I believe the late, great Dennis Potter was already fighting his nemesis cancer when he wrote 'Blackeyes'. And I think in this regard both it and his subsequent works should be seen in the light of a man confronting his own mortality and everything implied.
Beautiful Gina Bellman plays the titular 'Blackeyes', a woman who is moved - rather like Potter himself - to constantly evaluate her life, its motive, and its evolution. Potter had a reputation for what might be called 'sexual candour', and this work, if anything, cemented it. The viewer must decide for him/herself as to whether or not he was exploitative in his use of sexuality as a dramatic vehicle. The truth is, if we are honest, sex is everywhere, we really do think about it constantly; it is the prime mover to all of our actions and goals. Most drama does not even begin to reflect our covert obsession. What we glimpse, in evidence, is just the tip of a lustberg.
Potter was a man, like most men, who see women as victims of sexual exploitation, when - regarded objectively, that is to say from a Darwinian standpoint - it is men who are the truly exploited sex. As indeed are most males of most species.
His lengthy study may now seem a little tame and long-winded by today's standards, but back in the 1980's it was subtle, original and cutting-edge. Comparable work in the third millennium is all but non-existent.
This drama is especially poignant to me as I was tasked with the urgent delivery of the last episode. The quickest way being by motorcycle, that's what I used. Horror of horrors - it fell off the back and tumbled down into a water-filled ditch. I was grief-stricken. But fortunately they tape 'em up good and secure at the studio. I suspect old Dennis would have been in stitches if the truth had come out the hard way. Happily, it never did. My wet boots went unremarked.
Beautiful Gina Bellman plays the titular 'Blackeyes', a woman who is moved - rather like Potter himself - to constantly evaluate her life, its motive, and its evolution. Potter had a reputation for what might be called 'sexual candour', and this work, if anything, cemented it. The viewer must decide for him/herself as to whether or not he was exploitative in his use of sexuality as a dramatic vehicle. The truth is, if we are honest, sex is everywhere, we really do think about it constantly; it is the prime mover to all of our actions and goals. Most drama does not even begin to reflect our covert obsession. What we glimpse, in evidence, is just the tip of a lustberg.
Potter was a man, like most men, who see women as victims of sexual exploitation, when - regarded objectively, that is to say from a Darwinian standpoint - it is men who are the truly exploited sex. As indeed are most males of most species.
His lengthy study may now seem a little tame and long-winded by today's standards, but back in the 1980's it was subtle, original and cutting-edge. Comparable work in the third millennium is all but non-existent.
This drama is especially poignant to me as I was tasked with the urgent delivery of the last episode. The quickest way being by motorcycle, that's what I used. Horror of horrors - it fell off the back and tumbled down into a water-filled ditch. I was grief-stricken. But fortunately they tape 'em up good and secure at the studio. I suspect old Dennis would have been in stitches if the truth had come out the hard way. Happily, it never did. My wet boots went unremarked.
