This is your weekly Pop Culture Fix. If you are reading it I congratulate you for not going to jail for axe-murdering your neighbors for terrifying your dogs and cats with their dumb fireworks.Â
Teevee
+ When Degrassi‘s new season lands on Netflix on Friday, it will introduce its first ever genderqueer storyline. In the first episode of the season four, fan favorite Yael explains to their friend Lola: “I don’t feel like a girl, or what everyone thinks is a girl. I don’t like makeup or stuff like you do. I really, really hate my boobs… But I’m definitely not a boy either.” Lola talks through gender-fluidity to Yael and even points them to one of her favorite gamers who happens non-binary.
+ Have you watched Danger & Eggs yet? You absolutely should be watching Danger & Eggs. It was already the queerest show in history, and then:
https://twitter.com/shadipetosky/status/882113629193162752
+ Well, here’s a promo for the new 11-year time-jumped season of Will & Grace, which lands on NBC on September 28.
https://youtu.be/9TU8u7Ib8BU
+ You won! Sense8 is coming back for a two-hour series finale!
Death doesn't let you say goodbye. 2 hour finale episode in the works. Tell your cluster. pic.twitter.com/GHZgGuHwS0
— Sense8 (@sense8) June 29, 2017
Movies
+ Laneia linked this in Monday’s Also.Also.Also but I just really want to make sure you see it: AN ORAL HISTORY OF A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN ON ITS 25TH ANNIVERSARY.
+ As you know, The Fosters has gone completely off the rails in the last season and half. It’s back again this summer for what will probably be its final run and so Freeform has rolled out a campaign where people share stories about how the show changed their lives. Executive Producer Jennifer Lopez joined in to talk about her aunt, who was the inspiration for her participation with the The Fosters from the very beginning.
The people she watched on TV didn’t represent her. Movies didn’t represent her. She thought she was alone. When the opportunity to produce The Fosters first came my way, I was a bit hesitant. I knew the show would be controversial. Being in the public eye, these sorts of things go through your head. But then I thought about Myrza. This could be that show she didn’t have growing up. A show that holds a mirror to society and shines a light on what love looks like. It doesn’t matter your race or sexual orientation. Love is love. It turns out I was right, The Fosters is about to celebrate its 100th episode. Myzra isn’t with us anymore, but I like to think she is proudly looking down on me from above … the way I always looked up to her.
+ From Bitch magazine: Speed Sisters make drag racing a feminist issue.
+ Dumbledore’s gonna chase after Grindelwald (in a gay way) in the Fantastic Beasts sequel.
+ Daisy Ridley is back as Rey in this Star Wars: Force of Destiny short.
+ Wonder Woman is DCEU’s most successful domestic release ever in history. From Jezebel:
The film opened to $103 million, which is less than what Man of Steel raked in at $116 million its opening weekend, and far less than the $166 million of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which introduced Wonder Woman as a character, or the $133 million made by the critically panned Suicide Squad. But, as opposed to Batman v Superman, which had a viewer drop off of 69% after opening weekend, Wonder Woman’s excellent word of mouth has led to only a 45% decrease in attendance. On Thursday night, the box office total domestically for Wonder Woman was $330.5 million, which surpasses Batman v Superman’s $330.3 million by a hair.
Queer Humans, Out and About
+ Roxane Gay: “If I was conventionally hot and had a slammin’ body, I would be president”
+ Nico Deyo over at Kotaku wrote about World of Warcraft’s first lesbian couple, a pair of NPCs that joined the series in last year’s Legion expansion.
Legion is not a perfect expansion, but in it, one can start to see the little cracks in WoW’s longstanding “neutral politics” facade, and one can’t help but think that more designers that are coming into Warcraft’s fold are helping shape the legacy of this 12-year-old game to make it slightly more meaningful. It’s why I still think it’s remarkable that there are now two queer elves in the game who, even dead or cursed, are still allowed to acknowledge their love for each other.
+ Fun Home lyricist Lisa Kron has weighed in on recent criticism that the Off-Broadway version of the musical has “de-butched” Alison.
Kate Shindle was up on stage in a ringer-t just like the one Beth had worn. She has a very different body than Beth Malone, however. She’s a curvy amazon, and on her frame the effect of this same costume was completely different – somehow neither swaggery butch nor, thanks to her character-appropriate sports bra, quite sporty femme either. Kate, total pro that she is, didn’t question the costume. I went to David Zinn, our costume designer, and said, “A butch woman with that build would not wear that outfit. Can we please find a new version of this costume that looks like what a butch woman with that long, tall, busty body would choose for herself?” He agreed, and that is how the decision was made to change the costume.
+ Like you, Gillian Anderson thinks its bullshit that The X-Files writer’s room and director’s chairs are all full up of men.
And 2 out of 207 eps directed by women. I too look forward to the day when the numbers are different. #TheFutureisFemale https://t.co/38SVdTfCR1
— Gillian Anderson (@GillianA) June 29, 2017
