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Home » Blogs » Karman Kregloe's blog » Italian television gets its first lesbian kiss

Italian television gets its first lesbian kiss

by
Karman Kregloe

A few weeks ago, AE writer Dara Nai told us all about the new Italian hospital drama, Terapia d’urgenza, which features two lesbian characters, pediatrician Marina Ranieri del Colle (Alessia Barela), and her paramour, nurse Esther (Elisabetta Rocchetti). The show is an adaptation of the popular Spanish medical drama, Hospital Central.

L to R: Alessia Barela, Elisabetta Rocchetti

According to Dara (via eurout.org), Barela prepared for her role by studying The L Word. It looks like all of that research paid off this week when Marina and and Esther self-administered a little sexual healing in an elevator — the first lesbian kiss on Italian televison (thanks to AE reader Sid for the tip!).

Watch it now here (if this video won't work for you, try it here):

Blogger Anik LaChev translated this scene on her great site that includes all sorts of information about Marina and Esther:

[Elevator drawing to a stop in front of Esther. Nursing personnel spills out, leaving only Marina, leaning against the wall next to the console. Esther enters, standing close to her in the spacious elevator.]

Marina: [pushing loose from the wall]: Hey.
Esther: Hey, are you going down? [she is pushing the "open doors" instead of the "close doors" button] Oh good Lord, I’m sorry. [she is very nervous]
Marina: Everything all right with Aldo?
Esther: Yes. [they are now very close to each other.] In the sense of that with him, it’s over. I closed that chapter.

[Marina slowly keeps invading Esther's space, in by inch, while Esther looks at her without drawing back. She begins to breathe heavily as Marina stares at her lips and then reaches out to touch them with her fingertips. Esther finally breaks the tension and cups Marina's head between her hands, initiating a kiss that has them stumble through the opposite wall of the elevator, continuing between blissful and hungry until the door suddenly opens and Rocco catches sight of the scene.]

Esther: Hello…
Marina: Hello…
Rocco: I'm getting on, you two?
Marina: [getting out with Esther] We have arrived.

Yes indeedy, they sure have! And if this episode is any indication of what's to come on Terapia d’urgenza, I'm going to start learning Italian immediatamente!

This kiss comes 17 years after the first lesbian kiss on U.S. television, but there's no comparison between the two. Despite all the controversy at the time, that L.A Law kiss was dead on arrival. This one from Terapia d’urgenza, on the other hand, was hotter than anything we've seen on broadcast television lately in the United States. Except for what we'll be seeing soon on House.

What is it with hot lesbian medical personnel, anyway? Don't TV lesbians go to law school or study linguistics anymore?

  • Karman Kregloe's blog
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    • Submitted by
    Karman Kregloe
    on October 20, 2008 - 3:00pm.
    TAGS :: 
    Frank Grimes's picture

    I'm amazed

    Submitted by
    Frank Grimes (65 posts)
    on October 20, 2008 - 3:01pm.
    I thought the Italian's would have been the first to show a lesbian kiss!
    Anonymous's picture

    yeah me too

    Submitted by
    Anonymous
    on October 21, 2008 - 12:11pm.

    I'm surprised they haven't either. In South Africa there was a show called 37 Honey Street, it aired 10 years ago and that was the 1st SA on screen kiss between 2 women. There was such hype, it made page 3 of our papers. 10 years on...gay marriages are legal...we've come a long way :)

    sohelko's picture

    Bravo!

    Submitted by
    sohelko (102 posts)
    on October 20, 2008 - 3:09pm.
    very nice for the italians! we are still waiting for the first lesbian kiss on Greek television. And i'm afraid we are going to wait for a long time.
    music.addict's picture

    Yea we do have a long way to

    Submitted by
    music.addict (2 posts)
    on October 20, 2008 - 3:22pm.
    Yea we do have a long way to go sadly, which is weird considering that in ancient greece there were gay people.  the first lesbian kiss is probably going to be from an american tv series showing on star over in greece
    Natazzz's picture

    Good question

    Submitted by
    Natazzz (1113 posts)
    on October 20, 2008 - 3:22pm.

    Karman wrote:
    What is it with hot lesbian medical personnel, anyway? Don't TV lesbians go to law school or study linguistics anymore?

    Good question.

    Then again, as long as they keep making out I really do not care what their profession is...

    - - - - - - - - - -

    -Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.

    I blog, therefore, I am

    nixawme's picture

    hey just so you know pronto

    Submitted by
    nixawme (105 posts)
    on October 20, 2008 - 3:27pm.

    hey just so you know pronto means hi in italian, its in spanish that pronto means fast.

    but hey good to know some countries show us! maybe itll spread (:

    milena87's picture

    Pronto means... :P

    Submitted by
    milena87 (58 posts)
    on October 20, 2008 - 4:11pm.

    "Pronto" it's the equivalent for "hi" only when answering to the phone, but "pronto" generally means "done" or "ready" ^_^

     

    Apart from this linguistic digression, I've never seen Terapia d'urgenza, but I'm glad they put a (hot) scene like that in an italian fiction without creating a national crisis (but I expect the Pope or some politician to talk about lost values in the near future...we'll see :P)

     

    AuntieCallisto75's picture

    Bette not Marina :)

    Submitted by
    AuntieCallisto75 (2 posts)
    on October 20, 2008 - 3:33pm.

    Good to see Terapia d'Urgenza on AfterEllen :D

    Sorry for the clarification... but Alessia Barela prepared for her role by watching LWord and especially Jennifer Beals' characterization of Bette.

    Nordie's picture

    ...that's what I read as

    Submitted by
    Nordie (11 posts)
    on October 20, 2008 - 4:05pm.

    ...that's what I read as well, AuntieCallisto (e che buona compagnia che c'è qui, eh? tu video mi piace in tutte le pagine...). You beat me to it! The Bette influence is; I would argue, somewhat obvious in watching the show (and in some of the screenshots) - it's that whole passionate-but-needing-to-be-in-control thing.

    ON a sidenote, RaiDue on its website for the series (http://www.raifiction.rai.it/raifiction2006fiction/0,,3724,00.html) lists Esther Bruno as Esther, not Ester, just to avoid confusions - just another nitpicky lesbians with a linguistic degree. My apologies.

    I can only agree - great to see "Terapia d'urgenza" on afterellen, as well! It cannot be stressed enough what a major step this is for Italy, where the last two tries for a civil union  law have been batted off like flies and the third one will most likely not do any better.

    Apart from an English speaking community with translations and discussions, there is also a service in Spanish (http://bairesily.blogspot.com) and Chinese (http://sfile.ydy.com/bbs/viewthread.php?tid=230937&extra=page%3D1&page=1) - clips, subtitles, translations, photos, the whole nine yards.

    Hopefully, the storyline (so far, handled exceptionally well) will continue to deserve blog mentions like this!

     

    Abby T.'s picture

    oh, come on.

    Submitted by
    Abby T. (9 posts)
    on October 20, 2008 - 3:43pm.

    (Really? This is too easy. I feel like I'm walking into some sort of trap:)

    I think most lesbians nowadays study linguistics, Karman.

    ATM 

    eve_jig_it's picture

    Is this

    Submitted by
    eve_jig_it (637 posts)
    on October 20, 2008 - 4:39pm.

    Is this REALLY the FIRST lesbian kiss on Italian television? Like after all these years of Italy having television, this is the VERY FIRST time that two females have kissed on it in a TV show? Like really? I'm so suprised! 

    I mean congradulations if that’s the case, but wowzers, I can’t believe its only the first time!
    blackavatar's picture

    lol no it's not. A public

    Submitted by
    blackavatar (35 posts)
    on October 20, 2008 - 5:52pm.

    lol no it's not. A public tv channel even showed two women kissing in a 3:00 pm soap opera.

    And you can see commercials like this at every hour of the day:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjyIC7iWQE0

    The Yellow God's picture

    ...

    Submitted by
    The Yellow God (10 posts)
    on October 21, 2008 - 5:09am.

    Ehm...sorry to contradict you, but that commercial is highly homophobic...at least that's what I see (and believe me, I don't scream "homophobic" for almost everything like somebody does)

    The commercial shows these strong, maybe even a little masculine women, it's vaguely lesbian...Then this beautiful feminine woman appears and the statement says "Tornate a essere donne" witch means "Let's back to be women"...

     

    So, it says that to be a women you have to be as feminine as the red dressed one. It says that the other females characters on the commercial are not really women....

     

     

    blackavatar's picture

    Ti rispondo in italiano

    Submitted by
    blackavatar (35 posts)
    on October 21, 2008 - 11:53am.

    Ti rispondo in italiano così riesco a spiegarmi meglio.

    Ci possono essere diverse interpretazioni per quella pubblicità, e dubito sapremo mai cosa volesse dire chi l'ha prodotta con quella provocazione finale.

    Mentre la tua interpretazione è quella più diffusa, c'è anche da tenere conto che a questo spot si può attribuire un altro possibile significato di matrice post-femminista: per essere donne di successo non bisogna per forza emulare gli uomini (tra l'altro nella pubblicità hanno usato dei comportamenti molto primitivi, quasi per ridicolizzare gli uomini stessi e non quelle donne che hanno una natura più mascolina, a mio parere) ma si può rimanere "femminili" e raggiungere ugualmente la vetta (magari guidare una Mercedes classe A può aiutare, secondo il loro pensiero ovviamente).

    The Yellow God's picture

    Uhm

    Submitted by
    The Yellow God (10 posts)
    on October 21, 2008 - 4:58am.

    nope..it's not...

    But I'm pretty sure it's the first lesbian kiss in an Italian tv show though...

    Volkova84's picture

    Mmm

    Submitted by
    Volkova84 (253 posts)
    on October 20, 2008 - 5:54pm.

    Ahem,this scene was hot!I'm looking forward to seeing more of such scenes from this series :P

    ____________

    "Can you tell me softly how you'll always haunt me..." t.A.T.u

    dorisday's picture

    Gotta love a lesbian on a mission.

    Submitted by
    dorisday (11 posts)
    on October 20, 2008 - 5:56pm.
    Has anyone let the IMF know that if they want to sort the world economy out they really have to get Anik Lachev and Auntie Callisto and the gang on the case? I mean really - within a few hours of the show being broadcast on Italian TV these guys (who as far as I can gather are not even in the same country) had taped, edited, transcribed into Italian, translated into English, subtitled and uploaded this hot hot hot scene. International cooperation in pursuit of a lofty goal indeed!
    notunderpressure's picture

    i'm with you

    Submitted by
    notunderpressure (14 posts)
    on October 21, 2008 - 2:26pm.

    haha! i love your comment. :)

    _____________________
    ..make it count..

    Batman's picture

    going down?

    Submitted by
    Batman (418 posts)
    on October 20, 2008 - 6:57pm.

    loved the guy at the end... just standing there like... "what's up"

     

    Celebridyke.'s picture

    ...

    Submitted by
    Celebridyke. (163 posts)
    on October 20, 2008 - 9:09pm.
    Italy is actually a pretty progressive country when it comes to lesbians and sexuality. The L Word premieres on regular channels there, and they only have like 14 channels to begin with. Even America won't go there.
    Rachel JW's picture

    Italian

    Submitted by
    Rachel JW (329 posts)
    on October 20, 2008 - 9:51pm.

    Holy lesbian love! That's hot... <3 

    -Rachelhttp://groups.myspace.com/KisstheGirl07

    Amy's picture

    That's amazing. hopefully

    Submitted by
    Amy (57 posts)
    on October 20, 2008 - 9:56pm.
    That's amazing. hopefully there's more to come? (and they put in subtitles...although i don't need subtitles to know its friggen HOT)
    carol's picture

    Marina & Esther

    Submitted by
    carol (154 posts)
    on October 20, 2008 - 10:39pm.

    I might just add that those two italian actresses are waaay hotter than maca and esther from the spanish version (though i always found maca quite interesting).

    Can't wait for next Friday.

    ------------------------------

    http://lebiscoito.wordpress.com

    xevus's picture

    hotter than maca&esther? well, not in my eyes..

    Submitted by
    xevus (88 posts)
    on October 21, 2008 - 3:30am.

    but I think all 4 of them is hot as hell and really know their stuff 'cause the screen is sizzling!

    I have to say though, although I try to follow the show and thanks to some really great people, there are english subtitle, but I was suprized by this kiss, wasn't it a bit sudden? The last time I know Ester was even uncomfortable to be seen with Marina and now... what do you think?

    Oh, and just a little note: imagine, in Hungary when they showed the In her line of fire movie with Jill Bennett and MAriel Hemingway, they cut out the kiss at the end... even if it was 11:30 pm... sadsadsad... but now Italy with the pope and all his little friends there have this show... I love it! and I am also pretty sure that we will hear some doomsday speaches in the near future :))

    Acidian's picture

    Yay

    Submitted by
    Acidian (91 posts)
    on October 21, 2008 - 7:21am.

    I need to watch this. I get the Rai Due channel and I know italian. Quite about time that the italians did something like this.

    Regarding loads of hot lesbian doctors/nurses, lets hope they are not just fantasy (since I'll be working in a hospital in the future).

    xevus's picture

    :)

    Submitted by
    xevus (88 posts)
    on October 21, 2008 - 8:34am.

    "Regarding loads of hot lesbian doctors/nurses, lets hope they are not just fantasy (since I'll be working in a hospital in the future)."

    Keep us posted ;)

    fee's picture

    Nice!

    Submitted by
    fee (1381 posts)
    on October 21, 2008 - 9:00am.
    That was great! Thanks for that. 

    Italian women are so cute and confident, I love it. Maybe I should try and study Italian as well...


    "Bad juju? Is that a voodoo-thing?"
    "Close...but with a 'j'." 
    - Malinda Lo & Sarah Pecora, 'the Lo-down'
    Marianna's picture

    Well they certainly made up for lost time . . .

    Submitted by
    Marianna (83 posts)
    on October 21, 2008 - 9:15am.

    That made me very hot under the collar haha

    FreewheelNat's picture

    Mixed experience in Italy

    Submitted by
    FreewheelNat (120 posts)
    on October 21, 2008 - 10:31am.

    I like Italy for many things such as culture and food (it's my favourite type of food), but my experience there as a lesbian has been somewhat negative.

    I used to go out with a girl who was italian and lived in Rome and let's just say that she didn't feel safe being lesbian there, and neither did I when I visited her. Granted, it was about 8 years ago so hopefully things have changed now :)

    Having said that, once we went to Milan to meet up with her friends - also lesbians - and we felt a lot more relaxed about our sexuality up there. 

    *****     *****     ***** 

    Taking off - the novel, coming soon. Starring Katie, a lesbian in London...

    In the meanwhile, you can read reviews of films and books with lesbian/bi characters and/or taking place in London at www.takingoff.org

     

    Bea's picture

    Guys, Italy was sooooo

    Submitted by
    Bea (5 posts)
    on October 22, 2008 - 10:45am.

    Guys, Italy was sooooo ready for this, that it seems that the show has been cancelled right after the kiss went on air.

    And of course, Rai (Italy's public television) justified this with "LOW RATINGS".

    Those who live in Italy - and I think those who don't, too - may very well guess what the real reason was: some bigot phoned and put pressure upon the tv channel, and they stepped back.

     

     

    Nordie's picture

    Suspension

    Submitted by
    Nordie (11 posts)
    on October 22, 2008 - 12:31pm.

    The show has been supended (10 episodes remain to be aired, vague airing date "next summer") - RaiDue has not confirmed the suspension yet, but they are already advertising another show in the spot of Terapia d'urgenza.

    Everyone who is not a bigot is welcome to tell RaiDue that there are people who enjoy the show and the storyline, the contact link is:

    http://www.contattalarai.rai.it/eservice_ita/start.swe?SWECmd=Start&SWEH...

    ...there have to be more disgruntled lesbians writing mails today than than entire population of the Vatican State...

     

     

    SubtextRules's picture

    Nordie...

    Submitted by
    SubtextRules (353 posts)
    on October 23, 2008 - 11:15am.

    I would love to write into Rai Due and ask them to save the show but I'm not sure which of the three links you click to send that e-mail to. The first one is a phone number, so that's out. Any help you can provide would be wonderful! Thanks Amy!

    Nordie's picture

    middle link

    Submitted by
    Nordie (11 posts)
    on October 24, 2008 - 12:58am.

    @Amy Jo: it's the middle link.

    Further help on how to fill out the form can be found here (scroll down to hear the end of the post):

    http://aniklachev.wordpress.com/2008/10/22/marinaesther-suspended-cue-ou...

    thanks for your support!

    manuela's picture

    So sad...

    Submitted by
    manuela (1 post)
    on November 11, 2008 - 9:58pm.
    I'm sooo sad....   :'(

    Last month, on a friday, I was watching tv without any interest and all of sudden....Wow, they're kissing!!! Two women!! And in prime time!!! (Well, to tell the trouth, it was 11 pm...).
    And now it's over... I hate italian tv and this thing of low ratings... 
    And I'm starting to hate Italy too. Beeing a lesbian in Italy can be still a nightmare..
    afterellenfan's picture

    no need for practicefor Alessia

    Submitted by
    afterellenfan (3 posts)
    on January 10, 2009 - 4:19pm.

    it is written that Alessia Barela prepared for the role by watching the L word (i am a huge fan of the show , i guess we all are!)  , but she had an experience of shooting lesbian scenes already and belive me very hot ones! check this out people http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL54POGgvRs&feature=related. So, Alessia Barela! You shouldn't worry about practice! YOu are great already!!!


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