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Post by justinate on Feb 24, 2019 2:11:54 GMT -5
A new Australian soap that's being praised for its diversity but encountered some controversy after one of its actresses made disparaging remarks about other soaps. Koa Nuen plays Sully, a university student of Vietnamese extraction who lives with his mother and has what seems to be an unrequited crush on his friend Ash (Phoenix Raei). You can see the moment he tries to kiss Ash in the trailer, as well as Sully's mother accusing Ash of leading Sully on. Here's a 4-star review from The Guardian, which unfortunately joins in the Neighbours bashing (which I think is deeply unfair), but the article is prefaced by a picture of Ash and Sully. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/feb/22/the-heights-review-finally-a-warm-complex-and-credible-australian-soap-operaI've no idea where non-Aussies can follow it so we'll have to wait for Aussie viewers to let us know if Sully ever finds love. |
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carld2
Full Member
Posts: 2,107
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Post by carld2 on Feb 24, 2019 2:40:54 GMT -5
Even if it is available I won't be watching it. They make it clear they don't want to be seen as a soap and look down on people who watch soaps. They clearly have no interest in viewers like me. It sounds like tokenism over quality anyway.
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Post by justinate on Feb 24, 2019 3:42:49 GMT -5
Even if it is available I won't be watching it. They make it clear they don't want to be seen as a soap and look down on people who watch soaps. They clearly have no interest in viewers like me. It sounds like tokenism over quality anyway. Was it only the one actress who said it or the show as a whole? I thought after her comment was published, the show tweeted something about aspiring to be as beloved as Neighbours? I hate snobbery towards soaps but I won't write them off if it's just the one person shooting her mouth off. They would be pretty foolish not to target absorbing soap viewers for their own fanbase. H&A deserves grief because it is uniformly white and straight (the idiocy of conferring an award for their offensively tokenistic gay story last year is up there for worst decision of 2018), but Neighbours has been pretty diverse for the last few years, and when it comes to gay representation, it is the industry leader in Australia. |
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Post by jamieacm on Feb 25, 2019 1:54:42 GMT -5
16 of the episodes are available to watch in Australia, with 14 more to come in July.
Families
Pav & Leonie (Exes) - Son Mich & daughter Kat, and Leonie’s father Bruce. (Pav is a retired Cop hurt on duty who sells weed, Leonie is a Business lawyer)
Claudia - daughter Sabine, & Sabine’s boyfriend Dane. (Claudia is a doctor)
*Pav & Claudia meet and start a relationship, it is implied that Mich likes Sabine.
Hazel - runs the local pub after her father died and is expecting to sell it and retire.
Shannon - her daughter was pregnant, left the baby at the apartment block and later skipped town.
Ryan - her son stole money from the pub and lived in London for the past 12 years, comes back after Hazel’s father dies.
Ana - the girl in the building Ryan’s always had feelings for.
Lottie - Ryan’s ex-fiancée who followed him to Australia.
Uncle Max - Hazel’s love interest. (Unrelated “Uncle” to everyone)
Renée & Mark - daughter Frankie & son Noah. Mark has a gambling problem and has lost more than 70k.
Iris - owns the convenience store.
Sully - her gay uni student son who is secretly learning to be a teacher, rather than a business man. He has feelings for Ash.
Hamid, Maryam, Laila, Fatema- uncle and family of Kam & Ash.
Ash - best friend of Sully, brother of Kam, works for Mark, gets caught up with bad guys.
Kam - trying to make money, ends up working for Iris.
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Post by kevvoi on Feb 26, 2019 18:01:39 GMT -5
Kosmik posted a clip:
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Post by kevvoi on Feb 26, 2019 19:53:14 GMT -5
A couple more clips courtesy of Kosmik:
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Post by kevvoi on Mar 1, 2019 21:50:24 GMT -5
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Post by justinate on Mar 2, 2019 4:23:57 GMT -5
Far from being diverse, the gay story here is very paint-by-numbers. The only refreshing change is that Sully's mother knows he's gay and her only beef is that he's wasting his time on a straight boy who's a user.
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Post by kevvoi on Mar 4, 2019 11:46:04 GMT -5
Far from being diverse, the gay story here is very paint-by-numbers. The only refreshing change is that Sully's mother knows he's gay and her only beef is that he's wasting his time on a straight boy who's a user. The no-nonsense mother is a nice change of pace - I quite like her snarky comments about Ash. In the last clips, I kind of thought that Ash might be interested in the occasional one-night stand with a guy - the interaction between him and the guy at the bar was kind of weird (or maybe just really awkward) otherwise? He didn't seem interested in Sully at all - other than in a platonic "are you okay" way. I don't know - maybe I am just reading something into the storyline that doesn't exist. |
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Post by sunshine0786 on Mar 4, 2019 12:50:10 GMT -5
Far from being diverse, the gay story here is very paint-by-numbers. The only refreshing change is that Sully's mother knows he's gay and her only beef is that he's wasting his time on a straight boy who's a user. This show may not be diverse LGBTQ-wise, but it seems more diverse racially (I haven't watched all the clips yet but am definitely interested in finding the whole show.). This is a big deal for Australian show IMO. Most shows in Australia are predominately white. The biggest Australian Soap, Neighbours, only recently started being more racially diverse. (I could go into more detail, but it will probably make this rant too long!) I found this article, which articulates the shows importance. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/feb/20/your-new-neighbours-why-australias-latest-soap-the-heights-tells-a-different-storyAnother article about why Asian-Australians are coming to Hollywood for roles that aren't available in Australia. www.nytimes.com/2019/01/09/world/australia/crazy-rich-asians-chris-pang-hollywood-diversity.html An important quote from Pang in the article, "success, he said, was hard fought and happened only once he was willing to leave Australia." LGBTQ representation is important, but Australia is a country of mostly immigrants and many from Asia. When non-Australians think of Australians they picutre guys like the Hemsworths and girls like Margot Robbie. They don't picture an Asian-Australian like Chris Pang or an Aboriginal Australian like Jessica Mauboy. Based on the cast list this show has Iranian-Australian Actors, Asian Australian Actors, Aboriginal Australian actors, alongside European-Australian actors. That is huge for representation. Representation of all kinds matter, whether it is LGBTQ+, Religious, Racial... The point it, maybe the show isn't doing a good job with its gay representation, but I wouldn't say it s isn't diverse. Okay, rant over!!  |
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Post by kevvoi on Mar 8, 2019 21:54:57 GMT -5
New clips courtesy of Kosmik:
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Post by kevvoi on Mar 8, 2019 21:55:43 GMT -5
Two more clips courtesy of Kosmik:
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Post by kevvoi on Mar 17, 2019 5:28:30 GMT -5
New clip courtesy of Kosmik:
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Post by justinate on Mar 17, 2019 8:46:06 GMT -5
This show may not be diverse LGBTQ-wise, but it seems more diverse racially (I haven't watched all the clips yet but am definitely interested in finding the whole show.). This is a big deal for Australian show IMO. Most shows in Australia are predominately white. The biggest Australian Soap, Neighbours, only recently started being more racially diverse. (I could go into more detail, but it will probably make this rant too long!) I found this article, which articulates the shows importance. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/feb/20/your-new-neighbours-why-australias-latest-soap-the-heights-tells-a-different-storyAnother article about why Asian-Australians are coming to Hollywood for roles that aren't available in Australia. www.nytimes.com/2019/01/09/world/australia/crazy-rich-asians-chris-pang-hollywood-diversity.html An important quote from Pang in the article, "success, he said, was hard fought and happened only once he was willing to leave Australia." LGBTQ representation is important, but Australia is a country of mostly immigrants and many from Asia. When non-Australians think of Australians they picutre guys like the Hemsworths and girls like Margot Robbie. They don't picture an Asian-Australian like Chris Pang or an Aboriginal Australian like Jessica Mauboy. Based on the cast list this show has Iranian-Australian Actors, Asian Australian Actors, Aboriginal Australian actors, alongside European-Australian actors. That is huge for representation. Representation of all kinds matter, whether it is LGBTQ+, Religious, Racial... The point it, maybe the show isn't doing a good job with its gay representation, but I wouldn't say it s isn't diverse. Okay, rant over!! The article which you linked is what made me upset in the first place. I've been losing respect for The Guardian (once my go-to paper) due to its extremely biased reporting but the article extolling the virtues of The Heights at the expense of Neighbours is really next-level deceit. The writer is callously dismissing the great strides Neighbours has made in representation over the years. Maybe 3-4 years ago, he would have had a point about it being entirely white and straight - but well before The Heights premiered, Neighbours already featured gay and lesbian couples as well as prominent families of Japanese and Indian descent. If anything, The Heights is trying too hard and using diversity as a marketing gimmick - the racial composition of its cast is totally out of whack with Australian society, which remains more than two-thirds white. And as for its gay character - ha! Barely there, no love life except to moon over a straight boy. |
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Post by kevvoi on Mar 24, 2019 20:13:04 GMT -5
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Post by kevvoi on Apr 1, 2019 20:04:15 GMT -5
New clip courtesy of Kosmik:
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Post by kevvoi on Apr 5, 2019 19:35:19 GMT -5
New clips courtesy of Kosmik:
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Post by kevvoi on Apr 6, 2019 5:37:33 GMT -5
More new clips courtesy of Kosmik:
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Post by kevvoi on Apr 6, 2019 5:38:41 GMT -5
Two more clips courtesy of Kosmik:
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Post by kevvoi on Jul 13, 2019 22:11:42 GMT -5
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Post by kevvoi on Aug 7, 2019 16:47:53 GMT -5
New clips courtesy of Kosmik:
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Post by kevvoi on Aug 8, 2019 15:01:13 GMT -5
New clips courtesy of Kosmik:
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Post by kevvoi on Aug 8, 2019 15:03:18 GMT -5
A few more clips courtesy of Kosmik:
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Post by kevvoi on Aug 8, 2019 15:04:51 GMT -5
Yet more clips courtesy of Kosmik:
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Post by justinate on Aug 9, 2019 12:47:59 GMT -5
I still think this show blows its own trumpet, which is mostly hot air, and the gay character doesn't get nearly enough airtime, but I'm heartened by the "twist" (which everybody saw coming a mile away).
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