND
It is not strictly an LGBTQ+-themed series, but at its core, it is a story involving two young boys serving their sentence at the IPM in Naples: Cucciolo and Milos. A story of an intense and forbidden love that highlights at how difficult it is to live in Naples, escape from micro-criminality and happily live out one’s sexual orientation. The characters are forced to lie, hide in the shadows and be overwhelmed by a discomfort that is not easy to manage. While behind their backs two gangs wage war, they find themselves caught up in a love story, that is consumed in silence and with the fear of being discovered, but so strong and visceral that it is impossible to remain immune to its power.
QUEER AS FOLK
What has already been a remake of the British series, made in the early 2000s has undergone another revival in 2022. The setting that moves from Pittsburgh to New Orleans is described as a fluid reality, where there is no distinction of gender or sexual orientation. The characters themselves move in a context where being homosexual is an added detail, and where life flows smoothly. In an attempt, however, to be adherent to modern times, the story recounts the rainbow lifestyle after an attack on the LGBTQ+ community in a discotheque. Such hard-hitting and outspoken stories are then joined by an unflinching portrayal of the city and a whole host of characters who live, love and dream in a modern New Orleans, pulsating in the shadow of Babylon. An imperfect series but of great value for the times we are living in.
HEARTSTOPPER
It is one of Netflix’s most popular TV series that chronicled the teenage loves of a group of young people living in an English high school. It focuses on the British LGBTQ+ environment and did so with a sweet and melancholic touch, imagining a world in which two (very young) boys can love each other freely and are supported by their family and friends. Two seasons already available for streaming, a third is in the pipeline, four graphic novels inspired the series. A tender, sparkling tale that captures a contemporary reality with a heartfelt, gut feeling look at today’s LGBTQ+, painting an idyllic reality, where bullying can still be fought and where only the power of love triumphs.