Queer As Folk - My Guilty Pleasure
Season One
by Gabrielle

 

Touted by Showtime as "Totally Uncut Queer TV" at the 2000 Washington DC Millennium March, Queer As Folk (QAF) is quite simply put the gayest soap opera ever produced for television in the US. I think it is important to remember two key words - SOAP OPERA. As someone who grew up with (ok my age is going to start to show) wondering "Who Shot JR?" and mesmerized by that memorable small screen bitch Alexis, I understood that the Ewings and Carringtons were NOT REAL. If we could suspend disbelief for an hour a week for ultra rich heterosexuals, we are we so hard on the gang inhabiting the Liberty Avenue?

You know what, I have been ready to get involved in a homosexual soap opera on TV. At this point I feel compelled to admit that I do buy the National Enquirer several times a year, and have current subscriptions to People, Vanity Fair, and Entertainment Weekly. So I like a little cheese with my Newsweek and Harvard Business Review. Can't a gal have the best of all worlds these days? I loved Ellen and watch Will and Grace, but they are nothing like QAF!!

What's not to love about QAF? It is all gay all the time, and Michelle Clunie and Thea Gill are definitely cuties :-) Does it perpetuate and exploit some myths about our community? Sure. But don't tell me Wonder Woman and Charlie's Angels did not do the same thing just in a different way. I loved Bat Girl as much as the next dyke, but honey I would NOT be doing my crime fighting in heels!!

Is QAF damaging to the GLBT movement? I understand this question needs to be asked but I hate having to deal with this question. Trust me, I try to a good lesbian. My partner and I have a membership to HRC and work to support all the right causes. I even have the obligatory rainbow sticker on my car. Why can't I have a little guilty pleasure without worrying about what the straight crowd thinks? I thought the purpose of a soap opera was to exaggerate aspects of real life to explore its entertainment value. Why does something so fun always have to have such dire consequences to the community?

Basically I think QAF is good fun. The storylines are getting better and so is the acting. Michelle Clunie is by far the breakout actor on this show. It is my understanding that the storylines for the ladies will be increasing for season two (sorry boys!!) And who doesn't like seeing our old Cagney and Lacey icon Sharon Gless on television every week? Sharon Gless's presence on Queer As Folk has definitely helped to raise the quality of the production. My guess is that all of the younger actors are learning a lot from her talent and experience.

So sue me (God I wish Melanie Marcus would bring a subpoena to my place ASAP). I like my QAF every Sunday at 10pm on Showtime. Before I go to bed on Sunday night to tackle the workweek ahead, I watch the gang from Pittsburgh. QAF means never having to say you are sorry for who you are and I for one refuse to apologize for enjoying QAF.

For more information on Queer As Folk please visit www.queer.sho.com.

My QAF Guilty Pleasures

• Michelle Clunie as Melanie Marcus
• Thea Gill as Lindsay Peterson
• Great dance music
• The creation of the Melanie Loves Lindsay web site http://www.melanieloveslindsay.com/
• Sharon Gless as Debbie Novotny
• The portrayal of issues surrounding starting a family while in a same sex relationship
• Sex without having to say you are sorry
• Lots of people fighting and making up
• The fact that a gay soap opera is approached no differently that a straight soap opera

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