Mar 20, 2020

Searching for TV Shows of Gay Interest on Amazon Prime

For awhile, Amazon Prime was offering dozens of gay-themed movies and tv shows.  Then, about the same time that we began social isolation due to the coronavirus -- and started watching more tv -- the gay themes dried up.  Now we have to sort through innumerable shows "we think you'll like," checking wikipedia and IMDB before committing. Gay characters?  Same-sex friendships?  If they are entirely heterosexist, is there at least some beefcake to look at?  



Afsos: "A suicidal man and a deadly assassin (what other kind of assassin is there) encounter the world of immortality (whch would make both of their goals difficult).  Is it too much to hope that they're both guys?

They aren't - Nakul (Gulshan Devalah) wants to die, so he hires assassin Karima (Heeba Shah) to kill him.  Then he changes his mind.  How much do you want to bet that they fall in love?  Next!

Blanding: An eccentric aristocrat, his crazy family, and their rambling house, set in the 1930s.  That was the heyday of the gay aristocrat.  Could Blanding be?

No, Lord Emsworth (Timothy Spall) is straight, as is his son Freddie (Jack Farthing,left).  But his "imperious sister" is played by Jennifer Saunders of Absolutely Fabulous.  Maybe







Drifters: "After graduating from University, Meg, Bunny, and Laura share a flat and negotiate the ups and downs of life."  OMG, sounds like a British Girls.  Are there are least some cute guys?

Meg's boyfriend Philip McGinty: No.
Meg's brother Sam Jackson (left): Yes.
Laura's boyfriend Bobby Hirston: No.
Manager of the cell phone shop Nick Mohammed: No.
Not good enough.  Next!

Green Wing: "Genre-defying comedy set in a hospital but with no medical content."  Caroline is torn between Guy and Mac, Martin is in love with Caroline, Sue is in love with Mac, Alan is in love with Pippa, and I'm outta here!

I Love You 2: "At the age of 35, Hector (Francois Vincentelli) meets his childhood love Louise, and falls in love with her all over again."  Problem: he's in a relationship with Jeremy (Olivier Barthelemy).  So it's basically a "cheating on your partner" comedy, with a "nobody is really gay" twist.  The guys are attractive, but...ugh! Next!

London Irish: "A hard-drinking ex-pat community of Northern Irish in London." Like a British Friends, or It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  Packy (Peter Campion) and Conor (Kerr Logan) are both straight. Cute, though (top photo). Maybe they have a subtext?  I'll give it a try.

The Lost Room: Detective (Peter Krause) has a key that unlocks a hotel room full of mystical objects, which he uses to search for his missing daughter.  Various other people have objects or want objects.  There are three secret societies: The Collectors, the Legion, and the Order of Reunification. All that in only three episodes? And everybody is heterosexual.  Next!

Laid: An Australian woman named Roo discovers that her ex-lovers are dying in unusual ways, and tries to save the remaining ones. Could some of those lovers be women, or at least cute guys?

Her scoobies include Zack (Toby Truslove) and Charlie (Abe Forsythe).  Not particularly attractive, and no gay content.  Next!

Wonderland: "A warm and engaging relationship drama revolving around four couples at very different stages of life."  The guys are:
1. Tom (Michael Dorman), who makes a bet that he won't have sex with anyone in the apartment complex.  Then the Woman of His Dreams shows up.
2. Steve (Tim Ross), just married to Dani (a woman).
3. Rob (Ben Mingay), in a long marriage.  With a woman.
4. Carlos (Glen McMillan, left), who has just moved in with his girlfriend.
One episode involves Dani's "emotional challenge" when her mother announces that she is marrying a woman.  Otherwise three seasons of heterosexism.  Next! 

 Whoops, that's the end of the list.  No gay characters (a gay guy in love with a woman doesn't count).  Two potential subtexts.  Amazon Prime drought.

3 comments:

  1. I Love You 2 sounds awful, so do almost all of the others you listen. However, I do like Peter Krause. What I can suggest is that Freeform movie The Thing About Harry, that is available on Hulu. It's nothing special but still, gay-themed. It's quite fresh, I mean new and very 2020.

    Other titles... Giant Little Ones (2018), about the struggle with sexuality. Got back and rewatched Brokeback Mountain (2005). Not that long ago, I discovered this Hungarian movie Land of Storms (2014). It's interesting, pretty different too, as far as I remember.

    Of course... Love, Simon (2018) is a must-see. And the amazing (then ABC Family, now Freeform) TV show The Fosters (2013–2018).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not a fan of dramas in general: entertainment should make your life happier, not more dark and depressed. And gay-themed dramas, struggling to come out in a homophobic society where no gay culture exists, even if they're set in the present -- the worst. See my post "60 movies I will never see (or saw and regretted it).

      Delete
  2. I'd watch Jennifer Saunders read the phonebook. (Are phonebooks still a thing)?

    ReplyDelete

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