Gays Of Hell

Finn (they/them)/24 Header by icebadge “If you will come, I shall put out new pillows for you to rest on”

[lordchairesq]

[mynorthernattitude]

they should make a sleep that feels like you’ve slept

[audible-smiles]

My memory of The Birdcage (1996) is always that it's more dated and more difficult to watch than it actually is. You hear "drag-themed comedy from the 90s based on a musical from the 80s based on a play from the 70s" and you brace yourself just a little, right? But the film has a strong gay perspective, so the fruity fag jokes mostly come off as warmly affectionate. There is a surprising amount of poignancy in Robin Williams' portrayal of Armand, grudgingly agreeing to his beloved son's request that he go back into the closet for an evening ("do me a favor and don't talk to me for a while"). The drag club's staff attempting to redecorate the apartment with stuff straight people might like (a taxidermy moose head, an enormous crucifix, and Playboy magazine) is extremely funny. Albert's histrionics are a point of tension because he does often come off as a stereotypically pathetic/comic figure, but towards the end of the movie he makes it very clear that he's aware of how people see him, and asserts that trying to copy a stoic masculinity he doesn't possess for the sake of social approval would be more pathetic. In the 1983 musical adaptation, they give "Albert" (Albin) the only good song in the whole show, "I Am What I Am", which Gloria Gaynor covered to the delight of gays everywhere. Apparently Nathan Lane wasn't (publicly) out yet in 1996, which is amazing because it means that at one point in this movie you're watching a gay man playing a straight man playing a gay man playing a straight man, in a movie about how it's important to be yourself, an absurdity that does seem to encapsulate the state of gay America in the 90s.

[silverhand]

I'm seeing a couple of posts circulating about the gay 90s and this movie. The above is a very good summary, and I think it's worth adding a few other points.

This movie got made because Robin Williams said yes to it (and it's important that Gene Hackman did as well). Williams in the 90s was a mega-star of a type that's not present in the current media environment (maybe Tom Cruise, but I personally think that's echo from his salad days). Even his flops made money on the back end in the video rental market, which also doesn't exist anymore (streaming is different). Hackman was on the other side of his A-list career but still Hollywood nobility if not full royalty.

Playing gay was considered career suicide in the 90s. There had been a number of actors who put lie to that belief stretching back decades, but this was Williams and Hackman (yes, being on screen next to a gay character was enough to get you blacklisted) saying "screw that" and doing it anyway.

Being gay and out was career suicide in the 90s.

Nathan Lane had a really nice gig going for himself. The Lion King put him into the Disney rep company with people like Williams, Bette Midler, and Whoopie Goldberg (check their IMBD list from the 90s--they were making bank at Disney).

Lane didn't come out until several years later (nice summary: https://deadline.com/2024/06/nathan-lane-robin-williams-advice-coming-out-birdcage-1235975010/).

I don't want to imply that this was a Sorkinized moment where everything changed because of one thing, but this was a very important movie that caused real movement in the needle on queer acceptance.

It also proved that there was a market for films with gay characters, which had the knock-on effect of gay filmmakers being able to find distributors of their gay-themed films. Which meant that more people than ever (queer and non-queer) got to see representation on-screen.

[segamascott]

[byjove]

hey man, I can’t make it tomorrow. mom just told me I have to go into grandpa’s funeral barrow and fight his draugr for the family heirloom cursed sword. it’s probably going to be an all day thing. yeah, I know. I’m sorry.

[jadequarze]

[evilwizard]

wake up people. big bad wolf breath can’t melt straw beams. the first little pig was an inside job

[omnybus]

Swine/11

[evilwizard]

no there were 3

[momoboyds]

white europeans love to pretend like the united states and europe aren’t two cheeks of the same ass

[frontmansdefender]

people saying “don’t use your full government name for your ao3”, “create different emails for work and personal use” but personally I think it’s both sad and dystopian how capitalism/companies/even schools think they have the rights to cross your personal boundaries and insert themselves into your personal life. like, I get it, safety wise, why checking digital footprints can be important sometimes. but a gay fanfiction is not a fucking threat that could ever cause anybody harm. it’s funny (not really, it’s still sad and dystopian) how they now think they can control your personal life and prevent you from having hobbies

[hometoursandotherstuff]

[trickstercarlos]

seeing trans women out in public is like warm sunlight washing over me it genuinely brightens my mood

[glassfrogforest]

[tlirsgender]

I think it's cute when depictions of our solar system include earth's moon. Like yeah sure the moon's invited. We just like her

[tlirsgender]

Like simplified models that don't have Literally Everything just the planets. And our moon #OurMoon

[greatestlittlegiant]

always thinking of that “i couldn’t stop wasting time” quote

[greatestlittlegiant]

song of the summer!!

[rylandgraces]

Project Hail Mary — 2026, dir. Phil Lord & Chris Miller

[elimentals]

it makes me real fucking emo to think of how Iroh always refers to Zuko as “Prince Zuko”. Not out of some false stuck-up sense of formality or to distance himself emotionally or something, but because Zuko has been kicked out of his home by his own father and stripped of his identity, has lost his birthright and nation and entire sense of self in one terrible blow, and all he really has left is his name and title, as defamed and mocked as it is. Iroh is probably the only person in the world to address Zuko as “Prince” and actually mean it. His nephew needs to believe he can return home, needs to maintain some scrap of hope to keep him going. The only time Iroh slips up is and just calls him “Zuko” is when he thinks Zuko’s been killed in the ship explosion.

similarly, it makes me real fucking emo to think of how Zuko only ever calls Iroh “Uncle”. Not Prince, not General, not the Dragon of the West, not even just Iroh – he calls him uncle. Because Iroh is the only member of his family who Zuko trusts enough to let his guard down completely. He knows he won’t be punished for being informal or vulnerable around him, knows that calling him “uncle” will never be misconstrued as a sign of disrespect. Even at his angriest, Zuko addresses Iroh as “Uncle”. In the end, his uncle is the only person with whom he feels truly safe.

[cartoon-fanaticism]

GLaDOS voice: "Would you like to see some artwork I generated? I've heard from other test subjects that AI-generated artwork produces an uncanny valley response in human viewers because they can't perceive it as fully real. They've told me that it looks absolutely hideous to them, that they can't imagine anything more disgusting than AI art. But, well I've been practicing and wanted your honest opinion. Feel free to let me know how ugly you find this by ranking it on a scale from 'vomit-inducing' to 'eye-bleeding'." A robotic arm lowers from the ceiling holding a hand mirror up to Chell's face

[wassuppeas]