Queer as Folk (UK/US): Soap or Subtlety
Feb. 22nd, 2005 01:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
butterflyThought about doing the 'ten things' meme, but I have a hard time remembering stuff like that. I got to fly a two-seater plane once when I was around 16 (left me with an intense adoration for the control of flying, though I've never pursued it -- may be part of why Jack O'Neill is so appealing, though). I've had a rhino brush up against a car I was in; it almost took off the right-side rear-view mirror. I've hand-fed a Sumatran Orangutan and handled a Burmese python multiple times. I saw Stephen Hawking live. Brilliant -- he was treated like a rock star.
I'm sure that there are other things, but my memory doesn't stay in lines.
The reason that Russell T. Davies, creator and writer of QaFUK, wrote the series the way he did is because he'd just come out of an episode of a soap opera. In soaps, people say what they mean (they may not always say everything they should or mean what they say, but they do spell everything out). Russell wanted to write a show that was styled more in the manner people actually spoke. That's part of the reason that Vince and Stuart never tell each other they love each other.
On the other side of the pond, QaFUS, as adapted and extended by Cowlip, is a soap. It's a soap opera version of QaFUK. Brian (Stuart) and Michael (Vince) are much more explicit in what they say. The characters, too, are soap versions of the UK characters. This doesn't necessarily make them worse, it just means that they're more extreme. Brian's homelife is incredibly fucked-up and Michael is suffocating in his mother's love for him.
Perfect example:
In the UK series, Vince and Stuart go up to the roof. While Stuart does hop up onto the edge, he doesn't say anything, and Vince teases him about jumping off the roof -- "like they do in soaps, birth and death in the same episode". Stuart immediately hops back down, his drama queen moment punctured, and they go into their 'Titanic' moment. In the US version, Brian actually says that he might "end it all", and Michael takes the moment much more serious than Vince ever did. Michael takes Brian much more seriously than Vince does Stuart.
The biggest difference that isn't due to soaping up the show is something that's based on the fact that while QaFUK had a short run and was never intended to be extended, QaFUS was set up for the long haul. That difference is Justin (Nathan).
Because of the need to keep Justin in Brian and Michael's lives, he had to, from the very beginning, be more equal to Brian than Nathan ever was to Stuart (even Nathan's big sexual 'victory' over Stuart in QaF2 is false, fabricated by Stuart as a way of a. getting Nathan out of his life and b. leaving someone in 'charge' of Canal Street (with a side note of c. getting one over on Nathan) -- there's also a scene at the end, but Stuart never actually got the chance to make a play for the guy, so again, Nathan didn't 'win' so much as 'get there first'). The first hint of this is when Justin woos away two men from Brian where, in the UK series, Nathan can only watch as Stuart gets the two men to dance and leave with him.
Some other adjustments are made that are necessary for a longer running series, such as the Phil character, Ted, living. But that's really about all, to start with. The US series ran longer -- I think that the upcoming season is its last -- so it got more of a chance to play with characters and plotlines.
Personally, I prefer the humor and characterization of the original. I adore Stuart, Vince, and Nathan (especially in series two). I love the ending of the story. And I love that it's about Stuart and Vince. On screen, friendship interests me more than sex, which is part of why I never got into the US version -- it's much more about Brian and Justin's romance, which isn't my particular favorite type.
Also, something very important to take into consideration is this: Canal Street exists. Liberty Avenue doesn't, not in the form that we see on-screen. QaFUK explored a gay world, but one that is, in fact, right there, in Manchester (gay capital of the world, they said on that documentary). QaFUS created one.
I'm sure that there are other things, but my memory doesn't stay in lines.
The reason that Russell T. Davies, creator and writer of QaFUK, wrote the series the way he did is because he'd just come out of an episode of a soap opera. In soaps, people say what they mean (they may not always say everything they should or mean what they say, but they do spell everything out). Russell wanted to write a show that was styled more in the manner people actually spoke. That's part of the reason that Vince and Stuart never tell each other they love each other.
On the other side of the pond, QaFUS, as adapted and extended by Cowlip, is a soap. It's a soap opera version of QaFUK. Brian (Stuart) and Michael (Vince) are much more explicit in what they say. The characters, too, are soap versions of the UK characters. This doesn't necessarily make them worse, it just means that they're more extreme. Brian's homelife is incredibly fucked-up and Michael is suffocating in his mother's love for him.
Perfect example:
In the UK series, Vince and Stuart go up to the roof. While Stuart does hop up onto the edge, he doesn't say anything, and Vince teases him about jumping off the roof -- "like they do in soaps, birth and death in the same episode". Stuart immediately hops back down, his drama queen moment punctured, and they go into their 'Titanic' moment. In the US version, Brian actually says that he might "end it all", and Michael takes the moment much more serious than Vince ever did. Michael takes Brian much more seriously than Vince does Stuart.
The biggest difference that isn't due to soaping up the show is something that's based on the fact that while QaFUK had a short run and was never intended to be extended, QaFUS was set up for the long haul. That difference is Justin (Nathan).
Because of the need to keep Justin in Brian and Michael's lives, he had to, from the very beginning, be more equal to Brian than Nathan ever was to Stuart (even Nathan's big sexual 'victory' over Stuart in QaF2 is false, fabricated by Stuart as a way of a. getting Nathan out of his life and b. leaving someone in 'charge' of Canal Street (with a side note of c. getting one over on Nathan) -- there's also a scene at the end, but Stuart never actually got the chance to make a play for the guy, so again, Nathan didn't 'win' so much as 'get there first'). The first hint of this is when Justin woos away two men from Brian where, in the UK series, Nathan can only watch as Stuart gets the two men to dance and leave with him.
Some other adjustments are made that are necessary for a longer running series, such as the Phil character, Ted, living. But that's really about all, to start with. The US series ran longer -- I think that the upcoming season is its last -- so it got more of a chance to play with characters and plotlines.
Personally, I prefer the humor and characterization of the original. I adore Stuart, Vince, and Nathan (especially in series two). I love the ending of the story. And I love that it's about Stuart and Vince. On screen, friendship interests me more than sex, which is part of why I never got into the US version -- it's much more about Brian and Justin's romance, which isn't my particular favorite type.
Also, something very important to take into consideration is this: Canal Street exists. Liberty Avenue doesn't, not in the form that we see on-screen. QaFUK explored a gay world, but one that is, in fact, right there, in Manchester (gay capital of the world, they said on that documentary). QaFUS created one.
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-02-22 10:34 pm (UTC)OMG, wow!
(no subject)
Date: 2005-02-24 08:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-02-23 07:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-02-24 08:16 am (UTC)And that gives me another one -- I was once sprayed down by Packy, the famous (in zoo-related circles -- the Oregon Zoo is the best zoo in the country when it comes to getting animals to breed that usually don't in capitivity) zoo-bred Asian elephant at that zoo. Such a complete spoiled brat, he is.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-02-24 11:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-02-23 04:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-02-24 08:16 am (UTC)It's very nice to see you again.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-24 09:48 am (UTC)Also, about the "soap" aspect. God in heaven, there are so many instances of that huge difference in the two versions. My biggest pet peeve comes from the portrayals of Brian/Stuart's family. Brian's family is completely dysfunctional. His father's a drunk and a homophobe, his mother's a Christian stereotype and his sister is useless. It gives Brian this automatic way out of recrimination from the viewers. "He can't help the way he is because his daddy didn't love him."
On the other hand, Stuart's family genuinely cares about him. He and his sister have a good relationship. His father knows Stuart's gay, but won't say it because he realizes that Stuart doesn't want him to know. His mother's a little dense, but she tries to understand Stuart after she discovers he's gay. I think Stuart's accepting, normal family makes his defensiveness and reprehensible behavior more interesting, because it can't be explained or excused away.
So yes, this was probably longer than your original post. I just wanted to say, "Word." I completely agree with you.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-10-26 08:28 am (UTC)You can see that while the show is about the relationship between Stuart and Vince, it's also a love note and thank you to Canal Street and the people who make it what it is. You can't watch that last scene between Stuart, Vince and Nathan without understanding that Canal Street is another character in this drama, just as important as Stuart or Vince or Hazel or anyone else.
Yes, exactly. There's a realness and a real love to Canal Street that just isn't there for Liberty Avenue, because Canal Street lives and exists.
I think Stuart's accepting, normal family makes his defensiveness and reprehensible behavior more interesting, because it can't be explained or excused away.
It definitely makes him a more complicated character. You can't draw a line from 'fucked-up parents' to 'fucked-up child', the way that you can with Brian. Explaining Stuart required a lot more brain-power than explaining Brian.