LGBT+ History Month has ended in the UK, and with it comes the final phase of the LGBT+ Cinematic Universe with Phase 04: Sin and Sex.
This is, so to speak, where the storytelling is tightest. There are influences of what came before in the prior three phases, but all used in service of the final story. Potentially, there's scope to see this phase as making frivolity of the very serious subject matter. Thatcher is not Thanos. However, using the natural storytelling similarities, I think, really drives home just how serious and unifying the 1980s were for LGBT+ people.
So, yes, slight spoiler, Phase 04: Sin and Sex does finally tackle the 1980s and the AIDS crisis. We start with a party, end with a fight for survival, and hopefully leave you, the audience, with a fuller knowledge of our history and stories.
Enjoy!
QUEERS - Missing Alice
Alice married quickly. A whirlwind relationship forged in youth. Only, is it romance? Despite her best efforts, Alice just can’t seem to get her husbands attention. As time goes on, she starts to wonder: Are there other women? Or could it be worse, something that would leave her far, far lonelier?
BBC iPlayer:
My Policeman
In the 1950s and 60s, sexuality and secrecy seemed to go hand-in-hand. For police officer Tom, an affair outside the law was unthinkable. Until museum curator Patrick enters his life. Tom’s difficult relationship with his own sexuality will have long-reaching repercussions, affecting his marriage, his mental health, and when Patrick suffers a stroke, his retirement.
Where to Watch:
Bob & Rose
Gay men are gay, all gay men know that! But Bob hates gay men. He just wants to find love. He doesn’t want that love with a woman. He’s gay. Then he meets Rose, and that all changes.
Where to Watch:
Male Sexuality (BFI)
It’s 1981, and gay men are mingling. They’re clubbing, they’re cruising, and they’re in the news. Some see their activities as perverted, others as progressive, but what do they think of themselves, and would they ever change?
Where to Watch:
AIDS - Monolith
Six years after Male Sexuality is released, another informative film is released.
Where to Watch:
PRIDE
The police hate the gays, the public hates the gays, everyone hates the gays, but the gays go on loving. They love each other, they love those in their communities, and when a mining village in Wales is crippled by their high-ranking political enemy, the gays love them too.
Where to Watch:
It's a Sin: Part 01
Episodes 01 to 03
As the 1980s begin, the party rages. Sex is free and clothing is optional. Queer people might be shunned by the world, but they’re happier on their own. When people start getting sick, they cry hoax. When people start dying, they ask for help. Help on this scale can only come from one place. The top.
Where to Watch:
The Iron Lady
First alluded to in Phase 02, this is the story of Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first female Prime Minister, and the woman that was in power during one of the worst periods of LGBT+ History, the AIDS crisis. Her singular, focused mind caused a stir wherever she went, but she had little regard for the people her decisions would affect.
Where to Watch:
It's a Sin: Part 02
Episodes 04 & 05
Following on from The Iron Lady, we return to Ritchie and his friends as negligence, denial, and mistakes threaten to tear them apart. The 1980s are drawing to a close, but the damage is done. The queer community have been left to fend of AIDS alone. With nobody else to turn to, the community comes together, stronger than ever.
Where to Watch:
Queer as Folk
Thatcher is gone. The laws of the land have changed. Manchester is once again the queer party hub of the UK. For 15-year-old Nathan, the time to party is now. His youth and cockiness pulls him into the sphere of successful sex-pest Stuart and the two embark on a rocky, promiscuous, and occasionally dangerous adventure.
Where to Watch:
The Chemsex Monologues
In I Miss the War, Jack asked if, now that it’s legal, the young rent boys would “have their heads turned by the possibility of living together like mum and dad”. Well, they haven’t. As the light of progress has grown lighter, the dark had become ever darker. In its extremes, the party scene can be nothing short of lethal, as this group discover with varying degrees of shock.
Read Playtext:
QUEERS - More Anger
n The final outing of the LGBT+CU, and back to 1987. Phil’s an actor, and he’s dying. Constantly. Gay parts reflect what the world sees, and what the world sees is gay men dying. The law has changed, so it’s no longer illegal, though still not as legal as heterosexuality. Times have changed, so people no longer cringe at the sight of gay men on TV, so long as they’re funny or dying. Despite that, Phil is at war. The TV is not the real world. Gay stories reflect what the world sees, and what the world sees is a lie.
BBC iPlayer:
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