I appreciate the story, but I hope that the topic can be done again, and better. Matt Bomer's character Hawkins ages between 32 and 66. We know this because he reveals that his first experience was when he was in Grade 11 with his tennis playing friend, and we later see the tennis trophy with the date of 1936, which means he was born c. 1919/20. We assume, but are never told, that Jonathan Bailey's character is about 8-10 years younger. While the actors easily pass for 32 and 22(ish), neither ever looks older than 55 and 45(ish) when they need to be 65 and 55ish in 1986.
The convenience of these two characters being at the centre of every major gay story between 1953 and 1986 (minus the stonewall riot) is a little hard to believe. The story is really the experiences of two generations - those from before, and those after stonewall.
We are supposed to believe these two have a sexual chemistry, but with their fear of being discovered by McCarthy, they make an awful lot of noise in a 1950s rooming house that doesn't allow visitors... I also lost track of when they were together, as they seemed to rekindle their romance every time they met, but ended up in a fight and breaking up almost immediately after...
So, although I appreciated this production, I did feel there was room for improvement. For example, I thought the story would evolve ino Hawkins' son becoming the liberated gay man of the 70s but end up with AIDS... THAT would have made a more salient end..
The convenience of these two characters being at the centre of every major gay story between 1953 and 1986 (minus the stonewall riot) is a little hard to believe. The story is really the experiences of two generations - those from before, and those after stonewall.
We are supposed to believe these two have a sexual chemistry, but with their fear of being discovered by McCarthy, they make an awful lot of noise in a 1950s rooming house that doesn't allow visitors... I also lost track of when they were together, as they seemed to rekindle their romance every time they met, but ended up in a fight and breaking up almost immediately after...
So, although I appreciated this production, I did feel there was room for improvement. For example, I thought the story would evolve ino Hawkins' son becoming the liberated gay man of the 70s but end up with AIDS... THAT would have made a more salient end..
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