Beneath heavy coding and subterfuge, "Young Americans" got a lot right about the uneasy, dangerous ground that closeted queer boys trod at the turn of the century.
I was so glad to stumble upon and read this post. Thank you for giving me food for thought on the series. I wanted to add something onto the "queer clues" pile: I have always felt that the British character of Ryder was named after Evelyn Waugh's narrator Charles Ryder in Brideshead Revisited.
I discovered this little show through the Internet archives which has terrible quality recordings of all 8 episodes, and I happily devoured the episodes in two days. I was searching online for more about this show, and found your post and I couldn't agree more with everything said. Thank you for sharing! Hopefully young americans will find its way onto a streaming platform eventually.
I was so glad to stumble upon and read this post. Thank you for giving me food for thought on the series. I wanted to add something onto the "queer clues" pile: I have always felt that the British character of Ryder was named after Evelyn Waugh's narrator Charles Ryder in Brideshead Revisited.
I discovered this little show through the Internet archives which has terrible quality recordings of all 8 episodes, and I happily devoured the episodes in two days. I was searching online for more about this show, and found your post and I couldn't agree more with everything said. Thank you for sharing! Hopefully young americans will find its way onto a streaming platform eventually.
I'm so glad you found this essay and enjoyed it!