Arts & Entertainment
Guy Pearce calls Kevin Spacey ‘handsy’ on set of ‘L.A. Confidential’
Sexual misconduct allegations are under investigation against the former ‘House of Cards’ star
In an interview with Andrew Denton for the Australian talk show “Interview,” Guy Pearce claimed Kevin Spacey was “handsy” on set. Pearce and Spacey worked together on the 1997 film “L.A. Confidential.”
“Tough one to talk about at the moment,” Pearce said when asked about Spacey. “Amazing actor. Incredible actor. Mmm, slightly difficult time with Kevin, yeah. He’s a handsy guy.”
“Thankfully, I was 29 and not 14,” he added.
Last year, actor Anthony Rapp made sexual misconduct allegations against Spacey claiming that the former “House of Cards” star made sexual advances on him when he was 14 years old and Spacey was 26. Since then, numerous sexual misconduct allegations from other men have been made against Spacey.
U.K. police are now investigating six more claims of sexual assault or assault against Spacey. Five of the claims occurred during 1996-2008 in London. The sixth claim was in 2013 in Gloucester.
Books
Thom Gunn bio explores joys, complexities of modern gay life
‘Thom Gunn: A Cool Queer Life’
By Michael Nott
c.2024, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
$40/720 pages
A confession: Until reading “Thom Gunn: A Cool Queer Life,” I hadn’t known much about the accomplished, controversial gay poet’s life or read many of his poems. But this first biography makes me feel like I know him and his large body of work intimately. Michael Nott, coeditor of “The Letters of Thom Gunn,” draws on interviews with friends and family, as well as Gunn’s letters, notebooks, and diaries, to tell the triumphs and tragedies of his life.
Born in England in 1929 to journalist parents, when he was 15, he and his younger brother Ander found their mother dead from suicide. He would not discuss this tragic event in his poetry for years, including one of his last poems “My Mother’s Pride.” He published his first book of poems, “Fighting Terms,” while still an undergraduate at Cambridge University.
At Cambridge, Gunn met his life-long partner, Mike Kitay, an American studying theater. Gunn followed Kitay to America, studying poetry under Yvor Winters at Stanford University. At one point, Kitay, doing his military service, was investigated as part of suspicion of homosexuality among his unit. Gunn wrote to friends of his worry both of what might happen to Kitay as well as to himself. While nothing happened, the event reminds us of the precarious state in which gay men lived until recently.
Eventually, they settled in San Francisco, which Gunn loved. Even when he became worldwide famous, he enjoyed the anonymity of the city’s gay bars, where he could pick up men. He taught at UC Berkeley for 40 years, one term every year so he could concentrate on his poetry. His and Kitay’s home was filled with friends and sex partners, usually of Gunn. This arrangement seems common for many gay men of the time, reminiscent of Dan Savage’s idea of “monogamish,” where committed gay couples might have other side partners.
In San Francisco, Gunn discovered leather and drugs, both of which he took to readily. He caused a stir by appearing in his British publisher’s conservative club in leather gear. Toward the end of his life, he became a crystal meth addict, frequently using with other addicts whom he also slept with. In 2004, his housemates found him dead from substance abuse.
He explored leather, drugs, and gay sexuality frequently in his poems. His collection “Moly” (named after the drug in The Odyssey protecting from the witch Circe’s magic), looked at the appeal and downfall of drugs. The Man with Night Sweats, perhaps his most famous collection, dealt with the AIDS epidemic, the painful death of so many friends and lovers. He won the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grant afterwards.
The biography presents Gunn in all his humanity, from his poetic genius to his insecurities. After each book came out, he struggled with writer’s block, which led to hookups and drug use. As he aged, he worried about finding “gerontophiles” who would sleep with him. I hope this book encourages readers to discover or revisit his work, filled with the joys and complexities of modern gay life.
Movies
‘Beauty, beauty, look at you!”: 50 years of ‘Female Trouble’
Celebrating John Waters’s lovably grotesque black comedy
It’s funny – and by funny, we mean ironic – how things that were once on the fringes of our culture, experienced by few and appreciated by even fewer, become respectable after they’ve been around for half a century or more. The Blade herself can probably attest to that.
Cheap, self-deprecating one-liners aside, there’s something to celebrate about the ability to survive and thrive for decades despite being mostly ignored by the mainstream “tastemakers” of our society – which is why, in honor of the 50th anniversary of its release, we can’t help but take an appreciative look back at John Waters’s arguable masterpiece, “Female Trouble,” which debuted in movie theaters on Oct. 11, 1974 and was promptly dismissed and forgotten by most of American society.
Waters had already made his breakthrough with 1972’s “Pink Flamingos,” which more or less helped the “Midnight Movie” become a counterculture touchstone of the seventies and eighties beyond while making his star (and muse) Glenn Milstead – aka Divine – into an underground sensation. Naturally, expectations for this follow-up were high among his already growing cult following, who were hungry for more of his gleefully transgressive anarchy. But while it certainly delivered what they craved, it would have been hard for any movie to surpass the sensation caused by the latter, which had already broken perhaps the ultimate onscreen taboo by ending with a scene of Divine’s character eating a freshly deposited dollop of dog feces. Though “Female Trouble” offered plenty of its own hilariously shocking (and occasionally revolting) thrills, it had no standout “WTF” moment of its own to “top” that one. Subsequently, the curious mainstream, who were never going to be Waters fans anyway, lost interest.
For his true audience, however, it was anything but a let-down. After all, it featured most of the same outrageous cast members and doubled down on the ferociously radical camp that had made “Flamingos” notorious even among the “straight” (as in “square”) crowd; and while it maintained the bargain basement “guerilla” style the director had perfected throughout his early years of DIY filmmaking in Boston, it nevertheless displayed a savvy for cinematic craft that allowed Waters to both subvert and pay homage to the old-school Hollywood movies his (mostly) queer fans had grown up loving – and making fun of – just like him. It was quickly embraced, joining “Flamingos” on art house double bills across the U.S. and helping the Waters cult to grow until he finally won the favor of the masses with his more socially palatable “Hairspray” in 1988.
Fifty years later, there is little doubt that “Female Trouble” has displaced “Flamingos” as Waters’s quintessential work. Riding high on the heels of the latter, the director had both a bolstered self-confidence and an assured audience awaiting his next film, and he outdid himself by creating an ambitious and breathtakingly grotesque black comedy that frequently feels like we’re watching a crime being committed on film. Ostensibly framed as a “cautionary tale” of “juvenile delinquency,” it follows the life story of Dawn Davenport (Divine), who abandons social conformity once and for all when her parents fail to give her the black cha-cha heeled shoes she wanted for Christmas. Running away from home, she quickly becomes an unwed mother, leading her to a life of crime as she tries to support her unruly and ungrateful daughter Taffy (Hilary Taylor, later Waters stalwart Mink Stole). Things seem to turn around when she is accepted as a client at the exclusive “Le Lipstique” beauty salon, where owners Donald and Donna Dasher (David Lochery and Mary Vivian Pearce) take a particular interest in her, and marries star hairdresser Gater (Michael Potter) despite the objections of his doting Aunt Ida (Edith Massey), who wants him to “turn Nelly” and avoid the “sick and boring life” of a heterosexual.
From there, Waters’s absurdly melodramatic saga enters the realm of pure lunacy. Dawn’s marriage inevitably fails, and she falls under the influence of the Dashers, who use her as an experiment to prove their theory that “Crime equals Beauty” and get her hooked on shooting up liquid eyeliner; Gater leaves for Detroit to pursue a career in the “auto in-DUS-try”, and his doting Aunt Ida (Edith Massey) disfigures Dawn’s face by dousing it with acid; Taffy goes on a quest to find her deadbeat dad and ends up murdering him before joining the Hare Krishna movement; and things culminate in a murderous nightclub performance by the now-thoroughly deranged Dawn, which earns her a date with the electric chair for the film’s literally “shocking” finale.
It would be easy to rhapsodize over the many now-iconic highlights of “Female Trouble” – some of our favorites are its hilarious early scenes of Dawn’s life as a high school delinquent, the Christmas morning rampage in which she destroys her parents’ living room like Godzilla on a bender in Tokyo, “Bad Seed”-ish Taffy’s torment of her mother via jump rope rhymes and car crash re-enactments on the living room furniture, Aunt Ida’s persistent attempts to set up Gater on a “boy date,” and the master stroke of double-casting Divine as the low-life mechanic who fathers Taffy and thereby allows him to literally fuck himself onscreen – but every Waters fan has a list of their own.
Likewise, we could take a scholarly approach, and point out the “method” in the madness by highlighting themes or cultural commentaries that might be observed, such as the film’s way of ridiculing the straight world’s view of queer existence by presenting it to them in an over-the-top caricature of their own narrative tropes, or its seeming prescience in spoofing pop culture’s obsession with glamour, beauty, and toxic behavior as entertainment decades before the advent and domination of “reality” TV – but those things have been said many times already, and none of them really have anything to do with why we love it so much.
What we love is the freakishness of it; Waters revealed years after the fact that Divine’s “look” as Dawn Davenport was inspired by a photo from Diane Arbus, whose work served as a testament to the anonymous fringe figures of American culture, but it could be said that all of his characters, in this and in all his early films, might also be drawn from one of her images. It’s that, perhaps, that is the key to its appeal: it’s a movie about “freaks,” made for freaks by someone who is a freak themself. It makes us laugh at all of its excesses simply because they are funny – and the fact that the NON-freaks don’t “get it” just makes them all the funnier.
As Aunt Ida says, “Queers are just better” – and in this case, we mean “queer” as in “different than the boring norm.”
In any case, queer or otherwise, celebrate your freakishness by watching “Female Trouble” in honor of its anniversary this weekend. Whether it’s your umpteenth time or your first, it will be 97 minutes you won’t regret.
AIDS and HIV
40th anniversary AIDS Walk happening this weekend in West Hollywood
AIDS Project Los Angeles Health will gather in West Hollywood Park to kick off 40th anniversary celebration
APLA Health will celebrate its 40th anniversary this Sunday at West Hollywood Park, by kicking off the world’s first and oldest AIDS walk with a special appearance by Salina Estitties, live entertainment, and speeches.
APLA Health, which was formerly known as AIDS Project Los Angeles, serves the underserved LGBTQ+ communities of Los Angeles by providing them with resources.
“We are steadfast in our efforts to end the HIV epidemic in our lifetime. Through the use of tools like PrEP and PEP, the science of ‘undetectable equals intransmissible,’ and our working to ensure broad access to LGTBQ+ empowering healthcare, we can make a real step forward in the fight to end this disease,” said APLA Health’s chief executive officer, Craig E. Thompson.
For 40 years, APLA Health has spearheaded programs, facilitated healthcare check-ups and provided other essential services to nearly 20,000 members of the LGBTQ+ community annually in Los Angeles, regardless of their ability to pay.
APLA Health provides LGBTQ+ primary care, dental care, behavioral healthcare, HIV specialty care, and other support services for housing and nutritional needs.
The AIDS Walk will begin at 10AM and registrations are open for teams and solo walkers. More information can be found on the APLA Health’s website.
California
Forfeitures against San Jose State over trans athlete on roster spark controversy, backlash
Boise State, University of Wyoming and Utah State joined Southern Utah in forfeiting against San Jose State this season.
Blaire Fleming is at the center of a national debate over transgender athletes joining gendered sports at the collegiate level, after her team won fourth match by account of forfeiture.
Fleming made headlines earlier this year as her former roommate and team co-captain, Brooke Slusser, filed a class-action lawsuit against her and the National Collegiate Athletics Association. Slusser took to the Independent Council on Women’s Sports to file the class action lawsuit along with other cisgender athletes.
They claim that allowing Fleming and other transfemme athletes compete in women’s sports is in violation of Title IX, which does not permit trans athletes to compete against biological women, or use women’s restrooms.
The move to forfeit on account of a trans athlete, sparked controversy and driving the three other universities to forfeit in the recent weeks.
San Jose State responded to the latest forfeiture by stating that outing Fleming would have violated school policy.
The NCAA stated that it will “continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women’s sports and ensure fair competition for all student-athletes in all NCAA championships.”
The controversy gained more traction as cisgender, far-right, voices joined the conversation.
Riley Gaines, a former competitive swimmer who came in fifth place in a 200-yard NCAA freestyle championship – tying with trans athlete Lia Thomas – took to X to speak on the issue and openly express her transphobia.
In the post, Gaines repeatedly misgenders Fleming, also adding that it is ‘unfair and dangerous,’ to allow transfemme athletes to compete in women’s sports.
Gaines is one of many far-right athletes who have either tied or lost a match to a trans athlete, then made it their mission to cast trans athletes out of women’s sports.
Equality California’s Executive Director released a statement regarding the issue.
“Equality California stands with San Jose State University and appreciates their strong support for their student athletes. All students deserve a safe and inclusive environment where they can thrive without fear or anxiety while being themselves,” said executive director Tony Hoang.
The San Jose State women’s volleyball team is scheduled to go against San Diego State on Oct 10.
Los Angeles Blade will continue to cover the issue as the story develops.
The LGBTQ rights organization Family Equality held its annual LA Impact Gala on Saturday, September 28 at Citizen News in Los Angeles. Honorees at the event included actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson and husband, producer Justin Mikita. Also honored at the event were Rainbow Book Bus founders Adam Powell and Eric Cervini. Speakers, presenters and performers included Jinx Monsoon, Jai Rodriguez, Richie Jackson, Lyle, Angel Bonilla, David Hernandez, and Family Equality Interim CEO Alexis Kantor.
(Photos by Getty Images for Family Equality)
a&e features
Author of new book empowers Black ‘fat’ femme voices
After suicidal thoughts, attacks from far right, a roadmap to happiness
In 2017, Jon Paul was suicidal. In nearly every place Paul encountered, there were signs that consistently reminded the transgender community that their presence in America by the far right is unwelcomed.
Former President Donald Trump’s anti-trans rhetoric is “partly” responsible for Paul’s suicidal contemplation.
“I’m driving out of work, and I’m seeing all of these Trump flags that are telling me that I could potentially lose my life over just being me and wanting to be who I am,” Paul said. “So, were they explicitly the issue? No, but did they add to it? I highly would say yes.”
During Trump’s time as president, he often disapproved of those who identified as transgender in America; the former president imposed a ban on transgender individuals who wanted to join the U.S. military.
“If the world keeps telling me that I don’t have a reason for me to be here and the world is going to keep shaming me for being here. Then why live?” Paul added.
The rhetoric hasn’t slowed and has been a messaging tool Trump uses to galvanize his base by saying that Democrats like Vice President Kamala Harris “want to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison.” Trump made that claim at the presidential debate against Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
Not only do Trump’s actions hurt Paul, but they also affect 17-year-old Jacie Michelleé, a transgender person at Friendly Senior High School.
“When former President Donald J. Trump speaks on transgender [individuals] in a negative light, it saddens my heart and makes me wonder what he thinks his personal gain is from making these comments will be,” Michelleé said.
“When these comments are made toward trans immigrants or the transgender community, it baffles me because it shows me that the times are changing and not for the better,” Michelleé added.
The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation responded to Trump’s rhetoric that opposes the transgender community and how it affects democracy through programming at its Annual Legislative Conference in Washington.
“Our agendas are not set by what other groups are saying we should or shouldn’t do. It is set by our communities and what we know the needs and the most pressing needs are for the Black community, and we know that our global LGBTQAI+ communities have needs; they are a part of our community,” said Nicole Austin-Hillery, president and CEO of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
One pressing need is suicide prevention, which the National Institute of Health deems necessary, as 82% of transgender individuals have reported having suicidal thoughts, while 40% have attempted suicide. This research applies to individuals like Paul, who reported contemplating suicide.
But instead of choosing to self-harm, Paul met Latrice Royale, a fourth-season contestant on “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” who was awarded the title of Miss Congeniality while on the show. Paul said that meeting brought meaning when there was barely any left.
“It was like I met them at a time where I really, truly, not only needed to see them, but I needed to be able to actively know ‘girl’ you can live and you can have a really a good life, right? And Latrice was that for me,” Paul said.
Though Trump is representative of a lot of movements that are clashing with society, the Democratic Party is actively pushing back against anti-transgender movements and says there is “still much work to be done.”
Not only did Royale model success for Paul, but they also share the same appearance. Paul proudly identifies as “fat” and uses this descriptor as a political vehicle to empower others in the book “Black Fat Femme, Revealing the Power of Visibly Queer Voices in the Media and Learning to Love Yourself.”
“My book, my work as a Black, fat femme, is inherently political. I say this at the very front of my book,” Paul said. “All three of those monikers are all three things in this world that the world hates and is working overtime to get rid of.”
“They’re trying to kill me as a Black person; they’re trying to get rid of me as a fat person. They are trying to get rid of me as a queer person,” Paul added.
Besides Paul’s political statements, the book’s mission is to give those without resources a blueprint to make it across the finish line.
“I want them to look at all the stories that I share in this and be able to say, ‘wow,’ not only do I see myself, but now I have a roadmap and how I can navigate all of these things that life throws at me that I never had, and I think that’s why I was so passionate about selling and writing the book,” Paul said.
The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.
Arts & Entertainment
LGBTQ+Ñ Literary Festival kicks off this week in Los Angeles
The festival will bring together authors, readers, academics and activists to discuss their experiences and share perspectives about the LGBTQ+ community.
The first LGBTQ+Ñ Literary Festival in Spanish – the first of its kind – will kick-off six days of panels, short film screenings, book signings, performances and a photo exhibit starting today, at different locations across Los Angeles.
The LGBTQ+Ñ Literary Festival will bring together Spanish-speaking and Latin American writers who explore and celebrate a variety of themes in their work, including sexual diversity and perspectives on identity.
“Feminist culture and LGBTQ+ culture have been the movements that have most transformed modern societies in recent decades, and therefore deserve special attention,” said Luisgé Martín, director of Instituto Cervantes of Los Ángeles. “There was no stable forum that brought together creators from across the Spanish-speaking world, which is why we have organized this literary festival. It aims to serve as a framework for reflection and a meeting point for LGBTQ+ writers.”
The festival will bring together authors, readers, academics and activists, to discuss their experiences and share perspectives about the LGBTQ+ community and its academic intersections.
The first stop for the literary festival is at the Instituto Cervantes of Los Ángeles, from 7 PM to 9 PM on Tuesday, to screen short films that are part of FanCineQueer.
The festival will feature authors like Myriam Gurba Serrano, Alejandro Córdova “Taylor”, Felipe J. Garcia, Boris Izaguirre, Nando López, María Mínguez Arias, Felipe Restrepo Pombo, Claudia Salazar Jiménez, Pablo Simonetti, and Gabriela Wiener.
There will also be a photo exhibit and featured photographers such as Gonza Gallego and Liliana Hueso.
The festival will take place at multiple venues including the Instituto Cervantes of Los Ángeles, The Student Union at Los Angeles City College and Circus of Books.
For more information on the event visit the Instagram page for Instituto Cervantes of Los Ángeles.
Events
Latino Equality Alliance hosts quinceañera fundraiser
LEA’s mission with this event, is also to bring attention to Proposition 3 – which puts same-sex marriage on the November ballot.
The Latino Equality Alliance hosted its annual fundraiser on Saturday at Del Records in Bell Gardens as their quinceañera-themed Purple Lily Awards raises nearly $100,000 to create safe spaces for Latin American LGBTQ+ youth and their families.
This year, LEA honored co-founder Gutiérrez Arámbula, RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15 Contestant, Salina Estitties, and the Liberty Hill Foundation.
“The Latino Equality Alliance’s history and survival underscores the importance of providing critical resources and positive support for LGBTQ+ youth struggling to find a safe space,” said founder and executive director Eddie Martinez. “We are proud to have stood shoulder to shoulder with the Latinx community for 15 years and are excited about the promising future ahead of us.”
LEA’s mission with this event, is also to bring attention to Proposition 3 – which puts same-sex marriage on the November ballot.
Proposition 3 seeks to reaffirm the right to same-sex marriage.
This proposition shines light on the California Constitution that still to this day upholds language that does not include gender non-conforming people or queer and trans people in the protections for marriage equality.
The CA Constitution says ‘only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California,’ which also only upholds protections and recognition for same-race couples, excluding interracial families, as well as LGBTQ+ families.
That language — while still on the books — is effectively void after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 allowed same-sex marriage to resume in California, and the high court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in a historic 2015 decision.
Upholding protections for marriage equality is important to LEA because California has the largest LGBTQ+ population in the United States.
The grassroots organization is celebrating continued growth in their progress toward equality and celebrating the achievements of the Latin American community members that are at the forefront of creating safe spaces in Boyle Heights and beyond.
LEA was the first community and school LGBTQ youth civic policy advocacy and empowerment program to lower dropout rates, bullying and increase graduation rates.
Arts & Entertainment
Lady Tacos brings famous tacos de canasta to Hola Mexico Film Festival
“¡Tacos, los tacos de canasta, taaacooos!”
This echoed at the screening of “Transmexico” on Thursday at the Hola Mexico Film Festival.
It’s also the sound many people in Mexico City hear and recognize as Lady Marven, better known as Lady Tacos de Canasta.
She is one of three trans women featured in the documentary “Transmexico,” whose story brings joyous laughter and tears to the audience at HMFF.
Earlier this year, the film won the Audience Choice Award at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.
The documentary features the stories of three trans women throughout Mexico. It explores their experiences with transition, social acceptance and access to health care within a culture and government that upholds impunity for crimes against women and gender-nonconforming people.
Director Claudia Sanchez approaches the themes of social stigma, discrimination and death with care and compassion as she frames the narrative around the true and lived experiences of the documentary’s subjects.
“I was a witness of the abuse and bullying that trans women suffer through the first trans woman I ever met when I was around 5 or 6 years old,” Sanchez told the audience at the Q&A. “I decided to make a documentary that would highlight the beauty of the trans [femme] community because I didn’t think it was fair that the entire community is usually labeled negatively.”
“It’s important that we can do this and show people that we are here and we are present, and that there are other titles and labels – like lawyer, mother, queen – that represent us,” Lady Tacos said in Spanish. “Today, we want to claim titles and labels that impress the world and have impact on the world and that show what we are truly made of, and what we are capable of.”
Lady Tacos made a red carpet appearance at HMFF, joining Sanchez and others on a panel for a Q&A following the screening.
She spoke about how proud she felt experiencing this journey and seeing herself on screen sharing her story.
Lady Tacos – who identifies as muxe, a third gender in Mexican culture – went viral on social media after she was recorded being harassed and misgendered by the police force in Mexico. They took her basket and repeatedly called her “sir” and “mister” as they forced her to stop selling tacos on the street. She angrily yelled back and made it known that she clearly doesn’t identify as a male, motioning to her dress and trenzas, or braids.
Since then, she has become a well-known and respected internet celebrity to the people of Mexico City and has been able to open her own brick-and-mortar restaurant with the support of her family and many members of the LGBTQ+ community in CDMX.
The film also features trans activist Kenya Cuevas Fuentes. Fuentes shared her story of being a former sex worker who started at age 9. By 10 years old, she had been incarcerated, and by her teen years, she contracted HIV.
As an adult, Fuentes witnessed the murder of her good friend, Paola Buenrostro. This experience shaped Fuentes and turned her to activism because she knew Buenrostro would never get the justice she deserved and her killer would continue to walk free.
In 2016, transfemicide was officially recognized as a crime in Mexico City following Buenrostro’s death and activism by Fuentes.
“TransMexico” highlights the accomplishments and strides for justice that Fuentes has brought to Buenrostro’s case.
Felicia Garza’s story is also featured in the documentary, showing a more hopeful side of the transition journey.
She shares her struggle with not only coming to terms with her identity – and being willing to lose everything in the process – but also how her story offers insight on how family members struggle and learn to embrace their family members’ new identity.
“You have to be willing to lose everything, and if you’re not prepared for that, don’t do it,” Garza said in the documentary.
Following the Q&A, guests lined up outside the theater for complimentary tacos de canasta.
The film festival screened the documentary on Thursday night at Regal Theatres at L.A. Live and will continue making rounds at upcoming film festivals.
Books
A rabid fan’s look at the best and worst of queer TV
Rainbow Age of Television’ a must-read for viewers
‘The Rainbow Age of Television: An Opinionated History of Queer TV’
By Shayna Maci Warner
c.2024, Abrams Press
$28/304 pages
Wanna hand over the clicker?
You don’t want to miss the season premiere of that show you binge-watched over the summer. You’re invested, a fan who can’t wait to see what happens next. You heard that this may be the last season and you’ll be sad, if that’s so. Is it time to start looking for another, newer obsession or will you want to read “The Rainbow Age of Television” by Shayna Maci Warner, and find something old?
Like most kids of the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, Shayna Maci Warner spent lots of time glued to a television screen, devouring programming before school, after school, and all summer long. For Warner, that programming eventually led to a revelation. They saw people that looked like them, for which they formed “a personal attachment.”
It was “life-changing.”
It didn’t happen all at once, and some of TV’s “milestones” are forever lost, since broadcasts were live until the 1950s. Shortly after shows were taped and preserved, homosexuality became a “source of worry and blunt fascination” but certain performers carefully presented gently risqué characters and dialogue that nudged and winked at viewers.
Some queer representation appeared in the 1960s, but it wasn’t until the 1970s when dramas began to feature more gay and lesbian characters, however subtly. It took a while for “the ‘rest’ of the alphabet” to be represented in a meaningful way and – despite that “Star Trek” and its many versions included gender-diverse characters – it wasn’t until 1996 that an intersex infant was featured on a regular television drama.
Since Ellen DeGeneres came out practically on her namesake TV show and “Will & Grace” became a wild hit, queer representation on TV has ceased to be an unusual thing. And yet, programmers and writers know that caution is still warranted: sometimes, “there can still be hesitation around pushing the envelope and fear that a queer character who burns too brightly just won’t last.”
Quick: name three after-school TV shows that aired when you were in fourth grade. If you can’t do it, one thing’s for certain: you need “The Rainbow Age of Television.”
But get ready for some argument. Author Shayna Maci Warner offers a rabid fan’s look at the best and the worst queer representation had to offer, and you may beg to differ with what they say about various programs. That makes this book a critique, of sorts, but Warner offers plenty of wiggle-room for argument.
Tussling over the finer points of queer programming, though, is only half the fun of reading this book. Microwave a box of pizza snacks or mac-and-cheese, demand “your” sofa seat, and dive into the nostalgia of old TV shows, most of them from the later last century. Yep, your faves are here. It’s like having an oldies channel on paper, and in your hand.
This is a must-have for former kids and current TV addicts who are happy to see themselves represented on TV. If that’s you, who brought the chips? “The Rainbow Age of Television” will just click.
The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.
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