I read this today and I thought it was very well thought out and defended the situation quite appropriately. It reflects my feelings on the subject pretty much bang on. It's about rules and labels and how maybe your sexual preferences aren't the be all and end all of who you really are.
They also pose the question as to why it's more accepted if a straight character experiments with someone of their own sexual persuasion. If that's not questioned quite as closely, why should a gay character not fall for someone of the opposite sex? It might not happen all the time, but it *does* happen.
Even Charlie Condou, who plays Marcus, admits "Even I had a relationship with a woman in my mid-twenties, and I was too scared to talk to my gay friends about it at the time because of their reactions to it."
The writer of the piece says "The writers of Coronation Street itself are, if anything, posing questions about the elasticity of sexual orientation and identity, and what happens to Marcus and Maria’s relationship should be of greater focus, not the relationship itself." and I agree.
Ultimately, I think the relationship between Marcus and Maria will not work out. For one reason, Maria *always* falls for the wrong man and for another, as much as Marcus probably does love Maria, I think he's in it for the wrong reasons. Family is the draw here for Marcus, I'm sure and that might not be enough to go the distance in a relationship that he's not altogether comfortable in.
Time will tell.
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8 comments:
I agree that this storyline won't work out in the long run but that's mostly because it's a soap and "happily ever after" is too boring for TV.
However, I think it's very valid to question all the hoopla about Marcus becoming involved with a woman when the thing you often hear when a straight person develops a relationship with someone of the same sex is that they've "finally accepted who they are". Definite prejudice in that short-sighted perspective and shameful that Charlie himself has experienced that prejudice from his own gay friends; like he was "betraying the cause".
This is a great story for exploring the human condition and that we are all in a constant state of change; the change is just more dramatic for some than others.
The stigma from the gay community over a gay man being with a straight woman stems from the age old tradition of the closet. Even Oscar Wilde had a wife and kids. Until a generation ago men in the West did as men in other places still do today--marry a woman and fool around with me n on the side. Sean and other gays will question if Marcus is going back into the closet i.e. just play acting at a hetro relationship. That may not be what Marcus is doing but it is that doubt, based upon centuries of history, which is the reason for the stigma.
Regardless of the history of the stigma, it is still a stigma and since the straight community has time and again been told to join the latest century, perhaps those from the gay community who still hold that stigma should hurry to catch up as well.
It's a very well crafted story and I think Maria is well suited to it - attractive and with a ready made family (which Marcus wants) I can imagine that it is an 'easy' (and I use that word advisedly) route into a hetero relationship for a gay man whose relationship with his partner split up because of Marcus's wanting a family. Marcus and Maria make a very attractive couple and in a hetero world I could see them as 'an item.'
I have just read Paul O'Grady's autobiographies (hugely entertaining)where he talks about his hetero relationships resulting in marriage/daughter. And Julian Clary talks about his relationship with a woman in his autobiography.
I am looking forward to how Maria/Marcus develop - I can't help thinking it will end in tears, but the story arc so far has been very well handled by writers and actors.
A very interesting article quoting Charlie Condou's comments. When I read those a few weeks ago, I felt that CC was giving the storyline a seal of approval. I don't think he would have been happy doing it if it went against everything he believed in. I have been dismayed by some comments on the blog that it would be more believable if Maria was stunning and/or a genius. Maybe he felt safe with her because of her 'normalness' and then that friendship turned to love.
The only criticism I have of the storyline is that it moved too fast. We have a slow burn story with Tyrone and Kirsty and it should have been the same here. Marcus should have gone to London and Maria stayed with Jason for a while. We would have seen more internal struggle, giving more layers to the story.
It's just another stick to beat the gay community with. Now we are not accepting enough of gay men who want to have relationships with women. No doubt it won't be long before the bigots are claiming that gays are "trapped" in the lifestyle. My opinion of Charlie Condou has plummented.
We have enough problems without Coronation Street trying to boost its ratings with sensationalised gay stories. Where is the gay builder (everyone knows that gays only work in jobs like sewing machinist and nurse) or the sympathetic story about the teen gay character who is bullied and becomes suicidal?
We all know the outcome of this..Maria will be dumped of course and Marcus will leave the street.
I would like to think that they have spent a lot of time and have thought this storyline through and this is not being done just for the heck of it. The Producer and many of the script writers are gay so it's not as thought they are writing about something they have no knowledge. Charlie Condou is gay, it's not as they they have hetro sexual guy play the role as they did in "Will and Grace". He must have been given some input.
Hopefully this story will develop well and educate many of us, bigots included. Maybe they are taking this story to a place that is still not clear to us as a viewer but makes perfect sense to them at the production office. Let's hope - however I'm not Phil Collinson's biggest fan so he'd knock me over with a feather if he got something right before he left.
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