Chutney Popcorn (1999) is about a young Indian American lesbian named Reena who is put off by her family's pressure to marry and have kids. But when her sister Sarita learns she's infertile, Reena puts herself forward as a surrogate. It's a really cool snapshot of lesbian culture and Indian culture in 1999 New York. … Continue reading Review: Chutney Popcorn (1999)
Category: Queer Studies
Review: The Way He Looks (2014)
"The Way He Looks" (2014) (Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho) is a Brazilian coming-of-age film about a blind gay teenager (Leo) navigating school, bullies, his overprotective mom, arguing with his inseparable best friend, finding love, & a new sense of independence. Great film. It did disability rep well. A central conflict is his mom, while … Continue reading Review: The Way He Looks (2014)
Review: Acuitzeramo (2022)
Acuitzeramo (2022) on HBO is one of the best short queer films I've seen. It's both painful and hopeful. He's the Official Latino Film And Arts Festival page with a trailer, synopsis, director bio, and director statement. Roberto cut his son in the US out of his life to hide that he was gay. He … Continue reading Review: Acuitzeramo (2022)
Scene Read: You Wear Fine Things Well – OFMD S1 E5 0:26:35
This is a scene read of Our Flag Means Death S1 E5 0:26:35 to 0:28:05. The idea is to describe the cinematography, dynamics, and subtle expression in the scene to tease apart exactly how and what it’s communicating. I suggest watching the full scene first, then replaying it stopping and starting while reading along so … Continue reading Scene Read: You Wear Fine Things Well – OFMD S1 E5 0:26:35
The Infinite Queer Paradigm
We do not run out of queerness by feeding each other. Like love, to exist in a queer paradigm is to be infinite.
Fiction: Widogast’s Transition Care, Post CR C2 Ep141
One of my favorite little headcanons that I think about a lot: Imagine Caleb becoming someone trans people come to for at-cost transition care and Essek as someone who goes to trans folks to help them since he moves around. That's part of how each of them works to atone and do good in the … Continue reading Fiction: Widogast’s Transition Care, Post CR C2 Ep141
Lack of Context-awareness in non-queer reviewers
One thing I think is very interesting about non-queer people reviewing queer movies is that non-queer people seem to believe that the movie itself will explain all the context in overt ways and that where it doesn't it's identical to non-queer media. But that's not true. Since queer media was not just rejected but violently … Continue reading Lack of Context-awareness in non-queer reviewers
The Radical Queer Liberation Of Cringe
A lot of queer reclamation philosophy, performative queerness to avoid erasure, and the very core philosophical concept of Pride (and why and how we celebrate it) comes down to expressing "I am cringe, but I am free."
Analysis: Philadelphia (1993)
Gay lawyer Andy Beckett (Tom Hanks) sues his former employer for discrimination because he was fired for having AIDS. He asks Joe Miller (Denzel Washington) to represent him. Joe initially refuses due to his own prejudices, but reconsiders after he faces a racist microaggression in a legal library and then watches an anti-AIDS microaggression against … Continue reading Analysis: Philadelphia (1993)
Review: Luca (2021)
I listened to about half of Fun Home and now I'm watching Luca with a friend and holy fuck Luca is very queer. Not even queercoded, really, just straight up queer. Like, this is the thinnest possible gauzy veiling. It's about as veiled as Animal Farm. On the one hand, Disney seriously needs to have … Continue reading Review: Luca (2021)