As we are now able to meet with friends, sit in a café, or go to a film, Brooke Williamson looks back on her “comfort viewing” at the beginning of the year when we were at the height of a lockdown. It seems a fitting reflection in Pride season and when we are still thanking our NHS for their work in a difficult time. Here’s to rainbows and hope!
During lockdown it was easy to be a victim of Saturday night television, and I for one know, having been completely sucked into ITV’s primetime The Masked Singer UK back in February. The idea of the show, for those who escaped the tension and suspense, was that 12 celebrities transformed themselves by hiding their identity behind a creature or animal and performed songs, whilst battling it out to retain their mask – and consequently, keep their identity a secret. From the photograph of this series’ contestants there was one character, in particular, that caught my attention. This was the Dragon, who was later unmasked as Sue Perkins of The Great British Bake-Off.
What was it that stood out about this character? It wasn’t its non-human exterior; one fellow contestant was a clock and another a packet of fries! It was the rainbow on Dragon’s body that was the centre of attention. Since the late 1970s, the rainbow flag has come to represent LGBT pride. The judges heavily fixated on the rainbow throughout the rest of the series. This was the only character so far on the show who had anything that could be remotely deemed as ‘queer’ about their appearance. It was even used as something to eliminate possible celebrities, based on who had openly ‘come out’ of the metaphorical closet or held other attributes of the LGBTQ+ community.
However, this year, the rainbow is also associated with the NHS. It became the symbol of thanks and hope during the pandemic. There are some slight differences between the Pride flag and the NHS rainbow, but I wondered why the assumption was that the masked singer was queer? Could the rainbow not mean that the masked singer was a doctor? Or a fan of rainbows?
Well, February was LGBT history month, and this was the show’s way of acknowledging that.
As the series went on, Dragon themselves revealed that they were in fact part
of the LGBTQ+ community, which led judges to guess celebrities that ranged from fashion enthusiast and Drag Show host Ru Paul to Courtney Act, a famous drag queen. In fact, Sue Perkins is probably prime time television’s most well-known and best loved lesbian presenter, so this was a massive success for members of the LGBTQ+ community to have some form of representation on a popular tv programme. It also made me wonder about all the different meanings of rainbows in our times. Rainbows, both for Pride and for the NHS, represent hope.
Whilst all of these questions are things to consider, it was a really positive experience seeing some queer representation on a well known family show, and brought some light in these difficult times. I highly recommend, if you have not yet seen it, to give the show a watch next time it is on and to whole heartedly get sucked into the action, lockdown or not!