Russell T Davies: ‘There isn’t enough male nudity on TV’
Speaking as his new show Cucumber launches on Channel 4, Russell T Davies argues that there isn’t enough male nudity on television in the UK.
The ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Queer as Folk’ writer spoke in an interview with the Telegraph to say he thinks some of his shows come across as “rude” because “the rest of television is rather tame”.
His comments come just days after actor Billy Crystal caused controversy with comments saying modern gay storylines on TV shows are “pushing too far”.
Speaking to the Television Critics Association, earlier this week, the star claimed that he doesn’t want TV to “shove it in our face” with regards to gay issues. He said: “Sometimes I think, ‘Ah that’s too much for me.’
Davies said in the Telegraph interview: “There is not enough male frontal nudity on TV… You’re far more likely to see a naked woman than a naked man. It’s only [seen as] rude because the rest of television is rather tame – it doesn’t actually talk about sex and our bodies and how we feel about them. I’m not out to shock.”
Speaking about one ‘Cucumber’ character’s fear of anal sex, Davies continued: “It’s one of the great unspoken truths about gay life which is completely true… Gay culture is seen to be all about anal sex, yet an awful lot of men have a fear of it and there is a silence about it. It’s the one thing I can’t wait for transmission for, to see if people stand up and say, ‘That’s me.'”
Read the PinkNews review of ‘Cucumber’ here.
