From "La Stampa" of 12.13.04 by mc.
«L WORLD» ON CANAL JIMMY
<p class="dida"'Voglio la mia televisione ga'
After "Sex and the City," fashion victims have found another reference series in which the protagonists are single, even lesbian, and very well-dressed. The daring TV series has the explicit title "L World," where the capital letter explains the sexual preferences of the protagonists. 8 protagonists but it also means "Love".
What's different from its predecessor, which focused on singles, is the city itself: in this case, Los Angeles, while Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte lived in New York. What's also the same is the centrality of fashion, a "Californian Style" influenced by the colors of the place, completely different from the Vogue cover chic typical of the East Coast and "Sex and the City.".
If you had in mind the lesbian stereotype Short hair, a husky voice, jeans, and boots—get it out of your head. The "L" world (broadcast in Italy on Canal Jimmy on Sky) is absolutely glamorous and already trendy, so much so that costume designer Cynthia Summers is in high demand even among Hollywood stars looking for a new look. To dress her girls (including Jennifer Beals of Flashdance), Summers studied the characters' personalities and also the Lesbian Herstory archive, as well as the tastes of Californian girls. The result is a truly unique style dominated by color (especially orange in various shades) and original accessories. A wardrobe that mixes and juxtaposes pieces from famous designers and pieces found at flea markets. The "masculine" with the romantic. Chiffon with tweed, never taking anything for granted. Jennifer wears Gucci shoes, the complicated Pam prefers an impeccable Armani, while the sentimental and frivolous Katherine Moenning is crazy about Dolce & Gabbana.
The L world
In short, the Lesbian Style was officially born, interpreted in a feminine, ironic and absolutely original way. Another TV series born in the wake of "Sex and the City" and always aimed at tormented women is «Desperate Housewives», a hit series that began this fall; it aims to be the opposite of "Sex and the City," showing that being a "wife" can be much worse than being single. So here we have housewives with husbands with a sizable bank account, children, maids, etc., desperate and alone. One is a slave to a tyrant husband, another is betrayed and abandoned for a very young blonde. Then there's the mother of three "monsters," spoiled and terrible children. And finally, the one who seems to have stepped out of the movie "The Perfect Wife," so boringly flawless it makes even the cheerful family yawn. Some have seen in this suffocating description of the joys of marriage the beginning of the decline of neoconservatism in America. In short, the Bush line, all virginity, marriage, and good old-fashioned principles, is being challenged by the small screen, invaded by lesbian chic girls and wives on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
From "Gay.it" of 12.12.04 by Alessandro Federici
SILENCE: 'VAMPIRE SLAYER' IS BACK
Harassed by censorship, adored by legions of fans, the series "Buffy" returns every Monday on Italia 1. It's the story of a young girl fighting evil. Surrounded by gay friends.
Sometimes they come back. The new season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer airs Monday, December 13th at 11:30 p.m. on Italia 1. This news may leave many gays and lesbians perplexed, but despite the horrendous cuts the series has suffered in Italy in the past, we're talking about a true cult classic for the gay community. We'll explain why.
The plot of the film
Buffy
The story of Buffy, for those few who aren't familiar, centers on the character who gives the series its name, a young American girl gifted with strength and fighting techniques that make her nearly invincible against vampires, demons, and other forces of evil. Not all vampires are the same, however: our heroine experiences a desperate love affair with one of them, Angel, a vampire whose soul was restored due to a curse.
Buffy is actually the Slayer: in each generation, one is born, and is called "the chosen one." Each new Slayer is "called" only after the death of the previous one. Her task is to defeat demons and save the world from their plans of destruction. In this generation, the Slayer is Buffy Anne Summers, a sixteen-year-old new student at Sunnydale High. Her experiences at her previous school in Los Angeles have convinced her to retire from hunting vampires and attempt to start a normal teenage life. But Rupert Giles, the school librarian, who is actually her new Watcher, thinks it's no coincidence that Buffy has arrived in this city where the influx of the undead and supernatural occurrences have been on the rise for years. In reality, the city is built right on the Hellmouth...
One of Buffy's peculiarities is her intense relationship with Angel, the vampire cursed to have a soul. After a while, however, Angel realizes that his relationship with Buffy would inevitably end, and so he decides to leave Sunnysdale for both their sakes.
The stories of many compelling characters intertwine around the protagonist: there's Willow, Buffy's best friend, who from the first episode is introduced to us as the classic respectable girl, shy, studious almost to the point of exaggeration, passionate about the Internet, kind and generous. Then there's Xander, one of the most harassed characters in the entire series; born and raised in Sunnydale, he desperately hates his parents, drunk and quarrelsome. Xander is one of those so-called "losers," ignored and ridiculed by everyone except his best friend Willow. His life changes completely when Buffy arrives, for whom he develops a devastating crush, which in reality he has never outgrown and which has transformed into an almost maniacal protective instinct.
Cordelia Chase is the most popular girl at Sunnydale High School, and from her throne, she delights in criticizing and tormenting "lesser beings." Alongside her, we meet Anya, who is actually Anyanka, a vengeful demon born 1,120 years ago, whose mission is to avenge Cordelia, who was betrayed by Xander. The group is rounded out by Dawn, the Huntress's little sister, and Tara, with whom Willow immediately forms a special bond.
A homosexual story
‘It is in fact between Willow and Tara that the first "scandalous" homosexual relationship of the series breaks out, and perhaps the one that made it a cult show among gay and lesbian audiences. It's immediately clear between the two that it's more than friendship, but their love story lives only in the privacy of Tara's bedroom. The episode "New Moon Rising" is the one in which their relationship takes center stage, but Italian viewers couldn't see it because it was never aired. And this isn't the only censorship to which the series was subjected. In addition to the relationship between Tara and Willow, there are other more or less central homosexual relationships in the film, alluded to in the dialogue. But in the Italian translation, most of this dialogue is disguised to avoid any reference to homosexuality. An example? In the fourth season, in the episode "Something Blue," Riley is "caught" by Buffy hanging a banner that says Lesbian Alliance. Buffy asks him, "Is there something you have to tell me?" and in the original version he replies: "Oh, yeah. 'ma lesbian." In Italian, however, the phrase has been translated as: "Oh, yes. No one wanted to attack him, and so...""
Restless adolescence
Another aspect that has undoubtedly contributed to making Buffy a beloved series, especially among young audiences, is its ability to portray the turmoil of adolescence. Take the protagonist: in addition to her controversial relationship with Angel, Buffy meets several boys, with whom she has complex relationships. In reality, she finds it difficult to understand her role in this world, and in this, she is similar to many teenagers who are unable to navigate an unglamorous world. Buffy's place in her environment, her having special powers and unwillingness to use them, and her inability to adapt to a "normal" life, lead her to a lack of certainty about everything and everyone, a situation that is also found in the other characters in the series. It's a situation entirely similar to that which characterizes the difficult phase of adolescence and the doubts it brings.
The episodes we will see on Italia 1 starting December 13th, every Monday at 11.30pm, are those – unreleased in Italy – of the seventh season. It begins with the episode "The Consultant", in which Sunnydale High School, rebuilt by the team of workers led by a now-wealthy Xander, reopens its doors to welcome new students, including Dawn. But the school hasn't lost its "demonic" characteristics, and soon Buffy will pay the price when, along with her sister and two of her new friends, she is attacked by a group of undead. And Willow, in England, also senses a danger looming over Sunnydale...
During this season, Willow, returning to Sunnydale, will meet another woman who will blow her mind and with whom she will begin a more than passionate relationship. It remains to be seen whether the Italian broadcaster will allow viewers to follow the entire story or intervene with its absurd censorship.
Thanks to the fans of Buffymaniac.it
From "Il Tirreno" of 12.12.04
Only Canino and Chiambretti save us from marzullite
They swim in trash like fish in water, rummaging through television junk without fear of getting their hands dirty, convinced that what matters on TV is the "how" rather than the "what." Faithful to the maxim "full speed ahead, but with irony," Fabio Canino and Piero Chiambretti, the two hosts of Cronache Marziane and Markette, are the kings of midnight, the hour when trash becomes a sophisticated spectacle for a complicit audience.
Fabio Canino
Martian Chronicles (Thursday and Friday, Italia 1), the Spanish format produced by Mediaset-Endemol, is the domain of Fabio Canino, a former hyena and a well-known face on Gay.tv. With him, sexual transgression dominates the scene, without false modesty, but also without murky voyeurism. Canino, an openly gay man, surrounds himself with transvestites, drag queens, transsexuals, and masks of all kinds (from busty Ramona to telesalesman Roberto Da Crema, from the young model with his butt in the air to the noblewoman dressed as a bunny), which he uses as an irreverent framework to address current issues without taking himself too seriously.
Around the large table, which, when necessary, becomes a stage on which the host leaps and dances, discussions can range from soft drugs to the end of compulsory military service, music piracy to youth distress. The program works as long as it brings new faces to the forefront, as long as it jokes about techniques for finding the G-spot, with the sexologist who cools the issue with technical advice ("to be successful with women, you need the three 'Ls': light, slow, distant"). But it falls into the trap of conformism when it shows what we already see every day on Domenica in or Striscia la Notizia (from Al Bano's wife to soap actresses to Alba Parietti). Then transgression becomes an excuse to boost ratings (15 percent), and from characters in search of an author, we end up with appearances by the Big Brother boys.
The program, which concluded its first season on Friday with a return date for next February, was a winning gamble, especially for the adrenaline-fueled host, who demonstrated his entertaining skills to the public.
The target is decidedly more demanding Markette by Piero Chiambretti (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday prime time due to good ratings). Here too, the cast of Ramones, trans, and gay people alternates on the scene. The two programs share a regular focus on trash, the hosts' laid-back style, and the desire to offer unconventional entertainment.
Less carnivalesque than his Martian colleague, Chiambretti aims to introduce elements of political debate (here's Claudio Martelli who in one breath praises the RAI director general "who has restored the budget and increased ratings," and hopes for "Berlusconi's full acquittal"); here, on the evening of the verdict in the SME trial, Gad Lerner and Giuliano Ferrara confront each other about the issue of the day.
Markette, “the kingdom of the ephemeral and of cultural telepromotions,” as the program's slogan says, plays by mixing high culture (the classics read by Giorgio Albertazzi) and low culture (Ilona Staller, the winner of Isola dei famosi, the former showgirl from Striscia), with a nod to cabaret (the small orchestra, the zany comedy of Nino Frassica), and revisiting the talk show with semi-serious interviews (Enrico Mentana's wife taking a swipe at the new director of Tg5), a specialty of Chiambretti.
Thus, around midnight, in the niches of the schedule, the viewer finally finds the antidote to the deadly marzullite virus.
From "Il Manifesto" of 11.12.04 by NORMA RANGERI
The cheerful transgression of Martian trash
Of course, The Martian Chronicles is a good title, although it would have been useful to add ""screaming chronicles"" as a warning. The Italia1 program (Thursday and Friday around midnight) hosted by Fabio Canino (formerly Iena, a well-known face on Gay-TV) is a carnival with television characters of all kinds and for all tastes. Enjoyable as long as you can tolerate the decibels of noise pollution. There's Ramona, the busty girl, the overweight sexologist, the anthropologist with bangs, the king of teleshopping, the bunny princess, and the young model with his buttocks strictly exposed. A regular cast, joined by the episode's guests. But the real star is the host, who throughout the show shouts, dances, talks, and teases in a stadium-like studio crowded with cheering young people. The program is a Spanish format, Italianized by Gregorio Paolini, Serena Castagna, Stefano Diusegni, and Cristiana Mastropietro, working for Mediaset-Endemol.
In this playful setting, each topic is approached in a lighthearted tone, leading it, for better or for worse, back to sexuality. For example, the end of compulsory military service is discussed through posters from the 1970s film genre featuring Fenech in a soft-porn version; military service is discussed as an opportunity for sexual initiation, often leading to the discovery of homosexuality, almost always of prostitution. The sexologist brings up the topic to provide information on the most common diseases among young men (varicocele, commonly known as "swollen balls"). Canino jokes that he had two lockers instead of one in the barracks because "I used to go shopping a lot during my leave.".
Transvestites, drag queens, fetishists and ambiguities listing They finally own a small slice of the schedule where they can express themselves without false modesty because, as the adrenaline-fueled host says, "sex gives us joy and energy, nothing murky." Canino plays all the parts in the comedy: he sits around the large table in the center of the studio to manage the flow of comments, but then jumps on it to dance without stopping talking, like an effervescent showgirl.
All good, or almost. The program, which earned a 15 percent share (the last episode is today; it resumes in February), under the guise of self-conscious trash, of television trash, ends up talking about itself by hosting small-screen personalities (from Carlo Freccero to porn star Eva Henger, from soap opera actresses to the latest Big Brother winner). Between Canino and the dandy Jonathan Some gentle nastiness has been exchanged ("This show is completely fake," says Jonathan, "even more so than you," replies Canino). And a little venom is what's needed to redeem such cheerful molasses.
From "Unità" of 07.12.04
On La7, straight people take lessons from gay people.
La7 continues to focus on the gay front. From December 15th will air the reality show "The Fantastic Five." Five gay men will transform a straight man's look and teach him good manners and seduction strategies.
The format is the American one «5 gay eyes for a straight guy», distributed in over 20 countries (in France it is broadcast on TF1 in prime time). "We essentially respected the original formula," explains author Fabio Buttarelli, "to adapt it to the Italian reality. We focused on the narration of the protagonists' stories and the dialogue. The idea is to demonstrate that straight and gay people can be friends." Produced by Alain Friedman, it is the first gay reality show broadcast in Italy on a generalist network. Among the five, the talented Mattia, former host of "Self Help" on gay.tv, a show during which he demonstrated promptness and elegance. What it takes to be a fantastic gay.
