The Guardian left the comments on…

[TheOutlaws]

…and then closed them while I was composing my (supportive) response!

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/sep/21/sex-education-final-season-four-review-one-long-list-of-frustrations

Sex Education turned into such a bore fest, I stopped watching it after Season 2. I note that lots of its stars were in the (fairly GC) Barbie movie.

Is it because the Guarcian were expecting a trendy teen drama about sex and relationships to have to have certain minimum of trans? Never watched it but are there trans characters and his are they porgrayed?

No, it’s because Lucy M criticised the ‘gender affirming’ surgery angle. The Guardian don’t want people to agree with her, or think that it’s the Guardian’s position.

Another issue with Sex Education is that young people in theatre/tv/music/the media are far more likely to be surrounded by other young people who buy into this doctrine. Therefore, although the cast have no writing input, they’re likely to lean heavily into ideas that present themselves as superficially progressive. It adds to their cachet.

By the way, I think the writer (Laurie Nunn) should include everyone in her storylines. It’s just that Sex Education represents a certain type of (mostly) middle class, introspective young adult. It’s highly individualistic and all the characters are on their own planet.

The writer, Laurie Nunn, was on the radio the other day making it clear that it was essential to shoehorn trans characters into the programme in order to educate the young audience.

Blimey, they didn't just close the comments, they deleted them.

Unfortunately the American tail is wagging the British dog st the Guardian. They are terrified of antagonising their young, Democratic-leaning US readership. While also realising that their stance is away many of their British readers. It’s a shitshow.

Did anyone see any comments before the deletion? Did they include comments supportive of Mangan's (very mild) remarks about the gender identity related parts of the programme?

Are comments normally open for her pieces? In other words is there any credibility to the guardian statement that they were opened in error?

I knew Lucy Mangan had to be terfy 😁

How long until Owen Jones and his posse of women hating weirdos has her out of a job?!?

Since when have the Graun not allowed comments on a TV review?

(Rhetorical question)

Owen Jones can't stem the tide of public opinion.

He'll end up leaving the Guardian over their failure to deal with transphobia and get a cushy job as the editor of Pink News.

Or he will continue with his YouTube channel with his devoted group of followers where he speaks “the truth” about how you can’t trust the MSM about anything (trans related). You know, like his mate Russell Brand 🤨.

LOJ quit his cushy gig at the Guardian!? Like the Canadian politicians who suddenly discovered their commitment to the T stopped when it risked a vote that would might cost them their pay jobs. Never gonna happen.

Wish I'd seen the comments though.

They had to switch comments on the long-running beauty column because of all the tedious "why are you women wasting money on moisturiser and mascara" posts that derailed the otherwise lovely chat every single week.

People can't resist telling women they're wrong!

I’ve noticed the Guardian always has the comments off for anything remotely trans-related. Surely they have moderators who can check there are no insulting, offensive comments being posted. There could be a short timelapse before comments are published to ensure nothing nasty or spiteful is written. Or … are they frightened that a reasonable discussion will be had - showing GC people are not hateful villains after all but quite reasonable people holding views that are shared by the majority of the population? To clarify - live and let live, let trans people thrive in society without discrimination, and at the same time, preserve women-only spaces and protect children from unnecessary surgical interventions. It’s not hard. For a paper that prides itself on being right-on and a champion of free speech, they’re gutless cowards who are in thrall to their rainbow masters.

I read this, this morning, and did a mental shout out: 'Lucy Mangan is a terf!' and came here to have a look for a thread.

There is gender identity representation via Abbi and Roman, with the latter seemingly there solely to offer Cal (Dua Saleh) the sight of someone further down the road to transition and fill in viewers on the length of waiting lists and the costs of private surgery. If Sex Education were staying true to its early, far more radical roots, it might have questioned the idea of surgery on healthy bodies as a cure for anything, but although it hints later at the potential downsides of relentless positivity, here the rule remains absolute affirmation only. Asexuality is also given a shoutout and, over in the US, Ellen (Marie Reuther), a fellow student on Maeve’s course, is simply a bundle of privileges that Maeve is without. (My underlining emphasis.)

Got to hand it to Lucy Mangan - she's an excellent writer. Unlike, say, 'our generation's Orwell'.

For a paper that prides itself on being right-on and a champion of free speech

It prides itself on being right-on, but I don’t believe it prides itself as a champion of free speech. In fact I think it prides itself as being opposing of speech it deems “harmful” and curtailing speech it seems damaging to those it has deigned to be worthy of protection. It prides itself as being all knowing of what the plebs should and shouldn’t hear.

Same thing with anything vaguely relating to women or women's bodies. No comments or very tightly pre-moderated. Sometimes you see something with comments that are more holes than cheese. I think it's partly cost saving, partly embarrassment.

And those 'submit a comment of up to 300 words'. What happens to them? They never seem to be published.

Did anyone see comments before they deleted?!! Would love to see the tone…

Well done Lucy 👏🏼
And brave too.

It’s just that Sex Education represents a certain type of (mostly) middle class, introspective young adult. It’s highly individualistic and all the characters are on their own planet.

That doesn't sound exciting but tbh it does sound realistic, at least for trans (!)

Sex Education was a good show originally with a positive message for teenagers. But it has turned into a box tick exercise in recent seasons - disabled character, trans character, characters with every shade of sexuality that exists…and it sounds like season four is even more so. Shame.

Something has to give ; you can't serve 2 masters. Perhaps the Guardian will simply relocate to Los Angeles. Like the Brooklyn Dodgers. And Tamla Motown Records. $$$

This kind of thing has ruined a lot of shows. It just stifles creativity.