Mel O'Drama
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I think the film might have been The French Connection
Oh yes. I think you're right.
(which is also on the iPlayer for the next fortnight, along with another early 70s crime classic, Get Carter starring Michael Caine, Britt Ekland and Alf Roberts. I'm planning to re-watch them both).
Sounds great. I hope you enjoy.
I watched The French Connection for the first time a couple of years ago and, looking back over my comments about it, I had mixed feelings. I've never watched Get Carter, so I might consider watching that at some point.
"They're gay, aren't they?" Heather asks coolly. In that moment, she is too preoccupied with trying to make sense of her own situation to care less about the Collinses and their strenuous efforts at concealment. .Instead, she and Charlie find themselves unintentional co-conspirators, both in on the secret the neighbours are frantically trying to hide.
Because I was so invested and Heather's comment was coming from a valid concern, I don't even think the irony of this dawned on me as I watched.
I could have watched the two of them circling each other forever. But it's Heather's ball-shrivellingly withering "The world is full of I-could-have-beens" speech (written by - surprise, surprise - one J McGovern) that has lingered in the back of my mind for decades.
Oh yes, that was great. And so very Heather considering her experiences with the men in her life on the series.
She certainly exited the series on a high, with some terrific material in her final months. Considering Heather's home life was frequently very little-seen, it could have been tempting for the writers to simply allow her to fade away, and I love that they went the opposite route and reminded the audience just what the series was losing.
Since returning from his summer job with short hair, we've seen a newly mature, sober Damon, which has been both plausible and oddly moving. Gail gets him in touch with his mischievous side again, even if she's far nuttier than he ever was.
Oh yes. The more mature Damon really struck a cord with me, but (once again) it hasn't consciously registered with me how he's got some of that cheeky side back thanks to Gail.
I remember my housemate at the time laughing at Pat and Sandra's overwrought final embrace, saying it looked like they were eating each other's hair.
Ha. Now that's the kind of commentary that could make these scenes tolerable.
With New Gordon, everything's about Being Gay, but it's all external. He gets interviewed for TV about ... Being Gay. He orders a magazine about ... Being Gay. He wears a badge that symbolises ... Being Gay. Tellingly, his reunion with schoolfriend Chris takes place entirely off screen. From the first time we see them together, they are singing from the same Being Gay hymn sheet. Chris works in a gay bicycle shop (or something) because ... well, of course he does. It's another external. From watching these episodes, you wouldn't think that being gay had anything to do with anything internal:, anything to do with emotion or desire or shame.
He even had a line when asked about the badge: "it means I'm gay"... as if he belongs to some kind of organisation or stops being gay when he isn't displaying it.
There's something very simplistic and childlike about the statement which, thinking about it, could almost suggest an extension of original Gordon's naivety which scupper his attempts to be more worldly (his "pint of bitter beer") or trendy (that secondhand coat). Except here the tone of the writing suggests that Gordon is more worldly and knowledgeable on this subject than his parents (or whoever). Paul and Annabel may be horrified now as they were with the oversized coat, but there's no humour or irony because whatever he says is treated by them (and in turn by the series) as fact. And very dry fact at that.
I have rationalised it to a degree. Gordon has spent years living in France where he's essentially "found himself". I can understand his sense of freedom and desire to express himself after this (especially having lived most of his life in an environment where repression and denial are the bywords). I also think the idea of him returning to that environment having changed has potential.
I have mixed feelings on the series avoiding his journey of coming out to himself. Like EastEnders' Colin, it avoids the cliche of the coming out angst which is possibly too obvious a route. But it falls down on instead leaning into a heap of other cliches. As you've pointed out, the most unforgivable is that a lot of what made his character work and endear has been lost.
I was reminded of the OG (Original Gordon) and how, every time he would encounter Damon and his mates on the close, there was always an awkwardness, a tension, about him, even when they were all getting along. It didn't have anything to do with Being Gay, it had to do with smaller, subtler things: upbringing, class, insecurity (all of which were kind of encapsulated in that small but brilliantly illuminating conversation between him and his dad where he admitted to resenting Heather for being so beautiful.) Now all those quirks and idiosyncrasies have been ironed out. As well as being recast, Gordon has been reprogrammed.
The Gordon scene that's worked the best for me since his return was the one in the last episodes I watched where he spoke to Annabel about his envy at Chris going skiing with friends instead of spending Christmas with him. Even though it was still essentially about "being gay" it still felt the closest we've got to seeing him displaying insecurity or vulnerability.
as Dot is Dot, her reaction is 100% in character and the Square (and the soap itself) is big enough to accommodate both Colin and Dot until such time as he can get through to her and they can become friends again. In comparison, I felt Carol was used - as a sacrificial lamb, yes, but also as a kind of scapegoat .
Yes. It felt a wasted opportunity.
that wouldn't have given Paul and Annabelle anything to react to, and they seem to be the only prism through the show can confidently deal with anything to do with Gordon's sexuality.
This has nailed it, I think. I realise the Grants have a lot going on at the moment, but there wasn't any kind of "behind closed doors" discussion about Gordon's badge. Barry was visibly unsettled in the scene itself, but would he have had anything to say about it afterwards. How would it fit with Sheila's strict Catholic faith? I can't imagine Bobby and Damon would have nothing to say about it (remember the fun "pirate" material OG's earring gave them).
Of course, had any of these scenarios taken place, they would still have been about Gordon "being gay", but at least there would have been a change of narrator.
Going back to Paul's zebra-crossing campaign storyline, which I didn't hate but didn't love, I think my main problem was there wasn't really anything emotionally at stake. Somehow, the heart of the story was missing. Perhaps logically, that heart should have belonged to the woman whose son had been killed in the first place, but I can't even remember her name.
Reading this, it occurred to me that there are echoes of a similar storyline in Channel 7 Neighbours where Jim went on his own road safety crusade, wanting to give tuition to the boy down the street who was riding his bike dangerously (which all came to naught when said boy was killed from his lack of road sense). In both cases, the victim and the parent(s) were never really anything more than "them", which gave the main ("us") characters a storyline. Once the stories were over, little had changed. I suppose we did at least get scenes of Paul being the rebellious activist (mileage may vary, but I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect, at least).
(I'm aware I'm being more picky here than I would be about another soap but really it's Brookie's fault for setting such a high standard for itself!)
Very true. It has a lot to live up to and always feels that much more disappointing when it doesn't meet the standard.
Rod and Billy's homophobic reaction to it felt refreshingly honest. (That said, it's funny how their - completely believable - prejudices surface for that one scene and then completely disappear again. It's a bit like the episode of Friends where they've managed to to secure a brief cameo by a big rock star at the end and so for the duration of that one ep, everyone's the biggest fan of Sting in the world, and then he too is never mentioned again).
The "I'm Sting's biggest fan" syndrome manifests itself here too, with Annabelle's otherwise kindly instructor making an out-of-the-blue homophobic jibe about his bitchy helper.
The casual homophobia has felt truthful. Even Annabelle's colleague's throwaway comment worked because it felt authentic and echoes similar out-of-the-blue jibes I'd occasionally hear colleagues drop into conversation in the Nineties (sometimes about another colleague, but often more generalised).
I agree, it's a real shame it's been so short-lived, which all makes it seem a little too convenient.
Two minor discrepancies I noticed: everyone involved in the story insists on calling Gordon's publication a paper when it's clearly a magazine (even when they're holding it in their hands), and when Billy and Rod are tussling over it, they manage to pull the cover off, yet when Billy subsequently hands it to Paul, it's miraculously intact again. In and of themselves, these fluffs are totally unimportant -- I mean, who cares? -- but it's kind of emblematic of the disconnect between the subject Brookside purports to be tackling and the way it's presented on screen: unconfidently, from a distance, with kid gloves.
I love this kind of observation. The Devil's in the detail, after all.
I think it’s probably fallen off the iPlayer by now.
It’s back on the iPlayer.
Till Friday!
Oh yikes. This has reminded me I have a number of things lined up to watch on the various channels' streaming services. I'd better get my skates on (if they're even still available).
Boys From the Blackstuff is on there, and that’s full of Brookside-adjacent stuff:
Oh, I hadn't realised this. For some inexplicable reason I always get BFTB mixed up with Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (even though I've watched neither of them).
Coincidentally, I’m planning on rewatching Letter to Brezhnev tonight.
Hope you enjoyed it. I just took a peek and it doesn't appear to be streaming (free) anywhere round these parts, but I've been curious about it since it came up earlier in this thread.