Metrosexuality is a British

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 television drama

Drama

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

, which aired on Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 in 2001 as a short-run series of six episodes. It was later re-edited into a single feature for DVD release. It depicts the interactions of a racially and sexually

Human sexuality

Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...

 diverse group of friends and family living in Notting Hill

Notting Hill

Notting Hill is an area in London, England, close to the north-western corner of Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...

.
The series was written and created by Rikki Beadle-Blair

Rikki Beadle-Blair

Rikki Beadle-Blair was born in July 1961, in Camberwell and raised in Bermondsey, both in south London. He is a British actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, singer, aerobics teacher, designer, choreographer/dancer and songwriter of West Indian origin....

, who also stars as one of the show's central characters. The cast also includes Noel Clarke

Noel Clarke

Noel Anthony Clarke is an English actor, director and screenwriter from London. He is best known for playing Wyman Norris in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Mickey Smith in Doctor Who...

, Paul Keating

Paul Keating (actor)

Paul Keating is a British actor from London, England, best known for his performances on the West End stage. He has been nominated twice for an Olivier Award.- Stage career :...

, Mat Fraser

Mat Fraser

Mat Fraser is an English rock musician, actor and performance artist. Between 1980 and 1995 he was a drummer with several rock bands including Fear of Sex, The Reasonable Strollers, Joyride, The Grateful Dub, and Living in Texas, the latter of which had a number one single in Italy.- Life :Fraser...

, Karl Collins

Karl Collins

Karl Collins is an English actor.He has played DC Danny Glaze in The Bill, and has appeared in Casualty, Dream Team, Holby City, As Time Goes By and 55 Degrees North...

 and Pui Fan Lee

Pui Fan Lee

Pui Fan Lee is a British Chinese actress and presenter, best known for portraying Po in the children's television programme Teletubbies. She was the first presenter, alongside Chris Jarvis, to introduce programming on the BBC digital channel CBeebies...

.

The show features extravagant and colourful costumes and scenery, varied shooting styles and quick pacing. Much of the music was written and performed by Beadle Blair, who intended the series to feel like a musical.

The show was hailed by critics for its diversity

Multiculturalism

Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...

; it depicted a social setting relatively free of racism

Racism

Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...

 or homophobia

Homophobia

Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...

. It was also noted for its inclusion of Fraser, a thalidomide

Thalidomide

Thalidomide was introduced as a sedative drug in the late 1950s that was typically used to cure morning sickness. In 1961, it was withdrawn due to teratogenicity and neuropathy. There is now a growing clinical interest in thalidomide, and it is introduced as an immunomodulatory agent used...

 survivor with phocomelic

Phocomelia

Phocomelia is an extremely rare congenital disorder involving the limbs . Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire coined the term in 1836....

arms, in a role where his disability was simply part of the show's fabric rather than an inherent focus of his character's role.

Plot outline

The story is set over the course of two consecutive weekends in spring, and follows Kwame (Clarke), seventeen and straight, who is trying to reconcile his estranged fathers, Max (Beadle Blair) and Jordan (Collins). He must contend with Max's insistence that he is over Jordan, and Jordan's new relationship with former military man Jonno. Kwame is also trying to attract his love interest, Asha, and provide support to his two best friends: Dean (Keating), a talented footballer struggling with an abusive father and a crush on Max, and skater boy Bambi, trying unsuccessfully to secure a commitment from his older, on-off boyfriend, Robin.

Max's married friends Geri and Daniel descend into a bitter separation after Geri feels Daniel takes her for granted; she is later romanced by Asha's father, Tel. Asha's best friend Jay (Lee) embarks on a new relationship with the enigmatic Flora, despite her own commitment issues. Former drug addicts Peggy and Pablo struggle to adapt to a life of sobriety together - especially when Peggy gets back in touch with their dealer, Dean's brother Marlon (Fraser). Max's sister Cindy finds her relationship with her partner Doris threatened by the reappearance of her first boyfriend, Gabriel. Kwame's unstable birth mother, Hilly, deals with the death of her cat and reconnects with her estranged parents.

Music

The track listing on the soundtrack, officially titled Metrosexuality Songs, is as follows:

1. It's All About Love (The Theme)
2. First To Say
3. You So Lovely
4. I'm Your Guy
5. Cowboy Love
6. House Boy
7. Free to Be Lonely
8. Saturday Thru Sunday
9. Hip-Hop Love
10. Let The One Who Loves You Love You
11. In Your Eyes There Is God
12. Lay Me Down
13. Don't Cry My Baby Love
14. Gangsta Bwoy
15. Gangsta Man
16. All About Punk Love
17. Fly With Me
18. Love Is Power

Notes

• All songs are composed and produced by Rikki Beadle Blair and Mark Hawkes.
• Rikki performs all the music, except "Gangsta Man" (performed by Mat Fraser).
• Music runs through most of the movie, and many songs are reprised several times in alternate forms (notably a dance version of the mid-tempo "Free To Be Lonely").
• The back cover of the CD has a copyright date of 2000, but the disc itself has a copyright date of 2001.
• Tracks 5, 9, 13, and 16 are not full songs; they are short versions of track 1 in various styles of music (downtempo, hip hop, ballad, and rock, respectively). A jazz version and a reggae version, featured in the movie, are not included on the soundtrack.