The new Canadian web series Coming In wants to turn things on its head, taking as its premise a man (Dylan Archambault) who heads to an ex-gay support group, not because he wants to become straight, but because he’s realised that’s what he actually is. He just woke up one morning and he was hetero! However, he’s already got a male hubby, a good life, and would quite like to find out how to be gay again.
It’s a set-up creators think may be controversial, with worries that the show will be taken to be making fun of the struggles of gay people, and that sexuality is as massively fungible as a lot of anti-gay people want to says.
Graydon Sheppard and Kyle Humphrey told CBC, “It’s kind of a controversial subject and could be seen as pushing the wrong buttons… We just anticipate there might be some response, but the material indicates where we actually really stand.”
Indeed, Sheppard and Humphrey are both gay and a couple in real life. They add, “I think we understand that it’s not easy for people to come out still. We don’t want to say that people shouldn’t be gay and I think that becomes clear in the series that we are definitely pro coming out and being able to be gay and being able to be yourself.”
The first two episode have now been released. Take a look below and decide for yourself whether the buttons being pushed are right or wrong – although it’s probably going to take a few more episodes (there are 11 in total in the first season) to really work out. However, for our money it’s heading in interesting and humorous directions.
Funny idea, but the supposedly straight guy comes across as very very gay-that goes against the whole conceit of the piece right?