Farewell, Mr Humphries

When I was in high school, the Chicago public television station, WTTW, used to play a lot of British TV programmes, dramas and comedies alike. Among shows I saw were Dr Who (with Tom Baker), Monty Python’s Flying Circus (my favourite), Dave Allen at Large (aired right before Monty Python, so I usually only saw his end-of-show monologue, which was my favourite part, anyway).

I’ve often credited British comedies with helping me develop an appreciation for irony, so often lacking in American humour. At the time, they just made me laugh.

But there was one programme that was different and left me feeling “conflicted” before I’d ever heard that word: Are You Being Served? was an unusual comedy to my American eyes. Its broad humour was somehow more sophisticated than its contemporaries on American television. And then there was Mr Humphries, played by John Inman.

Although I was in high school when I first saw it, in reruns, I worked out (as everyone else did) that Mr Humphries was gay. Mind you, they never said he was gay, just that he was very good to his mother.

As a baby fag, I saw the over-the-top campy Mr Humphries as an example of everything I wasn’t. There were no positive gay characters on American television at the time, and I yearned to see one somewhere—anywhere. Mr Humphries was not what I wanted to see.

And yet, there was one crucial fact: Humphries was a central part of the team at Grace Brothers department store. He was respected and even loved, though it wouldn’t be very British for the characters to actually say that.

Living in a country where gay people were openly despised (some things don’t change…), I noticed the acceptance of Mr Humphries. To me, he wasn’t just a stereotype—he was a symbol of hope.

John Inman, the English actor who played Mr Wilberforce Clayborne Humphries, has died from Hepatitis A. He was 71.

Inman himself was sometimes greeted by protestors who deplored his stereotyped performance as Mr Humphries. According to the New Zealand Herald, when Inman visited Auckland in 1978, gay rights activists picketed the Shoreline Cabaret, where he was appearing.

On this morning’s Breakfast programme on TVNZ, news reader Karen Rutherford finished the bulletin with the news of Inman’s death before handing off to sport reporter Stephen Stuart. Chatting with the news reader, Stuart reported that Inman had married his partner of 35 years, Ron Lynch. He also said that Inman had admitted to being quite shy. It was sensitively reported (I know—the sports reporter!).

Maybe Stuart had had a quick read of Inman’s bio on Wikipedia, but it struck me as an example of how much things have changed since Are You Being Served? was still being produced. I wasn’t in New Zealand back then, but I imagine that in some ways it wasn’t that different from America. There were no laws to protect the civil rights of gay and lesbian people. In fact, sex between men was still a criminal offence.

Not that Mr Humphries would ever have discussed such things. Since then, the world the character inhabited has changed so much that the man who played him was able to solemnise the relationship he’d been in since before the show began (if my arithmetic is correct).

I understand why activists were upset with the character of Mr Humphries. If I’d been an activist back then I may have joined them on their picket lines. But for me, still coming to terms with being gay and its implications, the character was more than just a stereotype.

This is an example of how not everyone sees the same thing in quite the same way. Activists need to be aware of how their actions, no matter how correct and justified, affect others who aren’t as far along in the coming out process. They need to be served, too.

So farewell, John Inman and Mr Humphries. Now, you are free.