I Want You Back #1: Playing it Straight

A series of blog posts I'm going to start is I Want You Back. This is where I talk about different shows, bands, trends etc that I want back, and I think should never have went away. For my first one, I want back a tv show which I recently re-discovered, which I absolutely love, and that is Playing It Straight.

In this show, 1 girl is looking for love and a group of guys are there to battle it out in a multitude of challenges to be with her. What soon dawns on the girl is that this show isn't what it seems, as she is told some of the guys are straight and some are gay. £100,000 is up for grabs. If she picks a straight guy at the end of the show then they both halve the money and ride off into the sunset, but if she picks a gay man, then he takes all the money for himself. The gay men must pretend to be straight, and the girl must work out who is straight and who is merely playing it straight. Episode by episode she eliminates a guy or guys until she picks the one in the final.

Now there are obvious thirsty reasons why I would like this show. A group of attractive guys trying to emasculate each other in a series of physical challenges. Emm yes please! There is though a lesson in this show which I think is a healthy one, and that is to not always judge someone on a stereotype. On occasion in the show aired on Channel 4 (which so far has had two series, one in 2005 and one in 2012) the girl eliminates a guy based on a flimsy stereotype, whether it be a guy is too camp so he must be gay or keep a guy in based on the fact that if he's more macho then he must be straight, which we know in life isn't always true. The show teaches you that yes some people might follow stereotypes, but there also people that don't conform with stereotypes at all, and are their own person entirely. The idea of not staying in “your” box or not staying true to “your” label can unnerve people. Society feels more comfortable with what they expect is true. Black is black and white is white which when is true, in many ways is absolutely fine, but sometimes not conforming with the stereotype can isolate you from a community who live by it . So when the two crossover and someone displays character or physical traits which you would associate with a opposite type of person, people can be confused or even angry in denial that this person is truly what they say they are. This aspect is displayed in the show, and adds a very real dimension of life into the scenario, which I think is very educational.

For people that don't like the idea of a gay man being lets say the villain in the piece, and stealing all the money for being gay, what I say to them is lighten up a bit. The show is entirely comedic, perfectly displayed by commentators Alan Cumming & Alan Carr, and presenters June Sarpong & Jameela Jamil in their respective series. The show is so funny as you see the guys squirm trying display macho masculinity and lie through their teeth. The show is also very challenging for the viewer. It was about 50/50 for me whether I correctly identified someone as gay or as straight in both series. Gaydar is joked about, but let's be honest, doesn't really exist. I can confidently say that the people who claim to have the best gaydar are straight people. I always say that my “gaydar” is shit, I have no clue most of the time who is gay or straight, so don't expect me to be confident enough to identify you as gay in a bar, club or gym, because I have no clue.

To say I have a crush on some of the guys in the show is an understatement. There is a plenty of eye candy. In fact I love the show so much that I want it brought back so I can have a go. This time let's make it a gay version. I'd be the guy looking through a group of guys as to who is gay and who is dun dun dun straight. Of course Playing it Straight as a title wouldn't work, so I'm suggesting (a bloody brilliant name if I don't say so myself) GAY FOR PAY. If I pick a gay guy we walk away with the money and halve it but if he's straight then he walks away with it himself. It would be very interesting to see straight guys trying to act like, what they perceive as gay, and would raise a lot of questions on what we think is gay or straight based on the judgments we make. I think also that if a show, musician, film etc is gay, then in most cases it doesn't become the huge commercial success it should, because for some people it's “too gay”. Channel 4 sound like the right broadcaster to challenge this, and create real and in time controversial shows which open up bigger questions on how we live as a society and whether we are as accepting as we think we are. Sounds right up Channel 4's alley doesn't it nudge nudge wink wink. So let's make it happen. I want you back Playing It Straight, or should I say Gay For Pay? ;)

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