Television

Rupert Everett queers the travelogue programme

By ⋅ June 17, 2008 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

Rupert Everett and hijras copyright BBC 2008

It was very interesting to me to see Rupert Everett do the programme about Richard Burton (Victorian Passions - Victorian Sex Explorer). I must confess I didn’t know much about Richard Burton apart from the Kama Sutra story and rumours of his being ‘gay’.

I loved this programme precisely because the director and Rupert Everett took one through a different travelogue. It was gay and male and made more so that Rupert Everettt was not afraid to ask direct questions of the hijras in India and the sex masseuse in Cairo. I learned that Richard Burton was sent to spy on soldiers who were frequenting the male brothels much to the alarm of the British government.

There were two things that struck me about this programme.

1. That all the travel programmes are made/hosted by (white/straight) men who come with their straight male gaze on the world. Usually there is no view of women’s lives and also everyone they meet is straight.
2. The British brought sexual repression to the Indian subcontinent. It was ironic to view the programme in the light of the fact that Asian people in Britain are seen as repressed and backward, where in ancient and more recent times THEY were progressive on sexuality. Or was it just male sexuality? Nevertheless it showed the impact of colonialism on indigenous culture changing it forever.

I wish there were more travel programmes which showed different visions of the world. We are so used to the white straight male vision feel of the world that we are brainwashed to beleive that it is truth/objective and the only view point.

Tags: BBC, Britain, colonialism, India, Kama Sutra, Richard Burton, Rupert Everett, sexual repression, Victorian passions, Victorian sex explorer