LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
CAMP Talk |
by Bill Sievert |
Hating fangs and loving Bboys are guilty summer pleasures
In summertime the ever-expanding wasteland of television becomes even vaster. Knowing that fewer people are stuck at home with little to do but stare at giant screens mounted to their walls (where art once hung), the major networks fill their schedules with reruns, failed pilots and fourth-rate reality competitions. The biggest challenge of the four-hour-a-week time-killer I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here is to find an actual luminary among the cast of Alex Baldwin's less successful brothers, a disgraced politician's wife and sweet Sanjaya Malakar, the seventh-place finisher on the sixth season of American Idol. Still, in recent years the summer has rewarded us with some surprisingly good television. There is no better example than Fox's So You Think You Can Dance. Modeled after and created by producers of Idol, the show narrows a huge field of aspirants to 20 very talented young dancers, representing genres from ballroom to Bboy. To advance toward the finale, each must perform a variety of dance styles and win the approval of judges as well as audience voters. The drama is real, and the choreography by the likes of Mia Michaels, Tyce Diorio and the shrieking Mary Murphy is often terrific. The series has done so well as a summer fill-in that Fox is adding season six to its fall schedule this year. SYTYCD also provides moments of controversy, and one of them had me seething during this year's premiere. After an audition by a male duo (who have danced together on the gay ballroom circuit), judge and executive producer Nigel Lithgoe scolded the men not so much for their at-times stumbling performance as for dancing arm in arm: "I think you probably alienate a lot of our audience," he said. "I mean, we've always had the guys dance together on the show, but I'vethey've never really done it in each other's arms before." To make matters worse, Lythgoe later wrote on Twitter: "The same sex ballroom guys did remind me of Blades of Glory. However, I'm not a fan of Brokeback Ballroom." The remarks caught the attention of many LGBT fans as well as the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), which demanded an apology. Lythgoe issued one with the following carefully chosen words: "I sincerely regret the fact that I have upset people with the poor word choices and comments I made both during the taping of the So You Think You Can Dance audition and on my personal status update. I am not homophobic and it was extremely upsetting for me to be classed as such. Professionally and personally, I believe the sexual orientation of an auditioner or contestant is irrelevant. I trust that my humor will be more sensitive and mindful moving forward." It was not exactly a ringing endorsement of male dance couples, but it was enough to allow me to start enjoying the program again. After all, it is the world of dance, and the show has featured gay choreographers, contestants and judges. Much of the best summer programming comes courtesy of cable channels that have learned to use the dog days to introduce series that might go unnoticed in colder months when the bigger networks are cranking out their hits. My favorite guilty viewing pleasure is HBO's darkly comedic drama True Blood, which is produced by Alan Ball (creator of the late, great Six Feet Under) and began its second season this month. Although blood-sucking has never been my cup of tea, this series' vampire storyline is very clever. What's more, it has presented something of an allegory for gay life in a conservative culture. From the opening credits, which flash on a road sign that states "God Hates Fangs," Ball makes point after point about intolerance. Based on books by Charlaine Harris, the show is set in a backwoods town called Bon Temps, Louisiana, where many of the locals are up in arms about a new federal law granting equal rights to vampires. The area has a lot of vampires, dating to its Civil War days, and heroine Sookie (deliciously played by Anna Paquin) falls in love with one, a fact that really annoys her womanizing brother (hunky Ryan Kwanten). Many of the living people discriminate against and persecute the vampires, while non-vampire groupies crowd into the trendy local vamp club, which rather resembles a gay drag bar. Like the vampires, some of the living folks mean no harm; others have a literal and figurative thirst for blood. Though parallels to prejudice against gay people were frequent in season one, out producer Ball has said they are secondary to the pleasure of spinning a contemporary vampire tale. At a press briefing last season he said, "I really don't look at the vampire as a metaphor for gays. For me, part of the fun of this whole series is that it's about vampires, so it's not that serious. However, they do work as a metaphor for gays...for anyone that's misunderstood." One character I'll miss as the new season begins is the flamboyant gay cook and vampire-blood aficionado Lafayette, played by Nelsan Ellis. Lafayette was seemingly killed off at the end of last season, and Ellis has not been listed by HBO as returning to the show this year. However, he was very popular, and in a TV series about vampirism you never know when he might pop up again. Another fun summer series has been Logo's airing of Beautiful People, a BBC comedy about an effeminate 13-year-old schoolboy, Simon, who is desperate to escape his ordinary working-class family life and live with the hip elite of London. The story is told in a series of flashbacks from New York City, where Simon (now in his mid-20s) has become a window-dresser for Barneys. He loves to reminisce about his awkward childhood to his assistant-turned-boyfriend, Sacha. The younger Simon is played endearingly by Luke Ward-Wilkinson, and the adult with verve by Samuel Barnett. The problems of growing up gayand having realized it at a young age are told compassionately yet with an outrageous sense of humor reminiscent of another fine British import, Absolutely Fabulous. As it does with everything, Logo is running the six-part first season repeatedly this summer, so you have plenty of chances to catch it. Meanwhile, the BBC has announced that it is shooting six more episodes. Unfortunately, Logo did not go forward with plans to air a second season of Del Shores' wacky comedy Sordid Lives. When the show became an instant hit last summer, the MTV-owned gay channel gave it a green light for another dozen episodes. But to the dismay of Shores, who had spent months writing the scripts, the deal fell apart, and the various parties involved are reportedly embroiled in a battle involving money owed, international distribution, and more. You know, big-time Hollywood issuesa far cry from the gritty problems faced by the show's down-to-earthy characters. So we won't find out this summer where Brother Boy (delightfully played by Leslie Jordan) has landed following his escape from the insane asylum or how Noleta (Caroline Rhea) makes out in the loony bin or how the relationship goes for young thespians Ty and Jacob. I'll particularly miss sluttish Peggy Ingram (Rue McClanahan) and the songs of embittered but vulnerable bar crooner Bitsy Mae Harding (Olivia Newton-John). Shores vows that we'll eventually find out what happens to his characters, as he owns the stage and publishing rights to Sordid Lives. Meanwhile, he's touring in a standup act he calls The Storyteller, as well as appearing with Rhea, Jordan and McClanahan in a stage show titled A Sordid Comedy Affair.Bill Sievert can be reached at billsievert@comcast.net. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 19, No. 07 June 19, 2009 |