Queer as Folk

For many years, queer film and television focused on tragedy: homophobia, the pain of coming out, unrequited love, and AIDS.

Now that all things queer have become widely normalized and ubiquitous, this reboot reaches back six years to exploit the true horror of the Pulse shooting - to Make Queer Tragic Again.

As in its previous versions, the self-obsessed characters still have the emotional and sexual maturity of 13-year-olds.

But the most galling scene shows them mocking a celebrity who exploits the fictional tragedy for media attention - in a show that exploits a real tragedy for media attention.

It is really not necessary to go into detail but this remake of QaF is just like all the other 202X remakes of bigger brands. It's a show featuring a queer group of people in New Orleans with the name Queer as Folk. But other than the name the show has nothing to do with the other two shows.

On the surface they may share similar storylines but only on the surface.

There's no depth to it. The characters are very very shallow and can't be compared to there counterparts from previous incarnations.

The dialogue is as expected flat and shallow like in all new shows these days (Star Trek Discovery and so on) In short: this show is a mess and a waste of time and effort.

The original US version was incredible, I remember watching it at 10pm when it was on. It was intense, the sex scenes were shocking for the time. There was passion. Having watched the first episode of this new adaptation I wish they hadn't. None of the grit and authenticity of the original US version. This "looks" like a MTV music video.

I came to this series with a positive bias; I loved the earlier Brit and US versions. I just can't figure out what this series is trying to be. So far, it's a collections of stereotypes (promiscuity, flamboyance, emotional over-the-topness). As a gay man myself, I don't identify with any of these characters. What is the point of this show? To portray our LGBTQ+ community in the worst possible light?

The original UK series from 1999 was ground breaking but this, is a bit of a hot mess in comparison. It's like the production is demanding that every letter of the alphabet, and every colour of the rainbow be squished into each and every episode. There are more stereotypes than you can poke a stick at. Have the makers of this show ever heard the phrase, less is more?