All about ‘Absolutely Fabulous’!

 

‘Absolutely Fabulous’- The hilarious ‘Britcom’ written by and starring Jennifer Saunders has graced our screens for the best part of a decade. Whether you’re a long established fan or a newcomer to the world of Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone you’re bound to enjoy the show. If you’re looking for a remedy to everyday life or an escape from reality you have found the right people to provide that well deserved break.

 

‘”Absolutely Fabulous” is an unusual example of a peak-time situation comedy written by women, with a predominantly female cast and a specific address to a female audience, it provides rare viewing pleasures of self-recognition and humour to women. In addition to having feminist concerns at the core of its structure and themes, it stresses the artificiality surrounding "womanliness," and celebrates gender as a complex social and cultural construction.’

(Nicola Foster - http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/S/htmlS/saundersjen/saundersjen.htm)

 

Since 1992 ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ has taken over the comedy television arena and after 13 years it stays at the top of its competition. Saying and doing everything that would be considered socially inappropriate are Edina and Patsy; the main characters in this charade of politically incorrect escapades.

 

[Jennifer] Saunders and [Joanna] Lumley are the stars of the show as the hedonistic, fashion-obsessed party girls. Edina and Patsy grew up in London in the 60’s and 70’s when free love, experimental drug use and binge drinking were fashionable.  These values they still live by and firmly refuse to grow up.

 

Growing up in Swinging London during the 60’s and 70’s Edina and Patsy followed every trend, not a single one passing them, except perhaps in Edina’s case, exercise. Binge drinking, experimental drug use, fashion trends, self-indulgent behaviours… the list truly does go on and on. You name it, they have done it. Edina Monsoon was an only child; her mother didn’t take her gloves off while handling Edina until she was 12 years old, nor did she breast-feed, ‘it simply wasn’t done in those days’.  Patsy Stone was born when her mother was in her forties, in her opinion the cord had been cut and Patsy (the little void) should accept her liberty and beat it.

 

Edina has been married twice and divorced twice, and is still sucking alimony payments from her ex-husbands, playing up her situation and complaining about how poor she apparently is. Edina fell pregnant to both her husbands and she has two children; Saffron and Serge.

 

”I’ve been married twice, one was too short and one was gay, so sweetie, if you want know how to peck a dwarf on the cheek, as he is walking out the front door to the disco, in your dress then I am your girl!” (Edina, on marriage)

 

After many years of neglect due to Edina’s uncontrollable child-like mentalities and constant quest for Twiggy-ness, Saffron has been forced to take on a mothering role in attempt to somewhat tone-down her mother’s outrageous behaviour and survive. This only encourages Edina and Patsy to be even more rebellious. Saffron now has the added responsibility of looking after and protecting her own baby daughter in this dysfunctional household. Serge has only been mentioned until recently when it was revealed that he was in New York working in a secondhand book store and living with his boyfriend.

 

“One punishes you by leaving and the other punishes us all by staying!”

(Patsy, on childbearing)

 

Edina’s ex-husbands make appearances every now and then, but only with good reason to. Marshall, Edina’s first husband (to whom she fell pregnant with Serge) went to Hollywood to produce a screenplay which at one point was going to be made into an animation with the help of a Japanese company. He has had many relationships with bizarre women but has ended up with Bo who would have to be one of the funniest guest stars. The pair went from the film-making business, to the ‘designer babies’ and a weight loss product called “Staylene” and now they run Epiphany TV, a Christian television channel. Justin, Saffron’s father, entered into an Antiques business with his lover, Oliver who is the ‘only man who can best Edina when it comes to a curt retort.’[i] (Wenzel Jones, the Advocate)

 

“I hope you are not inviting that bloody-bollocky, selfish two-faced, chicken bastard pig dog man, are you?”

(Edina describing Justin)

 

Edina’s mother, June Monsoon (June Whitfield) makes regular appearances though only to visit Saffron. She appears to be together, while only maintaining contact with reality at its fringes.  Also, frequently appearing in the show is Bubble, Edina’s personal assistant who spends most of her time in her own world. She was only hired to make Edina look good, and she is great at booking lunches. She is the concept of a PA, but Edina would be better off with a painting.

 

Why is it that ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ stays at the top of its game, why is it so popular, and why does it have such a huge gay following?

The answer may be simple, it may be complex, it all relates to personal preference and opinion. In general it’s found that people like what they can relate to and most fans find that they can relate to ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ and it’s characters. It may not stand true in all cases, but suffice to say people generally would like to do and say as they please when they please, which is exactly what Edina and Patsy do. Their lifestyles and their habits could be likened to others in similar industries but would not be representative of them, and it is possible that you may even know people like them.
The slapstick used in the show may be what you tune in for or it could be that it is simply a British Comedy that compliments your own comedic tastes. You may be a follower of Jennifer Saunders’ work in stand-up, television, and film from as far back as The Comic Strip Presents, Happy Families, Girls on Top and her comedy partnership French & Saunders. You may like it because it gives you a chance to laugh at the political incorrectness of both Edina and Patsy’s lives as eccentric upper class citizens. Whatever the reasoning may be behind its popularity amongst fans and followers it still stands true that this is one program that can be appreciated by young and old through a wide variety of cultures and backgrounds.

 

It is still a grey area as to why the show has such a huge homosexual following; it could be because it more or less appreciates gay culture with the inclusion of many homosexual/bisexual characters. For instance Saffron, Edina’s daughter, was fathered by a closeted homosexual man who now has a same-sex partner on the show, this along with hints about Saffron’s childhood friend Sarah’s sexuality and with guest star’s such as Sir Elton John and the numerous designers, models, stylists and friends of a homosexual nature shows how openly the subject is approached. Is it possible that Patsy could be a closet case, or possibly a dominatrix at heart? Even Serge, Edina’s own son is homosexual and living with his boyfriend in New York. When you really think about it, it’s not too hard to see why the gay community embraces the show, there’s the glitz, the glamour, the outrageousness, and most of all the fabulousness.

 

In 1996, after three six-episode seasons and ‘The Last Shout’, the show had been running for 4 years it was thought to be the end of Edina & Patsy. Until 2001, when Jennifer wrote Series 4, ‘Gay’ and Series 5 followed close behind. The show has been running for 12 years now and has become somewhat of a household name in the world of comedy. With rumours of more series’ to be made, hopefully on a yearly basis, it would seem we haven’t seen the last of Edina and Patsy.

 

So whether you watch Absolutely Fabulous for a bit of a laugh, for a look at how the other half live or just to enjoy the comedy, with arms wide open the world seems to have embraced this pet project of one fabulous writer and actress who truly knows how to provide quality comedy and entertainment and is sure to bring us laughs for years to come. Please enjoy Absolutely Fabulous: Complete & Definitive, a guide and a tribute to one of the world’s most talented women; Jennifer Saunders and her television show “Absolutely Fabulous”!