It’s A Sin (spoilers)

Dee

This 5 episode limited series by Russell T Davies was just released in the US on HBO Max (I think?), so I’m making a discussion thread for it because I am busting to hear what everyone thought of it. 

I would like to be able to discuss spoilers as well, so if you’ve not watched but you’re intending to, stop reading now, I guess. 

Dee

I had intended to watch one episode and ended up sitting through all 5 one after the other. As an old, I remember a lot about the AIDS crisis in the 80s/early 90s, so this show really resonated with me. 

I normally cannot stand Neil Patrick Harris, so I surprised myself by how much I loved his character and how sad I was that he was only in one episode. 

The best scene was probably in the final episode where it sort of looked like one long (really long) take of Keeley Hawes stomping in and out of various hospital rooms yelling at people. Bloody hell, she’s good. I figured she was going to have to get more into it somewhere because up to that point the mum role was so small for an actress of her calibre. 

Anyway, I cried buckets and I loved it. I’m still thinking about lovely Colin. :-( 

ray_x03

I posted on the binge thread before seeing this. But this show really hit me hard. 

I'm a gay teenager who's born some 20 years after the AIDS crisis began. I've never had to, or likely to worry about it once in my life. Seeing the tragic amount of devastation that swept the community was difficult, especially how distant it now seems. So this show was important to me because it showed the almost forgotten history of those we lost to AIDS.

I had no idea when we would start losing main characters but I figured it was inevitable. I loved the show's ultimate message that even though these boys suffered at the end, they had so much fun in their lives. The final confrontation between Valerie (Ritchie's mother) and Jill was devastating. The same shame that dominated queer folks' lives in the 80s still very much exist today, right in front of us. I'm lucky, because when I came out to my parents last summer, they were the polar opposite of what was portrayed in the show, and what still happens everywhere today.

This show was about a lot of things, but it really underlined how important allies like Jill are. They're the cornerstone for a lot of queer folks' first coming out experiences, and learning to be comfortable with who they are. The world would be a better place if we had more Jill's everywhere. She was ultimately the protagonist. (She was based on THE real-life Jill Nalder, who played Jill's mother in the show) 

My affection for the show is probably clouded by recency bias and the subject matter, but I'll let this one sit for a while before I am brave enough to watch it again.

For extra reading, I suggest the following from the creator:
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/jan/03/russell-t-davies-i-looked-away-for-years-finally-i-have-put-aids-at-the-centre-of-a-drama
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/07/arts/television/its-a-sin-russell-t-davies.html

And for a bit of a less heavy read, I agree with Olly Alexander (who plays Ritchie) -- this show sure had some hot guys
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/jan/11/olly-alexander-on-success-sanity-and-its-a-sin-all-those-hot-guys-i-loved-it

Dee

@ray_x03 Yes, for a show that was ostensibly about gay men, Lydia West and Keeley Hawes really stole the spotlight. 

There were a lot of those allies about back in the day. I work in welfare and in the early 90s I used to go one day a week to an infectious diseases hospital in Melbourne - which was by then mostly AIDS patients - and help patients fill out forms for disability and sickness payments. There were always people there who were volunteer visitors and activists. It was a really well organised network of supporters. 

CretanBull

I just found this show, it's on Amazon Prime in Canada...will binge this weekend.