The TV series "It's a Sin" shows LOVE IN TIMES OF AIDS
The counterpart to "Queer as Folk": the TV series "It's a Sin" looks back to London in the 1980s, when the gay scene there was also overrun by AIDS. A masterpiece that not only tells of the past, but also of the here and now.
(Spoiler warning: This article contains spoilers for the series "It's a Sin")
You don't need prophetic abilities to predict the future of this series: it will soon be part of the gay community's cultural memory, just like "Pose" or "Queer as Folk". In other words, TV series that also tell queer stories and history in such a way that they themselves create lasting memories.
Queer history as a TV series
Because the characters in "It's a Sin" make you feel the excitement up close. With their departure into the adult world and the euphoria of sexual liberation and self-awareness. You get so close to them in the five episodes! We accompany them so intensively through the highs and lows that you almost inevitably feel part of this queer family of choice.
And above all, Russel T Davies, the creator of this TV mini-series, repeatedly manages to create scenes and images that literally burn themselves into the viewer's memory and will stay with them for a long time to come.
Enduring inner contradictions
Also because the overlapping feelings of rebellion, happiness, despair, incomprehension and hope are often captured in a single image. For example, when the parents of party-loving ticket inspector Gregory build a funeral pyre in the garden after his death. They burn his bed and all of their son's personal belongings there, including his childhood photos and snapshots with his friends in faraway London. As if they could erase his gayness and his AIDS.
Or Ritchie, who didn't dare to pick up his test result and ignored all the signs. Only now that the disease has broken out does he have the courage to reveal himself - in his very own way - to his closest friends: "I wanted you to be the first to know: I'm going to live!"
"I wanted you to be the first to know: I will live!"
Olly Alexander (who many will know as the frontman of the band Years & Years) puts everything his character has to endure in terms of inner contradictions into this short sentence. The relief of finally being able to confide in the most important people, the shame of having lied to them for so long and the fear that his future could be very short. And then there is also the defiance of not wanting to let them get him down and rob him of his zest for life.
Gay television history for a broad audience
And because this does not leave the audience untouched, this scene also becomes an unforgettable moment. Russel T Davies not only knows his craft, he also knows how to use it masterfully - and that means writing for a broad audience without compromising on content.
Consciously not reducing gay life and love to HIV and Aids
He had already achieved this with series such as "Cucumber", "A Very English Scandal" and "Years and Years" and above all, of course, with "Queer as Folk". With the latter series, the British director and screenwriter wrote gay television history over 20 years ago. It was so successful that an even more internationally successful US remake was made a few years later.
Davies deliberately refrained from doing so at the time, HIV and Aids but wanted to gay life and love without defining it by the illness.
A new world in London in the 80s
For him, however, it was now time to remember those years and at the same time come to terms with his own story. Davies has obviously packed a lot of his own story into Ritchtie, the smart, good-looking 18-year-old who opens up a new world in the gay scene of London in 1981 and enjoys the sexual opportunities that present themselves to him to the full. And Jill (Lydia West), Ritchie's best friend who, like him, is also studying acting, also has a real-life counterpart.
Jill becomes a flatmate in the otherwise completely gay shared flat, which everyone affectionately calls the "Pink Palace". It's a small, conspiratorial, colourful bunch. Besides Ritchie, Roscoe (Omar Douglas) is also part of it. He turned his back on his strict religious family from Nigeria when they made plans to "cure" him of his homosexuality.
Davies shows how to deal with the fear of AIDS, homosexuality and homophobia
The pale Welshman Collin (Callum Scott Howells) starts an apprenticeship as a men's tailor in London, is considered uptight and shy, but, as time goes on, has experienced more than his friends realise.
Russel T Davies also brings together a whole host of supporting characters around the clique. Among others, the prominent cast includes Stephen Fry and Neil Patrick Harris ("How I Met Your Mother"). This gives Davies plenty of opportunities to show how people deal with the fear of Aids, an infection, their own homosexuality and the homophobia of others - as well as their reactions to it.
More than just a historical panorama of the AIDS era
This TV series may seem far too short for that - after all, there are "only" five episodes of 45 minutes each - but Russel T Davies uses this time to create an incredibly broad panorama that is by no means limited to contemporary history. Because "It's a Sin" (named after the Pet Shop Boys' hit) does not focus exclusively on the devastating impact of the AIDS pandemic in London between 1981 and 1991.
"I didn't want to write a drama about deathbeds"
"I didn't want to write a drama about deathbeds," Davies explained in an interview, "but I wanted to recapture that era for myself and remember those lives with joy."
For example, "It's a Sin" is about the justified fear of being ostracised - even by colleagues and family or the fear of dying. However, the series also tells the story of how homophobia functions and works on many different levels. But also how people can unite and strengthen each other. It shows what it takes to accept and live one's own sexuality in a positive way. And the value of friendship and humanity. And all this with plenty of empathy and humour.
TV series brings topics such as coming out, HIV and PrEP to the media
And so "It's a Sin" is a series set in a decade long past. But because it deals with timeless themes, the series can still dock into the here and now. This is helped by the fact that the series makers have refrained from placing typical everyday objects from that era in an obtrusive and overly obvious way.
Great success among young viewers
Wide shoulder pads, new wave outfits and walkmans are almost nowhere to be found here. This also makes it easier for today's young audience to identify with their peers from the 80s and 90s.
In the UK, the series was an enormous success, especially among young viewers. And it had a side effect that should not be underestimated: topics such as Coming out, HIV, today Treatment options and PrEP were widely discussed in the media - and the HIV test-figures rose by more than 400 per cent after the broadcast.
Incidentally, Davies has saved one of the most impressive and unforgettable scenes in the entire TV series for the end. Jill meets up with Ritchie's mother on a harbour promenade on the Isle of Wight. The friends had previously been denied the chance to see their friend again.
Life-affirming celebration of queer self-confidence
Now Jill learns that Ritchie has already died - lonely and isolated in the bosom of the family. Russel T Davies has written a monologue for Jill that packs a punch. It is tantamount to a general reckoning. Above all, however, it formulates one of the central messages that Davies wants to convey with this TV series. It is a plea against shame and, at the same time, an indictment of all those who make people come out in favour of their sexuality or for a HIV infection to be ashamed.
A plea against shame
Because only "shame makes you feel like you deserve it", says Jill. Without the shame, a freer approach to sexual identity and infection would be possible. However, shame may even be compounded by guilt because you may have passed the virus on to others.
This makes "It's a Sin" an equal counterpart to "Queer as Folk". But "It's a Sin" is also an incredibly life-affirming celebration of self-empowerment and queer self-confidence.
"It's a Sin" (Starzplay), video-on-demand on Amazon Prime Video
You can find everything you need to know about living with HIV at iwwit.de/living-with-hiv!
