A TOUCH OF CLASS FROM WHICKER
There is a good deal of, doubtless, conscious irony in the use by, American homosexuals of the term “gay” to define their condition. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary defines “gay” as: “Full of or disposed to joy and mirth: lighthearted, exuberantly cheerful, sportive, merry.” The homosexuals interviewed by Alan Whicker in I his documentary on TVI on I Monday night were not sportive or merry; they were i serious and earnest, and I being homosexuals, they had a good deal to be serious and earnest about. Anyone expecting to have.
his prejudices about homosexuals reinforced by wit-; nessing a parade of mihcing poufs would have been dis-' appointed; instead we saw a number of ordinary peopole; articulately discussing their! problems and difficulties. To! be sure, some of the spokes-! men for the gay movement! were inclined to overstate! ! their case, to the point of asserting that we hapless! heterosexuals were the out-' of-step minority, but for the) (most part of their discussions with Whicker were! sober and intelligent. As was Whicker himself.! ■ Not that we are suggesting;
[that Whicker is usually j j drunk and stupid, but in ’ most of his previous pro’(grammes he has appeared as >!a financial voyeur, grubbily ■■ turned on by the sight of ■ ! people amassing and spending large sums of money. Here he showed us a touch of his class by taking a sensitive subject and handj ling it sensitively and well, i His questions, though pertinent, were not tasteless 1 (unlike those in the Brain Edwards programme of recent and dreadful memory) ‘his manner was restrained and his success was complete. It was a very fine programme and can certainly 1 have done nothing to harm the cause of homosexual law reform.
Monday was in fact a good night. The final in the present series of “Upstairs, Downstairs” was one of the best yet screened. The contrast between the innocent pleasures of the servants in the golden summer of 1914 and the inexorable approach of the appalling and catastrophic war, from the effects of which we still suffer, lifted the episode to within two or three rnilli-
i metres of tragedy, and i prompted reflections onj 'the helplessness and in-; icomprehension of individuals! caught up in large events. ( If all television drama was! as good as this, television; reviewing would be the most! ■sought-after job in the coun-i' Try. 4s sfc
But fortunately for those of us already' in the game, competition for our posts is dampened down by the prevalence of rotten programmes like “My Wife Next Door.” This connubial strip-tease is based on the premise that a highly attractive, almostdivorced couple, still in love with each other, are pre-
, pared to live next door to j each other without ever, you know, conjugating and that. The only thing funny 'about the programme is the description of it as a comedy. John Aiderton and Hannah Gordon, two excellent ! comic actors, do their best, : but are handicapped by the deficiences of the script. — A.K.G.
A TOUCH OF CLASS FROM WHICKER
Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33956, 24 September 1975, Page 4
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