Pride 2024: A Q+ Celebration!
June 24
Gay Science: The Totally Scientific Examination of LGBTQ+ Culture, Myths, and Stereotypes by Rob Anderson
Comedian and TikTok sensation Rob Anderson delivers an examination of queer stereotypes and LGBTQ culture with humorous scientific explanations for the state of things. Set out like an actual science textbook, Gay Science is a delight.
Using the principles of natural, social, and formal sciences, Rob answers extremely serious questions Why can’t gays sit in a chair properly? Why don’t lesbians have electricity in their movies? Are colleges turning people bisexual? How does gaydar work? Will bottoms survive the apocalypse?
He provides scientific explanations for the conundrum of the Gay Uncle, take a walk through the periodic table of LGBTQ+ Elements, become educated in gay crimes and appropriate punishments, and learn about the types of bacteria and viruses that affect the LGBTQ community.
Clearly, Gay Science is not meant to be taken seriously. According to Anderson himself, each chapter tries to explore certain aspects of the queer community with the idea of first poking a little fun at the issues, and then backing them up with science!
When discussing the release, Anderson told OutSFL that the queer community is constantly under some kind of attack or another and because of that, queer spaces online in particular are often serious in nature.
“Online I see a lot of serious discussion about things which is fine, but I think reminding people that life is silly, it really is, you shouldn’t be taking your life so seriously that there is a weight on your shoulders … Shake things up, things are dumb, things are really stupid. Look at these stereotypes; we are going to make them real, we’re going to apply them to science and we’re going to make you laugh. It’s a bit of a lighter load you know?”
Gay Science definitely hits the mark with this, then!
Where to buy? Gay Science is available at all reputable booksellers.
Nimona
Before its 2023 release, Nimona was a casualty of the Fox-Disney merger. It was later picked up by Annapurna, who worked their magic on it and turned it into the production it is today. Nimona is a monster capable of shape-shifting into practically anything she wants to. Nimona wants to be a snake today? No problem. A kangaroo tomorrow? You got it. A shark next week, Nimona can do that.
She’s got a short pixie punk-rock kind of hair do, piercings to match the hair’s energy, and a big attitude to match. At the onset of the story, she is determined to do as much damage to the society she lives in on account of the way they’ve been treating her. In order to achieve her goal, Nimona teams up with a wanted villain (because of course she does) responsible for killing the queen during his own knighting ceremony. Unfortunately for Nimona, Ballister Boldheart swears that he’s innocent of all the charges against him, which means he’s not really the cold-hearted criminal that Nimona has been hoping for.
Ballister is a lower-class queer kid who was among the first to be selected from the lower classes for the Institute’s knight program. No longer part of the program (on account of offing the queen), Ballister just wants to clear his name and move on with his life, but Nimona is hoping she can revolutionize the dude into reigning mayhem and havoc.
Queerness in this animated film portrays juxtaposing messages. Ballister is in a relationship with another male from the knight program – Ambosius – and everyone around them generally accepts their union. Nimona though, with the ability to shift into any creature or any gender is not so well accepted by the society they live in. Her character stands as a powerful commentary about transgender identity and its acceptance within contemporary society. Nimona’s character is literally a metaphor for the trans experience right now.
Where to watch? Nimona is available to stream on Netflix now.
The Politician
The Politician is a Ryan Murphy, Brad Fulchuck, and Ian Brennan production released on Netflix. Payton Hobart (Ben Platt) is a wealthy kid from California’s Santa Barbara seemingly on his way to the presidency. Each season of the show depicts a political issue that he must defeat in order to emerge victorious. He’s young though, so make no mistake, that is quite a ways off. In season one he runs for student body president kind of young, if you catch our drift.
Hobart knows he wants the gig of POTUS one day, so president of his own school seems like a good place to start. He runs against the popular, athletic kid. He wins, of course, but he doesn’t get to keep the job for long. His shady campaign tactics come to light and he’s forced to resign his post.
Season two is set on the East Coast, as Payton attends New York University. Because he’s Payton, he’s also running for a seat in the New York State Senate against the incumbent majority leader. The season documents his campaign, which this time, takes on an ecofriendly approach. At the same time, his mother is also running for the position of Governor of California, which makes for interesting family discussions.
While a third season is definitely planned, in April 2020, Ryan Murphy revealed that they’re going to take a couple of years off from the show and allow Ben Platt to age somewhat before having him step back into the role of Payton for his ‘final race’. While the third season hasn’t technically been renewed yet, because of Ryan Murphy’s multi-million dollar deal with Netflix, picking up the show where they left off shouldn’t be an issue.
It’s believed that the season is written and ready to go, and they’re literally just waiting for Ben to get older. It’s believed that in season three, Payton will launch a massive campaign for the position of Vice President of the United States, cementing his place in the U.S. political landscape.
Where to watch? the first two seasons of The Politician are available to stream on Netflix now.
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