Pink Sauce

Constitutional law history is perhaps not the first thought that comes to mind as a vector of emotion and excitement. It is, in fact, probably likely to be the opposite. Amend: The Fight for America (now on Netflix), fronted and produced by actor Will Smith, is a sweeping journey through 150 years of legal and social US history that tells how the oddly unloved 14th Amendment of the US Constitution came into being, and what the repercussions of this fundamental piece of legislation have been and continue to be during that time. The amendment, with the likely unwittingly inclusive nature of its language, creates a promise of justice and fair treatment from the state to its citizens and visitors. And, from giving the newly emancipated slaves a place in US society to women's rights, allowing same-sex marriage and beyond, it has underpinned the major advances in US civil rights since its inclusion to the constitution in 1868. The six-part documentary brushes the portrait of the fight...

Mildred and Richard Loving should never have achieved fame. Dirt-poor, uneducated, and living in a backwater in Virginia, their only ambition was to be with each other and to lead a life devoid of trouble. Their apparently innocent decision to get married in 1958, however, was to change the legal history of their country, leading to a Supreme Court decision striking down miscegenation state laws (in the so-aptly named Loving v Virginia case) and arguably paving the way, decades later, for another Supreme Court decision, allowing same-sex marriage, by declaring marriage a fundamental right. Loving, which is currently available on iPlayer, is not a court drama. It's not a romance, or even a civil rights epic, full of senseless, gruesome violence and triumphant victory scenes. It is a pared-down, understated study of reluctant heroes, depicting two people buffeted by circumstances bigger than them, and, certainly at the beginning, mostly beyond their understanding. Most of the ...

When I decided to start watching S.W.A.T. (on Netflix, and apparently Sky), I was expecting the cheap and undemanding thrilled of a mindless action series, with lots of fights, car chases and explosions.  The show delivers those things in droves, and some of the writing (the expositionary bits particularly) can be pretty clunky at times. I wasn't however quite prepared for the deeper, sometimes fairly sophisticated layers on offer. One of the catch-phrases of the show is "stay liquid!" and it seems the producers have adopted this as a motto. It starts right from the first episode (filmed in 2016), which delved straight into what it can mean for a black man to become a policeman in the US.  I have now watched the two seasons available on Netflix (the 5th season has apparently already been commissioned by CBS). Even the plotlines of the more run-of-mill episodes feel fresh and often refuse to adhere to the expectations of the genre. Beyond that, the viewers regularly fin...

The second and, sadly, final season of Special has just dropped on Netflix and it is as much a pleasure to watch as the first one.  The semi-autobiographical, award-winning show follows, Ryan, a twenty-something, gay, mama's boy with cerebral palsy navigating the pitfalls of the heteronormative, ablist world as he decides to let go of his mother's skirts. There is the inevitable fag-hag (is that still a word we can use?), who conforms to all the tropes of the type, except for her vibrant sex life, and a couple of weird caricatural characters in the background of Ryan's work life. Everybody is very queer though.  It is the sort of super-woke, inclusive comedy programmes that give broflakes their worst nightmares and that Netflix can be so good at producing. It is kind and generous, and it is exactly what we need right now.  There are a few moments that don't completely make sense, and Ryan's love life is not particularly believable, especially in the number of guys t...

I read the book and liked it better than Mitford's more famous (and sequel to this), Lone in a Cold Climate, and very much enjoyed it, so I was very much looking forward to this BBC adaptation. The buzz has been very positive too but I find myself having reservations. If you can bear to sit through the first episode and a half, or perhaps even the first two, episode, and make it to the third, you will, I think, see what the reviews are raving about. The story is one of women's lib before the time and the production looks absolutely stunning, with a great cast (including Assaad Bouab, of Call My Agent fame).  Unfortunately, you have to sit through the first episode and a half, or perhaps even the first two, episode, and make it to the third to get the full effect.  I can see what the producers are trying to do in that first half and a bit: translate the rebellious anarchic spirit of the main characters in a modern, pop-video idiom. They only end up with a coarse and clumsy ca...