Queer As Folk

Ahhhh ... I just watched the last episode of Season 4 of Showtime's Queer as Folk. If anything could make me hook up that satellite dish, it's the prospect of being able to watch the newest season of that plus Gilmore Girls, which is a WB show. Which is funny because the shows are as different as David and Goliath. But I think they both have great writing/dialogue/camera work/music that just sucks you in. Unfortunately, QaF has been getting better but is going off the air, and GG is still going but I think has gone downhill. Funny how that works.

Anyways, just to warn you, if you haven't seen the 2004 season of QaF and you want to and you hate spoilers then stop reading. Don't get mad at me for spoiling all the fun for you. But this season was filmed right when certain states (Oregon, Massachusetts) and provinces (Ontario) were legalizing gay marriage. Two of the characters (Michael and Ben) get married in Toronto and are hopefull that "soon" it will become legal in their own state. (The show is set in Pittsburgh.) In fact, the last episode ends with a punk version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." I certainly felt that way last year or two years ago but am getting increasingly worried about what the political wackos are up to. I don't think these confirmation hearings for Alito bode well for this nation. On the one hand, we have come so far--yes, I've been complaining about how apathetic we all are and we aren't fighting for what we know is right. But we have come far enough that many more gay people are "out there" and vocal and fighting for their rights. I don't think QaF would have been broadcast (even on a pay channel like Showtime) ten years ago. But I feel that part of America is scared. And that what they want to do is re-segregate (already happening! look here), shove people back in the closet, and put all us women back in the kitchen with 32 kids each. Heaven forbid abortion could ever really, fully be legal here.

Again, I just have to shake my head and wonder. Why are people so afraid of love? In "Brokeback Mountain," the character of Ennis Del Mar says, "If you can't fix it, you got a stand it." I don't want to stand it.

*maki-girl