By KARINA SHAH
An unknown virus, misinformation and uncertainty about the future. No, we’re not talking about coronavirus for once. It’s A Sin, a new five-part miniseries from Channel 4, delicately tackles the HIV and AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, with the backdrop of queer London.
Created by Russell T Davies, who was also behind the series Queer as Folk and Years and Years, the show chronicles the lives of three gay men who set off from their hometowns to begin new lives at university. A seemingly light set-up, the story takes a turn for the worse as a deadly new virus is on the rise.
It’s A Sin opens in September 1981, with an outwardly perfect nuclear family sat around their dimly lit dining table, surrounded by retro lampshades and boldly printed curtains. We are introduced to 18-year-old Ritchie (Olly Alexander), the show’s protagonist, who is about to move to the big city: London.
His story really begins when he meets Roscoe (Omari Douglas) and Colin (Callum Scott Howells). As the three young men navigate the capital’s gay scene and university life in general, as members of a new family of their own choice, they are introduced to a mysterious disease that seems to disproportionately affect gay men.
In the early 1980s, reports of severe immune deficiency began to rise around the world. Scientists were dumbfounded by this new disease, which worked by attacking the body’s immune system, weakening its ability to fight infections.
Navigating an increasingly homophobic society, Ritchie initially responds to this disease with denial. “I don’t believe it, I don’t believe a word of it,” he says in a monologue of denial, while the camera pans to him on the dance floor of Heaven, the iconic gay club in London. As the shadow of AIDS closes in, Ritchie and his friends tackle misinformation and stigma.
The miniseries scarily mirrors our current reality. Much like today’s coronavirus, there were many rumours circulating about HIV and AIDS, due to fear of the unknown. One of the most common misconceptions was that only gay people could contract the virus – it was even labelled the “gay plague”. This stigma cast a large shadow on the gay community, meaning that many people suffered in silence until their last days of life, as shown in It’s A Sin.
It’s A Sin presents a candid authenticity that could only be achieved by someone who has lived through and experienced the events themselves, which Russell T Davies did. The soundtrack especially gets an honourable mention – it features some of the biggest smash hits of the decade, including Blondie, Wham! Pet Shop Boys and Queen. Paired with the impeccable acting of the young and upcoming actors, many of whom weren’t even alive in the 1980s, we are transported back in time.
Davies preserves the joyous scenes of 1980s London, all while sensitively portraying the realities of the disease’s devastating progression. We see how HIV and AIDS affected the individuals themselves, their social circle and even families who discover their son’s sexuality through the most haunting circumstances. No spoilers, but keep your box of tissues close to hand. HIV and AIDS have claimed the lives of millions of people across the world – and this fictional telling is no exception.
It’s A Sin serves as a perfect reminder of the not-so-distant-past that burdened thousands of gay men. It is a poignant love letter to all those lost during the AIDS epidemic, and to those allies who unconditionally supported them.
Available worldwide on HBO.
3 comments:
Very good article on an excellent series. ‘It’s a Sin’ really evokes both the vibrant atmosphere of gay, pulsating London in the 80s, and the horrifying advance of the disease, with all the tombstone terror in the public information broadcasts on TV ... it brings it all back, and especially the memories of lost friends- a poignant love-letter, indeed.
It is so positive that a public, creative television can, forty years later, come up with a product that reflects and shows what happened and do so with so much sensitivity and humour, and also worth mentioning is the vivacity, the "ganas de vivir" that comes out through it. This is an example of necessary television when social issues which were misunderstood or swept under the carpet can be reflected in the arts in this way. It might be late, but better late thane never. British TV is really good at this kind of productions, making high-quality, committed series for all audiences.
"Así que cuando miro hacia atrás en mi vida,/ siempre es con una sensación de remordimiento./ Siempre he sido yo a quien echar la culpa,/ por todo lo que ansío hacer./ Sin importar cuándo o dónde, o quién./ (Todo lo que deseo hacer) tiene una cosa en común:/ Es un, es un, es un, es un pecado", de la canción "It's a sin" (Es pecado), de los Pet Shop Boy's, que da título a la serie homónima (HBO), una pequeña joya en cinco capítulos del guionista Russell T. Davies, ganador de un Emmy por su excelente "Years and Years".
En este caso el tema central es la aparición del sida en los primeros años 80, una devastadora plaga sobre la que cayó todo tipo de condenas morales y sobre la que se difundieron las más disparatadas teorías conspiranoicas.
La serie británica de Channel 4 es un lujo de realización e interpretación, con ese concepto formal de los descendientes del "free cinema", aquel movimiento de los jóvenes airados que transformaron lo establecido y que gentes como Ken Loach continuaron en su deseo de contar historias cotidianas desde el compromiso con la realidad social del momento.
Los primeros años 80 en un Londres divertido. Un grupo de jóvenes homosexuales comparten un piso. Hay de todo: enloquecidos, serios, tímidos y una joven a la que adoran. La banda sonora con los éxitos del momento estimulan las noches intensas en garitos acogedores. Su creador desgrana sin tremendismo el lento peregrinar hacia el desastre, las reacciones agresivas ante los primeros indicios del VIH, la hipocresía social y con un impresionante diálogo final entre la joven Jil y Keeley Hawes, madre de Olly, muerto por el sida. Lo dicho: una joya.
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