Happy Pride to everyone who is still going to sit inside and rot while watching TV all month (read: us)!
But what to watch?
HBO has established themselves as always on the cutting edge of television, always pushing the boundaries of representation and chronicling the lives of underrepresented groups — not always, however, but where else would we get our fix of terrible rich white people if not for Succession?
From breaking boundaries in their representation of female friendship in Sex and the City at the turn of the century to doing so again with the now-dated, once revolutionary (for white women) Girls, to other dramas and thrillers and comedies, it makes sense that HBO Max is a hub of queer stories.
Their original content in recent years has produced a wealth of queer content and continues to move in that direction, boding well for both the future of representation and for our Pride Month watchlists.
Genera+ion
Starring rising queer icon Justice Smith (previously of Netflix's The Get Down and All The Bright Places), Genera+ion is one of the most honest portrayals of Gen Z on television. Disposing of the TikToking caracarures of other portrayals and the millennial-lite depictions found even in shows like Euphoria which get close, Genera+ion was intentionally researched and written to depict the increasingly queer generation Z.
The show follows a group of friends as they go through life and love, normalizing queer relationships on television without the overplayed narratives we've become accustomed to. And its fresh cast gives us a new, diverse representation of teens to empathize with and adore.
It’s A Sin
The smash British mini series It's A Sin premiered in 2020 to rave reviews for its careful blend of celebration and mourning of queer lives during the height of the AIDS crisis. Though many of the stories about the crisis show the devastation of the era, not many take care to show it through as diverse a lens.
Following a group of four friends in London, the miniseries boasts incredibly rendered characters with lives outside of their sexuality and their diagnoses. Perfect for an emotional June binge, it's both heartbreaking and heartwarming at once.
Legendary
After FX's Pose dazzled the screen with its look at the '70s ballroom scene, Legendary emerged to show the current stars of the scene. The reality show features both mainstream celebrities and legendary mainstays of contemporary ball culture.
With its diverse cast and dynamic energy, it offers a real life glimpse at ball culture to celebrate the persistence of the scene and its stars.
We Are Who We Are
By the director of 2017's Call Me By Your Name,We Are Who We Are is an achingly intimate portrayal of contemporary coming of age. The show follows two American high schoolers growing up on an army base in Italy, navigating their emergent queerness within the rigid structure of the base.
The series is an unflinching portrayal of their stumbling attempts to find themselves, to talk to their crushes, to figure out who they are. And, as you can expect from Luca Guadagnino, it's also a gorgeous cinematic experience that will have you astral projecting to a seaside town in Italy.
The Lady and the Dale
Based on a true story, The Lady and the Dale is a sumptuous feast of '70s aesthetics which tells the dramatic true story of Elizabeth Carmichael, who started a company to release a fuel-efficient car during the 1970s gas crisis.
The docu-series blends interviews and narrative to craft a compelling character study that shows the wild story of a thrilling, stranger-than-fiction saga.
Betty
Based on the real lives of female New York skaters, Betty is a dramaticized series and follow up to the 2018 indie feature film Skate Kitchen. The show walks us through the lives of a diverse group of skaters, not blinking an eye at their different backgrounds, aesthetics, or their queer relationships.
Ultimately, it's a chronicle of female friendship and an ode to a niche of some of the coolest girls is New York. You want to be them, you want to be with them — you know the deal.
Veneno
This Spanish-language drama is an instant cult classic. If you're not watching Veneno, what are you doing? Veneno has captured a niche and predominantly queer American audience for its compelling characters and captivating true story.
Based on the memoir Not a Whore, Not a Saint: The Memories of La Veneno by Valeria Vegas, the series illustrates the life of '90s trans icon Cristina Ortiz. A chronicle of kinship, the show is a feat of representation and inventive storytelling in how it portrays the multiplicity of all of its characters and asks how we are seen, how we want to be seen, and how we see ourselves.
Nobody panic, but they took Moonlight off Netflix.
Maybe it's for the best — who amongst us really needs to go into yet another bout of Barry-Jenkins-fueled melancholy after deciding, against our interests, to turn on Moonlight for the thousandth time? Probably none of us. If that's the journey you need to be on right now, however, don't worry, Moonlight is currently streaming on other platforms, so godspeed.
But if you're a Netflix loyalist looking for something to watch this Pride Month, where does that leave you?
From its original titles to its movies on demand, there's a wealth of queer representation on Netflix. While the bar is low and diversity is still lacking in a lot of areas, there are more shows than ever with queer storylines and queer characters.
But not all queer films are created equal. Some feel like pandering from major studios, some use predictable tropes as substitutes for storytelling and character development, and some are just plain … bad.
But there are some gems, even on Netflix — to laugh with, cry to, marvel at, or put on as background noise to numb your existential dread. Just us? Maybe. But here are some queer titles streaming on Netflix now:
Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen
Disclosure is a 2020 documentary chronicling Hollywood's contemporary and historic representation of trans people. Through interviews with prominent trans celebrities in the industry, the documentary explores how Hollywood has told trans stories through the years.
Directed by Sam Feder, the acclaimed Sundance film provides a refreshingly comprehensive conversation about trans representation. By centering trans voices in its archival trip through the past and meditation on the present, Disclosure offers hope for the future of representation through genuine, community-centered storytelling.
Pose
The FX show Pose is historic for its casting and portrayal of LGBTQ BIPOC communities — trans actors in particular. Its main cast is predominantly trans and Black, and its storyline explores the ball scene of the '70s and '80s with both celebration and mourning.
The show has earned its place in the canon and is currently in its third and final season on FX. Meanwhile, its first two seasons are streaming on Netflix in all their glory.
Halston
Premiering in late May 2021, the new Halson biopic is a limited series by none other than Ryan Murphy. Murphy has become known for centering queer stories; and, though often a little idealistic and sometimes a little problematic (othertimes nauseatingly obnoxious … we're looking at you The Politician) in his approach, his productions are unabashed celebrations of queer lives.
After his success with limited series adaptations of biopics such as OJ and Gianni Versace, Halston explores the rise and fall of one of America's most iconic, queer designers — complete with all the sex, drugs, and rock & roll one can expect from both a Ryan Murphy production and a Studio 54 era series.
The Boys in the Band
Based on the 1968 play of the same name by Mart Crowley, The Boys in the Band is a 2020 adaptation of the original play and 1970 film. The now-canon story takes place over one night, a birthday party in which a group of gay friends in New York City convene, confess, conflict, and ultimately find some sort of catharsis.
Another Ryan Murphy production, the fast-paced, dialogue heavy adaptation stays true to the original with its cast of almost exclusively openly gay actors — a shockingly rare phenomenon in mainstream queer cinema — such as Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, Charlie Carver, Robin de Jesús, Brian Hutchison, Michael Benjamin Washington, and Tuc Watkins.
Each actor puts on the show of their lives, culminating in a satisfying, theatric experience replete with '70s era outfits and enviously quick witticisms.
The Half Of It
Why, I implore you, why is anyone talking about The Kissing Booth or To All The Boys I've Loved Before when The Half of It exists? If the answer is Lana Condor, maybe they're valid, but I don't sleep on Leah Lewis, protagonist of the Alice Wu feature film.
YA movies are often sorely lacking in quality — both After and The Kissing Booth were acquired from the teen-story sharing site Wattpad, if that indicates anything about their quality. But every few years, a gem emerges from the wreckage of our teenage dreams; and in 2020, that movie was The Half of It. The underrated teen romantic comedy starts with a classic premise: guy asks girl for help winning the heart of a different girl. But the story unravels in unique, heartwarming ways.
Lewis carries the film with her gentle stoicism, her slow coming of age, and the entirely unforced way she executes the subtle layers of the story — from its Cyranic set up to its Sapphic realization and her self-actualization, as well as the immigrant experience in a small town. One of the most slept on romances on Netflix, The Half of It is a perfect thaw to our cynical hearts.
Handsome Devil
Set in an all boy's boarding school, Handsome Devil sets itself up as an opposites-attract romance — the angsty protagonist and his rugby player roommate.
But by resisting cliches, what emerges is not a cringey, overdone romance formula, but a truly endearing story of camaraderie and queer friendship.
Special
The Netflix Original series Special is a semi-autobiographical feat by writer, director, and star, Ryan O'Connell. Chronicling a dramatized version of his life as a gay man with cerebral palsy, the show swings effortlessly from hilarious to heartwarming with its complex characters and dramatic plot lines. It's the perfect series for a Pride month binge.
Pariah
Official Trailer: Pariah | Pariah Movie | Focus Features
If you're really missing Moonlight's magnetic dramatic energy, Pariah is a worthy substitute. Pariah is an an award-winning story about a Black lesbian teenager growing up in Brooklyn, looking for friendship and someone to confide in.
With beautiful cinematography and careful storytelling, Pariah confronts issues like self-actualization, first love, and strained parental relationships with beauty and grace.
Unless you're white, cis-gendered, and heterosexual, it can be hard to find films that reflect your lived experience.
If you're anything like me, you suffer through even the worst movies just because some Reddit user said there was one lesbian kiss somewhere in the second hour of the film. Womxn-loving-womxn relationships have long been fetishized, ignored, or poorly represented in movies, but thankfully there are a few hidden gems out there that get it right.
Since you can only watch The L Word so many times, here are the best movies for womxn who love womxn.
1. Bound (1996)
If you haven't seen Bound, you're missing out on a true WLW classic. Before the Wachowski siblings hit the big time with The Matrix, they made this unforgettably campy movie starring Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon.
The story follows the torrid love affair between a mobster's girlfriend and her lesbian-next-door neighbor. Violet and Corky are as electric as they are funny, and there are plenty of love scenes to make you drool. According to the British Film Institute, "Bound completed a 90s trilogy of (in critic B. Ruby Rich's phrase) 'Lethal Lesbians' films (beginning with Thelma & Louise, 1991, and Basic Instinct, 1992) – a cinematic expression of lesbian feminist desire."
2. The Handmaiden (2016)
Set in the 1930s (who doesn't love a good lesbian period drama?) The Handmaiden is a South Korean erotic psychological thriller directed by Park Chan-wook and starring Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri, Ha Jung-woo and Cho Jin-woong. It takes place in Korea when the country was under Japanese rule, and follows the devious plot of "Count Fujiwara" to steal the inheritance of a rich but secluded heiress. He plans to seduce the heiress and then commit her to an asylum and steal her fortune for himself. He recruits a pickpocket, Sook-hee, to pose as her maid and convince her to marry him. Instead, the heiress and Sook-hee soon begin a sexually intimate relationship. This masterpiece of cinema is worth a watch no matter who you are, but it's definitely an added bonus that it features some of the hottest lesbian love scenes ever put on film.
3. Carol (2015)
Directed by Todd Haynes, this instant classic thrust Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara into the category of queer icons almost immediately. The film is based on Patricia Highsmith's excellent book The Price of Salt, and tells the story of two women, Therese Belevit and Carol Aird, who live very different lives in New York City in the early 1950s. While Therese is struggling to get by working at a department store, Carol is a wealthy, high-society lady in the midst of a messy divorce. Despite everything, the two women have an intense connection that leads them into a tumultuous love affair.
Every performance in this movie is top notch, and it's so beautifully shot and scored that afterwards you can actually feel good about watching a quality film (even if you just put it on for the hot motel scene).
4. Desert Hearts (1985)
This film about seeking independence and self-actualization through a queer romance was astoundingly ahead of it's time. Helen Shaver plays Professor Vivian Bell, who is taking some time for herself at a ranch in Nevada after finalizing her divorce from her husband. She soon meets Cay Rivers, played by Patricia Charbonneau, who lives and works at the ranch. As the two fall in love, the movie reveals itself to be a shockingly progressive meditation on the fluidity of sexuality.
5. Pariah (2011)
A smash hit at its world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, this stirring film cements the immensity of director/writer Dee Rees' talent. Many directors end up making a coming of age movie that reflects their own experiences, but few offer a perspective as badly needed as Rees' story about her own Black queerness. The film follows the life of a teenager named Alike (artfully played by Adepero Oduye) as she discovers her sexuality and gender identity despite backlash from her more conservative parents. While this movie is often heart-wrenching, it also makes plenty of time for the joy of first love and self-discovery.
6. The Favourite (2018)
Is there anything better than Rachel Weisz, Emma Stone, and Olivia Coleman embroiled in a torrid love triangle? No. The answer is no. Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, this darkly funny period piece about three women's struggle to feel powerful in a patriarchal world is as stirring as it is bizarre. As Weisz and Stone (as Sarah and Abigail) fight for the love of the queen through sexual favors, the audience is taken on a deliciously twisted ride full of desire and the corrupting force of power.
7. Tomboy (2007)
Between Tomboy and Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Céline Sciamma is becoming one of the most prominent figures in queer cinema. While Tomboy has fewer spine-tingling sex scenes than Sciamma's 2019 offering, it's definitely just as powerful of a meditation on what it means to be a queer woman or gender non-conforming individual. The film follows a 10-year-old named Laure who moves to a new town and decides to reinvent herself as the boy she's always wanted to be. As we watch Laure traverse that first summer with her new haircut and oversized T-shirts, it's impossible not to reflect on your own childhood, and all the ways you were shaped by the gender roles you may or may not have ascribed to.
8. The Watermelon Woman (1996)
As Autostraddle puts it, "Cheryl Dunye's debut feature is a work of Black lesbian cinema highly aware of its place within film history." Within this film, Dunye is not only claiming space for her Black lesbian identity; she's also asserting her right to build a world that works for her. Funny, quirky, hot, and occasionally uncomfortable, The Watermelon Woman is required watching.
9. But I'm a Cheerleader (1999)
If you haven't already seen this defining work of queer cinema, it's time to change that before your next Taimi date finds out how behind you are. Perhaps one of the best things about this movie is how thoroughly misunderstood it is by straight audiences and critics. It was first released to very poor reviews because the largely cis-het critics in charge of reviewing the film just could not understand how the traumatic subject matter could exist alongside a decidedly campy, spoofy aesthetic. But the queers get it, and we love it. The movie's satirical bent mocks the absurdity of homophobia while Natasha Lyonne and Clea Duvall give such grounded, relatable performances that you can't help but to feel their specific brand of young queer yearning right alongside them. The movie also includes performances from Melanie Lynskey, Michelle Williams, Cathy Moriarty, Mink Stole, and RuPaul.
10. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
Directed by Céline Sciamma and starring Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is one of the most beautiful subversions of the male gaze to ever be shown on a screen. The period piece takes place in France in 1760, and follows the story of portrait painter Marianne (Noémie Merlant), and Héloïse (Adèle Haenel), a rich noblewoman engaged to be married to a man she's never met. Marianne comes to stay with Héloïse in order to secretly paint a portrait of her to be sent to her husband-to-be. What ensues is a powerful battle of wills that ultimately transforms into a firey intimacy between the two women. As I've previously discussed, the most powerful thing about the film is Sciamma's ability to build a world that is almost completely free of toxic masculine energy or the male gaze.
Like most NYU students, Christine from Lady Bird needed therapy
It's a tale as old as time: the search for catharsis.
And since movies are the form of storytelling most apt for mindless escapism, film tropes have emerged to give us the satisfying feeling of catharsis through well-worn story structure and character formulations.
Every genre of film has seen iterations of the cathartic "hero's journey": violent blockbusters, fantasy epics, even charming indies. When executed well, you have a great film. But even a subpar movie can give that feeling of release if it follows some of the tried and true story elements — hence the endless Fast & Furious, Mission Impossible, James Bond sequels, and the like.
Most often, the exchange between tension and catharsis is played up every summer for major box office films. The majority of these star mysterious, jaded protagonists who are looking for catharsis through revenge or triumph. What draws us to these characters is often their rugged determination and their single-minded focus. These protagonists (mostly men) are often successful in their pursuits … but at what cost?
As we become more and more aware of the toxic messaging of culture and media, and more and more knowledgeable about mental health, some of the classic hero tropes are beginning to lose their aspirational luster. The proliferation of characters who are textbook definitions of toxic masculinity or male fantasies of "damaged" women no longer has the hold on us that it once had.
As filmmaking becomes more complex, different and diverse stories are making their way to the forefront, moving even mainstream movies away from contrived formulas and one-dimensional protagonists. And with increased access to and conversation about mental health, characters are getting more self-aware and films are increasingly exploring characters on journeys to catharsis through self-knowledge and therapy.
As we acclimate to a new era and move away from the overly familiar angst and aggressions of tropic protagonists, rewatching iconic films often begs the question: What if this character had just … gone to therapy?
Bruce Wayne in "Batman"
Pretty much every popular superhero should be in therapy. Most of their origin stories depend on some unresolved trauma that they work through by saving everybody else. Peter Parker feeling responsible for Uncle Ben's death? Therapy. Orphaned alien Clark Kent? Therapy. Bruce Wayne watching his parents die and inheriting billions of dollars as a kid? Therapy.
And because Bruce Wayne's origin story doesn't depend on any mutations or supernatural ability, his entire superhero persona is built out of a childhood fear of bats (more therapy) and money he could have used to fund community programs to reduce crime — someone should have given him a book on abolitionist theory, too — instead of engineering technology to fight it himself.
The Christian Bale iteration of Batman (because we don't talk about George Clooney's nipple-heavy batman suit, nor Ben Affleck's Zack Snyder version) sees the young Bruce Wayne searching for meaning and purpose in the wake of his parent's death. But instead of going on a stoic sojourn to learn hand-to-hand combat, he should have just talked to someone.
The fantasy genre is also ridden with orphaned children who turn their trauma into the pursuit for justice. The most popular example has to be Harry Potter. After a life of torment and mistreatment by his uncle and aunt, Harry gets to live out the fantasy of any neglected child: escape.
And somehow, going off to Hogwarts and coming into his parents' money seemed to solve everything for Harry — though who is going to talk about the fact that he squandered his obscene wealth on novelty candy, quidditch gear, and butterbeer while his best friend literally lived in poverty?
Sure, he endured years of abuse at home and watched some of his friends die in the war against the dark arts (RIP Cedric Diggory, Robert Pattinson's most iconic role), but everything turned out fine.
In reality, Harry's internal struggles about his parents, his childhood, and even his more Slytherin side could have been a lot less emotionally taxing if he had gone to therapy. And maybe he wouldn't have ended up becoming the magic world's equivalent of a cop, either.
The Narrator in "Fight Club"
The narrator in Fight Club is famously suffering from insomnia and probably anxiety from his dissatisfaction with his life — so much so that he lives in a disembodied state and creates an imagined version of himself. And though he seeks out sleeping medication and support groups, his unexamined life is the cause of his extreme dissociation.
Though he blames the monotomy of consumerist society (and he does makes some points, hence the cultish following the book and film have both garnered), looking for meaning through physical violence and hyper masculine aggression is not the answer — which was, in fairness, Chuck Palahniuk's point.
And while the narrator has a revelation about his mental state at the end, he never truly comes to terms with the deep-seated emotional unrest that started him on his downward path. He's a prime candidate for therapy, and so is every member of the fight club, as well as anyone in real life who tells you it's their favorite book and film for any reason other than Brad Pitt circa 1999. That's a cry for help.
Cliff Booth in "Once Upon a Time In ... Hollywood"
Speaking of Brad Pitt, he was undoubtedly the highlight of Quentin Tarantino's 2019 Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood. The film, a love letter to Hollywood and the '70s, starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt as an actor-stunt double duo, a combination which made for a glorious press tour and an even more glorious award season filled with Brad Pitt acceptance speeches that felt like a Mr. Congeniality tour, and we were here for it.
But, like any Tarantino production, Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood was deeply flawed. The classic Tarantino revenge fantasy played out a version of the '70s in which the Manson murder of Sharon Tate never happened becuase it was stopped in its tracks by Leo and Brad's characters. But despite the retributive ending, Brad's character, Cliff Booth, had a lot to answer for.
The repressed violence which he unleashed on the would-be murderers is moralized by his righteous victory but is more sinister than the resolution makes it seem. A key, but under discussed character point is that Booth was rumored to have killed his wife for being … annoying? There is also a scene in which he attacks a fictionalized, highly stereotyped version of Bruce Lee while on set … also for being annoying.
And while all is well that ends well for Cliff Booth, we could have done without the problematic violence that was one of the baselines of his character. Or, at the very least, he could have done with some therapy.
Barry Egan in "Punch Drunk Love"
Adam Sandler might be known for his goofy slapstick comedy, but his most celebrated roles are those in which he plays neurotic, anxious characters who get themselves into more trouble than they need to.
Most recently, 2019's Uncut Gems sees Sandler as a self-sabotaging jewelry merchant who comes into some luck and quickly loses it. But the precursor to this role is his role in Paul Thomas Anderson's Punk Drunk Love. Sandler plays Barry Egan, an anxious, shy man who is prone to the occasional violent outburst.
The movie follows Barry as he tries to pursue love while the pressure mounts from all sides — his overbearing family, his job, an extortionist, his own internal monologue. Egan's actions push him further and further into a spiral which could have been alleviated had he just gone to therapy, from finding the confidence to pursue his love interest to dealing with the pressures of his work and his family to addressing his violent bursts and self-criticism.
The Entirety of "The Breakfast Club"
Nothing has come close to capturing the suburban teen mood as well as the cultish charms of John Hughes films in the 80s. And while time has illuminated the way in which they were problematic and exclusive, they still have an appeal to even teenagers now.
What has kept them transcendent is their focus on teen anxieties, which make young people feel, in some ways, understood. The Breakfast Club is undoubtedly John Hughes's magnum opus for its timelessness. In a way, the characters act out a version of a support group and group therapy, finding catharsis through sitting on the library floor, talking out their feelings and writing a manifesto for the ages.
It's comforting, especially when you watch and marvel at The Breakfast Club for the first time as a trembling ball of teenage need, to think that you can confess all your secrets to a group of friends and suddenly be healed. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
Though they practice some of the pillars of therapy, talking about their lives, thoughts, feelings, and upbringings, each of the characters is a prime candidate for actual therapy, more than a moment of tenderness with a group of strangers can provide.
Jamie Rellis in "Friends with Benefits"
It's not just men that are thrust into tropes that think "complexity" is interchangeable with "emotionally stunted, repressed, and in desperate need of professional guidance." However, women are usually portrayed this way by men who don't give them the same agency as their male counterparts. Instead of the rescuer, they're the rescued. Instead of powerful and calculating, they're seen as heartless and unlovable — until they can finally open up again for the right man.
A lot of the time, this is the formula for romantic comedies in which stressed out, career-obsessed women need only one thing to solve their problems: a man. Even in self-aware romantic comedies which try to subvert the genre fall into the same trap. In Friends with Benefits, Mila Kunis plays Jamie Rellis, a fast-talking, brusk New Yorker who wants love but settles for an entanglement with J*stin T*mberlake's character, Dylan.
Jamie is supposed to be "not like other girls" because she's "realistic" about love, despite being a romantic at heart … which scares potential partners away. But her backstory, which is dropped into the film during conversation to establish her character without doing any of the work, reveals that she still hasn't processed her childhood trauma — an absent father, an unreliable mother, an unstable living situation.
But all of these details are just fodder for her quirkiness, and despite the ways they come up in her life and continually leave her disappointed, they are never addressed beyond her search for romance. Like most romantic comedies, what eventually completes Jamie is, you guessed it, love and grand gestures.
The romantic-comedy industrial complex has primed so many of us to think of relationships as the solutions to our problems, and that the "right person" will either accept us as we are or fix us. But bringing trauma into relationships will never end well, no matter what the end of Friends with Benefits tells you.
Every Manic Pixie Dream Girl Ever
Perhaps the most ubiquitous therapy-ready trope that women are thrust into in films is the manic pixie dream girl who is defined as a woman who "exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures."
The term was coined in reference to Kirsten Dunst's character in Elizabethtown and is pretty much everywhere. Often, what makes these characters so quirky and full of disdain for the conventions of life is their own trauma. These women, all alone in their white girl pain (a phrase used by Safy-Hallan Farah), are defined by their own vague sadnesses, which never get the chance to be addressed because they're not the focus of the movie.
So take all the MPDGs to therapy, give them their lives back, and free them from the clutches of these boring white men — who all need therapy, too.
Amy Dunne in "Gone Girl"
In an attempt to give back female characters' agency and subvert many of the tired tropes of women, Gillian Flynn wrote Gone Girl to give women a good villain. In a 2006 essay, Flynn wrote: "I've grown quite weary of the spunky heroines, brave rape victims, soul-searching fashionistas that stock so many books … I particularly mourn the lack of female villains — good, potent female villains."
With this in mind, Gone Girl, both the book and its film adaptation, gives us Amy Dunne, who fakes her own murder and watches her husband take the blame, only to end up forced back with him when her plan backfires. The saga is no doubt entertaining, and though it has been interpretated as feminist by some and mysoginistic by others, what can not be doubted is that Amy Dunne was in need of therapy.
The seemingly perfect wife claims in the infamous "cool girl monologue" that she, as women everywhere do, tailored herself into a version of the woman her husband wanted. The cool girl trope has been endlessly used — and some say it has evolved into a version of "cool girls" on social media who exist not to satisfy the male gaze but for social validation from other "cool girls" — but if anyone is out here changing their whole personality for external approval, this is your sign to attend therapy.
And if anyone is planning to frame their husband for their murder because they found out he is cheating, also time for therapy.
Lady Bird in "Lady Bird"
An instant cult classic, 2017's Lady Bird is the journey of a '90s era high school senior trying to escape the suburbs and her life on "the wrong side of the tracks." She tries her hand at escape tactics of the imagination: reinvention through her new name, theatre, relationships, and straight out lies about her life.
But Lady Bird (nee Christine) cannot actually escape her home, her circumstances, or her tumultuous relationship with her mother. The Greta Gerwig picture is tender, emotional, and artfully complex, painting a complicated picture of a complicated life. It seems for a moment that Christine won't get the escape she wants, and she will reckon with her life in some other way, but at the last minute, she is whisked away by an acceptance to NYU and goes off to the big city.
Promptly, she becomes that kid who gets rushed off to the hospital with alcohol poisoning at her first college party. After that experience, she has an epiphany and sends a letter to her mother which hints at reconciliation. But Christine is still reconciling with so much, and her penchant for drama and avoidance of her real life really ought to be addressed beyond her nostalgia.
Lady Bird is part of the zeitgeist of women-led stories which are unflinchingly intimate with flawed, lovable characters. But some of them could be spared a world of trouble by attending therapy. Here's to hoping.
May 2021 offers many promises: The new CDC rules for vaccinated Americans mean the return of a more normal social life, more activities, and less time spent indoors.
As more and more people get their doses of the vaccine (or as the TikTok kids call it, the Facui Ouchie) and count down the days until they are fully inoculated, there are some things that will be missed: sweatpants at all hours of the day, working from bed, and watching too much TV.
Some of us will be incorporating lots of these quarantine habits into our daily lives anyway and still taking the liberty to say no to plans, especially when there is so much good content coming to streaming platforms in May.
Streaming platforms have been stepping up their game for years, producing more and more original movies and TV shows that often beat larger production houses. And while theatres are tentatively reopening, many studios are still partnering with platforms to distribute their content, making the at-home watching experience better than ever.
And with awards season spotlighting streaming content in spades in 2021, giving big prizes to Hulu's Nomadland,amongst others, there's more than enough reason to stay in and turn on streaming.
Not everything is worth watching, though. Here's what is and why you should pay attention.
Ziwe (Showtime, May 9)
What we've all been waiting for: Ziwe's Showtime series with A24.
Many quarantine comedians came and went. From Jordan Firstman, who was famous for his impressions of things and people like "banana bread's publicist" and "money when it gets donated" and who was unseated from his early fame after being called out for (you guessed it) racist tweets, to cultural giants like Ellen, who was exposed for her workplace toxicity but actually suffered no repercussions, everyone seemed to be falling from grace.
But the brightest spot of Instagram humor was Ziwe Fumudoh's Instagram Live series, Baited. No one knows why her guests volunteered to be on the show, but they did and it was glorious. From problematic influencers like Caroline Calloway to national favorites like Bowen Yang, Ziwe's guestlist brought fans who stayed for her humor, her unflinching provocations, and her absolutely inimitable style of asking questions about issues like racism.
The former Desus & Mero writer is a New York-based comedian and performer, and her internet fame turned her into a verifiable star. While she uses words like "iconic" and "famously" to describe others, Ziwe has become the epitome of all of those things, and we wait with baited breath for what the A24 show will hold.
The variety show promises musical numbers, interviews, and sketches that are sure to make SNL more redundant than it already is. The early trailer shows guests like Fran Lebowitz, who Ziwe asks, "What bothers you more: racism or slow walkers?" On May 9th on Showtime, we'll find out the answer.
The Crime of the Century (HBO, May 10)
As we ask each other which vax we all got, and Pfizer, Moderna, and J&J become likened to prestige brands and almost feel like status symbols, The Crime of the Century feels impeccably timed.
The new HBO documentary aims to expose how the opioid crisis was a windfall for big pharma. According to the press release, the two-part documentary explores how the drug was born, how it proliferated, and how it spread through culture, described as a "searing indictment of Big Pharma and the political operatives and government regulations that enable overproduction, reckless distribution and abuse of synthetic opiates."
The revealing documentary is directed by Emmy and Academy Award winner Alex Gibney, presented in association with The Washington Post. Though the commentary on the opioid crisis often focuses on the victims, who were criminalized for so long, this version explains how the health crisis did not come from nowhere and how people were exploited for the sake of the government and big pharma.
"We've defined the opioid epidemic as an opioid crisis, like it's a wildfire," Gibney says. "It actually wasn't a crisis at all, it was a crime and the body count was extremely high." Part one premiers on May 10th.
The Underground Railroad (Amazon Prime, May 14)
Barry Jenkins, Academy Award winning director of Moonlight and If Beale Street Can Talk, has been working on the highly anticipated adaptation of Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad. The 2016 novel was instantly acclaimed and won a Pulitzer Prize for its imaginative interpretation of history, a feat in both acknowledging the truths of slavery while imagining a world of possibility.
Jenkins is well-versed in adaptations, and his most acclaimed previous works have been adaptations themselves. And though Jenkins has worked on stories about pain and struggle — Moonlight a wrenching autobiographical account of being Black and gay, Beale Street a Baldwin novel about the prison industrial complex — Jenkins is adept at telling these stories with beauty and grace, rather than reveling in trauma, unlike previous Amazon productions such as Lena Waithe's Them.
Jenkins is aware of this tension. At a press event on Thursday March 29th, he said, "I think what's really beautiful about putting images into the world is that when someone's ready to find that image, it will be there. What we all did in creating this show, I think it honored our ancestors, we were respectful, respectful of the text and respectful of the audience."
The show stars newcomer Thuso Mbedu as the protagonist, Cora Randall, a 15-year-old enslaved girl who escaped a Georgia plantation to follow the rumors of an Underground Railroad — which, in this imagination, is a literal train system, a real railroad which follows a network of tracks and tunnels deep under the ground of the South.
Halston (Netflix, May 14)
Ryan Murphy is at it again with a new Netflix production, and we can only hope it is more like his masterwork American Crime Story than his insufferable, embarrassing teen-drama series The Politician.
This time, Murphy is at the helm of a series about the famed American designer Roy Halston Frowick, better known as Halston. The limited series explores the life and career of the designer, who is now one of the most prominent names in American fashion — a pertinent topic as the fashion world gears up for this year's Met Gala and its recently announced theme: American fashion.
Halston was not just famous for his designs and his striking minimalist style — though his designs became iconic early in his career when he designed the pillbox hat which Jackie Kennedy made iconic — but also for his legacy as a public figure. He reached the height of his career in the 1970s disco era and was active in the famed New York City social scene.
A regular at Studio 54 and friend of the rich and famous, Halston's personal life was as interesting as his professional life. Despite being disparaged early in his career for his sexuality, he became a household name and an icon to the biggest celebrities and to the youth, especially queer youth.
Ewan McGregor stars as Halston, which was caused some controversy and conversation around the constant casting of straight actors in gay roles, which the actor defended despite the backlash.
According to the synopsis, the show tracks "the designer's decline," delving into the "hostile takeover" of his namesake brand, which "forces him to battle for control of his most precious asset ... the name Halston itself." It premieres on May 14th on Netflix.
The Woman in the Window (Netflix, May 14)
The Woman in the Window is a long-delayed thriller which was set for theatrical release in October 2019 and is finally being released in May 2021. The two-year wait should be rewarded though, as anticipation has been high for the Amy Adams and Gary Oldman-led drama.
The Netflix movie is an adaptation of a screenplay by Tracy Letts, based on the 2018 novel of the same name by pseudonymous author A. J. Finn. The story starts with a now-familiar premise: a woman does not leave her house.
Amy Adams plays a psychologist who suffers from agoraphobia. While in her home, she watches the family across the street from her place in the window. While peering out at them, she sees something she shouldn't and becomes obsessed with them and fixated on solving the crime.
The thriller boasts an all star cast, with Amy Adams as Dr. Anna Fox as well as Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman and Anthony Mackie. It premieres on May 14th on Netflix.
Run the World (STARZ, May 16)
Remember the tyranny of Lena Dunham's Girls, the atrocious show about Lena Dunham living her whitewashed fantasy of Brooklyn in a poor imitation of the equally problematic Sex and the City without the fashion or the iconic cast?
Finally, we have a balm to fill the gap Girls promised to fill: a show about women underrepresented on TV living life in New York City. Run the World follows four Black, female friends who live in Harlem as they navigate their jobs and relationships.
It promises lightheartedness as well as drama, and, as Insecure announces its farewell season, it also promises to deliver the same energy and representation as the Issa Rae production. The show stars Amber Stevens West, Andrea Bordeaux, Bresha Webb, and Corbin Reid as drastically different types of women who have an enviable friendship despite their divergent personalities.
It premieres on Starz on May 16th.
Twenties (BET, May 21)
The exact opposite of her horror-anthology Them and even her urban drama The Chi, Lena Waithe's series Twenties is another unbridled celebration of Black joy
The show is a semi-autobiographical retelling of Lena Waithe's own experiences as a young, Black, queer woman trying to make it as a writer in Hollywood. Filled with Black pop cultural references and the protagonist's enviable collection of vintage tees adorned with Black musicians, the show is a collection of Waithe's own tastes and appreciation for Black arts and culture in its purest form.
The fictionalized version of Waithe is a twenty-something named Hattie, played by Jonica T. Gibbs, a queer and aspiring screenwriter and her two best friends, as they all navigate relationships and professional aspirations in Los Angeles. The show is lighthearted, funny, and heartwarming, celebrating the joy of Black female friendships.
Season two promises higher emotional stakes but also more comedic joy. It returns on May 21st on BET.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has not always been kind to women.
The franchise initially focused pretty exclusively on white men and garnered so much success doing so that their argument for not featuring marginalized groups in more prominent ways was their fear of compromising their fanbase.
However, over the past few years, fans and actors have successfully advocated for films that focus on heroes from marginalized communities and feature them in more prominent, complex roles.
Following the success of Wonder Woman (emphatically not the sequel) in the DC Universe in 2017, Marvel made their first film starring a female superhero in 2019, Captain Marvel. The commercial and critical success of both films showcases the importance of good writing, complex characters, and compelling stories to make good movies about women — films that don't end up mimicking the fates of Catwoman and Wonder Woman 1984.
Over the past few years, women have become more prominent in the MCU and have developed from sexy sidekicks to integral parts of MCU storylines. And while there's still a long way to go (and something to be said about Marvel pandering to women when it proves to be financially beneficial), here are some of the best female characters in the MCU.
Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel
It's fitting that the most powerful hero in the MCU is the first female superhero to get her own film. Brie Larson's role in Captain Marvel emphasized the power of emotion, which is so often seen as a weakness.
While many superhero movies center around restrained, unemotional eccentrics or men fueled by vengeance or rage, Captain Marvel challenged the ways women are often dismissed for their emotions and instead found power in them.
Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff
Scarlet Witch, AKA Wanda Maximoff, is currently on everyone's mind after the critically acclaimed Disney+ series, WandaVision. After appearing as a powerful, but peripheral, character in the Avengers movies, Elizabeth Olsen finally got her day in the emotional rollercoaster of a limited series that enamored its fans.
Okoye
Okoye
Black Panther was all about representation. The film featured a majority Black cast — many of whom were women. Notably, the General of the Dora Milaje tribe and the head of Wakandan armed forces is Okoye, played by Danai Gurira.
Every one of her scenes in the film was iconic, but most memorable happens in the heat of the big battle scene, when her husband W'Kabi (Daniel Kaluuya) who is fighting on the opposite side, asks if she would kill him, to which she replies: "For Wakanda? Without Question."
Nakia
Nakia
Also in Black Panther is Nakia, who is more than just T'Challa's love interest but the film's underrated moral center. We meet her in a scene where she is rescuing kidnapped girls and telling T'Challa that Wakanda should spread their resources to those in need.
Killmonger shares the same point of view, but his comes with vengeance and violence. Ultimately, it is Nakia's vision which is realized. In the film's sequel, I hope to see even more of Nakia and see her get even more of the recognition she deserves.
Valkyrie
Thor: Ragnarok revived the Thor franchise from its blandness with three main tools: director Taika Waititi's humor, Chris Hemsworth's haircut, and Tessa Thompson.
A member of the Valkyrie, the famous warriors of Asgard, Thompson dresses in silver and rides a horse — doing the impossible and making horse girls, for a moment, seem valid. Valkyrie reappeared in the Avengers films, giving fans a hope of seeing her again down the line.
The Wasp
Ant-Man and the Wasp
The plot of Ant-Man and the Wasp is pretty simple: The Wasp is better than Ant-Man. That's it. That's the whole film. Evangeline Lilly plays the highly capable hero while Paul Rudd plays his token role of lovable idiot.
Shuri
Shuri
Rounding up the women of Black Panther, Shuri is an incredible character for her youth, her intelligence, and her unapologetic exuberance. Instead of the stoic, arrogant inventor we see from Iron Man and in other films, Shuri makes the most elite technology and the most memorable jokes of the film. Some rumors even have her slated to replace Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther in the sequel.
Black Widow
Black Widow
Black Widow has been a fixture of the Avengers franchise since the beginning and has evolved from a flirty but empty character to one with more depth. The Black Widow film had been in the pipeline for years before getting made, then was delayed in 2020, but is finally upcoming in 2021.
Gamora
Gamora
Gamora is a complex character in that she is the daughter of Thanos, AKA Destroyer of Worlds. Also, he throws her off a cliff. But before her untimely end, Gamora was the highlight of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.
MJ
MJ
Although not a superhero, what would the Spiderman franchise be without Zendaya? Her MJ is all snarky comments and awkward field trip kisses (oh to be in high school again) and is one of the many little things that makes the Spiderman series so watchable. Because of course Zendaya makes everything better, even the MCU.
Official Trailer: Pariah | Pariah Movie | Focus Features
