What up y'all? I'm Penn, a Black-Asian genderqueer freelance pop culture critic, and this is my column, Queerly Nerdy, where I critique queer geekiness in comic books, anime, video games, and more. This month, we are talking about the movie musical Kiss of The Spider Woman, the audiobook Pansy: A Black American Memoir, and Glee.
Embrace the 'Kiss of the Spider Woman'
I recently went to see the movie musical Kiss of The Spider Woman, and I was pleasantly surprised how gay it ended up. Directed by Bill Condon, the movie occurs during Argentina's Dirty War, a brutal period of genocide involving Argentina's government. The film tells the story of two prisoners, a gay window dresser named Luis Molina (fabulously played by queer actor Tonatiuh) and political dissenter Valentin Arregui Paz (played by Diego Luna). To pass the time, Molina starts telling Valentin the story of his favorite movie-musical Kiss of the Spider Woman. As the film progresses, the stark reality of Molina and Valentin begins to blur with the glamour of Kiss of the Spider Woman, demonstrating how escapism can be both a coping mechanism and a cold comfort in a hellish world.
While the film also stars actress-singer Jennifer Lopez as the eponymous Spider Woman, it is Tonatiuh who stole every scene for me. Tonatiuh actually portrays Molina and one other role I can't talk about (for spoiler reasons), and he does both with charisma, tenderness, and elegance. Meanwhile, the music was an extravagant combination of jazz, dance, and ballads that enhance the emotions of the characters.
'Glee' Makes Me Happy
If y'all can't already tell, I love musicals. However, I missed out on the coming-of-age musical TV drama Glee when it was first aired. I finally decided to rectify this by streaming the show on Hulu. I am currently in Season 5 and while the show definitely has flaws, it is still a ton of fun. It ended up becoming one of my favorite pick-me-ups during the week.
My favorite musical numbers usually end up being sung by the characters Mercedes, Santana (rest in peace, Naya Rivera), Kurt Hummell, and Unique. Examples are Santana's fantastic cover of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" with the character Sebastian, Mercedes' cover of "Hate On Me," and Unique's cover of "Pinball Wizard."
Digimon Cyber Sleuth Is Fun and Gay
I recently bought the Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition on Nintendo Switch for $5 on the Nintendo eShop, and I've been having a blast. For those not familiar with Digimon, it is a multimedia digital monster franchise created in 1997 by the companies WIZ and Bandai and designer Kenji Watanabe. Originally beginning as a series of virtual pets meant to rival the Tamagotchi toys, Digimon would also become an anime series, a trading card game, and a video game series. The original game, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth — originally released back in 2015 on the PlayStation Vita — is one of the most popular in the broader Digimon series, and it has since been ported to other systems with its sequel, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker's Memory.
In Cyber Sleuth, you play as a detective investigating mysterious occurrences between the human world and the digital world where Digimon reside. One reason this game hooked me as a newcomer to the series is that the digital creatures have multiple evolution paths that can be unlocked by "digivolving" and "dedigivolving." The other is that some of the secondary characters are gay as hell.
One particular subquest I completed recently involved a guy whose phone is being affected by a female Digimon called Lillymon. Even after battling her, she refuses to leave the phone and vows to send phone calls from women to voicemail. When you explain this to the guy, he finds Lillymon's crush on him sweet, and adds that he doesn't mind not getting calls from women — he's only into guys.
'Pansy: A Black American Memoir' by Jasper Joyner (audiobook edition)
Last year, I had the immense pleasure of reading the memoir Pansy: A Black American Memoir by Jasper Joyner, my friend and colleague. Ranging from a childhood in Memphis, Tennessee to a queer awakening in New York, it is a thought-provoking and poignant coming-of-age memoir that interrogates Blackness, queerness, and gender identity. It's now available as an audiobook narrated by the author themselves.
In the most recent edition of their self-titled newsletter, Jasper states, "The goal was to capture the true essence and rhythm of the written edition. As a writer who’s struggled to read with a learning disability (as noted in this very book), audiobooks continue to expand my literary scope. I often use them to supplement my reading experiences with written copies, so it only made sense to give an audiobook option for Pansy; for fun but also for better accessibility."
If you love audiobooks or want more trans literature in your life, go read — or listen to — Pansy. Buying the audiobook via Libro.fm supports indie bookstores across the United States.
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