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Beautiful People: Season 1 & 2 (UK Series)

By Golu
This beautiful queer sitcom from early 2000's from BBC Two caught my attention only because it has my favorite Olivia Colman in it. Spanning over 2 seasons with 6 episodes each, the sitcom is unapologetically happy, camp and very, very gay. The show is based on the book by Simon Doonan, who is Creative Ambassador of the New York clothing store Barneys. The book tells of his upbringing in Reading during the ‘50s and ‘60s intertwined with his adult life as a gay man. So the show writers took situations from the book and relocated the setting to the more contemporary 1990s.

Each episode of the series 1 opens and closes with the adult Simon, working as a window dresser in America, and the lion’s share of the story set in his teens. In season 2 Simon moves back to England after his relationship with his American boyfriend ends, which allows us to see interactions between Simon and his mum as adults. In a typical sitcom style. The show is a big and brash exploration of identity and the consequent downplaying of sexuality is all the more refreshing for it. And character-driven vignettes are always effective when they are populated with such well-drawn characters as these. Its hard to give a summary here, but the show focuses on Simon knowing very well he is gay, but the various shenanigans that are pulled between him, his overbearing mother who loves her wine, his father who is very much in love with the mummy, a kooky blind aunt, a reckless sister and most important , his best friend Kylie. In Season 1, young Simon struggles to express his love of music, theatre, and fashion in a working class community, with local hooligans hounding him at school and a supportive but quirky family squashing his efforts at home. Simon and Kylie's sexuality becomes more overt in the second series as the two lads become more comfortable with themselves. In the series finale, Simon finds himself attracted to a new boy at school, prompting him to come out to his mother after being dissuaded from running away from home.

With its over-the-top campness, its cultural references, and use of words that could be considered slurs now, this show was probably ahead of its time; I am not sure. I enjoyed season 1 a lot but somehow in season 2, it started to feel repetitive and I lost some of my mom and excitement that I felt while I was watching season 1 and that is probably a problem when you try and binge watch a sitcom. Having said that, it would hav been interesting to see a season 3, to show an out-and-proud Simon, exploring his relationships, encouraging his best mate Kylie to come out, and grow as a person, but maybe the makers didn't find too much of an audience and I can partly see why was that. This series is both of its time and ahead of it in terms of its messages, while also being unapologetically happy, camp and very, very gay. I saw the show primarily for Olivia and I am glad I did. But I guess I kept my expectations too high. This show in moderation and watching it when it came out might have been a much better idea. (5.5/10)
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