1.08: All in the Chosen Family

Queer as Folklore

In 1999 in the faraway land of Manchester there are many ways to form family. What does episode six of Queer as Folk teach us about family?

We found many opposites at work here: marriage/divorce, family of origin/chosen family and the spectrum between accepting and non-accepting parents. Do we owe our parents to come out to them?

At the end of episode 1.06: Stay here, stay queer, get used to it we found parallels between the Harry Potter books and Queer as Folk. In Queer as Folk Nathan is the Harry that enters a magical, partially hidden world of queer Manchester. So in this episode the overview is fantasy themed and there’s art to go along (see below)! We haven’t yet decided who all of the characters correspond to in the Potterverse (who is Hagrid?) but we are firmly decided that Donna is Hermione, and maybe also Ron.

Outline

00:00 Intro 04:10 Episode overview reading 10:38 Mind mapping the episode 15:41 Alexander's non-accepting parents 22:57 More or less accepting parents 27:25 Tea bagging tangent 31:51 Fake engagement & marriage equality 48:14 Liza spills the beans about Stuart and Vince 52:17 Cameron's notion of "make-believe" family 01:03:07 Straight marriage & divorce 01:16:05 Family folklore 01:22:00 Fun fact - Gay club history

Maria Doyle Kennedy plays Marie in Queer as Folk and Siobhan Sadler in Orphan Black.

The character Lance is not an Ampelmann, but rather these German pedestraian symbols are.

Helsinki gay club DTM pictures and info (in Finnish) taken from here and here.

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In the back from left to right: Alexander, Vince, Hazel (Molly Weasly), Liza & Romy. In the front: Stuart, Nathan (Potter), Donna (Hermione/Ron).

Dagmar illustrations

https://queerasfolklorecast.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/1.08_-all-in-the-chosen-family.mp3