The Winter Games are here! The Winter Games are here! It’s the most wonderful every-four years, of the years. Does that make sense? Oh well, who cares. It’s that time of the lifetime again when I fall in love with all things Olympics. This year, as in years past, my plan is to watch as much of the women’s events as possible. And besides rooting for the home team, I will be rooting for the homo team. Nudge, nudge, see what I did there? Stop judging, I’m excited. It’s the Olympics!
I’ve been trying to decide whether I liked the “Natalie’s Rap 2.” It’s taken me a little while, because of my absolute love of the first one - obviously, but I’ve decided I like it – a lot. Sure, it’s not as surprising and therefore memorable as the first one. But Natalie Portman rapping against type is always internet gold. The “Star Wars” prequels stuff in particular was amaze-ing. Plus, she gets the ultimate wish fulfillment of all women and throws a “Well, actually”-ing male out the window.
It’s highly recommend you watch them both back-to-back, on a loop.
I guess you could describe my sexuality on any given day is Natalie Portman Rapping. But, then, I suspect that is true for most of us. Happy weekend, all.
p.s. My sexuality can also be described as Natalie and Mila’s insane brain (and other parts) melting sex scene from “Black Swan.”
You ever seen a photo and think, “Yeah, this gets me.” Well, that’s how I feel looking at this promo still from the new film “Annihilation.” This still is kind of everything I’m looking for from a movie right now. A tough, smart gang of diverse women who are heavily armed on a world-saving mission while some sport alternative lifestyle haircuts. Like I was saying, this gets me.
p.s. As further proof this movie is possibly perfect, Oscar Isaac’s character is legit only described as “Lena’s husband” in the credits. Lena is Natalie Portman’s biologist character. Identifying men only by their association with powerful women? Burn, patriarchy, burn.
Good news, the trailer for “Disobedience” was recently released. Better news, the infamous “spit” scene is nowhere to be seen. Look, I’m still incredibly excited to see “Disobedience” because any movie where Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams have a passionate relationship is incredibly exciting. But the whole sensual spitting scene put me a bit off (I want it to not be gross, but I just can’t see how).
Still the trailer gets me back on the very excited track. It conveys the claustrophobia of forbidden love – and lust. It’s filled with the quiet, devastating strain caused by living a life of restriction and denial. Plus, OK, it’s pretty hot when Rachel and Rachel kiss.
So, thoughts, did the trailer make you more/less excited for this film?
If you heard a loud, piercing squeal sometimes yesterday afternoon it was just me. I was just reacting to news that Megan Follows was joining the cast of “Wynonna Earp” in a recurring role as Momma Earp. SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL!
This is Emily Andras making all of my wildest Canadian dreams come true. You all already know how much I love, love, love (love, love, love) Anne of Green Gables and Megan Follows. Interviewing Megan a few years ago was a fantasy bucket list accomplishment. And now, holy cow, is this just wonderful, wonderful casting.
I cannot wait to see the layers and loveliness that Megan brings to the show. She has always been a ferocious actress, capable of conveying intellect and introspection so clearly. I have no doubt she will be perfect as Momma Earp. In fact I cannot wait.
So the Super Bowl was kinda interesting. The halftime show was kinda meh. And the ads were kinda blah. Sure, the Tide ad was maybe sorta kinda funny. But two ads did stand out. One was the Coke ad that made history for using the “them/they” pronoun. It might seem like a little thing, but for the non-binary and gender non-confirming it’s a wonderful recognition during the biggest national televised event of the year. The thing that people who rail about PC culture don’t get, and have no doubt never contemplated, is how big something so small can feel when you’ve never felt seen before. Calling a person why the correct pronoun hurts no one, but instead makes another human being feel acknowledged and respected. It takes so little to simply be kind and inclusive, so why not try it.
The other ad was also gender-norm defying in a fun and inclusive way. It was, for all things, the NFL. As I watched I braced internally for the probably inevitable “no-homo” to ruin everything. But it never came. It was just delightful from start to finish. I guess that makes up for all the lingering brain trauma from concussions and domestic abusers in your ranks. (Kidding, the NFL has issues man. But this ad was pretty great, if an obvious rip-off of this even greater ad.)
In my ongoing effort to bring good news to our garbage reality, please allow me to introduce you to 16-years-old Australian explorer Jade Hameister. She is the youngest person to ever complete the so-called “Polar Hat Trick.” This means, at an age most people are just figuring out how to drive a car, she has reached the North and South Poles and crossed the Greenland ice sheet. It’s all terribly impressive, of course. But what makes it even more impressive is how Jade has chosen to handle the (inevitable) misogynistic trolls. After posting of her epic accomplishment at reaching the South Pole Jan. 10, the next day she posted the above photo that included this absolutely crushing bit in her caption:
“Tonight (it never gets dark this time of year) I skied back to the Pole again... to take this photo for all those men who commented “Make me a sandwich” on my TEDX Talk. I made you a sandwich (ham & cheese), now ski 37 days and 600km to the South Pole and you can eat it xx”
Suck it, loser dudes. Fuck yeah, Jade. Happy weekend, all.
Hi Kittens. I just felt like dropping in a little reality check about this business we call show. I started this blog more than 10 years ago to chit-chat about the effervescent delights of pop culture through the lens of this rather opinionated gay gal. Over the years I’ve also delved into current events, LGBTQ rights, feminist issues and the hellscape of politics (particularly this current and pressing Trump-shaped hellscape). But it’s also good, sometimes, to step back and laugh. Now, perhaps, more than ever.
So please allow Jane Fonda’s Instagram to remind us that celebrity is, and will always be, a beautiful illusion we’ve all bought into to distract us from make the mundane realities of everyday life.
Here is the quintessential before-and-after truth of Jane at last fall’s LA Museum of Modern Art Gala.
Well, it’s an exciting time if you’re a fan of 80s and 90s television. Why? Because it’s basically all coming back. “Will & Grace” is already back. “Heathers” is (dubiously) coming back. “Murphy Brown” is much less dubiously coming back (with Candice Bergen, huzzah). The “Charmed” witches are being rebooted to smash the patriarchy or something. And now a “Cagney & Lacey” reboot has a pilot order.
Now, I am 110 percent for female-fronted TV. Imma probably watch the hell out of these (except maybe “Heathers” - what is your damage, “Heathers?”). But I’d also like to note that we had a freaking great (fine, maybe not great but definitely fun) female buddy cop show on television recently and it was called “Rizzoli & Isles.” Ahem. Well, at least the “Cagney & Lacey” pilot is being written by Bridget Carpenter whose past producing credits include “Westworld,” “Parenthood,” “Friday Night Lights” and “Dead Like Me.” So that’s encouraging.
The Grammys are always a strange hodge-podge. You can usually count on a strange mix of performers, a strange mix of winners and at least one strange or not-so strange breakout moment. This year was no exception. It was too long. (And, for whatever reason, had too much Sting – seriously I like the dude but he’s not exactly “now.”) And there were definite breakout moments (no, they weren’t Lady Gaga stuffing a dead angel into her piano or Miley Cyrus dressing like a glamorous old Hollywood diva). One was the always impeccably dressed Janelle Monae who gave a stirring, Time’s Up-themed introduction to Kesha.
And then – of course – there was Hillary reading form “Fire & Fury.”
So, thoughts? Your favorite moments? Yes, I realize I am a day late. But, in my defense, the broadcast was like 900 hours long, so it took a bit to process.
Welcome back to Good Gay News Monday (GGNM because I’ve never met an overly long acronym I didn’t love to bits). Last week, out cinematographer Rachel Morrison became the first women to be nominated for best cinematography by the Academy Awards. That’s right, since 1929 when they started no women have ever been nominated for the award before now. In the meantime 651 men were nominated during those 89 years. Cool, cool.
Rachel was nominated for her work on “Mudbound,” the critically acclaimed feature from out filmmaker Dee Rees (who was deservedly nominated for best adapted screenplay). Rachel, it should be noted, also became the first lesbian nominated for a best cinematography Oscar.
She got the news while in the Burbank airport with her wife and their son, on their way to Sundance. AE (the good, old AE) interviewed her way back in 2008. Look what a difference 10 years makes. After her historic nomination, Rachel tweeted this.
Today’s Oscar nom couldn’t have seemed further away not long ago so I hope it tells all the dreamers out there (especially the young girls with cameras in their hands) that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. Thank you to Dee Rees and to the Academy for making my dream a reality. #oscarnoms
And, as if to further prove how much anything is possible, Rachel’s next project is as cinematographer for the much-anticipated, looks-cool-as-hell “Black Panther.” Don’t dream it, be it. Happy Monday, all.
Well here’s a story that will make you feel patriotic and gay and patriotically gay. This month a 90-year-old Air Force veteran Helen Grace James finally got the honorable discharge she deserved. In 1955, while serving as an Airman Second Class, investigators hounded her to find out if she was gay – even following her into clubs. When they “caught” her they made her sign papers admitting to being homosexual, or they’d out her to her family. (Yet another reason to hate the military industrial complex.) They discharged her as “undesirable,” which meant she couldn’t get veterans benefits like health insurance and G.I. Bill eligibility. So, she fought them. And she fought them. And she won. Sure, it took 63 years. But she made the U.S. military recognize her exemplary service. This it is further proof that, however slow it may be, the arc of the moral universe indeed bends toward justice. A grateful nation (finally) thanks her for her service. Happy weekend, all.
My favorite big, beautiful, utterly perfect cartoon giraffe will always be Jameela Jamil. She may be a “hot, rich fraud with legs for days,” but she’s our hot, rich fraud with legs for days. Side note, everyone should really be into Tahani. So nothing could delight me more than finding out Jameela, from one of my favorite TV shows “The Good Place” was on my favorite TV baking show, “The Great British Bake Off” – or, as I like to call it, “Televised Xanax.” Seriously, if the garbage everything about the world ever gets you too down, pop on a couple seasons of GBBO (or “The Great British Baking Show” as American TV insists on calling it) and your troubles will fade away amidst the lovely English countryside and beautifully baked meringues. Heck, even the not so beautifully baked ones are wonderful, as Jameela will attest. She was on a charity Comic Relief Bake Off episode and, well, let’s just say at least she didn’t kill Mary Berry. Still, despite being mortified by her performance, Jameela said in an interview that, “To meet (Mary Berry) and then disappoint her face-to-face is really still one of the greatest things to happen to me.” I just love it when two great things come together, even if one of them is terrible at it. Enjoy, kittens, enjoy.
p.s. “The Good Place” is on tonight and this season is so good and so stressful. I love it more than pie.
I love it when Lesbian Fantasy Universes collide. So earlier this month Gillian Anderson was on “The Late Late Show with James Corden” and they started talking about this new film she is doing with Kate McKinnon and Mila Kunis. This is the first time Gillian and Kate have worked together. But, as any good gay lady will know, this is not the first time these two have worked together in their or our fantasies.
Now, normally this kind of fantasy coupling only happens in our heads. But Gillian broke the fourth wall of our imaginations and acknowledged our (and Kate’s) wildest fantasies.
In the clip she retells how she was Googling Kate – while naked in the bath – before they started working together. And she came across the infamous Brunch With Bridget episode of Kate talking about Gillian.
Those who’ve been here a while will recall the Brunch With Bridget vlog circa 2008 from the old AfterEllen (R.I.P, AE, I miss you still). But if you’re a little foggy on it, you can watch the clip in question below. It is quite something.
Now, rewatch Gillian’s reaction to watching this clip while naked in the bath. I guess the truth really is out there now.
p.s. Here’s that Kate as Special Agent Dana Scully tweet. My God, can you imagine the role-playing these two could engage in.
p.p.s. Contrary to all of our expectations, the new season of “The X-Files” is actually kinda good. Not the first episode, it was horrendous. But after that, yeah, it was actually kinda good. Who knew?
Look, I want to love the “Heathers” reboot. I really, really do. Because, of course, I loved the movie “Heathers.” Who doesn’t love when teen angst bullshit has a body count? But I’m struggling to embrace the “Heathers” television reboot. One, because it doesn’t make enormous sense as a TV series. And two, because the “twist” of turning the teenage social hierarchy’s longtime outcasts (the queers, the people of colors, the plus-size) into its ultimate “mean girls” is – well, it’s a tad problematic.
Look, I get it – anyone can be horrible. Being awful and unkind and terrible is not the sole purview of, say, straight white males. Hell is other people, after all. But, as you’ve no doubt heard me as countless times, the point of representation is to show the humanity of groups of people who far too often have it denied to them. So when we fight for more queer visibility, we’re fighting to be seen as complete people – not stereotypes or scapegoats or whathaveyou.
That means, in theory, showing us queers (or POC or any other marginalized group) as villains shouldn’t be a problem because some of us are villains. Because we’re people – and some people are villains. But – and this is an important but – that first requires that the full and broad spectrum of our selves is shown and acknowledged. In other words we have to be shown as the triumphant heroes and the romantic leads and the fierce fighters and the extraordinary geniuses and the conflicted geniuses and the tragic figures and the average Joes and the mediocre Janes and, yes, even the bad guys. But we have to have enough representation for all of that to happen multiple times so it seems ordinary. You know, like straight white characters are shown every single day in the media.
But when there is still an imbalance, when say we’re shown as tragic (Dead Lesbian Syndrome says what) or one-dimensional (sassy best friend says hey) or barely there period – well, singling us out as the new mean kids – yeah, that’s a tad problematic.
Here’s the thing, queers and POC and plus-sized kids are still marginalized, every single day, in high schools across the country. They’re still terrorized, they’re still harassed, they’re still bullied. So then does anyone really relish the idea of watching this new blonde Veronica Sawyer and her new toxic masculinity poster child boyfriend JD killing these kids? I would kinda rather be fucked gently with a chainsaw, if you get my drift.
Kittens, we did it. We made it through one entire year of the Trump administration. Sure, we’re all exhausted and demoralized and enraged and frightened and have I mentioned exhausted already? But, yes, we made it through one single year. Still, this weekend on the anniversary of the Hate Pumpkin’s inauguration, two amazing things happened. One, millions of women and men and descent human beings marched in protest of everything our Shithole President stands for. And two, that moron had to miss his own anniversary party because he is so inept as a president he couldn’t keep the government open despite his party, the GOP, controlling the House, Senate and the White House. Way to go, Very Stable Genius. Anyway, only 287 days until the midterm elections. Then we finally get to grab ‘em by the ballot box.
[If you want to watch the very worth watching video, please click this link. Embed was removed because autoplay is the devil.]
Last year was, unquestionably, bleak in ways large and small (and in the case of Trump’s hands, tiny). But in an effort to force 2018 to our will (and the will of the people who, by some 3 million votes – and one would suspect counting now – did not want this) here is a ray of joy. It comes in the form of Gitanjali Rao, a 12-year-old student from Colorado who in late 2017 was named America’s Top Young Scientist. Her invention (which she created when she was 11 just to make you feel like even more of an underachiever) is a portable, fast and cheap water testing system for lead. She was inspired by the ongoing and disgraceful crisis in Flint, Michigan. And, in turn, Gitanjali is an inspiration for all of us. Happy weekend, all.
Oh, hai. Did you need a pick-me-up on this January Thursday? Here you go. Hope that gets you through the remainder of the week. And possibly your life.
At long last, is it finally Woody Allen’s moment in The Reckoning? A tiny trickle has become a steady stream of actors who have worked with the filmmaker in the past and are now denouncing, and apologizing, for their involvement with him.
This matters, this really does, and I truly hope more actors and actresses who I admire and respect greatly, but have worked with Allen in the past step up. (Please, Cate, please please please, Cate.) We need them. Plus we need a lot more dudes to start stepping up, too.
If you want to familiarize yourself with why we need all their voices please refer to the two open letters Allen’s daughter, Dylan Farrow, has written about her father’s sexual abuse of her as a child. The first was in 2014, which brought the long-simmering allegations of abuse back to the vivid and horrifying forefront. Then she wrote an op-ed just last month wondering aloud why The Reckoning had not touched her abuser yet.
Her accounts of what he did to her have not changed. Not for decades. What has appeared to have changed is the public acceptance of the industry’s lame excuse that this was a purely “family dispute” not to be waded into out of a false sense of decorum.
I hope the full force of The Reckoning finally sweeps Allen, and all of his ilk, into the murky depths where they belong – never to heard from or lauded again. And if, by chance, you don’t think speakingout after the fact means much, please refer to Dylan’s own heartfelt response. It matters. We need them, we need more of them. It matters.
There have been some brave and bold women who have taken a stand with and for me in the past few days. I want to acknowledge their integrity, their courage, and their exemplification of a new way forward. Thank you, it means the world. #TIMESUP
Like many of you, the Cranberries were the soundtrack to a very specific time of my life. A time filled with intense change and emotion, love and heartbreak. You know, the usual. But through it all Dolores O’Riordan’s voice, this beautiful, powerful, haunting, unmistakable, unforgettable wail. Gosh, how I’ll miss that wail. We all will. Rest in peace, sweet Dolores. Thanks for the music.
