It's A Sin - Channel 4

[~vix~83~]

Watching this at the moment, it's devastating yet funny and joyful at the same time. I didn't fully realise that some Aids patients really suffered from senility/dementia-like symptoms, Colin's story has really stayed with me - thinking about how hard it must have been for their loved ones. He was such a loveable character, too. And how authoritarian the Welsh police and doctors were- terrifying. At least he had a loving mum and strong advocates in his friends.

Really interesting that in the early years those talking about the disease were treated as mad conspiracy theorists and to see how that slowly shifted. And it must have been so lonely for those patients who died in the early years of the epidemic.

I think that’s why Collin has stayed with so many people. His mum was amazing, he was her baby and that didn’t change for her.

 

[Dizzy]

I watched the final one last night and thought it was a masterpiece. The best thing I've watched in a long time and I think it will stay with me always. Colin's storyline absolutely broke me and the scene with Jill and Marcus at the end was so beautifully done and so so sad. I was a right mess by the time the final credits rolled and couldn't stop thinking about all the men who died alone and in shame. What a writer RTD is. I've just ordered my La! teeshirt as part of the proceeds goes to an AIDS charity and is endorsed by the great man himself.

 

[Lol57]

Neil Patrick Harris is a fab actor, he was brilliant as Henry. His hospital scenes were heartbreaking, the pain he projected in his eyes. The pain of never seeing his partner of 30 years again, isolation & knowing he was dying. God, I could cry thinking about it

But his accent was terrible! So baddd I wish they’d just let him play it American!

 

[kev1974]

Also love to see a current day series. Where we see how things changed. Maybe one of the group did get HIV but a lot later and are living a good life with modern day treatments. And see how they coped with loosing so many friends .

RTD has said that there was another episode written that brought the story and characters right up to date, but that it was not funded.

Maybe it will get funded now that Eps 1-5 have been so well received.

 

[Baconbutties]

Real life Jill.

 

[Stitched]

Oh my god I was in BITS

** SPOILERS **
The whole thing with Ritchie seeing Donald’s skin and being paranoid afterwards but not telling his friends :’(
ASH TELLING RITCHIE HE LOVED HIM - that BROKE me cause imagine they’d just got together and they hadn’t slept around and omg
Jill is such a saint and it broke me that Ritchie asked for her and his mum wouldn’t let her near and then he died on his own but then Jill going to sit with the other guy who had no friends or family
Ritchies dad being the actual understanding one

I finished it last night and I still can’t get over it

 

[imnotarobot]

I’ve recorded it to watch over the weekend! I have a question though, I wasn’t born then but I’m just wondering...the fear around AIDS, was it something that everyone was scared of in the beginning? Like I know there was mass panic to begin with, was the fear felt by people comparable to the fear felt in this pandemic or not? Hopefully this doesn’t come across as ignorant, I’m genuinely curious

Yes, totally yes, it was very much the same as the start of this epidemic when we knew very little. But whilst this pandemic is kind of the luck of the draw, no real stigma attached if you catch it, AIDS was just the perfect storm for stigma. I was in year nine and still remember watching 60 minutes (Australia) doing a show on it, and the next day it was all anyone could talk about, and for YEARS after we were all very scared of catching it. I was just becoming sexually active and it was terrifying, especially in the early days when we didn’t really understand it. I remember when Princess Di held the hand of an AIDS patient and how massive a deal it was.

I also remember the horrible, horrible way many people were to the gay community, it must have been the worst thing ever to live with (the stigma as well as the disease).

Interestingly though, it was AIDS that made us all start wearing gloves for medical processes, dentist etc. Before that we really didn’t bother with all that. I wonder how much worse this pandemic would be if we weren’t doing the basic hygiene that AIDS forced us into.

 

[Woolmercardington]

I loved that about her. You could tell she idolised her boy regardless of anything
The part in the hospital bed when he was telling Ritchie he fancied him was awfully sad

Oh, that was the most distressing scene for me. To not only be gravely ill but to have his dignity ripped away from him like that. Such a lovely, young lad. It was brutal

 

[Bambix]

I don’t cry at tv. But the end when Jill went to sit with Marcus, she held his hand and then he put his other hand on hers. Omg I cried and even thinking about it I’m welling up

 

[Penguinandthepinecone]

I binge watched 1-4 in one night and then couldn’t wait to finish the final episode the next day. Since then I’ve checked back on this thread every day, I guess because the show left such an impression I’ve wanted to keep thinking about it. I’ve loved reading everyone’s thoughts and comments here. One particular moment that I feel was really poignant and touched me (which I don’t think anyone’s commented on yet) was when Colin’s lovely work colleague was desperately wondering if the mould in their kitchen had caused their illnesses. It was so sad and so well acted. I think many people could relate to that ‘what if?’, should I, could I?’ have prevented this, when faced with an unknown health problem.

 

[Mooordgirl]

I did get the impression Colin consented. In the flashbacks, he was pretty much tipping a wink to the son about how he stays in on Thursdays when the landlady and her husband would be at their cinema club.

I think it was consentual, howver i dont think there was any desire/lust/love on the part of the landladys son. He got involved purely for his own gratification and i suppose thats what got me. Colin had only been sexually active with one person. Reading between the lines yer man was closeted and in denial and took it out of Colin. There was no affection, come to think of it i dont think they ever kissed on screen?!

 

[sleepflowers]

Colin was so sweet in his little brown coat I think I found his story the saddest, because he'd barely even started in life, he'd never even had a relationship or anything, like in the first episode, when his colleague asked if he wanted a boyfriend and he said yes, and he never got to have one

 

[catlady29]

I watched it all on Saturday night and then again last night, it is probably one of the best peices of television I have ever watched.
I find it incredible how quickly the characters took a place in your heart, Henry and Jaun Pablo were only in the first episode but it broke me when that episode finished, seeing him hiding in the house, in the hospital at the end, how Colin went to visit him, it was all so heartbreaking. Colins character was my favourite, i felt his relief when Mr Hart spotted the magazines and newspapers, actually breathed a sigh of relief alongside him. Was gutted when it lost him his job and then was feeling like a proud mum when he got the keys to the printer shop, his ending had me crying like a baby, I was unsure whether the encounter with football shirt boy was consensual, had to watch again and it appears it was, but get the feeling the boy had no respect for Colin as a person and was using him while denying his own sexuality.
Roscoe was amazing, loved his character, loved the part when he went to see cassius again and realised he'd been played, it was so funny, and pissing in Mrs Ts coffee, amazing.
Richie was brilliant, I felt the world stand still alongside Jill when she was at the harbour with his mum, totally did not see that coming.
There is just too much to write about, really considering a 3rd binge.

 

[Pixie06]

My first boyfriend at 16 got a job in a Westend Show, we were from up North, this was 1987. He was only a small part and understudy/swing for a few a the lead roles. The lead role he was covering for died of Aids. It was as terrifying as the programme. Nobody knew. My boyfriend was told he'd have to wear the same costume. He said he wanted a new one. But my bf was an innocent kid from up North. They made him a new one. But the programme represented that era amazingling. I had to go with my 3 best gay friends for HIV/AIDS tests and results. It was terrifying being sexually active. We went to Heaven nightclub. Where Terrence Higgins died.
The programme was factually correct. Brilliant writing from Russell T Davies (met him, great guy)again, and the cast who were AMAZING!

 

[ClockworkDolly]

I’m binge-watching it now. Oh poor Colin, the Welsh guy. He is such a sweetheart.

I can remember when AIDS first came onto the new. It was round about 1986/87. The media went to town with it, calling it the Gay Plague. I can also remember how straight people reacted towards anyone who was gay. Awful.

But, when Princess Diana held the hands of patients with AIDS, people’s attitudes changed. She really made a difference to how AIDS was perceived.

*********************************************************************************************************************************************************


I love that they are such a close-knit group of friends, all looking out for one another. That set up is something to cherish.

 

[Shinythings]

Utterly brilliant. I had seen others say they were in tears and their hearts were hurting. I got to nearly the end and thought it was sad but I wasn't crying or anywhere near. I thought maybe I was just an emotional rock. Then the tears came as Jill sat with Marcus and I ended up crying for all those poor people dying alone and in shame. I rarely cry at TV shows so to get me to tears, they've written one hell of a show.

 

[PepsiCherry]

I knew their treatment in hospital would be bad but this broke me ! Absolutely horrific. The ending.. awful. Im in the LGBT community and only my best friends and sister know.

I've also told my therapist and it was a hard thing to accept. I knew I was sexually attracted to women but only romantically to men. Im also demi sexual so it made it stressful for me. Thinking, do I fancy that actress or is it in my head ? This shouldn't be something we still question.

I mentioned on another thread, I told my mum and aunt I could be bi last summer. My aunt laughed. And said that when you find the man you'll marry, he won't respect or love you. As in that he would cheat or just not take me seriously.

Im 29 this year and I've never been to Pride. One of my best friends is an out gay man and I just want to go and party with him but its also as if I dont feel worthy. Like because my preference is male I dont count as LGBT.

This show made me cry like a baby. Thinking about if I was living in Ireland there with my best friend, I'd be working 24/7 about him. Imagining if I was in a hospital alone with no one. Or locked up like Henry and Colin. Horrific.

I've watched it 3 times already. Its so so so important. I started Pose too and its amazing.

Here is to a million more shows about LGBT history.

 

[~vix~83~]

"Oh Mammy, make them do something" over and over again.



La!

That scene broke me “ I don’t want to die” he was so lovely. How many Collins did we lose.

 

[Libbylulu]

Jill knew Ritchie died alone and needn’t have. She went and sat with Marcus at the end of episode 5. She didn’t want another dying alone. Jill is a legend. Everyone needs a Jill!

 

[sleepflowers]

I think I managed to just hold it together until the nurse was speaking about those dying alone and then Jill going to sit with a guy(Marcus?). So terribly sad that they were all alone

This was what got me - the way they were 'dying of shame' all alone, their family and friends shunning them. The bonfire scene was really affecting, like they were erasing their existence.

I thought it was interesting how they wrote in the part about how Richie had purposely not disclosed his status when sleeping with other men and so therefore infecting them. Left me feeling both angry at him and sad about him...made the whole thing a lot more complex.