I wrote the following on the Brothers and Sisters Facebook page:
I have just finished watching season four on DVD. I feel that the show has gone downhill. The first three seasons were excellent. This season had the Schmaltz laid on far too thick and what is with the loud music playing over dialogue? During what would have been some rather moving scenes, like the one between Nora and Kevin in the kitchen on his birthday, were completely ruined by a schmaltzy song playing over their speaking. We are not stupid we don't need a sad song to tell us that this was a moving scene! I am a sucker for a moving scene and tearjerkers but honestly this was just laid on with a trowel. It felt patronising. I will still watch season five but am not surprised to read that season five is likely to be the last. Let's hope that in season five they cut back on the schmaltz the loud music over the dialogue and cut the patronising of the viewer.
I was disappointed with this fourth series. Obviously I had really enjoyed the first three. I have no idea why they decided to over-egg the pudding for series 4.
The other thing that really has made me annoyed is the fact that Kevin and Scotty get yearly HIV tests. Does no one believe that gay couples can be and are monogamous? John and I have been together for 30 years next July. Not only do we not practice safe sex we also do not take HIV tests. We have no need to. HIV tests are necessary for those men and women who have unprotected sex with other men and women that they are not in long-term monogamous relationships with. Note I said men and women. Their sexuality is unimportant in this regard. Anyone who practices unsafe sex outside of long-term monogamous relationships are at risk. (It is my understanding that the only people with a high degree of safety in this regard are homosexual women.)
I also object to the decision to make 70-year-old Saul HIV positive. Yet another gay character who can’t possibly be healthy and happy! Grrr! I am not at all sure that I would consider the fact that shows now have openly gay characters in them to be a positive thing when such characters are never allowed to be happy healthy and fortunate!
2 comments:
The whole HIV/gay thing in movies and TV really grates on my nerves too. Note to Hollywood and the BBC: It really is possible to be a homosexual that doesn't carry a STD. Really. Truly.
I've had three (3) partners in a 25-year span. My sister is straight and has had several hundred partners in a 20-year span. Which of the two of us should be getting the years AIDS test?
Really.
The TV/movie producers need to figure out that the 1980s happened 30 years ago.
Homophobia is alive and well. Actually, stereotyping is alive and well. It's frustrating and I can, certainly, understand how most gay people would get pretty darned tired of all the misrepresentation and lack of respect. Just two nights ago, we had dinner in a restaurant where the people next to us were having a wonderful time making fun of our server. The sad part is, he was behaving in a way that used to be the norm in upper class restaurants - he was dignified with a flair. He knew they were doing it, too. After they left, the restaurant was nearly empty, since it was close to the end of the serving time.
We asked him some questions about the really nifty restaurant and, after a bit, apologized for our fellow patrons' behavior. He went and found a bottle of wine, opened it up and sat down with us to give us a long history of the restaurant (in and old mill/factory) and his own history. It seems he's been working at that restaurant for over 18 years, through 3 different sets of owners. He, justifiably, has a sense of ownership.
Oh, and by the way, he's with the same partner he's been with since 1992. His partner? He's a very well known lawyer in the same town and nearly lost his job when it was found that he was not straight.
I just wish people would stop being so blasted judgemental. And, if horses could fly ... If they stopped this behavior, they might find out just how shallow their lives are.
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