Different Strokes

Now, before I start on this, full disclosure: I don't watch TV, regular broadcast or cable. Life is too short. I do, however, pick up on some things from the BBC on Netflix (no, not just nature series). I've started watching London Spy, mostly because of Ben Whishaw; it's a fairly surreal series so far (two episodes), but one things that I noticed was a fairly explicit sex scene in the first episode between Whishaw and Edward Holcroft, who is perhaps one of the most beautiful men I've ever laid eyes on.

It struck me, thinking back to other BBC series I've watched, the the British have certainly shaken off the Victorian era, in their TV programming, at least. (One stand-out: Henry Cavill appears nude for a fairly lengthy scene in the first episode of The Tudors; there were also a couple of steamy scenes between John Barrowman and Gareth David-Lloyd in Torchwood, which also included a fairly explicit gay sex scene in one episode.)

I've also seen clips of Mexican soap operas that included male full-frontal nudity.

I've never seen or heard of anything comparable on American TV, although as I pointed out, I'm not a watcher -- if it's not on Netflix, I probably haven't seen it.

But I have the disctinct impression that Americans are a bunch of prudes, at least as far as our mass media are concerned.

Attitudes Change

Sometimes very slowly, but they do change. This would have been unthinkable not all that long ago:

Japan’s national public broadcaster has commissioned a TV show about a married gay couple.

NHK, the Japan Broadcasting Corporation, picked up the three-episode series based on manga series My Brother’s Husband, created by gay author Gengoroh Tagame.



Japan seems to have a somewhat schizophrenic attitude toward same-sex relationships, particularly between men. For centuries relationships between older and younger men -- similar to the erastes-eromenos tradition of ancient Greece -- were treated quite matter-of-factly. It seems that the institution fell into disfavor in the mid-nineteenth century, about the time of contact with the West, for some strange reason.

What makes it even odder is that same-sex relationships are the basis of a whole genre of manga: boys' love, a/k/a BL, a genre directed at teenage girls and young women. Supposedly this is a way of presenting sexual and romantic relationships in a "safe" way -- i.e., since it's two boys or young men, it doesn't really affect its target audience. Given the steaminess of some of the scenes in these things, I have to wonder.

At any rate, Japan is coming along, slowly but surely. We'll see how this pans out.

What's New at Green Man Review

As a respite from the news, which is uniformly depressing for those of us who treasure living in a free country, it's Sunday at Green Man Review, with lots of neat stuff. Head on over and see what's there. (By the way, I had a major role in putting this edition together, so treasure it.)

Coming Soon: Daredevil

On Netflix, April 10:

I'm planning on watching it. Daredevil is one of those characters who interests me, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the series has done with him.

Coming Soon to Netflix: "Daredevil"

Daredevil is one of those characters who fascinates me, but the movies don't seem to have done much with him. Let's see if TV can do better:

Meet Matt Murdock. Blinded as a boy but imbued with extraordinary senses, Matt fights injustice by day as a respected lawyer and by night as the masked vigilante known as Daredevil in Hell's Kitchen, New York. He'll do anything to make his city a better place, but at what price?

Coming to Netflix on April 1.

Diversity in TV

That's something that's been at the back of my mind since I got a TV and a subscription to Netflix, brought to the fore by this post at Towleroad: they've been running a series on "gay icons," highlighting all the usual suspects, but this one's a little different: Shonda Rhimes, whose visibility is not anywhere near the level of a Madonna or Lady Gaga, but whose influence is probably greater:

But what about an ally that’s leaving her mark on pop culture behind the scenes?

Enter Shonda Rhimes, a TV master so powerful that ABC handed her an entire night of their primetime schedule. Her shows have become some of the most talked about series of the last decade, blending steamy sex scenes, ripped-from-the-headlines commentary and so much soapy melodrama. But through it all, she’s also been committed to diversifying the kinds of stories we see on television. Her casting process for breakout hit Grey’s Anatomy made headlines for the “colorblind” role descriptions that yielded one of the most richly diverse ensembles on television.

Part of that inclusive approach includes telling stories of LGBT characters.

Eureka Cast

Their emphasis, of course, is on increasing visibility of gay and lesbian characters on hit TV series. What I've been noticing, watching older series (or the older seasons of current series -- I'm a binge-watcher who hates having to wait a week for the next installment) is that the overwhelming majority of series I've been watching are much more diverse than what I remember from the past: women in major roles, including leads, who are not window-dressing, but strong, independent characters in their own right (Audrey Parker (played by Emily Rose) in Haven, Rosalie Calvert (Bree Turner) in Grimm, just to name the two that come immediately to mind); and a marked racial diversity, including mixed couples, on just about every series that I've been watching (which include Haven, Grimm, Firefly, Arrow, and Eureka -- and which reminds me, I have to catch up on The Flash).

Nathan Wuornos' Dream

I have to say, though, that most of them do not include gay characters, with the exception of Torchwood, but then again, these are all older episodes, and limited pretty much to what's available on Netflix. I have noticed a tendency, however, for a lot of male skin -- major male characters in Haven and Firefly have nude or nearly-nude scenes, and both Oliver Queen (Steven Amell) and Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) spend a lot of time shirtless in Arrow. Another thought: there is some very interesting chemistry between Nathan Wuornos (Lucas Bryant) and Duke Crocker (Eric Balfour) in Haven.

What I do find interesting is that both DC and Marvel have incorporated gay characters into their comics (Marvel with rather more success than DC), but neither has made the jump to incorporating them into their films or TV series.

Eventually. Can we hope for a Young Avengers or Teen Titans movie?

Just Discovered: "Eureka"

OK, I admit it, I added Eureka to my Netflix list because Colin Ferguson is the star. Watched the first couple of episodes and it looks like fun -- sort of a lighthearted Haven.

(By the way, I discovered Ferguson in Season Four of Haven.)

(And I just realized -- it's another series that takes place in Oregon.)

Review in Brief: Arrow, Season One

Arrow is the latest variation on DC's Green Arrow, and the writers and directors (of which there are many) have done a creditable job of adapting it.

Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), playboy son of a billionaire, is stranded for five years on a desert island in the North China Sea when his father's yacht goes down in a storm. Before he dies, his father (Jamey Sheridan) tells Oliver that his, the father's, associates have plundered Starling City, their home and asks Oliver to survive, return to Starling City, and right his wrongs.

In spite of what he tells everyone on his return, we learn very soon that Oliver was not alone on the island. We also learn that the "associates" who are plundering the city include his mother, Moira (Susanna Thompson), and Malcom Merlin (John Barrowman), the father of Oliver's best friend, Tommy (Colin Donnell).

Complicating his welcome is that fact that accompanying him on this trip was his girlfriend's (Laurel Lance, played by Katie Cassidy) sister, Sarah (Caity Lotz), who was killed. Not only does Laurel have mixed feelings about Oliver, but her father, Det. Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne) actively hates him (not that he ever thought much of Oliver to begin with).

To fulfill his father's dying wish, Oliver disguises himself with a hood and takes a bow and arrow to the bad guys.

As background to his adventures in Starling City, we are given flashbacks to his time on the island, where he was first rescued by a banished Chinese general, Yao Fei (Byron Mann), then by a stranded Australian intelligence agent, Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett), both of whom begin his training (by necessity -- he's not only not a fighter, he's a liability), and finally by Yao Fei's daughter, Shado (Celine Jade).

If this sounds complicated, remember it's the set-up for twenty-two episodes -- this description is bare bones. As it plays out, the series is equal parts action/adventure, melodrama, and soap opera. The action sequences are well done, sharp, fast a beautifully choreographed. The melodrama/soap opera sections are an attempt, I think, to give some depth to the characters, and are moderately successful. They would have been more successful, I think, if they hadn't killed the pacing. The same holds true for the bulk of the flashbacks -- there's a lot of talking, not a lot of doing.

However, despite its flaws, I've watched the first season several times and am getting ready for the second, which is finally on Netflix. It's a nice way to kill an hour or two in the evening.

(DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, Berlanti Productions, 2012) For full credits, see the listing at IMDb.

Reviews in Brief: Devo Ke Dev . . . Mahadev

This is more of a heads-up than a review, and yes, I realize it’s a day late. But here it is.

I’m not sure how I first twigged to Devo Ke Dev . . . Mahadev, which is an Indian TV series about the doings of the gods, specifically Shiva. To be perfectly honest, even watching it with English subtitles, I’m not exactly sure what’s going on, but the core story seems to be about one Prajapati Daksha (Surendra Pal), the son of Brahma, who rules a city and is very proud of himself for creating “civilization,” which to him means a society governed by rules. He decrees that Vishnu will be the only god worshipped in his city, and commissions a large idol to be installed in the temple. When it comes time to move the idol into the temple, however, it won’t budge – that is, until Daksha’s daughter, Sati (Mouni Roy), surreptitiously adds a “shiva linga” to the grouping.

Shiva himself (Mohit Raina) is busily renouncing the world, and seems to spend most of this time meditating – except that he keeps getting pulled into the here-and-now to deal with Daksha – and Sati. There’s a strong and very obvious attraction between Sati and Shiva (of course), and the seeds of the conflict between Daksha and Shiva are fundamental: Shiva is a “vagabond,” a renunciate who has no concern for the world or its rules, and Daksha is all about rules and stability.

I’m really taken with this one, not for the story so much, but for the presentation – visually, it’s gorgeous, the actors are by and large very attractive, and the music, which is a constant, is thoroughly engaging – it actually carries a lot of the story.

One part of the fascination is that this is a very different way of presenting a story – there’s not really very much dialogue, but there are a lot of meaningful gazes – in that, it’s really pretty melodramatic – and there’s the music. It’s a whole different set of assumptions about storytelling, and I’m intrigued.

You can find the first 37 episodes with English subtitles here.