‘How To Get Away With Murder’, gay sex scene deleted on Italian TV
RAI, Italy’s national public broadcasting company, aired the pilot of ‘How To Get Away With Murder’ on July, 8th. While the ABC legal thriller about a group of Law students and their professor, portrayed by Emmy-winning actress Viola Davis, had already aired on Fox Italy last year, ‘Le regole del delitto perfetto’ made its debut on national television only a few days ago on Rai 2, a channel known for its young audience. Nonetheless, the first two episodes have been accompanied by a plethora of controversies, following the decision of deleting the sex scene between two of the male characters. In a TV show in which sex is exposed in many forms as HTGAWM is, the choice of eliminate solely the love scene between Connor (Jack Falahee) and Oliver (Conrad Ricamora) caused an uproar among the Italian fans, who started the social boycott through the hashtag #RAIomofoba (omophobic RAI). Both Mr. Falahee and Shonda Rhimes, the producer of the show, have promptly expressed their disappointment. “Censorship of any love is inexcusable,” Ms. Rhimes tweeted. Also the creator Pete Nowalk, openly gay, has voiced his own distress through social media, helping spread the unaired scene.
Censorship is the word, yet Ilaria Dallatana, who attained the presidency of Rai 2 last February, has given a timid apology, minimizing the event. “This isn’t a case of censorship,” she said to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, “rather an excess of modesty due to the individual sensibility of those involved in the editing for the prime time.” A personal call, a call Ms. Dallatana has claimed to be unaware of.
The reasons behind RAI’s questionable action must be searched in its cautious attitude, a legacy the public broadcasting service owes to its own political and religious past. At its moment of birth in 1954 and for many decades after, the company was made up of managers coming straight from the ranks of Democrazia Cristiana, a moderate, Catholic party which ceased to exist in 1994. More than twenty years after its dismantling, echoes of its history of prudery are still lingering on national television, jeopardizing the brand new show schedule launched at the end of June.
Not to mention that this TV inconsiderate cut-and-sew may cloud the efforts which have been put so far into the promulgation of a civil union legislation for Italy. The law, which only entered into force last June at the end of an arduous procedure, was the very first measure towards the acknowledgement of same sex couples in the country. And now this milestone has to face everyday discrimination on public television.
However, Rai2 has reconsidered its decision and aired the original, uncut program on Sunday due to the large amount of protests. Such a tiny victory disconcertingly sounds like a consolation prize, especially as it comes after a clunky attempt to blame it on the editor. Whether the time slot chosen for ‘How To Get Away With Murder’ seems suspect — Rai 1 transmitted the final match of the UEFA Euro 2016 simultaneously — remains unclear. What is certain is that it is about time that Italian public broadcasting service took consistent steps in order to adjust its outdated guideline to the real lives of its audience. RAI may be not ready, but its viewers definitely are.
