#russian queer film

[fiercynn]

queer short film: "мы станем лучше | we will become better"

queer short cuts is a biweekly newsletter where i share queer & trans short film recommendations. i'm featuring some of my favorite films on tumblr because why not

russia | 2021 | 6 minutes | music/dance video audio in russian, english subtitles embedded

мы станем лучше | we will become better, written by evgeny primachenko and andzej gavriss, and directed by gavriss, is a music video by russian indie band сансара | sansara that protests the 2020 amendment to the russian constitution, proposed by vladimir putin, that defined marriage as between a man and a woman. the context is horrific but the film itself is gorgeous, featuring two dancers (maksim avdeev and nikita orlov) moving in tandem with each other but still completely separated and distant. deepa's full review, including content notes at the end

read more about the making of the film!

[panimoonchild]

A lot of LGBT people, by the way, who - more than anyone - under the Russian occupation are now facing horrible pressure, tortures

The Russian world [russkiy mir] and the human rights … Aren't compatible. Facts. I truthfully can agree with that statement. If me and my sister didn't leave Donetsk, we would be in captivity for more than one reason. We're Ukrainians, female, and part of the queer community. So we are lucky to live in Ukrainian cities far away to reach for Russians. For now. If the world doesn't help us, our country, and as a nation we can't survive. Okay, enough apparent words. And if someone left comments like LGBT suffer in Russia, I'll delete and block you. The last reminder: I don't care about Russians, who have done nothing for war to stop since 2014. I despise them. All Ukrainians have the right to feel like that. We all lost something or someone because of them. I don't like to repeat myself. Just to clear things last one time. The full short film 'Marriage (In) Equality In Ukraine' (15 minutes duration) with English subs:

And finally, I want to share the story of one homosexual soldier:

Please keep spreading our voices and donate to our army and combat medics (savelife.in.ua, prytulafoundation.org, Serhii Sternenko, hospitallers.life, ptahy.vidchui.org and u24.gov.ua). Or donate to the Ukrainian LGBT Military:

I'm writing this post when Russian strategic aviation is coming for our lives:

[jacquelinemerritt]

Queer Media Review: But I’m A Cheerleader (1999)

Originally posted September 16th, 2016

A tonally mismatched, endearing cult classic.

This review is part of a weekly series of pieces on queer and trans media. See them all here!

Jamie Babbit’s1 first feature film, But I’m A Cheerleader, has, in the years following its release, become something of a classic piece of queer representative media. It frequently tops recommendation lists of films about queer people that don’t end in tragedy (lists that are far shorter than they have any right to be), and it is a film I have heard described as “quintessentially lesbian.”

This film’s status as an iconic lesbian film baffles me. Cheerleader is not a bad film, per se, but it is, in almost every way possible, a sleazy teen comedy that attempts to mine humor out of an incredibly traumatic and horrifying scenario (namely, being sent off to a gay conversion camp). That designation isn’t inherently negative; the same can be said of the original American Pie and John Tucker Must Die, and both of those films are entertaining because they revel in just how sleazy they can be. If But I’m A Cheerleader had committed to reveling in the sleaziness of turning the trauma of conversion therapy in a light comedy, then it might have succeeded on those (less than savory terms.

But Cheerleader is caught in between two worlds. At its core, it’s a film that wants to be a down to earth romance about good people finding love in a dark situation, but that core is constantly at odds with the low-brow humor and unintelligent satire that fills nearly every scene. It never attempts to examine the absurdity inherent to its scenario, and the only clear statement it makes about conversion therapy is that it’s ineffective, which is as obvious a statement on the matter as a film could make. The film also has a wildly inconsistent visual language2, frequently switching between bland stationary shots and handheld tracking shots for no apparent reason, only to return to its bland cinematography a moment later.

And yet, despite all of those flaws, I still rather enjoyed watching Cheerleader. Even with all the poorly designed sleaze surrounding it, the emotional core of Cheerleader is damn compelling, presenting us with a slowly budding romance between two highly likable characters.

That solid emotional core is established early-on through Megan (Natasha Lyonne, of Orange is the New Black fame), a very sympathetic protagonist who is confused about her own sexuality. She frequently fantasizes about her fellow cheerleaders while making out with her boyfriend, and she has a picture of a bikini clad woman in her locker, contrasted with her friend whose locker is adorned with a male model. When she’s ambushed by her friends and parents (in one of the few good uses of visual storytelling, I might add), she’s completely blindsided by them, and she quickly submits to their demands that she attend conversion therapy, despite her beliefs that none of the “evidence” presented was abnormal or confirmed her supposed “homosexuality.”

Megan’s cluelessness and empathy make her romance with Graham (Clea DuVall), another attendee at the conversion therapy camp, all the more believable, as their coupling is treated as a subtle slow, burn. We see them holding hands and touching each other, carefully avoiding the watchful gaze of Mary Brown (Cathy Moriarty), the camp’s strict headmistress. There’s a clear understanding of the danger of their budding relationship in the film, as when Graham deflects suspicion off of their rebellion by claiming to have a crush on Joel (Joel Michaely), a gay Jewish man also attending the camp, Megan is never shown to be jealous of the affection he’s receiving (she even takes a chance to stare flirtatiously at Graham while she’s holding hands with Joel).

The film also does challenge one idea, and that’s the idea that gender expression and fulfillment of gender roles are connected to or determinate of sexuality, though it does so with mixed results. Early on, there’s a scene where the characters must all think about and confess what the “root” of their homosexuality is, and one of the men at the camp claims that his mother allowing him to wear her pumps was the single experience in his life that led to his same-gender attraction. The film wants to paint this as the ridiculous connection that it is, but its strength is lost because so many of the film’s jokes rely on the association between gay men and femininity.3

The film is more successful in challenging stereotypes about sexuality and gender when the masculine presenting Jan (Katrina Phillips) storms out of a group therapy session, upset that her love of softball and unconventional looks have led to her attending the camp despite the fact that she has always been fully and exclusively attracted to men. Her rejection of the camp’s attempt to foist femininity onto her rings true thanks to Phillips’ compelling performance and the film’s lack of insistence that masculinity in women is in any way indicative of same-gender attraction (an acknowledgement that is present in the film’s title).

The ending of the film, despite being rather annoyingly cutesy, is fairly compelling as well, setting up a scenario in which one of the members of the lead couple is about to “graduate” from the camp, and the other must fulfill a wish the graduating partner made in order to convince her to run away with her. It’s an incredibly sweet gesture, and their relationship is given a satisfying conclusion, capping off the film with passionate kisses and annoyingly chipper music. That this scene works despite its presentation is a testament to Babbit’s strength as a director (of actors) and Natasha Lyonne’s strength as an actress, as the two of them sell the emotion of the scene that would otherwise be drowned out by a bad pop musical score.

Such a tonally conflicted, endearing scene is arguably the perfect ending to this film.

Rating: 3.5/5

But I’m A Cheerleader can be rented and purchased on iTunes or streamed via Xfinity.

Critical Eye Criticism is the work of Jacqueline Merritt, a trans woman, filmmaker, and critic. You can support her continued film criticism addiction on Patreon.

1While Babbit hasn’t directed many features of significant acclaim since But I’m A Cheerleader, she has gone on to become a rather prolific TV comedy director, specializing in smaller, character-driven comedies such as Gilmore Girls (for which she directed eighteen episodes), Malcolm in the Middle, and more recently working on hit comedies like Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Silicon Valley (she even directed one of the best episodes of Supergirl’s first season!) All of this to say, she’s got a rather impressive body of work behind her, and it would not be surprising if her name were to show up on a highly successful feature comedy sometime in the near future.

2Bonus points if you caught the reference.

3These jokes are made in spite of the film’s inclusion of Dolph (Dante Basco), a varsity wrestler whose masculinity is never in question, and Larry (Richard Moll), an “ex-ex-gay” who looks like a lumberjack right down to the flannel.

[moss-in-hiding]

(i’m making basically translation of my previous post that’s fully in Russian) 

today I watched an old Soviet two episode show called Ordinary Miracle, which I haven’t seen since I was a kid. however, while I was watching it, I realize that two of the characters the Wizard and his wife are basically just Howl and Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle.

because the wizard is on one hand trying to live normally, but also turned a bear into a human just for his own amusement? (but also it’s heavily implied he did it because he wanted the bear to feel love and get to be human) and his wife, who is ginger by the way, just like book Sophie, is basically his conscience telling him that it’s inhumane to force the bear to be human if he doesn’t want to be.

oh, and also the movie starts off with the line my wife who I’ve been in love with since I was a boy- which is literally Howl.

but yeah, it’s on YouTube if you’re into subbed surreal soviet musicals from the 70s!

[aspiringwarriorlibrarian]

Goncharov wouldn’t be half as entertaining if Tumblr weren’t completely and utterly willing to “yes and” all the initial flaws. Katya’s name should be Goncharova? Her calling herself Goncharov reflects her complicated relationship with both her gender and her queerness. Andrey’s name should be Andrei? No, because he’s actually a Ukrainian being mistaken for a Russian by the Italians, which is central to his character and the themes about identity and nationality in the wake of the collapsed USSR. The USSR wouldn’t even fall until 20 years after the film was made? Matteo JWHJ0715 was ahead of his time.

It’s a great example about how good faith approach to writing can really enhance the reading, when you treat flaws as opportunities rather than just nitpicking them or erasing them. The mistakes being folded into Goncharov makes for a deeper, stronger, and more interesting story than if those mistakes had never happened at all.

[queeringclassiclit]

Which adaptation of Sherlock Holmes is the most queer?

*not including House M.D. because it's not really an adaptation, or any overtly queer pastiches like My Dearest Holmes or The Adventure of the Furtive Festivity because that's not really a fair contest

[rastel1979]

Summing Tumblr Yuuri On Ice!

If this community is capable of creating a Scorsese's fake film about drama, love and the Russian mafia, and make everybody talk about "Goncharov", we can recreate it here "Yuuri On Ice Adolescence".

Not only the film, the next level also: "Yuuri On Ice 2: queer first conquer Moscow then they take the world"

We can have the plot, the multiple plots, the soundtracks, the frames, the animation, the art, everything!

We could be the new force, like the furrys!

Make it for him.

Make it for them.

Make it for all of them!

[rwrbmovie]

BTS of #RWRBMovie: 'z' in your last name

TZP via HOLA:

Clifton Collins Jr., who plays my father in the film, was amazing. I knew of him. I’d seen his projects, but we’d never crossed paths before. And then we met and we just got along, thick as thieves. And he’s like an OG Mexican from Los Angeles which was so colorful. He made it feel like there was family on set. Same with Matthew being Puerto Rican. Their influences help you get into that vibe, and then you do the scene and it’s wonderful. You really bring that accuracy to it.

There’s a line in the film when Alex and Henry are in Paris, and Henry asks him a question about his mom’s campaign, and Alex starts telling him about his father and his abuela coming to the States. The line is something like “If you’re an immigrant in America and you have a ‘Z’ in your last name, there’s a lot of people in positions of power that don’t look and sound like you. I’ve been given the opportunity to be someone in the world that my father didn’t see when he was growing up.” As someone with two ‘Zs’ in his last name (laughs), that was a tough scene for me because I had to be there as Alex and not as Taylor. It was very emotional to think of my family and what they went through to come to the United States. Even though they came here a long time ago, you still think about all of the people that are coming to America today and about all of their stories. Alex realizes that his father didn’t have any role models growing up and now he’s a congressman. That fuels his fire to be the change. That was so exciting for me.

From NYT:

For both Zakhar Perez and the director, the character Alex’s biracial identity was particularly meaningful. López grew up in Panama City, Fla., with his Puerto Rican father and Polish Russian mother, while Zakhar Perez is of Mexican, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean descent and was raised in northwest Indiana, where he said there was only one other Mexican family. “Matthew and I talked a lot about the mestizo journey,” Zakhar Perez said in a video call before SAG-AFTRA, the actor’s union, went on strike. “Being part Mexican, part lots of other things, I don’t want to say you’re forgotten, but in today’s world, it’s like, you’re either this or you’re that. There’s nothing in between. I’m kind of a cultural chameleon.” “As a young Latiné queer man, I never read something that centered someone like Alex,” López said, echoing his star. “If I had been presented with this character when I was in my late teens, early 20s, it may have changed how I thought about myself.”

From Windy City Times:

Was the part about having a Z in your last name personal or the book? ML: It was personal. That was about me and Taylor. It came from a conversation that Taylor and I had when making the film.

From Metro Weekly:

Alex has a line about grow ing up in Texas as a kid with a last name that ends with Z, which is I guess something else you can relate to, Florida style. ML: And Taylor Zakhar Perez also. Taylor and I talked about that scene a lot as being something that we both understood. My aunt Priscilla Lopez is a beloved, beloved stage actor. She was in the original cast of A Chorus Line. And there's a story that she tells about Mandy Gonzalez, who was in In the Heights with her, and Mandy once told Priscilla that Priscilla made it okay for her to be someone with a Z in her last name. And that was a thing that Taylor and I spent a lot of time discussing as well. It was important to me that that scene be in the movie. There was never a chance in hell that that scene was ever getting cut.

From Teen Vogue:

TV: One of my favorite parts is when they’re in Paris, and Alex talks about being a young person of color coming up from Texas and not seeing anybody who looked like himself or his dad in politics, and Henry’s response to that simply being: “I’m learning.” I don’t know if you were in the theater for that one, but half the crowd was like, awwwww. ML: Yeah, I was for that. TV: I’m married to a white man, and I was like, that is the perfect thing a white man can say in that situation. ML: I’m married to a white man, too. Speaking as someone who is a person of color married to a white man: that’s like the ultimate thing you ever want your white boyfriend or husband or partner to say. That’s it. “I’m learning.”

ML via THR:

There’s a scene in the movie that is very much me, which I gave Taylor after they’ve had sex for the first time. They’re there in pillow talk mode, and he tells Henry about what it’s like to be the son of an immigrant with a Z in your last name. It was really important to me to talk about growing up with a Z in your last name and even just how our names are pronounced, the spellings of our names sometimes if you have Latin ancestry. To have to answer for your name has always been something for me that I struggled with until I stopped struggling with it. So, I needed to put that into Alex’s story and when it came time to shoot that scene again, it was something I didn’t have to explain to Taylor Zakhar Perez. He got it instantly. The only thing that I did screw him up with is like, “We’re going to do this [scene] as a oner, and we’re going to do it as a top shot that starts in a wide shot and comes all the way down to your face, and we’re not going to leave this scene until you get it right in one.”

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Aleksandra Khokhlova (By the Law, The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks, The Death Ray)—aleksandra khokhlova was a russian actress, theater director, and writer, best known for her collaborations with the pioneering film director lev kuleshov. im so gay for her teeth.

Paulette Goddard (Modern Times, The Women, The Great Dictator)—she got started in the 1920s in Chaplin movies, but I actually like her best in her sound career—she's so funny and always conveys a liiiiittle bit of bitchiness in everything I've seen her in! my fave is this very genderbendy bit in "Pot O' Gold," [editor's note: some Hollywood "Latin" stereotypes in the clip] where she goes into full drag king mode to sing a song about what a lady killer she is. it blew my mind that this turned up in a 1930s movie with absolutely no context. it's so queer and I love her for it.

This is round 1 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Aleksandra Khokhlova:

Paulette Goddard:

Perhaps best remembered as the gamine from Chaplin's movies - and she is so charming, mischievous, energetic and heartbreaking in the role

 It’s impossible to watch her with Charlie Chaplin and not fall in love with her, the absolute most perfect sweetest feistiest actress

[siblingskissing]

Ronance headcanons?

Ronance Headcanons

I have had the BIGGEST brain rot about these two, you guys don't even know, so please excuse my rambling session in this post. As always- feel free to share your headcanons, opinions, thoughts ideas, just be kind <3

-Robin is the biggest simp to ever exist. Nancy mentions liking a color? Guess who's suddenly adding it all over their wardrobe! A favourite food? She's already learned how to cook it. Allergic to something? Robin will destroy it with her bare hands and make it go extinct to protect her girl.

-Likewise, Nancy would and will kill for Robin (come on Robin tell her to kill for you she wants to)

-Their favourite dates include them sitting in one of their rooms, a movie or music playing as they discuss conspiracy theories or whatever story Nancy is working on

"There's been a ton of missing items from farms in the areas. Animals, tools, bales of hay-"

"could it be aliens?"

"Alie- Robin it's not aliens!"

"What? Interdimensional monsters are real but aliens aren't?"

-Many people assume Nancy would get annoyed by Robins carefree joke centered attitude but actually she calms down whenever Robin tries making jokes.

-She doesn't like when people don't take things seriously, but she knows Robin is taking it serious, but using humour to make sure they don't spiral with the problem

-their relationship definitely started off rocky but with some time, understanding and surprisingly really deep conversations they learn to appreciate the little things about one another.

-Robin loves Nancy's drive and her leadership skills. She makes sure that everyone takes her seriously and if the kids complain about Nancy being a hard ass she brings them back to listen.

"Nancy's not our boss!"

"No, but she's the one keeping you dipshits safe- she knows what she's doing so listen up and quit complaining"

-They kids listen to Robin more and so when she follows Nancy with no complaints, the kids unconsciously follow suit.

-When Nancy gets stressed/aggravated Robin will be there to lend her a shoulder. They're very much leader/Right Hand man coded to me.

-Nancy doesn't know much about queer culture so when she does eventually come out Robin is happy to talk to her about it and share what she knows.

"So we use Blue violets because Sappho used to describe women wearing garlands of them,"

"Sappho?"

"... Do you have a spar 3 hours so I can explain Sappho and Greek poetry to you?"

-They take all kinds of cute little Polaroids that they keep at Robins place

(examples of said Polaroids)

-Robins family is more supportive so often Nancy goes over there to spend the night

-when college comes up in discussions Robin mentions that she enjoyed investigating with Nancy, the research was fun when they didn't have death looming over them.

"Yeah, learning Russian to break the code was awesome- the torture kind of ruined it though-"

"The WHAT?"

-Nancy asks Robin 1000X if Robin is sure she wants to go to the same college/same field and Robin promises her that she isn't only going because of her.

"I'd follow you anywhere, but this is also for me- if I have to do one more customer service job I might kill someone."

-They love movie nights, curled up under a blanket watching whatever film they can find. Robin always finds the oddest ones and sometimes some really deep indie films. Nancy also enjoys the foreign films she can find and let's her choose.

-on nights Nancy chooses- she likes care free fun films. Nothing too heavy because she likes the simplicity

-Theyre a gross matching couple- but in a new fun way.

-Mat hing colors in their respective styles, using each other's clothes and making it go with their personal choices, matching patterns/designs.

-They also shared shoes sometimes

-On the 90s Nancy gets a more "Rachel from friends" style like this

-Robin eats it up like no one is watching and often has to hold back from just kissing her 24/7

(also I badly wanna do a look book of the characters so Please someone ask for that because I love fashion)

I definitely probably have more but here you are!!

[historianroo]

a short list of historical figures who were queer: because I need people to understand that queer people have always been here.

with sources, because I am, after all, a historian.

Most of these figures are musicans, it is because I am studying to be a historical musicologist (basically a music historian).

Leonard Berenstein– (1918-1990) Composer, conductor, musician. Known for his musical West Side Story. Most likely a gay man, perhaps bisexual. While there are plenty of letters and first hand confirmations that exist, this Guardian article conveys the information well enough.

Pytor Illich Tchaikovsky– (1840-1892) Russian composer, best known for his ballets: Swan Lake, and the Nutcracker, as well as his 1812 Overture, which features canon fire (and has become a meme on Tumblr). A gay man, as confirmed by multiple historians that have dedicated their life to his research, and by me, who spent a few weeks translating letters that talk about his love for men and his fear of what that would do to his life. This article talks about John Wiley (a historian) had to say about it.

Benjamin Britten– (1913-1976) Known for his vocal compositions, if you are an english classically trained vocalist you know Britten's compositions. Known especially for his War Requiem and his opera Peter Grimes. He and fellow musician Peter Pears had a long lived relationship. This article speaks about it more.

Ethel Smyth– (1857-1944) A lifelong disrupter, demanded (rightly so) for people to listen to her music in a time where women were not given the space to compose. A lesbian who fought for the right for women to perform and be a part of orchestras and conductor her own works when women conducters were few and far between. This article, written by a woman, speaks on her life well.

Francis Poulenc– (1899-1963) A Parisian man with a marked love of mostly men, but did father one daughter and dedicated a few compositions to her mother. This article speaks well on his love.

Alan Turing– (1912-1954) A gay icon of mine, Turing was a British Mathmetician and codebreaker who you have to thank for your phone and for the earlier end of the second World War. This article speaks about his life, as well as the film Imitation Game (2014) discusses it to some extent.

Freddie Mercury–(1946-1991) The beloved lead singer of the band Queen was a notourious queer icon, who had many love affairs with men but did say that he loved one woman when he was younger, for this reason, I will not say whether he was bisexual or gay. But a queer icon nonetheless. This article discusses the topic.

David Bowie– (1947-2016) A performer I have always loved and dearly miss, who is known for his bisexuality and fantastic outfits. This Billboard article discusses his sexuality. But it is important to note, that he came out as gay first, and then bisexual, which does not mean he was changing his mind or wanting to conform, but instead was becoming more comfortable with his own sexuality as he aged, something that should be a more generally accepted thing.

Leonardo da Vinci– (1452-1519) While there are guesses about this mans sexuality, it is generally believed and agreed upon that he was at least queer. While more research must be done, this article speaks on the subject well enough.

There are plenty more that I could talk about and that I want to talk about but that would take so long.

The most important thing: Queer people have always been here, and they are amazing and beautiful and deserved so much better than what history gave them.

Please reply with more (and sources) if you have them.

[generalpierrotdameron]

[...] What is crystal (kyber?) clear is that before Star Wars can have another successful show, the loudest voices online need to realize the Star Wars they want to return to never existed in the first place. Will the real Star Wars please stand up?  [...] Much of the online discourse around Star Wars has centered on the franchise’s most recent live action projects. First premiering in 2019, these include The Mandalorian,  The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, and The Acolyte. The market has been oversaturated with stories, especially many that occur within the same time frames, with fans frankly, getting tired and in some cases — outright bored. Each of the projects has had its own reception — and own problems. However the low audience scores, angry YouTube rants, and long Reddit threads can really boil down to one question: who determines what’s real Star Wars? First as a film, and then a trilogy, Star Wars established early on to viewers that even when they were focused on a set of powerful twins and a dark Empire, shit was going down on literally every other planet. This freedom has allowed for endless story arcs across decades. But while opportunities have been endless — the patience of fans hasn’t.  Take for example the most recent series, The Acolyte. Created by Leslye Headland (Bachelorette, Russian Doll), the series follows Mae and Osha Aniseya, a pair of mysterious twins (both played by Amandla Stenberg) who baffle a group of Jedi. [...] But well before the show premiered, vocal online fans mocked Stenberg’s casting, calling the series evidence that Disney was capitulating to a “woke” crowd by having multiple people of color in the cast. They also criticized news that the show would include queer characters, including a coven of witches. This week, Deadline reported that Disney canceled the series after just one season. Fans upset with what they called a social justice warrior direction for Star Wars celebrated, calling the show disrespectful to the original films, and simply not the Star Wars they loved. X owner Elon Musk even celebrated the news of the show’s cancellation, appearing to tweet a redacted version of the phrase, ‘Go woke, go broke.” [...]This backlash of racism, sexism, and online abuse seems consistent across all Star Wars projects — most heavily targeted at leads of color. But when online pundits criticize Star Wars for taking a “woke” direction, they ignore the power that exists in the source material to begin with. But what it seems like extreme fans don’t realize is that they’re creating a space where even the truest of Star Wars fans still wouldn’t want to participate. Let’s be real. If you thought you could make the next great Star Wars iteration, but you knew that your project could be lambasted simply for casting a person of color, is that where you would invest your time? Or if you were an actor of  color choosing between two roles you believed in, would you pick the one that came with an almost guaranteed hate campaign? The Star Wars fans clamoring for a return to the originals aren’t just talking nonsense, they’re ruining their chances to see the franchise they love grow in any meaningful way. Star Wars is about a galaxy filled with endless choices, battles, and people trying to make a difference. The fans who are loudest at the moment aren’t just willfully ignoring Lucas’ original vision. They’re making their own worlds smaller in the process.

👉 Renew the Acolyte - Sign the petition!

[guzhufuren]

something i'm often wondering about is how much more beautiful and progressive my country could have been without Russia putting its imperialist claws into this rich marvellous place over a century ago. i probably wouldn't be living in Kazakhstan or even born at all then, since half of my ancestors were of those russians that came on kazakh lands to stake their greedy claim and set their own rules

what i can finally talk here about, because half of a year passed and it's not causing me panic attacks to think about or all-encompassing fear that anything i say would have legal consequences anymore, is how my mother was almost legally persecuted for so called "propaganda of homosexuality". my mother, who isn't gay, is the kind of white leftist that uses therapy talk to manipulate her own children, is the person that left the most damage on my self-acceptance of being a queer person. she is a children's theatre teacher and director, who was being accused of directing a play about homosexuality. we, me and you, understand that it's wouldn't even be wrong to do that, you can't make kids gay by showing them gayness. you especially can't by showing them a fucking play about talking walking pillows and blankets that teach kindness. but the actual reason why it was pro-gay to these people was that this kids play had hints of tolerance towards queerness in a different theatre adaptation a few years ago in Russia. not the source material, not writer's notes, just a different director vaguely doing his own interpretation. so the Kazakhstan's parent association found out and flooded social media with fake claims about my mother, wrote a police report and a report to the national department of education. my mother isn't even gay. it was just witch hunt. but you understand how scary that was for me, an absolute queer that is getting a degree in kindergarten teaching, and my brother, a young bisexual. we thought we would have to run

some time after all this mess started we found out that it was an ethnically russian woman born in Kazakhstan who wrote the first report and started this whole thing. a woman who is obsessed with russian news, anti-gay laws and holds her own two kids in a protective bubble of "no freedom, no tolerance, no vaccines". so, you see

i'm am completely sure that Kazakhstan wouldn't be poisoned by this homophobia and anti human rights epidemic, if not for the long strong influence of Russia. they are the reason. maybe we would already have qls filmed here the way they do in neighbouring asian countries if it wasn't for them. maybe most people here wouldn't be so hateful and intolerant. maybe we would have any queer protecting laws at all. i am dreaming of how it all could have been. fuck colonialism. fuck imperialism. fuck Russia

[sout999]

I *finally* watched your animation today and I am at awe... oh my god sout!!! I got goosebumps at the end.. creating life from merging two creatures (whether animated or not) is one of my favourite tropes and it was thrilling to watch..!!! I love how the style feels like a VHS, reminded me of these old russian fairytale animations ♥ The music is so good too ahh <33 I wish I could leave an essay comment on YT but that's fine, thank you for having your ask box open ♥ I feel so lucky to have experienced your work, it's truly wonderful! I always loved your animations, characters & creatures and admired the vocality in your works about the 90's anime and anything revolving that era in the early 2000's (and anything else you're mixing in your magic pot, haha!!). //cries IT'S SO SO BEAUTIFUL!! ♥ You're amazingg, I hope you have a wonderful day!!!! ♥

MY DARLINGGG KONVEE thank you so much for the amazing words and for believing in me all these years ;_ ; I hope this is ok to answer publicly because I think you've put it all beautifully and also it's extremely validating to know my work has paid off in some capacity. I'm glad you caught the themes of generational abuse and all the merging/transformation stuff, these are all really the heart of the film but i didn't want to express the too overtly because thats just Not My Style. I think it's beautiful that everyone can take away something that resonates with them. Maybe someday I'll be brave enough to turn Youtube comments on and hear what everyone got from it but for now those two words fill me with fear hahah.

If you wanna read my dissertation I've put it up on Drive, please be nice because I had to partially phone it in to concentrate on the film instead (sad bc i love to write but also picking your battles etc), but it does express a lot of themes that I liked to explore in this project and in art as a whole. If you want to read something shorter I'm also attaching an essay I did for Honours year that got 95/100 score but maybe my professor was just really nice. Dissertation (Time-Image, Gender and Folk Horror): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MlURE-furI_z19jrlX_XyxUsNPnO_vPR/view?usp=share_link Essay (The Monstrous Queer): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CPAMIhlVx3h2LC-cZTdB73ehGJK0LLHP/view?usp=sharing

[daisiesonafield-blog]

Adam Lambert would like everyone to tone down the hostility about a hundred notches, please.

The current Queen frontman addressed the “queerbaiting” accusations leveled against Harry Styles and other musicians, saying he doesn’t think they hold much water, in an interview with British outlet iNews this week. 

“I get the concern,” Lambert allowed. “But OK, so if you’re a gay man and you like Harry Styles, do you like him because he has a rainbow flag on stage or because you like his songs? Is the rainbow flag not just icing on the cake?”

Automatically labeling looks and performances that aren’t cisheteronormative as queerbait is “almost underestimating the intelligence of gay people,” Lambert went on.

“We’re not that gullible, are we?” Lambert asked rhetorically. “I think people just like to find things to bitch about.”

“Queerbaiting” is a term that usually describes films and shows that tease LGBTQ+ storylines, but back off at the last second — like, say, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has done several times, see: Loki. It’s also been used to refer to acts like the infamous Russian pop duo t.A.T.u., where industry executives fabricated a lesbian couple out of two straight women to pander to straight men. But in recent years, some have also used the term to accuse celebrities who are not publicly LGBTQ+ of manipulating their fans and using queer aesthetics to boost sales.

That kind of argument is more cynical and can often turn into friendly fire for anyone who’s still closeted. After being relentlessly hounded on social media last year for being seen holding hands with a girl on set, Heartstopper’s Kit Connor announced he was bisexual and swiftly deleted his account. “congrats for forcing an 18 year old to out himself,” Connor wrote. “i think some of you missed the point of the show.” 

Styles himself remains unbothered, calling the discourse around him “outdated” in interviews last year. “I’ve been really open with it with my friends, but that’s my personal experience; it’s mine,” the “As It Was” singer explained. Everyone is, after all, allowed to tell everybody or nobody about who or how they love — and to make schlock like My Policeman.

-Full article. Link here.

[eretzyisrael]

by Robert Zimmerman

They’re coming for you next: In a sign that the corporate world is still kow-towing to pro-Hamas anti-Semites, Marvel Studios had decided to erase a long-standing Israeli character from its next Captain America movie, changing her from a former Israeli Mossad agent to a former Soviet spy with no links to any Jewish heritage.

While in the original Marvel comics continuity, Ruth Bat-Seraph serves as the Mossad agent mutant superhero Sabra, in a recent summary for the February 2025 film Bat-Seraph is described as a former member of the Soviet Russian Black Widow super spy program – the same program that trained Scarlett Johansson’s Avengers of the same name. The summary made no mention of Bat-Seraph’s codename, Sabra, which comes from the slang term for native-born Israeli, though other characters are referred to by their alter-egos. Anti-Israel activists have taken issue with the inclusion of Sabra in the film since the unorthodox star’s casting was announced by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige at the 2022 D23 Expo event in Anaheim, California. American Muslims for Palestine launched a letter campaign against Disney and Marvel Studios soon after the “distasteful” announcement, complaining that the character served “a state that is recognized by the entire human rights community as an apartheid regime, guilty of ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Palestinian people.”

The irony of this, as noted at the link, is that Marvel chose to change the character to a Russian, a country that invaded the Ukraine for no cause except to conquer it. Israel in turn is simply attempting to destroy the anti-Semitic Gaza organization, Hamas, that did essentially the same as Russia, invade without cause to rape, torture, and murder men, women, children, and babies. It is also trying to rescue the innocent hostages this murderous organization kidnapped and still holds.

As noted here, Sabra has been a Jewish Israeli character in the Marvel pantheon since 1980.

They are erasing an Israeli Jew identity because controversy, and turning her into a Russian. So Courage! Much Principles! [emphasis in original]

Essentially, Marvel is just another corporate bootlicker to the DEI, critical race theory, queer agenda, and pro-Hamas crowd. It now touts these ideas openly and with enthusiasm in its movies and comic books, and anything that crowd opposes it quickly erases. And apparently, Jews and Israelis must be banned, because our new 21st century Nazis demand it.

Maybe Marvel — to better please its pro-Hamas overlords — should consider firing any Jews it might have in its work force. Or maybe it can have them wear yellow Star of David patches so that others will be able to identify them and avoid them in order to not get dirtied by them.

Or maybe you and I and everyone else should simply stop paying any money to see or buy anything Marvel produces, since by doing so we are apparently supporting a Nazi-loving anti-Semitic company.