Jen Posted March 11, 2009 Report Share Posted March 11, 2009 Channel Seven's Home and Away goes gay Colin Vickery March 11, 2009 07:20am HOME and Away is set to divide audiences when it introduces a lesbian romance this month. The Channel 7 soapie has tough policewoman Charlie Buckton falling in love with Joey Collins, played by Kate Bell, who works on a trawler. There will be intimate kissing and dance scenes over the following five weeks as their relationship blossoms into love. Conservative family groups have reacted angrily to the plot in the PG-rated show, which boasts a large child and teen fan base. "They (Home and Away) continue to market to kids and they continue to develop quite sexualised plot lines," Pro-Family Perspectives director Angela Conway said. "The plot lines that young kids and teenagers should be presented with should be about really authentic relationships that are not just sexualised." Actor Esther Anderson, who plays Charlie Buckton, talked to gay friends in the lead-up to filming. Anderson said kissing another girl "wasn't that big a deal", and young viewers would accept the scenes. "You learn pretty much everything at school," she said. "I don't think it's like I'm lifting the lid on something they don't already know about. "To me there's no difference - love's love. The fact that your partner's the same sex is no different. You just want to be loved." In 2004, Channel 10 soapie Neighbours was attacked by talkback callers and conservative groups when it featured a lesbian kiss between schoolgirls Lana Crawford (Bridget Neval) and Sky Mangel (Stephanie McIntosh). Mark McCraith, of media communications company MindShare, said some advertisers would be nervous with the lesbian storyline. "It depends on how it is handled. If it is educational, that's fine," he said. "If it's handled in a way that is exploitative or sensationalised, some advertisers will be wary, especially those aiming at families and mothers." Psychologist Dr Janet Hall has praised the lesbian love plot, saying it allows families to discuss the topic. "Young audiences are basically aware of the whole gay thing anyway. All it's doing is reflecting society," she said. "It sounds like it is being treated with sensitivity, and this is great for all." Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Kevin- Posted March 11, 2009 Report Share Posted March 11, 2009 Thanks for this Jen I am so looking forward to this now "There will be intimate kissing and dance scenes over the following five weeks as their relationship blossoms into love" ^^^ Its about time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Posted March 11, 2009 Report Share Posted March 11, 2009 All I can say is 'about bloody time'! Home and Away finally gets into the real world I always think its funny how these serieses always start off with a lesbian relationship to 'test the audience's reaction', as if a gay male relationship is somehow more scary to viewers Hopefully HAA will eventually be 'brave enough' to have gay male characters without worrying it will scare everybody off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halcyon06 Posted March 11, 2009 Report Share Posted March 11, 2009 Should be interesting! Thanks for this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karenp Posted March 11, 2009 Report Share Posted March 11, 2009 Finally, cant wait should be interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bareenfan Posted March 11, 2009 Report Share Posted March 11, 2009 Channel Seven's Home and Away goes gay Conservative family groups have reacted angrily to the plot in the PG-rated show, which boasts a large child and teen fan base. "They (Home and Away) continue to market to kids and they continue to develop quite sexualised plot lines," Pro-Family Perspectives director Angela Conway said. "The plot lines that young kids and teenagers should be presented with should be about really authentic relationships that are not just sexualised." Oh dear, does this lady think that gay relationship are not "authentic"? It does worry me when these groups come out with this sort of nonsense as they do far more harm than good. Because of their over reaction to this story line there will be some parents who won't allow their children to watch and there will be an increased number of young people picked on and bullied in school because being "gay" is not "authentic" enough for one to be socially acceptable. Provided this is done sensitively and is not sensationalised, then they should be applauding and not criticizing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellow601 Posted March 12, 2009 Report Share Posted March 12, 2009 Can't wait to see Esther Anderson in these great scenes. It must be great for her as she gets to do something challenging and expand her acting skills. But in the article or somewhere else it sayd the storyline goes for 5 weeks. So what happens after that? Do you just break up and Charlie goes back to liking guys? That can't be right. Maybe they break up and Joey leaves or something. Who knows. Just really excited to see how the storyline unfolds and how great Esther is going to be in the scenes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumble bum Posted March 12, 2009 Report Share Posted March 12, 2009 Channel Seven's Home and Away goes gay Conservative family groups have reacted angrily to the plot in the PG-rated show, which boasts a large child and teen fan base. "They (Home and Away) continue to market to kids and they continue to develop quite sexualised plot lines," Pro-Family Perspectives director Angela Conway said. "The plot lines that young kids and teenagers should be presented with should be about really authentic relationships that are not just sexualised." Oh dear, does this lady think that gay relationship are not "authentic"? It does worry me when these groups come out with this sort of nonsense as they do far more harm than good. Because of their over reaction to this story line there will be some parents who won't allow their children to watch and there will be an increased number of young people picked on and bullied in school because being "gay" is not "authentic" enough for one to be socially acceptable. Provided this is done sensitively and is not sensationalised, then they should be applauding and not criticizing. Kids are taught about sex from an early age at school. It is just the do gooders telling us how to raise our children again. Gay couples are every where. Look at the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Grai in Sydney recently, look how many children where in the crowd. I for one will be allowing my 13 year old daughter to watch. Children are taught sex ed from about the age of 10. There even shown nude pictures of men and women and told about where babies come from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Posted March 12, 2009 Report Share Posted March 12, 2009 yes, Grumble Bum I agree. Surely it can't be too hard for parents to explain about gay couples to their kids. I know exactly what I'll say when my daughter asks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan F Posted March 13, 2009 Report Share Posted March 13, 2009 What gets me is that they're complaining about the relationship just being 'sexualised' and not authentic when they haven't even seen it yet! These prejudiced idiots are just too quick to judge, is it any wonder Seven don't attempt this sort of storyline very often. What makes them think that just because its a lesbian couple, who have a little dance and a kiss, that its any worse than what Geoff and Nicole get up to? Utterly ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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