LGBTQPril

A forced pun name for some less than forced fun

[sadiespells37]

Well it’s the end of our time together for now. When I’ve done similar things for Christmas or Halloween on my Facebook I always save one of my favorites for last, and I don’t see why I should break with that for LGBTQPril. If you’ve been reading you might have guessed after laid the hints on pretty thick the other day with Adventure Time so with out further adu

Steven Universe was a show that ran from 2013 to just last year with an epilogue miniseries finishing off everything that ended at the end of last month and it might be the shining example of LGBTQ+ representation and themes in kids tv. The show followed Steven and The Crystal Gems; Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, as they go around having magical adventures, save the world, and have emotionally devastating explorations of their own personal demons and the grief felt by the loss of Steven’s mom and the Gem’s former leader Rose Quartz. You see Rose gave up her life so that Steven, a half gem, half human could be given life. Gems do not age (they can die if their gem is destroyed but their bodies can be regenerated if their gem stays in tact) but I digress

What is relevant to how this show brings up LGBTQ+ relationships is all of the Gem’s gender expressions. Being more or less sentient rocks with hard light constructs for bodies gems as a species don’t have a physical sex as humans do, but every single gem seen in the series could be said to identify as a woman. They all use she/her pronouns for one another and as seen above while their body types vary they are all at least somewhat feminine in appearance. While in the beginning this didn’t matter much other than giving the show the distinction of having a much larger female identifying cast than most other shows, once their interpersonal relationships come into focus that the LGBTQ+ subtext just becomes text.

Pearl for example, is the most distraught over the death of Rose. As the show goes on it’s made clear that they were a couple and Pearl was deeply in love with her. Pearl is also shown in flashbacks as very jealous when Rose begins seeing Steven’s father Greg. Now as time goes on it is also shown how unhealthy and one sided that relationship is but it doesn’t change the fact that Pearl’s feelings are real, and as seen in other episodes that she is obviously gay

But the more prominent same sex love story take a bit of lore to explain. Gems can perform a fusion when they are in sync enough with one another. This creates an entirely new person with her own personality and strengths. This can be done in battle as a temporary power boost to dispatch a powerful foe, but can also be done simply for the sake of being together, thus enters Garnet

Garnet (in the middle) is one of the main three Crystal Gems since the beginning of the series. In the first season finale it is revealed that Garnet is a fusion all the time between Ruby (left) and Sapphire (right) and the reason is love. Ruby and Sapphire are two gems that love and trust each other so much that they constantly are one person. As Garnet puts it she is a conversation. Both the gems are aware of everything that happens while they are Garnet so she is in essence a literal personification of their love and relationship. The nature is made even clearer later in the series when after a breif separation Steven says they should make their refusion special and Ruby and Sapphire decide to get married. A whole half hour episode is dedicated to their wedding and speaking as someone who came of age in the 90s and early 2000s it astonishing and great that a kids show can have a wedding between two women.

There isn’t just same sex relationships on this show though. Again with the concept of fusion comes the character Stevonnie

As one might guess Stevonnie is the fusion of Steven and his best friend and later love interest Connie. As they are pretty young throughout most of the series (13 and 12 at the start respectively) their relationship is very cute and innocent. They even fuse by accident the first time. Garnet tells Stevonnie that they are not one person, and they are not two people. They are an experience. Most interestingly they are also nonbinary. As expected by a fusion of a boy and girl, while very feminine in appearance Stevonnie is always referred to, even by the biggest jerk they encounter, with they/them pronouns. At one point they even get stranded and stay fused longer than they have before. After a certain point they have facial hair stubble. (A fact that I noticed when it was pointed out with very relatable glee by a trans woman webcomic artist I follow on Twitter when the episode in question aired)

I could go on for pages about this show. It’s one of those shows I just love talking about and there is just so much to dig into. Not only the representation, but the LGBTQ+ themes. Whole books could, and likely will, be written about this show and how groundbreaking it was for LGBTQ+ in children’s media. It’s something that creator Rebecca Sugar is very passionate about. She even came out as bisexual over the course of the series and later as nonbinary, and even made the gems nonbinary woman as an expression of herself. That’s really what it’s all about isn’t it? The most important thing to me has always seemed that representation in media, in particular media aimed at younger audiences, is about exposing everyone to different ways of life. Whether that means showing someone a relatable character who is like them in someway they don’t often get to see or exposing others to a group of people they don’t often meet in their own lives. And here we have a bisexual nonbinary woman who put so much of herself in the characters and this world, and people picked up on the LGBTQ+ themes and it resonated with them, so she made them more and more prominent and it resonated even more and it just kept growing like that. As with Adventure Time and Bonnie and Marcy’s relationship the show only got more overt in its representation as time went on and I think the success of Steven Universe was a big reason for that and why LGBTQ+ representation is growing at the rate it is for the last few years. There is still a long way to go, but if it keeps going at this rate things will only get better.

That’s been LGBTQPril folks. I won’t say this is the end, but I’ll just call it the season finale. I could get picked up for more, or it could just stand as is. I hope you all have learned something, discovered something new to watch, or even just had fun as I’ve shared some of my favorite representation examples. Please still feel free to comment, like, suggest new topics or write about your own with the tag #LGBTQPril as I will check back in from time to time even when not writing regularly. I’ll leave you now with one of the best songs in a series full of great ones. One that I think speaks the loudest about Rebecca Sugar’s attitude towards what others think of her sexuality and gender identity, and how others should to.

All the best,

[redacted]

Steven Universe (2013-2019)

https://youtu.be/aA-o2vmlCOM

[sadiespells37]

As we rapidly approach the end of what I had planned to cover for now I figured with my penultimate entry, again for now we’ll just do something different and light. Tonight we’ll focus on a grab bag of LGBTQ+ representation. Stuff that I am not aware enough about to write a full post about, but things that deserve acknowledgement all the same. So let’s dive right in:

The Legend of Korra (2014)

Here’s a show that had a young woman as it’s protagonist and all while she’s attempting to save the world she’s struggling with the identity she thought she was born into when really it seems like something else was a better fit. Given conformation after the finale aired that yes, Korra and Asami are in a relationship as the series closes on this shot, plus in canon graphic novels depict their romance among the new adventures.

Clarence (2014)

Here’s a great example of normalcy in kid’s tv. In the show Clarence, one of the title character’s best friends, Jeff, has two moms. Yes they are a lesbian couple and as far as I know the show never drew attention to it, he just has two moms, and that’s pretty neat.

Paranorman (2012)

Again it just not being a thing, The main character Norman’s sister has a crush on the older brother of Norman’s friend only to reveal at the end of the movie that he’s gay. Again just kinda neat.

Craig of the Creek (2019)

A couple of side characters, teenagers older than the main kids, known as “The Witches of the Creek” who are a couple. This one actually surprised me, but in a good way. As shown from Korra seen earlier showing a same sex couple kissing on a show targeted at kids seemed too taboo to do even 5 years prior, but now it’s just treated as normal as it should be.

BoJack Horseman (2018)

Here’s a wildly underseen group in media. In the show’s fourth season main character Todd Chavez came out as asexual. The show has him attempt a relationship with another ace person and discuss the differences between asexual and aromatic, plus some wacky adventures with her parents who she is not out to and an family heirloom barrel of lube, as this show does.

Twin Peaks (1991 and 2017)

Here’s an example of extremely early trans representation. Main character Dale Cooper often referred to an old colleague named Dennis. When they meet again in the original series she is Denise. She talks about dressing as a woman to go undercover for a case and realizing how much more comfortable in her own skin she was that way so she decided to transition. Agent Cooper, being the class act that he is accepts Denise immediately. 25 years later when the events of the new season take place Denise is now head of the FBI and another agent who knew her for many years before and after she transitioned says one of the most powerful things one can say in someone’s defense I think. He told those clowns in the agency who would respect her less or treat her worse should do the following

That’s really the long and short of it isn’t it. Whether or not if the homophobic and/or transphobic out there like it, the world is changing. Society is growing more accepting of people and not seeing different as abnormal. There’s still a long way to go but anyone who doesn’t feel that way is just holding the rest of us and society as a whole back so they really do need to just fix their hearts or die.

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Well that seems like a good note to end on folks, as always leave any likes or comments below and perhaps write your own entries under the tag #LGBTQPril and I will see you next time for what I’ll call our season finale.

[sadiespells37]

We’re pretty quickly approaching the end of what I have planned for now here for LGBTQPril, as such I plan on doing something pretty important to me for the finale, but before we get to that entry I think it’s important to highlight that creators earlier efforts.

Adventure Time was a show that ran for a great deal of the 2010s and where tonight’s featured couple is a pretty good indicator of where tv aimed at kids was as far as LGBTQ+ representation. I am of course speaking of the relationship between Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum and Marceline The Vampire Queen.

While in the first couple of seasons these two are not seen together in the third season, courtesy of writer, storyboard artist and key figure in the development of Marceline’s character Rebecca Sugar, they are both shown working together to open a mysterious door to the figure that stole something precious from each one of the characters. The dialoge makes it clear that the two of them know each other and have had some conflicts in the past. In the end though it’s revealed that Bubblegum’s stolen item is an old tshirt Marcy gave her, that she thought Bubs didn’t like because she’s never seen her wear it

This and the way their history was clearly something but kept vague set the fandom to running, as fandoms do about speculation that they were once a couple and now estranged exes. Now internet fandoms are rampant with this kind of thing, just look at any posts about “shipping” in any media. The thing of it is though they were right.

Over the next few seasons Bonnie and Marcy’s friendship was shown growing stronger again. They grew close at the end of season 6 where Bubblegum was voted out at princess of the Candy Kingdom and while doing her studies in her old uncle’s abandoned cabin she even helps Marceline temporarily remove her vampirism. Bonnie even telling Marcy that she’s her best friend.

That could have been enough. Two characters with a tumultuous past with one another once again becoming friends. But then came Adventure Time’s finale.

The big climax of the finale is an extra dimensional being is threatening the world and attacks Bubblegum. Marcy saves her and then this happens

There it is. The writers always said that they’ve treated Marcy and Bonnie’s relationship as old exes but were never able to truly say it or show it. With this one kiss though it opens the flood gates. Everything fans thought that had pointed to them being together previously was validated. With this one on screen kiss years of underplayed interactions had been given all new confirmed context. It positions a whole arch for the both of them over the series. They once were a couple, the parts of their personalities clashed so they broke up, but then they relalize there isn’t as much hostility as they thought, become friends again and eventually embrace each other once again having both grown as people. It would be a beautiful story with any characters but because it is a relationship between two women it gives the story that much more weight and significance. Now not only is it a great love story, but one that normalizes LGBTQ+ relationships. A noble endeavor for any media, but in something with a target audience that consists mostly of children? That makes it worth celebrating even more.

Adventure Time S3 E10: What Was Missing (2011) - S8 E16: Come Along With Me (2018)

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That’s it for tonight folks. Don’t forget to like, comment or leave suggestions. Or even write your own post and tag it with #LGBTQPril. And if you’re wondering why I brought up Rebecca Sugar without mentioning her own very revelant to our theme show? Well you’ll just have to wait and see.

[sadiespells37]

So last night might have been a bit of a stretch, not that I’m doubting my point of a community making representation sometimes too, but still I acknowledge that some people might not feel the same about that circumstance as me. Tonight though let’s highlight a couple.

For those who don’t know Deadpool, also know as Wade Wilson, is a wildly popular character in Marvel Comics and because he’s technically a mutant has been made into two pretty damn good movies (not suitable for the young ones) that are spin-offs of the X-Men movies. While he is pansexual in the comics and the movies sort of hint at that too he is not the focus of tonight’s spotlight. That honor goes to the side character with the coolest possible name Negasonic Teenage Warhead

More specifically for our purposes this spotlight is on the second movie and Negasonic and her girlfriend Yukio

While Negasonic is the only one of the couple to appear in the first Deadpool her sexuality isn’t addressed. She’s simply a teenage superhero who doesn’t give a single crap for Wade’s over the top and jokey personality schtick. She’s not irritated by it either though. She just chooses to ignore it in annoyed, resigned, silence, which of course just make him try harder to annoy her.

The second movie however introduces Yukio. Negasonic specifically introduces her has her girlfriend, assuming Wade, and kind of by proxy the audience, will have some crude, uncalled for lesbian comment as a response. Here’s the thing though. Wade doesn’t say a thing about it. He always tosses back a friendly “Hi, Yukio,” to her always cheery greeting of “Hi, Wade,” and that’s it.

Now Negasonic and Yukio are very minor characters in the movie but that doesn’t change the fact that this is a significant step for the franchise and the genre. You see, ever since they started in the early 2000s the X-Men movies have been very much subtextually about LGBTQ+ experiences. There is a coming out to the family as a mutant scene, the older parents just asking have they tried not being one, and finding a new family in other similar people. That having been said none of the characters were actually explicitly LGBTQ+ in really any way. Negasonic and Yukio changed that. They are, to my knowledge, the first openly gay superheroes in a mainstream superhero movie franchise. And more importantly they do what I feel like good representation should always do; treat their LGBTQ+ identity as normal, because it is. The movie doesn’t even give any of the bad characters or ones who are just kinda assholes a dig on them. They’re just a couple, just being a couple. If the end goal of representation is to let LGBTQ+ folks see themselves on screen and let others be exposed to it as normal, because again for those in the cheap seats it is normal, then Negasonic and Yukio are a prime example of how to do that simply and gracefully. Even for a movie that show’s Wade’s undersized, still regenerating penis for a cheap laugh.

Deadpool 2 (2018)

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That’s it for tonight folks, just something short and sweet. As always please leave any likes, comments, or suggestions you might have or write your own entry with the tag #LGBTQPril. I will see you all next time.

[sadiespells37]

We have an interesting one tonight. Taken on its own and without other context this character and part of the game she’s featured in is absolutely something I’d call problematic to say the least, if not out and out unintentionally transphobic. But in today’s internet fandom age has gathered around this character and how she deserves better than the game gives her and decided to give that to her themselves.

Chances are if you’ve played this game you know exactly who/what quest line I’m talking about but for those who haven’t some brief context. The Legend of Zelda is a long running action adventure series and Breath of the Wild is the latest entry series. You play as a reincarnation of a great hero in many of the games that involves you exploring a big world, exploring dungeons and most important to this blog and today’s entry meet a wide variety of interesting side characters.

At one point in the game you must enter a desert town called Gerudo Town only to find out you can’t. The town is entirely made up of women and men are forbidden within the walls. You hear rumors from another man who failed to get in that the nearby oasis bazaar has a man who once made it into the city. Following the rumors brings up the name of a woman; Vilia

Now at this point in the game you’ve met several of the other woman of the region and you notice Vilia does not look like the others you’ve met. For example here is captain of the guard of Gerudo Town and the main bodyguard of their chief

Now she is mesurably bigger than most of the average Gerudo woman, but still they are all very much Amazonian body types; very tall, very muscular, but also extremely feminine in body shape. Vilia on the other hand is more towards your height as the player and have a less feminine body shape. Once you find her, she offers to sell you some Gerudo clothing that will allow you into the city and once you do her veil gets caught in a wind gust and your character sees her face. While the player does not see it completely you are able to see enough that she has a beard. And that’s kind of the end of your interaction with her. You can go back to the location where you found her, talk and still get a few lines of dialogue but otherwise that’s it.

So from that breif summary of the quest involving Vilia you can probably see the problem already. The game itself treats her like a cross dressing man, but the dialogue and context reads more that Vilia is a trans woman. Also while the face reveal isn’t something I’d say the game tries to call a joke. It is treated as kind of a “oh, that’s it. This guy’s just weird. God these games have so many weird characters.” As I’ve said though LGBTQPril is about positive representation. The positive in this case is how I saw the trans community call out Nintendo on how they put this in their game, but also almost defend the validity of a fictional character’s gender identity.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pastemagazine.com/games/the-legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild/how-breath-of-the-wild-failed-us-when-it-comes-to/%3Famp

How Breath of the Wild Failed Us When It Comes To Trans Identity

When one horrible moment turns euphoria into sickness and disappointment.

This editortial on the quest in question for example shows the personal feelings the author was left with after such a transphobic moment in a game she had been enjoying. In the few years since though I’ve seen LGBTQ+ people embrace Vilia herself as a trans woman. If you search for Vilia fan art you’re bound to find something with her smiling or even her being accepted among the other Gerudo as a woman. Even her official entry in the Zelda wiki, which I will remind you is community edited, has her gender as female and uses she/her pronouns for her.

Now none of this is to say that the fan reaction has suddenly made the game not problematic or any negative feelings about the quest or the game as a whole because of it wrong. It still is very much a problematic moment to say the least and if you it makes you angry or uncomfortable that is absolutely valid.

I just wanted to take the opportunity to point out how a fandom reacted to such a crappy representation by retroactivly embracing a character as a valid trans woman, and by proxy any trans woman who has been or still is in a situation like Vilia or not especially feminine like Vilia, that they too are also still a woman. That something positive can come from something that negative is worth highlighting in it’s own right.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: Vilia (and the fan response to her) 2017

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That’s all I’ve got tonight folks. I hope whether or not you enjoy what the fandom has made of Vilia, still get angry at how the game treats this quest, or haven’t played BotW before, that this entry makes you think about how people can do for each other what media can with representation. Leave your likes, comments or suggestions below. Write your own entries under the tag #LGBTQPril and I’ll see you next time.

[sadiespells37]

For tonight we have not an episode highlight but more a character spotlight. A character on a show that is one of the best examples of taking a one joke, meant to appear only one time character and not only give him enough depth to be one of the best reoccurring characters the show has, but a great LGBTQ+ character to boot. But then if you know this show then you’ll know they have a history of making something out of nothing

The Venture Brothers is a long running [adult swim] series where the basic premise is Johnny Quest, but it acknowledges what a messed up family dynamic growing up as a boy adventurer would be. Twice over in fact as the titular brothers are themselves the son of a man who was drug through this life in the 60s and just doesn’t know any normal life. That’s only scratching the surface of what makes this show great. Not only does it start off with this premise but as it goes on the show incorporates lots of other similar to recognizable franchises from the creator’s childhoods and makes them their own thing by following the tropes of what they are referencing. Case and point tonight’s character in question:

This is Shore Leave. He is a very out and proud gay man who works as a secret agent for the OSI (Office of Secret Intelligence) which within this show is basically J.I. Joe, but also not. Hence the name that not only gives his personality in an indistinct way, but also implies that his speciality is sea based operations. When first introduced that was kind of the joke. Brock, the main character who knew him when he worked for OSI is told he’s ex-OSI now due to a “don’t ask, don’t tell situation” Like Greg and Terry yesterday he speaks in a very effeminate and stereotypical fashion. And that one episode was his appearance. It was in a season finale so he wasn’t seen as more than just a one off. He helps Brock out of the jam he’s currently in and Brock and the family goes on it’s way. Cut to the end of the next season’s premiere Brock has seemingly been captured by his former commanding officer who had gone rouge and it is revealed that the colonel has different plans revealing a whole group of people he wants Brock to join and Shore Leave is one of them.

We don’t get much of this plot for a few episodes, the show deciding to focus on other characters but once we get back to Brock and the group known as S.P.H.I.N.X. We get to see more of Shore Leave in action. He is quite flamboyant but not any less capable at doing the super spy stuff, fighting the worst of the worst super villains, and generally being bad ass as the much more ultra masculine Brock is. But it’s a speech he gives to another character a few episodes later that really cements his place here in LGBTQPril.

When a mysterious figure calling himself Zeus goes around kidnapping underlings of heroes and villains of the guilds, societies and organizations that make up this world and is making them duel do the death Shore Leave is captured along with two other reoccurring characters Pete White and Billy Quizboy. Pete (on the left) says they can’t make him fight and Shore Leave calls him a sissy. Pete fires back with “You’re calling me a sissy? You?” Shore Leave’s response is “Yeah I’m out and proud every day in the face of assholes like you and I’m the sissy.” There’s some raw emotion here, understandable considering these guys have been literally fighting for their lives against their will for days and on edge, but there’s some real truth there. That Shore Leave feels like being as out and flamboyant as he is is a badge of honor. It’s who he is and doing so makes him stronger in the face of those who wouldn’t approve.

So that’s Shore Leave. Once again not only a great character in his own right, but one that proves good representation can come from any place, even a one note joke from a character that I’m sure at one point wasn’t meant to be seen more than once.

The Venture Brothers: Shore Leave (2008)

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That’s it for today folks. Please don’t forget to leave any comments, likes, or suggestions you might have or write your own spotlights with the hashtag #LGBTQPril. I’ll catch everybody next time.

[sadiespells37]

Tonight I don’t have a character to highlight per se in this episode, more the episode itself for being as blunt an on the nose as possibe to make its point. This show always kinda does that.

Another animated sitcom tonight folks, this one’s been around for 15 years...and times arrow marches ever forward... Anyway while not about them the episode in question centers around the reoccurring anchor partners and neighbors of the Smith family Greg Corbin and Terry Bates

Now Greg (right) and Terry (left) are interesting characters in their own right. They speak in what would commonly be described as a very effeminate or “gay” voice. The primary joke as they appeared in the first couple seasons was they were super unsubtlly a gay couple but Stan, the head of the Smith household, is SUCH an over the top die hard conservative that he can’t see the truth even if it’s right in front of his face. Also it seems to be commenting on how often in media gay people in the public eye couldn’t officially come out for a very long time as it could hurt their reputation. The show did start in 2005 after all. Within all of our lifetimes but what seems like an eternity ago for LGBTQ+ cultures.

But back to the episode. The plot concerns Stan and after he goes to see a local play about President Lincoln that turns out to be more an arty pretentious performance piece, decides to put on his own one man show about the 16th president and founder of the Republican Party told from the perspective of Lincoln’s actual body guard Captain David Derickson. Given the nature of their relationship the show has some gay overtones, all of which Stan is oblivious to for reasons previously discussed.

This leads to Stan being invited by leader of the local chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans, introduced by Greg, who knows Stan already, to invite Stan to one of their meetings. Once there Stan realized that they are a “gay group” and reacts about how one would expect a staunch conservative in the mid 2000s who can’t even notice gay people would act. It also comes out, by him having to literally be told by Greg that he is gay and Terry is his partner.

He calms down once he realizes they are die hard republicans too, just gay. Also matters are helped by them wanting Stan to be their representative and speak at the upcoming Republican National Convention. He embraces it for a little while but then the group discovers Stan’s vast history of homophobia and anti-gay politicing while at the same time Stan accidentally lets it slip to Terry that Greg is a republican, something that after all their years together Terry wasn’t aware of. He’s rightly upset by this and Stan is sad that he can’t speak at the RNC and also genuinely seems hurt at the loss of all these like minded people and new culture that he didn’t even know existed. His solution is simple. Stan will choose to be gay...

(Image not from this episode, but the emotion is by the family when he tells them) Anyway that really is Stan’s plan. Being gay is a choice to him so he’ll choose to do it to get back in the good graces of the Log Cabin Republicans. He approaches Terry, still upset that Greg left with the others in the group and Terry seems receptive enough to try. They go out for dinner, dance at a club and when the two first kiss Stan says he feels nothing. Terry tells him that he probably is just straight. Stan gets angry and says “This is MY choice, I CHOOSE to be gay,” and Terry tells him it’s not a choice and Stan realizes he’s right.

That’s what I love about this show. It decideds that the only way someone like Stan will realize that being gay isn’t a choice is if he tried to choose it and couldn’t. There’s just something beautifully simple about the bluntness that I love. In the end Stan does speak at the RNC and uses that time to defend the gay community to the other Republicans there who would be against it. It’s not a subtle message, nor one that a lot of the show’s primary audience would need but I’ve always loved that this episode is unassumingly out there to give the message to those who do need to hear it.

American Dad S3 E4: Lincoln Lover

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Hope all you folks out there in Tumblr Land enjoyed this. Please don’t forget to leave a like, comment, or suggestions for future entries. Or you can write your own if the idea appeals to you using the hashtag #LGBTQPril. I’ll see everybody next time.

[sadiespells37]

Today I’d like to highlight how a collection of scenes and one line can make meaningful representation for many people and I’ll do it using one of my favorite shows.

Bob’s Burgers is an animated sitcom about the Belchers, a family that runs the titular restraunt and all of the various hijinx they all get into. The show is very LGBTQ positive, and even at its most problematic in an early episode with a group of trans prostitutes the show does its best to not judge them and have Bob be very welcoming to their friendship. But we’re not here to talk about that. We’re here to talk about how Bob is bisexual.

A lot of this could just be seen as speculation. Bob makes out with a steer played by Todd Barry in a dream while knocked out in an early episode. He’s seen what can be called crushing on an archeologist he invites over to dinner in another. And he’s often heard saying that some man just isn’t his type or is attractive. None of this would be earth shattering on its own, but combined with one fateful Thanksgiving it becomes something greater.

The episode in question sees Bob repeatedly going to the butcher at their local grocery store because someone keeps putting the turkey in the fridge being brined into their toilet. The first time Bob comes back the butcher just assumes he messed the first one up. On turkey number 3 he assumes Bob is doing it to flirt with him and says he’s flattered but in a relationship. Bob says “No I really do just need another turkey...never mind” and leaves with the bird in tow. Not offended or weirded out that the butcher thinks he was trying to pick him up, just thinking about who keeps ruining Thanksgiving, but the last time is the big one.

The last two pictures come from this final interaction. On Bob’s fourth total trip to the butcher counter in 3 days the butcher is like “You know what? You wore me down. Things haven’t been going so great with Tony, probably haven’t been for a while.” To which Bob says those lines then also this:

To which he also adds “Plus, I’m married. You should work things out with Tony,” and quickly leaves.

And that’s it, the episode continues as normal as this show gets and the audience always knows that Bob declined this man’s offer not because he says he’s straight or married but because he thinks the butcher is too good looking for a middle aged balding Dad. Combined with all the other moments throughout the series it paint a pretty clear picture of Bob as a man who is bi but just probably mostly only dated women because that’s what he thought he should do. Now he’s married, he has kids and he loves his family. There’s no need for him to be looking for a male partner, but he’ll always just be attracted to men also.

While the writers have never come out and directly said Bob is bi the show and staff seems LGBTQ+ positive enough to fully embrace it. Given this final picture I found from one of the staff for Pride Month one year. So there you have it. Bob Belcher: bisexual icon for all happily married with children, but still always bisexual people everywhere.

Bob’s Burgers S4 E5 Turkey in a Can (2013)

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There’s another one down for LGBTQPril folks. Hope you enjoyed and continue to enjoy this coverage and as always please leave comments, likes, and suggestions for topics I can cover below. Also feel free to write your own posts under the #LGBTQPril. I’ll see everybody next time.

[sadiespells37]

Tonight we have something minor, but at the same time what representation matters to anyone is can be highly subjective. I’m sure not nearly as many people have given as many hours to thoughts of Carmen from It’s always Sunny as I have so with that being said let’s talk about gender in a recent obsession of mine and most everyone I know.

Animal Crossing is a series of games that can best be described as “Life Simulation Games.” You move to a little village of animals, you get a home loan from a raccoon, you make friends with the bears and rabbits and birds and even a couple of octopi, you fish, you catch bugs and so on. They are very chill, relaxing games. There’s no real way to lose, you just go through life. The game is tied to the system’s clock so time passes normally and you just do whatever feels fun. What makes this game significant to me though is the amount of customization new to this latest installment that you can do surrounding your gender.

In past games the gender of your character, along with their eyes and hair were determined by a series of questions asked when you start up a new game. You didn’t have a lot of control and were stuck with what you got. Contrast that with now. You are asked not if you are a boy or girl but simply “style.” Not only that but it lets you completely set how your character looks. Eyes and hairstyles are the primary gender signifiers in a game as cartoony as Animal Crossing and from the very start you can choose the more masculine looking style but still have long hair and eyes with prominent eyelashes or vice versa and choose the more feminine style but give yourself a buzzcut, or a bowl cut, or any number of more traditionally masculine haircuts.

This extends to the many clothing options as well. It doesn’t matter what style you selected you still have a variety of dresses, or skirts, or shorts, or pants and all kinds of shoes that you can buy and wear. All of this leads to you being able to make a character as masculine, feminine, or androgynous as you want.

But big deal, lots of games let you do this. Here’s the major difference to me. Look back at that picture where you choose your style, notice it says “you can change this later.” Not long after starting the game, it will depend because a great deal of it is randomly assigned like the various furnishings you find or can build, you will come across one of many mirrors or vanities. Use this item and you can change your hair, your eyes, and yes again even your style. You even unlock more choices for hair and color as you play.

Being able to change your style at anytime seems like a big thing. Because time passes in real time Animal Crossing is designed to be played over months or even years. Imagine some child plays this game and makes their character as much like them as possible (that’s what I always did) If they realize that they are trans, or even just like to express their gender differently than they did at that age, they can go in at anytime and make their character still reflect who they are now. Maybe part of them is sort of aware they are gender nonconforming, but it’s Animal Crossing that lets them try out what being more feminie is like with no, or at the very least significantly reduced risk, before they are comfortable enough to experiment in real life. Again it could just be minor to some, or even most. But for those few this could mean everything and whether it’s LGBTQPril or not, I feel like the game should be recognized for that.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020)

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That’s it for today folks. Please leave any likes, comments or suggestions down below and don’t forget if you’d like to post something the tag #LGBTQPril is just sitting right there. See ya tomorrow

[sadiespells37]

(Content Warning for today’s post. It has transphobic language, and while I will keep it to a minimim I feel dancing around the word would be dishonest it is only one slur used as a quote from the show, but fair warning all the same)

Well a week or so into this and I feel like doing something different from the rest of this. While the goal of LGBTQPril is to keep things positive and highlight the growing, but still smaller than it should be, examples of good and nuanced representation in media. That being said, I can’t shake the feeling that today’s character isn’t entirely on the harmful side of representation. Thinking about it is actually part of the reason I wanted to start this project. So join me in a deep dive of one character’s appearances back with the owners and operators of the Worst Bar in Philadelphia that I call:

If you’re not a TV geek like me and that coy hint or specifically recreated title card didn’t alert you I’m again talking about It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Specifically I’m talking about a character who had a few appearances known simply as Carmen or as the gang, all awful people refer to her most of the time “The Tranny.”

Not a great start with that nickname I know, but let’s break down the few times she was on the show and maybe my point of view will be clearer. Her first appearance is probably the most problematic, but still has things that make it stand out. She is in the bar and Mac and Dennis are trying to find a girl to hook Charlie up with. After meeting and chatting Carmen up Mac thinks she’s great Dennis says the unfortunate phrase “That’s a dude,” and proceeds to explain that she is the trans cousin of someone they went to high school with and points out the bulge in here jeans. But what makes the scene stand out to me is right after Mac goes back to Carmen and asks “Is that a penis in your pants?” She says yes, Mac says she lied to him and she immediately turns it around says he lied to her, that he doesn’t work out, and that she’s seen him at the gym and continues to flirt with him. Mac caught off guard is flattered she noticed him and says he will call her later. The candidness of Carmen’s yes that is a penis is given a level of straight forwardness that isn’t often afforded trans women on TV. Yeah she has a penis, no it’s not a big deal, and then her moving on to continue to flirt with Mac and him being receptive to it gives Carmen a certain amount of agency that you don’t often seen in characters like this.

Her second appearance doubles down on all of this. Mac has been sneaking around and the rest of the gang is suspicious. Quickly the audience finds out that it’s because he’s seeing Carmen again. She is shown to have that agency again while Mac is having doubts and worries about the gang finding out, Carmen again shows she knows how to read people and that flirting with Mac will make him more willing to embrace his feelings and attraction to her and it works, for a while. After the two of them have sex she decides to ask about going out on a real date. Mac brushes off the idea in way that makes it seem like that was never an option and she’s silly for bringing it up. No one can see them together. Carmen, once again, given a level of agency trans women rarely get on TV then just throws Mac out of her apartment without a second thought. It’s at that point she realizes that no matter how attractive she finds him, he is a transphobic asshole. She seems to think she could get him to be more open, but clearly if he’s just going to treat her like a dirty secret she doesn’t need to put up with that.

Her final major episode a few years later sees her having had, for lack of a better phrase, bottom surgery and now happily married. Mac is very obviously jealous. He says they had discussed him getting a call after she had her surgery and then goes into a rant about how their marriage is a “gay marriage” and uses that and his religion as an excuse to fight it instead of his again, super obvious, jealousy. At this point Carmen is having none of it. Her husband even gets in on it by bringing up a passage in the Bible about beating slaves being alright after Mac tries to pull that card. In the end Mac doesn’t change anything and learns nothing, as is often the case for this show. And aside from appearing unexpectedly at the end of the season to reveal that Carmen and her husband hired Dee as their surrogate she hasn’t been seen since. She gets to go off and be happy with her husband and new child, which is something not a lot of the side characters in this show can say. Just look at the priest they drive into homelessness and drugs.

Anyway though this is why Carmen is so fascinating to me as a character. The characters don’t treat her well, but they don’t treat anyone well. In fact they have a slew of other nicknames, and never bother using their real ones for a bunch of side characters. She is misgendered really overtly in her first episode, but she isn’t made less of a person because of it. It’s clear to me that there is a gap between the characters, who are awful, and the writers (who are the same ones acting.) As writers they give her a sense of agency that seems to be really uncommon for other trans women on tv. Especially non-main characters who are just there for the main ones to date/sleep with. One of them even regrets parts of what they wrote about her, particularly the name “The Tranny” In 2018 Glenn Howerton, Dennis, said this in an interview:

“I mean, there are a few things, that if I could go back, I would probably do differently. In the first couple seasons, we referred to a character as 'the tranny.' Personally, I wasn't as aware of the power of that word at the time. Now, granted, I think one of the reasons why we get away with it or why it makes sense is because the characters are awful people. They're not celebrated for it and they always lose and they always get their comeuppance, and I think that's important. But I think if I were to do it all over again, there would probably have been at least one person in the group to say like, 'You shouldn't use that word.' I know our hearts were always in the right place and we never wanted to offend anybody. And still, our intention is never to offend."

Finally I’d like to address one thing that I feel like a lesser show would have done but It’s Always Sunny is smart enough to do. As discussed previously in recent seasons Mac has come out as gay after it being hinted at for years. The linking of these two concepts, Mac dating and sleeping with a trans woman, and Mac coming out as gay after years of repression are never linked. The hinting at it isn’t even brought up in any of the seasons before Carmen’s final appearance, with the exception of a mild crush/wanting a father figure out of a Phillies player. And in the later seasons where it’s hinted at and shown greater, Carmen is never brought up as a factor. The only thing close to that is when Mac is jealous she got married she says “If anything you are gay because I still had a penis when we were together!” In that moment, and because it comes from Carmen herself it comes off less as a genuine observation and more as her being able to read Mac like she did when they were flirting, except this time she’s tired of his crap and knows just how to get him to back off. It’s a small thing in the grand scheme of things, but I feel like other shows that aren’t as aware would make that connection and just keep making it, in spite of those facts having nothing to do with one another.

So I’ve said my peace, and I’m still not sure where I fall. I think in the ends on the positive. She’s a smart capable trans woman and most all of the harmful language the gang uses about her is because they’re all horrible. Still I realize that this could be a highly subjective topic and I don’t expect my view to be anything close to “right.” Check out the episodes and decide for yourself.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia S1 E4: Charlie has Cancer (2005)

S3 E10: Mac is a Serial Killer (2007)

S6 E1 & E12: Mac Fights Gay Marriage & Dee Gives Birth (2010)

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That’s all for today folks. Please leave any likes or comments below. I am especially curious to hear responses and other opinions about this peice on particular. I want to know what you have to say. And of course if you have something you want to suggest or cover feel free to do so with the #LGBTQPril.

[sadiespells37]

Representation comes in all sorts of forms, and while most often thought of as movies or television, most any media can be great examples of good representation even if they’re interactive.

Shovel Knight is a video game that came out in 2015 after a very successful kickstarter campaign. Not only did Yatch Club Games meet their goal for the final product in the first few days it meet a majority of their stretch goals over the 30 days of funding. (For those unfamilar with crowd funding like Kickstarter stretch goals are things that will be added to the original project plans if certain donation amounts beyond the initial goal are met within the funding deadline) One of their major goals was a “Body Swap” mode. Basically a mode to flip all the genders of all the main characters in game. As with all of the goals they met Yatch Club went above and beyond in the options it offered.

According to the developers when designing the mode they had a few rules to follow for their designs that I feel make the mode the great example of representation it is. First of all these aren’t “sexy modes” where all the characters look like sexy girl versions of themselves. Nor should the characters just look like they are cross dressing. They should look as feminine as the original designs were masculine and vice versa. They also want to be sure that the characters’ personalities did not change and most importantly both designs should be equally as cool. For example here’s a side by side comparison of the main character:

Another interesting one is one of the bosses Plague Knight. They noted when designing the body swap model that there wasn’t much gendered about his original design so they mostly just turned the hood of her robe into a witch hat shape, perfect for a small devious alchemist spending all day working on potions

For the flip side of this body swap let’s also look at the figure you are rescuing in the game, Shovel Knight’s partner in adventuring for many years Sheild Knight

You see how those same rules have applied here as well. Nothing too much screams overly feminine in the original design so the body swap doesn’t change much other than making the facial features more masculine (as Sheild Knight is one of the few characters with a face visable in their helmet.)

If you are at all interested in more of Yatch Club’s process designing this mode they posted a lengthy blog post after they added it on their website

https://yachtclubgames.com/2017/03/designing-body-swap/

Best Game Company Born of a Yacht

Now all of this would be an interesting character design exercise but not really the kind of representation we’ve featured here for LGBTQPril, if not for how the team implemented how it works in the game. It’s a simple set of options in the menu. There’s an option that says body swap and within you can individually change every changable character’s appearance and, more interestingly, pronouns. Separately.

Would you like them all to have feminine designs but use he/him pronouns? You can do that. Would you like to just change Shovel Knight and make her fight against the all male Order of No Quarter to save her beloved Sheild Knight? You can do that. Would you like to mix and match so that The Order is more gender diverse among its ranks? You can do that too. What’s even better is that in a later update a couple years later they also added the option for They/Them pronouns for any or all of the characters too.

It all makes the experience immensely customizable to whatever the player wants. What might be the best thing to me though is that these options change nothing else in the game. All the other dialogue stays the same. All the gameplay stays the same. The story even stays the same. A story that seems intentionally broad and simple, a save the damsel kind of story, actually turns out to be about how the couple are so much stronger together. They love each other but also they both have skills that are useful on but combined they make them more much than the sum of their parts. It becomes a surprisingly emotionally effective story for one that starts out so simple and cliche. And the power Yatch Club gave their fans to make that even more unique by changing up the genders of the characters to whatever combination the player sees fit? That to me exemplifies how to do representation best, to spread the word that however you identify, you are normal, and here is your chance to make it as close or as far from what normal is for you as possible.

Shovel Knight: Body Swap Mode (2017)

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Thanks for reading today folks. As always leave any likes, comments or suggestions in the places where you leave those. If you want to write your own entries the hashtag is #LGBTQPril and have a nice day, and Happy Easter if that’s your thing.

[sadiespells37]

I love anthology shows. There’s just something about the one and done format that’s appealing to me. Maybe it’s the fact that the writers can get away with weirder stuff since they know they’ll only have this one chance with these characters or this premise or maybe it’s just one two many New Year’s/Fourth of July Twilight Zone marathons. Whatever the reason for my soft spot I have a hell of one for you folks tonight.

I’m sure almost no one will have heard of this show. It was a Hulu original sci-fi anthology show that only ran for 6 episodes back in 2017. I’d call it kind of an internet age Tales From The Crypt. Not in the gore or sexuality sense, but in its over the top goofyness, in a good way, and ability to run with an interesting idea. Anyway let’s get to the episode in question for tonight and why it’s a good fit for LGBTQPril.

Based on a urban legend from various places around the internet that I’m sure you’ve heard of if you’re a nerd like me (solidarity bump 👊) Polybius is set in 1984 and concerns an evil arcade cabinet and the player who finds its secrets and it’s that player I want to discuss.

Andrew Myers is our protagonist in this story and the reason I wanted to feature this episode tonight. Andrew is gay, but not just that. He is gay, in a very small town, in the early 1980s, as a highschooler, with parents religious enough to hang a crucifix in their son’s room, make sure he says his prayers every night and prevent him from playing video games because they are the work of the devil. All he is trying to do is survive until he can leave Beaverton and keeps his head down and runs like hell to do so. Once he gets involved with the evil arcade game in question and accidentally involves his friend/crush Jess and new friend Amy too, his attitude begins to change it leads to a moment right before the final battle with the demon where he confesses his love for Jess, tells him he knows he doesn’t feel the same, but he’s just tired of running and hiding.

This episode might not focus as strongly on the LGBTQ+ aspect of its story like previous entries did, but I still find it’s approach unique and welcome. They could have quite easily made this about a nerdy guy keeping his head down from bullies. Instead though they chose to make it about a young man’s struggles with being gay in a small town in the 80s and how focusing on keeping your head down to avoid the negatives of life means your not really living it. It doesn’t sugarcoat the harsh realities of being gay in high school, especially in that small a town and especially in that time with the parents he has either. But in spite of all that though he learns that somethings are worth fighting for and being able to be yourself without hiding is one of them. It’s a great lesson to impart on other young people around Andrew’s age who it is quite possible that could be going through the same or similar problems because of their gender identity or sexuality. The message that things will get better later yes, but also never forget that there are still things worth it to go back for right now.

Dimension 404 S1E4: Polybis (2017)

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That’s it for tonight. Hope you’re enjoying LGBTQPril. Don’t forget to like and/or comment, leave suggestions, or even write your own post with the tag #LGBTQPril. See you folks next time

[sadiespells37]

If you would have told someone in 2005 that the new show that just started with characters that were rude, yelling, jerks that in their first 7 episodes alone pretended to be gay to boost their tips bar tending, decided to serve high school kids alcohol and then got involved with their personal lives, and attempted to sell nazi uniforms to a museum would not only be on the air 15 years later but that it would move you to tears, they would have called you insane, and yet it happened.

For those not familiar, or only mildly so It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia follows the exploits of “The Gang” Three friends since high school, Dennis, Charlie, and Mac, who own a bar in South Philly as well as Dennis’s twin sister Dee and the twin’s father (but also not, but maybe Charlie’s. It’s complicated) Frank. The show follows these five as they get into all kinds of adventures and they are just literally the worst people you can imagine. They all make fun of everyone the come in contact with, they’re all various flavors of self centered and delusional, and there’s even a running joke about them just calling people not by their names but simple titles and all that is the tame stuff. So why bring this up for this blog? Well that has to do with how the show develops the gang as characters over the years. They don’t grow and change like other shows or real people do, more and more just gets slowly revealed. Charlie goes from being maybe dyslexic to definitely illerate and that is made all the worse by his frequent drug usage. Dennis is slowly revealed to be kind of creepy with women when he thinks he’s charming to more than likely being a sociopath, but then there’s Mac.

Mac has always been the most insecure one of the group, but the most in denial about that fact. He always asserts that he can do these amazing physical feats he absolutely cannot. He sees himself as the badass of the group when he has no real skills in anything he says he does. Most importantly to this and what leads to the episode in question is something they started in roughly season 6, his repressed homosexuality. It starts off with small things, a childlike admiration of a local baseball star and obession with body builders but grows over the seasons until when he is out of the room Charlie says to the other characters “I know we’ve never said this out loud but, Mac’s gay right?” And everyone else agrees and is annoyed by how repressed he is (because again these are the worst human beings alive) and how they all just wish he could admit it to himself. Mac is also very catholic in the worst way that one can imagine a person would be, which is another big part of why he is as repressed as he is. This all leads to an actual heartwarming moment where in order to be legally deemed the owner of a unscratched lotto scratcher he admits he’s gay, only for the others to assume that once he has it he’ll just go back into the closet as he has before. When they tell him that though he softly says “You know, I think I’ll stay out this time” Everyone with mild shock that he was actually able to come out shares that they are proud of him and say good for you and stuff like that. It’s a sweet moment in a show that doesn’t often give them but the real point comes a year later.

Roughly a season and a half after Mac came out the show aired this as their season finale and I think its one of It’s Always Sunny’s finest moments. Frank has been tasked with getting Mac to dance on the bar’s float for the pride parade and Mac just says he doesn’t feel very proud. Frank agrees to help him, even though he admits that he never “got” Mac and probably never will since he’s come out. After proving that a sexist, awful 75 year old rich guy really doesn’t get gay culture at all Frank sees the problem as Mac having not come out to his own father. His father by the way is a convicted criminal who has been in jail most of Mac’s life. He’s man Mac sees as so tough that when he tries at first, his dad think he’s saying “he knocked some broad up” and Mac can’t correct him.

After it looks like Mac might go back into the closet Frank has a revelation that brings him back to Mac where he says that you can’t keep stuff like this inside you, “Sometimes you just gotta let the blood flow.” While for Frank that lesson was alarmingly literal it leads him to help Mac set up an elaborate interpretative dance Mac has been considering all episode right in the prison so he can come out his way. It’s a striking and moving piece and while Mac’s father does not stay for the whole thing, Frank does. Frank is captivated throughout the whole performance and once it concludes, with tears in his eyes Frank goes

Frank then starts the standing ovation that takes us straight to the credits. This episode might be one of the best episodes of tv period in the last few years and it certainly is one of the most unique, interesting, and down right good coming out stories I think I’ve ever had the privilege to see. If you have the chance, and can take It’s Always Sunny (not everybody can, it’s a lot of...everything and I can totally see why it would turn people off) seek this episode out.

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia S13 E10: Mac Finds His Pride (2018)

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That’s all for today folks but as always don’t forget to leave any comments or likes you may have and feel free to leave suggestions or even cover your own topics using the tag #LGBTQPril and I will see you next time.

[sadiespells37]

I was about to say I have something a little different today, but considering this is only our second selection of the month I guess we haven’t established what “normal” is for this project (which is honestly good. Normal is harmful as a concept) But I digress, today I’d like to talk about a band

Yes, that is a butt shaped mirror ball. Let me introduce you too Planet Booty. Self described as “Endorphin-fueled electro-funk dance music” under the musical genre “sweat” Planet Booty is...well I think this paragraph from their Facebook page does more justice than I would:

“Planet Booty is probably not what you think it is. Dance to their eclectic electro-funk, grind to their original R’n’B grooves, and sweat under the intense, penetrating gaze of frontman Dylan Charles Germick as he begs you, in all sincerity, to love yourself no matter what.”

Their music is catchy, fun, funny and can be genuinely touching but there is a specific reason I picked them for LGBTQPRIL. (My phone now predicts that as a possible word choice and I love that) The band is incredibly body positive and starts every one of their performances with this monologue: (mild language)

“Ladies and gentlemen and everyone in between, we are here to celebrate life, love, funk, sweat, but most importantly we’re here to celebrate

*audience* Booty!

“Yes! Now no matter your age, no matter your shape, no matter your color, your creed, your sexual orientation, your gender or lack thereof; we are here today to show you the sexy motherfuckers you truly are.”

That is an astounding way to start a show, and as you listen you realize that hardly any of their songs, and none off of the recent few albums, have any gendered pronouns. This is in spite of the fact that most all of their songs are about singing to the listener and about how sexy they are. I am more than sure it is intentional because again referring back to the band’s Facebook under “gender” in the about section it says “plural (mixed)” I cannot find much about the member’s personal lives so I am not sure if one or more of them are LGBTQ+ in some way or they all are just allies but either way it’s great that these guys are as LGBTQ+ positive as they are.

I’ll leave you now with one of their most representative music videos. A video that not only starts with a version of the monologue I mentioned earlier but also features a wide array of body types you don’t normally see in music videos among the extras and dancers. A fair amount of them also seem to be dressed in gender non-conforming ways to boot. If you like this, check out the rest of their work. And as always feel free to like this post, follow for more LGBTQPril and suggest anything you might want me to cover. Don’t forget you can also cover anything you want yourself and use the tag #LGBTQPril if you want.

Planet Booty: Junk in the Trunk (2019)

https://youtu.be/ZrhVrMLupKU

[sadiespells37]

I’d like to start off our journey with one of my favorite shows. More specifically a 20 years later hour long special of one of my favorite shows from the 90s, but it’s still great. I grew up with Nickelodeon and loved watching all their Nicktoons, but as I’ve gotten older very few of them hold up as well as I remember. I can now appreciate the artistry and skill in making animation and get some jokes made for the adults in the room instead of the target audience of children but rarely are they as good as I remember. This however is an example of one that not only holds up, but is probably better enjoyed as an adult than a kid. It had emotionally complex stories about parental/child estrangement. INS errors, and so much corporate satire. So when the creator announced that he was making a new special for the series set in modern day and about the characters dealing with changes in the last 20 years I was over the moon excited.

The special was everything I wanted and more. All the voice cast returned, the tone was spot on with the original series of goofy, cartoony, but just grounded enough to really invest into the emotions of the characters. But why am I telling you about this for LGBTQPril? Well that concerns what I feel like is a bit of a spoiler so I’ll put the warning up here and say you should watch the special. It’s on Netflix so go do that if you want and come back. Otherwise you have been warned.

Okay so the plot for this special is extremely meta and involves Rocko tracking down the son of his next door neighbors and creator of his favorite cartoon from the 90s, The Fatheads to make a new Fatheads special. He and his friends track down the creator, who has been gone for years to attempt to find himself. And when they finally meet again, about half way into the special, this scene happens.

This is a big deal. Rachel, as her previous name Ralph, was in the original series and always seemed unhappy. But if you know those episodes and watch this it’s striking how much happier they seemed to have made her now that she has discovered her identity and transitioned.

The way she’s incorporated into the rest of the special is really great too. Rachel’s father Ed is very resistant to this and does not accept that who he thought was his son is actually his daughter. Eventually Rachel decided to make the special anyway, inspired as the original Fatheads series was by his parents. This time however it is inspired by her childhood and in spite of everything she still loves her dad. Once Ed sees the special and the scene taken from a real even when she was a baby he realizes that Ralph or Rachel she is still his child and always will be.

The special also draws explicit parallels with Ed’s failure to accept Rachel at first with Rocko’s problem throughout the special of not being able to accept change. The clear subtext and lesson of the special is that being unwilling to accept change as a part of life for even minor reasons is still as unhelpful and self harmful as not being accepting of your child living as who they truly are.

In the end this special more than lived up to my expectations and beyond. It’s funny, it’s full of background gags that are inside references to the original series, and has an amazing and thoughtful example of trans representation to boot. Definitely worth your time.

Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling. Rachel Bighead (2019)

That’s all for today, everybody. As always leave any thoughts you might have in the places you leave them, comments and such, and if you have any suggestions for future entries feel free to let me know. If you’d rather write about your own favorite examples of good LGBTQ+ representation in any media feel free to do that too and even use the tag #LGBTQPril so we can all force this pun.

[sadiespells37]

So either by chance or through some of the places I’ve had the link posted you have found this little blog and it is a cross section of a few of my interests: Writing about television, movies and other such media, bringing somewhat to very niche subjects I know about to the attention of others, and how great it is that so much of modern media has positive representations of LGBTQ+ characters to not only their respective communities but to the wider world in general. It’s something that when I was a kid longer ago than I’d like to admit I had never considered but for those kids who are not like I was and are any part of those groups themselves or have a close family member or friend who is, it is so important for them to know that they aren’t weird because of it. For the same reason it’s also important for heterosexual and/or cisgendered folks out there to realize how normal these people existing is too. Media representation may not be the most urgent aspect of improving our society for LGBTQ+ folks out there but it’s one that I feel like can be underrated in its importance.

But I digress, (get used to that happening) I figured since we’re all stuck inside because of *gestures to everything* and because we could all use some positivity I figured I would highlight some of my favorite, most unique, and most interesting examples of LGBTQ+ representation in our media that I am aware of. I’ll also open the floor up to suggestions. If you have a suggestion for a movie, tv show, tv episode, or character in any of those you think it would be good to highlight feel free to tell me. I will happily take note and perhaps I’ll even get to see something I haven’t seen yet. I plan on covering about 15 or so entires throughout this month. So with that out of the way I invite you all to sit back and watch along if you like to a project I call LGBTQPril, because I can’t not force that pun. And heck if you so feel like it post your own highlight and tag it LGBTQPril. Maybe we’ll get more of these from all sort of voices and places giving us a variety of wild suggestions. See ya tomorrow for our first highlight.