#such an important movie

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

Y'know, there's this gripe I've had for years that really frustrates me, and it has to do with Love, Simon and people joking about it and calling it too-pg and designed-for-straight-people and all the like. (A similar thing has happened to Heartstopper, but that's another conversation.)

I saw Love, Simon in theaters when it came out my senior year in high school. I saw it three times, once with my friends/parents on opening night, once with my brother over spring break, and once with my grandparents.

On opening night, the air in the room was electric. It was palpable. Half the heads in there were dyed various colors. Queer kids were holding hands. We were all crying and laughing and cheering as a group. My friends grabbed my hands at the part where Simon was outed and didn't let go until his parents were saying that they accepted him. My friend came out to me as non-binary. Another person in our group admitted that she had feelings for girls. It was incredible. I left shaking. This was the first mainstream queer romance movie that had ever been produced by one of the main five studios, and I know that sounds like another "first queer character from Disney" bit but you have to understand that even in 2018 this was groundbreaking. Getting to have a sweet queer rom-com where the main character was told that he got "to breathe now" after coming out meant so much to me and my friends.

But also, from a designed-for-straight-people POV (which, to be frank, it was written by a bisexual author and directed by a gay man, this was not designed for straight audiences), why is it a bad thing that it appealed to the widest possible audience? That it could make my parents and grandparents see things in a new light? My stepdad wasn't at all interested in rom-coms but he saw it with me because it was something I cared about and he hugged me when we came out of the theater. My very Catholic grandparents watched it with me and though my grandpa said he still didn't quite understand the whole 'gay thing,' all he wanted was for me to be happy and to have a happy ending like Simon did. My Nana actually cried when Simon came out and squeeze my hand when his mother told him he could breathe.

And when Martin blackmailed Simon, my mom, badass ally that she is, literally hissed "Dropkick him. Dropkick him in the balls" leading to multiple queer kids in the audience to laugh or smile. Having my parents there- the only parents, by the way, out of my group of queer and questioning friends- made multiple people realize that supportive adults were out there. That parents like those in Love, Simon do exist in real life.

When people complain about Heartstopper not being realistic or Love, Simon being too cutesy, I remember seeing Love, Simon on opening night. I remember my friend coming out and my stepdad hugging me and my mom defending us through this character. I remember the cheers that went through the audience when Bram and Simon kissed and the chatter in the foyer after the movie was over and the way that this movie made me understand that happy endings do exist.

Queer kids need happy endings. Straight people need entry points to becoming allies. Both of these things can come together in beautiful ways. They can find out about more queer culture later, but for now, let them have this. Let them all have a glimpse at a better, happier world. Let them have queer joy.

[ispyspookymansion]

its really wild how many movies and tv shows are just like, obscenely skinny. how many casts are representative of the average population, if you sampled a crowd in a normal store or on a train? how many actually “average” bodies do you see on screen? how often are the stomachs shown flat or concave, how often are the thighs all muscle no fat, how often are the jawlines and cheekbones totally sharp and not covered by even a hint of softness? its bizarre and offputting whenever you start looking at media with that in mind

[thetrashiestbaby]

part 2

[fortunelowtier]

I love how of all the minor characters to get a cult following its this fucked up bundle of anxiety lawyer

my only request for the next movie is More Doug, more Doug would be nice

[thapunqueen]

SO I SADDLE UP MY HORSE AND I RIDE INTO THE CITAAYY !!!!!

[mayhasopinions]

this line fucking hit. but it's true.

queer people for years, centuries, have been oppressed for being their most authentic selves, by the people who call themselves heroes and us the monsters, even nowadays with the most recent law for allowing discrimination against queer people in America. They call themselves the good guys, the saviours, the ones completely in the right and justified for hating against people just trying to live their lives. And apparently we're supposed to be the bad guys in this story.

i'm so glad that this movie came out when it did, the world really needs it.

[faelapis]

crazy seeing rightwing people calling the barbie movie anti-men considering i’m pretty sure the “i’m just ken” song did more good for men’s mental health than any number of their shitty little incel forums combined

[faulknerfujoshi]

they’re like two kittens who were in the same litter but adopted by different people and have been separated since

[bidoofenergy]

pleas please ambrosius is the model knight, he's what all knights should aspire to be, he comes from the right family he does well in training, he's the model knight, he works within an institution because it benefits him--as long as he works in it, because the second the director thinks he's questioning things too much she kills him--are you picking up what im putting down? he keeps his true feelings buried--never show doubt, don't show conflict, keep your head down, do what you're told, aren't you so lucky to have this chance, aren't you glad you were born as you are and not like the others--are you hearing what im saying

(listen to eugene lee yang talk about this on the trypod)

[pedro-pascal]

FOOD IN MOVIES MEDIA

THE BEAR (2022-) #02.03

[slymanner]

God dude these two scenes and how roxie moves hurt my heart so so bad 🥹

it's like a mix of anger, feral, emotional breakdown, and complete sadness that just fucks me up soooo fucking bad.

it's like she's a pet who got abandoned by their owner but they see them again after years of sadness and depression of them being gone and leaving them like that and all that anger and sadness just manifest's into one bundle of emotion's towards them they cannot control.

roxie baby ur gonna be okay u deserve better :[

[officialspec]

ill be honest as much as i love to criticise the use of fatphobia for comedy ill never be able to hold the fatphobic jokes in kung fu panda against it

like yea those movies are guilty of dipping into The Usual Tropes for a cheap laugh but not only is the character writing for the fat characters the strongest and most sympathetic ive Ever seen literally just the character designs of the pandas in the 3rd movie get me choked up sometimes. theyre all so appealing and clearly treated with the same care and attention as everyone else without copping out and making them Barely Fat. po is already a size that doesnt exist in film protags and hes still the thinnest person in that whole village and that meant a lot to me

[linusbenjamin]

Wanda Maximoff Avengers: Infinity War (2018) — dir. Anthony & Joe Russo

[beaulesbian]

[what-shitfuckery-is-this-ew]

Watching two asian gay guys take down the model minority myth and a transphobic society with their small genderfluid child wasn't on my bingo but damn I'm glad that it exists

[calikwat]

Because of the Velma show, a lot of people's pitches for a new adult Scooby Doo have Fred coming from a richer, upper-class family. Now, I know that comes from Fred being Mayor Jones's adopted/kidnapped son in Mystery Inc, but we're totally missing a goldmine here.

Fred isn't like Daphne. He doesn't come from a rich family more often than not. In fact, Fred's family history is so strange and convoluted from reboots, off-hand mentions, plot twists, and straight-to-DVD movies that Fred is related to more people than my mom knows people at random restaurants.

The goldmine is that we don't know the truth about Fred's family or parents. Are they the cruise-loving Skip and Peggy Jones from "Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy!"? What about the dangerous Brad Chiles and Judy Reeves of the original Mystery Incorporated? Or what about Mayor Fred Jones Sr?! It's not that last one, but the gist is we don't know who Fred's parents actually are. Fred doesn't know who his parents actually are. You look up "Fred Jones parents" on Google, and THE TOP RESULT IS FREDDIE SHRUGGING IN THE CONFUSION AND HORROR OF IT ALL!

Nobody knows where Fred came from- not even Fred- and maybe that's how it should be...

All these obscure family members and the 5+ potential parents from his overlapping stories... the elaborate traps and random knowledge explained away offhandedly by his shady past... that perfectly happy, preppy attitude untouched by the greed of 1970s capitalists and ghouls... the ascot!

These all lead me to believe that Fred has no parents, rich or otherwise. Fred Jones is a [teenageyoungadultcollegiate] man who awoke one day from nothing, a new consciousness born of the universe, with nothing but a love of learning, a passion for solving mysteries, and a fucking groovy van to help him survive. From there, our dear Freddie made a family for himself, by traveling the world in his van, meeting new people, and picking up the weirdest interests and hobbies.

While the other members of the gang all have families and homes to go back to, Freddie has the mystery machine. That is his home, and his family are the friends he makes along the way- including Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby. Amen.