Given
the leaps and bounds we’ve made in the inclusion
of lesbian and gay characters on TV today, I was completely floored
by BBC America’s May presentation of Sarah Water's novel
"Tipping the Velvet." It seemed as if the community
standards of Victorian London depicted in the three part mini-series
were then used as the gauge for the "acceptable" amounts
of sexual content allowed to grace our screens when finally shown
here in the States.
I
have to admit that I am not your average viewer. I’m probably
more media savvy than the average American television viewer,
and as a bisexual woman, I have a vested interest in gay, lesbian,
or bisexual content on TV. So I had been eagerly awaiting my chance
to see Tipping the Velvet ever since its smashing debut
in England.
Based
on the Water's novel, the television mini-series chronicles the
romantic adventures of a young woman named Nan (played by Rachael
Stirling) in the 1890's as she falls in love with Kitty, a male
impersonator (played by Keeley Hawes) who breaks her heart, then
is seduced by wealthy widow Diana Lethaby (played by Anna Chancellor),
and eventually finds love with Florence (played by Jodhi May),
a young woman of modest means who takes Nan in when she has nowhere
else to go.
But
after eagerly watching the long-awaited first episode
of this much-celebrated UK series, I found myself disappointed
and outraged. Now, some months later, I've had
time to mull it over and re-watch my tape of the three-part series
in it's entirety--and I'm still outraged.
BBC
America's much-touted broadcast of Tipping the Velvet
was marred by poorly executed cut-aways and censorship
unbecoming of the BBC. On top of that, there were far too many
commercials (averaging 3 minutes per break) for a 60-minute time
slot, which seems designed to hide the fact that, unbeknownst
to most viewers, 59 minutes of the original production was cut
for the U.S. showing.
In
the weeks leading up to the May 23rd premiere in the
U.S., there was a serious media push to hype the show. The May
13th issue of The Advocate featured a rather lengthy and detailed
interview with series star Rachael Stirling, giving us all the
gory details as to what Nan would be up to and how Stirling's
mother, Dame Diana Rigg, reacted to seeing her daughter bare all.
The June issue of Curve Magazine gave it cover space with their
headline “BBC Does Drag: Tipping the Velvet on
TV” and a two page story included within.
Even
the mainstream press jumped on the bandwagon. The San Francisco
Chronicle published not one, but two, stories – the first
appearing in the May 18th Sunday Datebook section and the second
a review by Chronicle critic Tim Goodman appearing the day of
the first episode.
Why
make such a fuss if in the end the viewers will know
that they were cheated? All of the stories gave details of the
rather risqué nature of the sex scenes and commented on
their reception in England--most of which did not show up in the
U.S. version.
When
it finally hit the airwaves, each episode of Tipping the Velvet
was preceded by "The following scenes contain material of
a sexual nature...viewer discretion is advised." What scenes?
There might have been some, if they hadn't done such a hack job
with editing. Are BBC America that afraid of upsetting our delicate
sensibilities? In the end, it simply made them look silly.
Maybe
I'm jaded and over-reacting. As someone who grew up watching Masterpiece
Theatre on my local PBS affiliate, I've always thought that the
British had a less puritanical view of sex than we did. And certainly,
here in the States, cable TV has pushed the envelope on acceptable
"community standards" of sex and violence to the point
that I expected to see Tipping the Velvet in all it's
unexpurgated glory.
By
comparison, there was more graphic sex on TV in PBS’ showing
of I, Claudius twenty years ago; and there was certainly
more content of a “sexual nature” in the last television
season. Not only do we have Six Feet Under and Queer
As Folk on cable, but we had more bare flesh and lesbian
content on primetime TV in the just-concluded season of Buffy
the Vampire Slayer than was finally shown in Tipping
the Velvet.
Since
it serves no purpose to bitch about censorship and not
do something constructive about it, I filled out the feedback
form on the BBC America website and received this polite reply:
