Thursday, 7 July 2011

Coronation Street - not too gay for telly

Yesterday we brought you a piece by Paul Flynn in response to Brian Sewell's attack on Coronation Street. Today's Guardian brings us another defence of the nation's favourite drama serial, this time by Corrie's very own Charlie Condou who plays Marcus Dent. And a very good piece it is too.
Posted by at 13:38
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7 comments:

Chris M said...

I notice that he did not include James in his list of gay Corrie characters. Is it a brain fart on his part, or is he being written out of the show within the next 6 weeks?

7 July 2011 14:05
Beth said...

Very nicely written article. The best of the lot on the whole subject. He does however say that he has a lot of faith in the writers... hmmm, I as a viewer don't - not from the gay/straight perspective but from the whole flipping show right now. The standard and quality of the show is really poor right now with sensationalism running amock. EVERYTHING is in our faces right now not the gay/ straight issue but everything..... from baby selling to long lost mothers to bashing up pubs and houses at the drop of a hat. It's one big roller coaster. Oh, and murders are ten a penny!
There is a rumour that Sean and Marcus are to Marry. A first for Corrie and a big story - but I can bet you a pound that it will be wham bam thank you m'am and onto the next story which will probably be equally as big. Maybe Sean and Marcus to adopt.... We don't get to enjoy or digest anything anymore.
The tin hat was the transvestite story. It's ridiculous. I'm not saying that because it shouldn't be covered but because it's shoved in the middle of half a dozen other big stories where people are shouting and screaming and the story isn't done properly and therefore becomes a mockery and a joke! Do we care? I don't, I hardly had a chance to get to know the guy to feel anything for him let alone be interested.
So when the question is raised "What is happening to Coronation Street" - Far too much at once. Let us get our breath. Let us get sucked in and get to know the characters and situation first.
And another thing. If you are going to tackle a big sensitive subject be sure to get a good heavy actor/ actress in the role. There is nothing worse than watching Sophie and Sian. I am not against the story in the slightest but as the two are so poor and were thrown into such a large part with such huge responsibility then they should have been given elocution and acting lessons - as a result I find them a complete turn off.
So it's not the whole gay, lesbian, transvestite, transexual thing that's become too much. It's all of it. Every story, about every thing.

7 July 2011 14:44
Tvor said...

Craig, I don't think James is meant to be an ongoing character.

7 July 2011 15:12
Anonymous said...

Agree with Beth, and can't but feel that the Guardian's responses are going to be seen as vindication of the present production team's overall management of the programme - which it isn't.

7 July 2011 16:09
The Red Grape said...

Coronation Street is a soap (which I hate) but since Manchester is one of the gay hubs of the UK, it's actually quite an accurate portrayal. If anything, there are too few gay people to be a true demographic representation of the area.

If you've lived in Manchester, and have been around the centre in the last 20 years you'd know this.

Manchester is not London, Liverpool, Birmingham or Newcastle. The culture is different, the people are different, the city is different. Coronation Street's writers are local to Manchester, and this programme is a slightly exaggerated version of what they see every day. The "homely" values don't really exist in Manchester these days.

If you want a really accurate portrayal, watch Shameless. That's actually a very realistic portrayal of a Manchester council estate.

7 July 2011 16:19
Anonymous said...

Agree with Beth 100%. I also read that Fiz is going to be attacked in prison because she is going to 'infiltrate' the prison gang who are selling drugs to other inmates. Yes..this is really believable. They should have thrown Fiz off the roof with John and spared the viewer months of anguish. This is cruel and unusual punishment!!

7 July 2011 17:58
Anonymous said...

Great post Beth

7 July 2011 17:58

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