Robert Manners

Oh, Nicholas!

The last couple of nights I have been utterly entranced by Bravo's new miniseries, Nicholas Nickleby. Now, I am always interested in period films, especially when they're set in periods of history where men's clothing was particularly cute...in this case, the very early Victorian era where it overlaps a little with the Regency era. I just love those close-fitting coats and pants with the high collars and fluffy cravats, puffy sleeves with tight waistcoats, the glossy boots and the tall hats. And the lead actor, James D'Arcy, is an absolute dreamboat! The other young men in the film were pretty tasty, too...and there was definitely a serious homoerotic tone to the whole production. None of those boys actually kissed, but there were a good many moments where it seemed they were just about to.



And the writing...oh, what a pot-boiler! There were enough twists and turns in that plot to keep a soap-opera cast busy for most of a season. Good Ol' Charlie Dickens, what a card! Doing a search just now, I found a place online where I can actually read the entire novel. The world we live in! I don't think I'll be able to read much of it, though. I've often found Dickens fairly slow-going. But then, I haven't tried him out in a while, I've been through a Bachelor of English Lit since the last attempt (I believe it was David Copperfield I tried first...or maybe it was The Pickwick Papers? Deadly tedious either way, if I remember correctly).



Personally, I prefer Jane Austen. But then, there are very few (assumedly) straight male authors I like. I can't, in fact, think of even one off the top of my head. I mostly like women authors, and homosexual male authors. I wonder why that is? I mean, aside from the appreciation of male beauty, why do I always prefer the female and/or man-loving author? I suppose it's because I just don't relate to straight men very well. Aside from the men I'm related to and the guys who date or marry my girlfriends, I don't know any straight men at all. I see them on TV, or at restaurants, out in public, and they are just a total mystery to me. Hmmmm.



I'm going to go ponder that for a while. Discuss amongst yourselves.