Uncoupled (2022)

[Swithin]

Kingrat kicked off a discussion of Neil Patrick Harris's miniseries Uncoupled, which was on Netflix. In that thread, we got caught up in a wider discussion, and I do want to respond with my thoughts about Uncoupled.

I watched the entire series. It was very entertaining and dealt quite frankly with certain aspects of the gay community and even (as kingrat pointed out) the mechanics of gay male sex. I'm afraid I found it kind of offensive, though I was not offended by the frank discussions of sex. The stereotypes were way over the top. The series was written by two openly gay New York writers.

The only gay characters I liked and whom I felt represented positive depictions of gay characters were the characters played by Andre De Shields, and the young man who turns up late in the series. I think part of the problem was the need to be sensationalist and titillating in television today, to entice and shock viewers. The frankness of the series in dealing with sex did not offend me, only the inanity of the characters and the ridiculous way the main character (Michael Lawson, played by NPH) responds to situations. Even the straight characters, including Michael's parents, are ludicrous stereotypes, although I did enjoy Marcia Gay Harden's performance and character as a woman who has been left by her husband.

The whole thrust of the series is that Michael is left by his partner (Colin), just as he (Michael) is throwing a birthday party for Colin, setting the scene for the totally shocked Michael's entrance onto the gay singles scene in NYC. Michael is neurotic, too emotional, and way too sensitive. He ditches one of his potential boyfriends simply because the guy passes gas too early in the relationship. As I recall, Michael seems to think you need to be dating for a month before you fart in the presence of your partner.

SPOILER: The six-episode series ends with Michael returning to his apartment one evening to find Colin waiting for him. Colin wants Michael back. I found that ending disappointing and stupid. Obviously, it was meant as a cliffhanger which would be addressed in Series 2. I hate when that happens. The playwright Peter Shaffer has talked about how audiences need release and pointed out that Shakespeare always gave his audiences release. The ending of Uncoupled denied us that release. Netflix did not pick up the series for Season 2 anyway. I read that Showtime picked it up, but I don't subscribe to Showtime, so I won't see it. (I felt that the British series Queer as Folk was a seminal and brilliant series about gay life in Manchester, England, and I was thrilled when Showtime announced that they would be producing an American version. I subscribed to Showtime but cancelled after seeing the first two episodes of the American Queer as Folk. That's a subject for another thread.)

But to get back to kingrat's point about gay sex, and to the scene he mentions, I have to confess that I did not know that Botox could be used in that manner!

[I Love Melvin]

It's been a while since I watched, but my overall impression was the same as yours, that, especially among the small circle of friends, some of the characters veered toward stereotype and some of the dialogue was too cute by half. For me, and I've felt this before with some primarily "gay" material, the redeeming factor was the presence of some well-drawn female characters, though they were also borderline excessive and used primarily for comic effect. Harris' business partner Suzanne (Tisha Campbell) could clock him on his excesses in a way which many in the audience would surely have wanted to. She was also a good counter-balance to the kind of excessive white privilege on display in their field of New Your real estate. And Marcia Gay Harden gave full voice to the nutty prerogatives of the rich when dealing with "underlings". I also liked Brooks Ashmanskas as his art dealer friend Stanley, who was the fount of sometimes gimmicky one-liners among the group, but also a true friend willing to relate on a more personal level when Harris' character could manage it. And the outcome of his character's trajectory was truly touching. One particular problem for me was in the casting of Harris himself. I know he began in television, but over the years he's crafted a persona more tailored to hosting the Tonys or projecting from a stage. I know his character was supposed to be needy and angsty, but I think Harris' own inability to decompress as an actor showed through, especially when called upon to be quietly reflective. In comparison to what some other Broadway powerhouses like Kelli O'Hara and Audra MacDonald have been able to do on The Gilded Age, his performance didn't connect the way it needed to, at least for me.

[Swithin]

I had forgotten about the business partner. Yes, she was definitely an asset. The character who was a breath of fresh air for me later in the series was Wyatt, played by the fabulously named Gonzalo Aburto de la Fuente. Representing the younger generation, he seemed to have his feet on the ground. He walks out on Billy when the outrageous Billy flirts with a waiter at the Jonathans' wedding. (That calls to mind a much darker gay film: the utterly tragic Clapham Junction, which opens at a gay wedding, with one of the grooms having sex with a waiter.)

I agree about the limitations of NPH. I think his best film work was a cameo in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.

Here's the trailer for Uncoupled, Season 1. Actually, looking at it makes me think I might have liked the series more than I remember!

[I Love Melvin]

I agree about the character of Wyatt, who brought a more clear-headed point of view into a situation which tended to spiral at the drop of a hat. It also highlighted that these characters were on their own little generational island; if a younger perspective had been brought in at an earlier point it's possible that the whole storyline might have gone in a somewhat different direction. Add to that the fact that I'm more than a generation removed from these characters myself, so my head was already spinning to begin with. Not so much the sex stuff, which seemed familiar enough (I have a good memory.), but more the depersonalized aspect of it in both the dependence on technology to make the connection to begin with and in the seeming lack of personal investment in anything but the act itself. I remember sex being fun; was I doing it wrong?

[Swithin]

I think the writers -- Darren Star and Jeffrey Richman -- are 60-ish. Richman is the partner of John Benjamin Hickey.

[I Love Melvin]

I think the writers -- Darren Star and Jeffrey Richman -- are 60-ish. Richman is the partner of John Benjamin Hickey.

I'm not surprised to hear that, but since the whole thing is intended to skew "older" they were probably the right people in the right job. Hickey has a very familiar face and I remember him as Roger Edens in the Judy Davis TV bio-pic Me and My Shadows (2001), about Judy Garland and especially as Truman Capote's partner Jack Dunphy in the "other" Capote movie with Toby Jones (which, and I'm probably taking a risk here, I liked better that the Phillip Seymour Hoffman version).

[Swithin]

Speaking of Toby Jones, have you seen the BBC film Christopher and His Kind? It's based on Isherwood's 1976 book in which he tries to "set the record straight" regarding his homosexuality and Berlin. ("I went because of the boys. To me, Berlin meant boys.") Cabaret, based on his earlier works, was less true to his life. Matt Smith plays Isherwood.

In the film, Toby Jones has an important supporting role as friend to Christopher. Toby is into all kinds of kinks! He plays Gerald Hamilton, who was known as "the wickedest man in Europe." Imogen Poots plays Jean Ross, the real woman who inspired the character of Sally Bowles. Pip Carter plays W.H. Auden.

I highly recommend the film. It's on YouTube. Here's a trailer.

[Swithin]

Ah, England, where people have names like Imogen Poots. Shows you the wisdom of old Hollywood where she would have become something like Amy Parker.

Ms. Poots is the partner of James Norton, of whom I wrote earlier this year. (Btw, her middle name is Gay, so Imogen Gay Poots!)
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