For those who haven't discovered this MTV US comedy show, just find some way to watch it! It is, sadly, not showing in India and I wonder if it ever will (70:30 chances I think, since MTV India sometimes likes to push the envelope and the show doesn't show explicit sex, even if it hints at a lot!). But it it doesn't seem to be hard to find ways to download it, and it is totally worth doing so.
The basic premise of the show does sound potentially offensive - two girls in high school who are best friends are accidentally taken to be a lesbian couple and instead of causing problems, this makes them very popular in their super progressive school. They decide to go along with this, one of them because she thinks it might give her a chance with the hottest straight guy in school who, in the way of apparently many straight guys, is obsessed with the idea of having sex with a lesbian. All this sounds like the set up for a totally stereotyped, borderline offensive American high school film of the kind that tries to be slightly 'alternative' but isn't really. But Faking It does a couple of unexpected things. For one, it has very smart dialogue and plots that spool together intricately and expertly in each half hour episode. Second, it has some really cool and attractive actors - not just drop dead gorgeous ones, though there are several (image google Gregg Sulkin), but there are actors who can put a smart, complex spin on what could easily just be a candyfloss role. But mostly its what Faking It does with the queer themes, which far from being marginalised in the usual way, are up front and centre, but rarely in cliched ways. Its also inclusive, with gay, lesbian, possibly bisexual and, in a real surprise and some kind of first, an intersex character. In its low key, comedy focussed way, this is quite a revolutionary show. Revealing more details will require spilling plot twists, so I won't (though if you can't wait look up the recaps on sites like The Backlot). Just try to find a way to download and watch it! Vikram
