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It's a Sin - First came the Freedom, then the Ignorance, and ultimately, the Prejudice

 


It's a Sin is a show focusing on the gay community in the 80s, trying to survive the AIDS outbreak while fighting prejudice, intolerance, and abandonment.

Recently, more and more shows are timed in the 80s. It's been 4 decades, and it starts to feel vintage. Many, who, like me, were born in the 80s, were too young to remember anything, but still, feel some connection to the time and get curious.

If you decide to watch It's a Sin out of curiosity, then you should ensure that you're ready for it.

How did it all start?

It's tempting to look back and accuse people of ignorance, but this show it's an interesting journey. It goes step by step, creating a comprehensive approach to what happened and why.

The four main characters are from different places and backgrounds. That is the first clue to the fact that it didn't matter where you were from, how smart you were, or any other thing. Nothing would protect you. No one knew what it was.

Freedom

Most characters came to London from small towns. There, they found their identity as gay men and as people. They experienced a kind of freedom they had never had before. Young boys, being themselves for the first time. Are you asking them for restraint?

For once, they were happy. They felt like they belonged. It is a good, sometimes overwhelming feeling that you don't want to let go.

Ignorance

One of the best dialogues in the show is when Richie explains to his friends how absurd AIDS is from his point of view. And having the information they had, can we blame him?

Richie mentioned different theories and wild ideas about it at the time. I'd like to highlight one: a virus with no brain that would specifically target gay men. This was the information at the time (and other non-sensical ideas). How do you expect that something that doesn't make sense would be feared?

In a world full of prejudice and hate, such a bizarre description of an illness would always seem like someone is simply trying to hurt a minority. And that's the next point.

Prejudice and Hate

I'm not even focusing on how gay men and other LGBT community members were treated in general. Instead, I would rather focus on those with the disease, a scary thing no one really knew.

The most heartbreaking scenes are the loneliness in those hospital wards. The number of men that were put there to die… alone. Colin was even incarcerated in a room because he was considered a danger to public health. As soon as you'd get sick, you'd no longer seem to be considered a human being, and you definitely had no rights.

On Point

It's a sin is an excellent and educative show about the journey the gay community endured during a decade when the world was falling apart. The show is able to create the atmosphere and make you feel the crawling, invisible enemy is getting closer… slowly and silently.

It's a heartbreaking story, unfiltered, about a tough time. It will make you smile sometimes; other times, it will make you furious. Most importantly, understand how so many wrong things might have happened.

Great cast, a great story, and is very well designed. It is definitely worth your time. 

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