Queers

QUEERS is really riveting television. It is a mini-series, but the episodes are not intertwined and can be watched in any order. It was made for the BBC for the fiftieth anniversary of the Homosexual Offences Act, which decriminalized sexual acts between men over 21 in Britain. Consisting of eight monologues spoken directly to the camera by different actors. Each monologue is set in a gay bar which appears to be one particular bar, the very existence of which, over the hundred-year course of the series, implies a continuum. Each episode is written by a different writer. But Mark Gattis directed each episode. There is a unity of tone. The immediacy of each story is enhanced by the fact that each is told in the first-person by an actor looking directly at the camera, and hence at the viewer. The temptation is to say each of these is an interior monologue, but, in fact, the actors are talking to us. This is actually very novel. (Hamlet's soliloquy, as a rule, is performed as if he is talking to himself, even as he scans the faces looking at him from the audience. But the characters here really are addressing us. I have two personal favorites here: "I'd Miss You Alice" and "The Man On The Platform." Beautiful performances are featured throughout this project, but every stop is pulled in these two episodes. Of the eight stories, two are told by women, and the irony is not lost. The Homosexual Offences Act specifically dealt with men, but there are two sexes, and 1967 was a watershed year in Britain for anyone, whether a gay male, a lesbian or straight ally. Inasmuch as each story is told by one person, we do not see people interacting. This does not mean Queers is without dramatic tension. It is sometimes a shattering viewing experience, quite often funny, always thoughtful and, above all, truthful.

I never knew that this existed until about a week ago. It's a great idea and concept, but unfortunately the content is mixed. The first three episodes, "The Man on the Platform" with the always excellent Ben Whishaw, "A Grand Day Out" with a mesmerizing Fionn Whitehead and "More Anger" with the, as usual, terrific Russell Tovey are great television and offer important and historic messages, but of the final five only number eight works well, that one with an entertaining Alan Cummings entitled "Something Borrowed", though it's a tad similar to the excellent film "A Single Man." The other five all offer solid performances, but I found their stories not as effective, though none are bad. They are, of course all kind of sad. Coming out, racism, gender issues, longing for lost youth, equality, AIDS, etc. All eight are in different time periods ranging from 1917 to 2016, but they all take place in the same pub. Despite my criticisms, this is recommended.

Despite being gay, I found the format patronising and unrelatable. It doesn't particularly feel as though things have improved for gay people, despite decriminalisation and the adoption of gay marriage. I think it's because most gay people remain lonely and only those who have the time, the material wealth and the social networks can link up with other gay people.

There is very little community even today so I think I found it quite depressing that this televised piece has to preach and make it sound as though we've never had it better by presenting all the monologues based on past experiences to present the point that things have gotten better. The problems gay people face have merely changed and become more difficult to see in some cases.