Dan Levy, the co-creator of Schitt’s Creek who won four Emmy Awards for the numerous hats he wore on the show (including writer, director, producer, and starring as David Rose), took issue with a clip posted on Twitter by Comedy Central India.
You showed the kiss between two women, you showed the kiss between a woman and a man, then removed the kiss between two men? This is a show about the power of inclusivity. The censorship of gay intimacy is making a harmful statement against that message. #loveislove https://t.co/3ouNbuetq1
— dan levy (@danjlevy) October 6, 2020
The scene is from the season five episode “Housewarming,” and depicts a party game of spin the bottle. As Levy notes, the clip includes a brief kiss between Alexis (Annie Murphy) and Stevie (Emily Hampshire), but cuts out footage of the next kiss, which is between Ted (Dustin Milligan) and David (Levy).
Looks like you forgot a little something there…. we won’t let you censor what makes this show so goddamn special. Either deal with it or deal with it cause it’s fucking 2020 and everyone deserves to see themselves represented. pic.twitter.com/BFlewog4mY
— Meinke – #BravoBarrell (@WayhaughtDamn13) October 6, 2020
Mind you, this is a kiss played entirely for comedic effect, as Ted is David’s sister’s boyfriend, and David’s partner Patrick (Noah Reid) is also watching. It’s a fun, lighthearted moment on a show that wonderfully depicts many moments of love and physical affection between David and Patrick throughout the seasons.
The cut kiss is all the more glaring because it is the only spin the bottle kiss cut from the scene. Comedy Central India’s Tweet is from March of 2019, and it’s unclear what brought the clip to Levy’s attention this week, but his criticism is evergreen. In a reply to his own tweet, Levy clarified that Comedy Central US was blameless in this instance:
I thought I made this pretty clear but for those who are confused, this is about a channel in India. @ComedyCentral in America is not censoring the show. They have been lovely and respectful. Thank you for your time. ✌🏼🙃
Representation matters. While the loving intimacy between David and Patrick is the sort of grounded queer relationship that’s delightful to witness on television, there’s no reason why fun, sillier moments of same-sex contact—especially between two men—should be cut. In 2018, the Supreme Court of India invalidated Section 377, a colonial-era penal code that criminalized homosexuality, but positive depictions of same-sex relations are vital to see onscreen in order to work toward wider acceptance and understanding, just as they are here. Schitt’s Creek, a show about the power of inclusivity, is a great title to popularize worldwide, and a great place to start to spread tolerance.
Apparently in this instance, it was thought acceptable to see Alexis and Stevie lock lips as prompted by a game, but Ted and David’s kiss was excised. All this does is propagate the idea that this male/male contact, even as a joking interaction between friends, is somehow something to be hidden from public view. It’s a stupid decision, and it’s ultimately harmful, as Levy points out.
Oh, and by the by:
— Lee 🏳️🌈✌🏻💗💜💙 (@LeonieWoolf) October 6, 2020
(via Dan Levy on Twitter, image: Pop TV)
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