It’s A Sin to Support Russel T Davies: Nobody Wants Equality Anymore

 

It’s A Sin to Support Russel T Davies

Nobody Wants Equality Anymore.

 

On Channel 4, there is currently a TV series called It’s A Sin. It follows the homosexual scene during the 80s, amidst the HIV pandemic. This was a time when AIDS was a scary, taboo topic, as well as a silent, hidden killer targeting a minority. I have not yet watched It’s A Sin, and after hearing the latest comments from its creator Russel T Davies, I doubt I will.

    Davies has been in the news a lot recently. His latest comments however, have gained a lot of attention for the wrong reasons. Davies’ plan from the beginning for his show was to cast gay as gay. What this means is that the roles for gay characters were only to be played by gay actors. A specific sexuality therefore became a requirement for employment. He believes this should always be the case, and has defended his comments publicly.

    I firmly disagree with Davies, for a number of reasons, and truly believe that his views are part of a much larger issue at hand. He feels straight actors, when playing gay characters, have to ‘act gay’, which means a performance. Reading between the lines, I assume that when Davies auditions straight actors, he expects something worthy of a part in a Carry On film. Stating that straight actors would have to 'act gay', gives us an alarming insight into his thought process. It means he believes gay people have a trait or characteristic that not only must be apparent on television, but it is one that straight people cannot learn to emulate.

    To give an example, if I were to audition both a straight person and a gay person in a scene for the same role, from Davies’ reasoning, the straight person has to put on some sort of extra performance to be authentic, but will never succeed. Both parties would perhaps have to act heartbroken, angry, betrayed and drunk. The straight actor, according to Davies, then also has to remember to act gay as well. It is not enough that he is successful in the other four cases; he will never be authentic enough in comparison to a gay actor. Let me reiterate: this is a belief that Russel T Davies holds true before even seeing the performances.

    This seems utterly ridiculous. If an actor is given a part in a series or film, then irrelevant of their sexuality they should be able to commit to that role and portray what is asked of them; that is acting. There would be no visible difference on screen if the actors were straight or gay, but by Davies’ reasoning, there would be. There would be something either wrong on the part of the straight actor, or just right with the gay actor. Acting roles should be chosen based on acting ability and how well they fulfil the requirements for the part. By claiming that straight actors cannot play gay roles, this seriously undermines their acting ability. If I were an up-and-coming actor who did not identify as gay, I would be pleading wherever I could to get these roles to prove critics wrong. Oh, and as a side note, of course, Davies being so ‘woke’, goes on to contradict himself completely. Not only does he believe gay actors can play straight roles (this much I agree with), but he feels that this is because gay people can learn how to be straight: the precise thing apparently straight people cannot do. Never before have I seen such a stark contradiction in someone’s personal beliefs.

    And this is the bigger issue with prominent figures like Davies, whose ideas are detrimental to the real LGBT cause. The true fights and pushes towards equality were done so with a goal: to end up with all sexualities being seen as equal. People should be seen for who they are, not their sexuality; "not judged for what I do in the bedroom, but for what I do in every other room" is the apt quote here. If you support straight actors being shunned because of their sexuality, you are in procession of a set of beliefs that were common in the very era Davies is portraying, simply flipped. You are not after equality; you are after a better set of circumstances for a specific sexuality. This is undoing decades of change in the right direction, and should be addressed without hesitation.