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demontobee · 8 months

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Good Omens is queering TV/storytelling - part 1: GAZE

I would argue that part of why Good Omens is so refreshingly queer is because it does not cater to the male gaze (which centers around the preferences - aesthetic, romantic, sexual, visual, logical, emotional, political ... - of mainly white men in positions of power):

no oversexualization of groups or types of people: Women or characters that could be read as female presenting are not overly sexualized. In fact, some of them are shown to be grimy, slimy and not sexual at all. All of them are real characters and not just cardboard-cutout on-screen versions of male misogynistic fantasies. They portray real people with real people problems. They are human, or exempt from our categories when portraying angels or demons. There are no overly sexualized bodies in general (as has so far also often been the case with young gay men, PoC, etc.), no fetishization of power imbalances, and not exclusively youthful depiction of love and desire.

sex or sexual behavior is not shown directly (yet): All imagery and symbolism of sex and sexuality is used not to entice the audience but is very intimately played out between characters, which makes it almost uncomfortable to watch (e.g., Aziraphale being tempted to eat meat, Crowley watching Aziraphale eat, the whole gun imagery).

flaunting heteronormativity: Throughout GO but especially GO2, there is very little depiction of heterosexual/romantic couples; most couples are very diverse and no one is making a fuss about it. There is no fetishization of bodies or identities. Just people (and angels and demons) being their beautiful selves (or trying to).

age: Even though Neil Gaiman explained that Crowley and Aziraphale are middle-aged because the actors are, I think it is also queering the idea of romance, love and desire existing mainly within youthful contexts. Male gaze has taught us that young people falling and being in love is what we have to want to see, and any depiction of love that involves people being not exactly young anymore is either part of a fetishized power imbalance (often with an older dude using his power to prey on younger folx) or presents us with marital problems, loss of desire, etc. – all with undertones of decay and patronizing sympathy. Here, however, we get a beautifully crafted, slow-burn, and somehow super realistic love story that centers around beings older than time and presenting as humans in their 50s figuring out how to deal with love. It makes them both innocent and experienced, in a way that is refreshing and heartbreaking and unusual and real.

does not (exclusively) center around romantic/sexual love: I don’t know if this is a gaze point exactly but I feel like male gaze and resulting expectations of what a love story should look like are heavily responsible for our preoccupation with romantic/sexual love in fiction – the “boy gets girl” type of story. And even though, technically, GO seems to focus on a romantic love story in the end, it is also possible to read this relationship but also the whole show as centering around a kind of love that goes beyond the narrow confines of our conditioned boxed-in thinking. It seems to depict a love of humanity and the world and the universe and just the ineffability of existence as a whole.

disability as beautiful and innate to existence: Disability is represented amongst angels by the extremely cool Saraqael and by diversely disabled unnamed angels in the Job minisode. Representation of disability is obviously super important in its own right, but is also queers what we perceive as aesthetically and ontologically "normal". Male gaze teaches us that youth and (physical and mental) health are the desirable standard and everything else is to be seen as a deviance, a mistake. By including disability among the angels, beings that have existed before time and space, the show clearly states that disability is a beautiful and innate part of existence.

gender is optional/obsolete: Characters like Crowley, Muriel and others really undermine the (visual and aesthetic) boundaries of gender and the black-and-white thinking about gender that informs male gaze. Characters cannot be identfied simply as (binary) men or women anymore just by looking at them or by interpreting their personalities or behaviors. Most characters in GO, and especially the more genderqueer ones, display a balance of feminine and masculine traits as well as indiosyncracies that dissolve the gender binary.

Feel free to add your own thoughts on this in the comments or tags!

#good omens s2 #good omens #good omens 2 #go2 #good omens meta #ineffable husbands #crowley #aziraphale #queer #queer TV #male gaze #thank you neil gaiman for cranking up the queer #neil gaiman #thank you neil gaiman

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fandom · 1 year

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Queer TV

This is a strange time to be writing an editorial on queer representation. While the past year has seen an incredible uptick in queer stories being told with humor and heart on the small screen, 2022 has seen a record high of 238 proposed anti-LGBTQIA+ bills in the US—nearly half of them targeting trans folks. Representation is important, though, and demand for more queer stories is growing (and, to some degree, being met), with a lot of good books and comics making it to our screens. With that in mind, think of this as your selective chronological tour of all the times we won in the TV landscape of the last year (October 2021–October 2022).

Our dataset year started off with the much-awaited adaptation of Robert Jordan’s fantasy epic, Wheel of Time. With such extensive source material (15 books if you count the prequel, which is where the seeds of the sapphic storyline in Rafe Judkins’ adaptation are to be found), the viewership, generally speaking, was divided into book fans and show-only fans, and both camps shitposted and meme’d and reviewed with abandon.

The biggest queer-centric show we saw in the last year was the adaptation of @aliceoseman’s comic Heartstopper (@heartstoppercomic). Co-created by Alice Oseman themself, this adaptation was very sensitive to the much-loved source material. And, being native to Tumblr, these characters were bound to be welcomed with open arms when they hit the screen in an ebullient explosion of queer joy.

A run-down of the past year would be incomplete without the incredible queerdos of the Revenge who swashbuckled their way into our hearts. We’re referring, of course, to Our Flag Means Death’s Gentleman Pirate and his merry band of (living-wage-paid, no less!) shipmates. Your favorites included genderqueer Jim ‘not-a-fucking-mermaid’ Jimenez and Oluwande, Lucius Sprigg and Black Peter, Frenchie who just hates cats, and The Swede, who keeps his heart but loses his teeth. Then, of course, we have Blackbeard himself, or simply Ed, who is struggling with his identity (villain or softboi).

Based on the story by @veschwab and produced by @belletristbooks, First Kill was another adaptation that fans of vampire stories got very excited about. Add to that the fact that this was very much a sapphic enemies-to-lovers scenario between hunter Calliope and young vampire Juliette, and the pre-show excitement was palpable. The post-season disappointment even more so as fans turned to their dashes to vent about the lack of good lesbian and wlw representation in 2022’s TV landscape.

Where the cancelation of First Kill left us reeling, the Rockford Peaches from A League of Our Own came in clutch and soothed our sapphic souls. You love the show which you affectionately shortened, in good old Tumblr fashion, to a silly little acronym: aloto. Whether you’re in it for the gal pal aesthetics, the butch energy, or Uncle Bert, or some good old fashioned baller drama, there truly was something for all of your wlw whimsies here. Let’s go, Peaches!

@neilgaiman’s The Sandman series finally came out to much acclaim, and came out so gay that armchair reviewers of the homophobic sort really struggled to wrap their minds around quite how gay it is. We got pansexual serial killing Corinthian! Pansexual, demon-hunting, women-kissing Johanna Constantine! Some very loaded moments between Morpheus and Hob Gadlin! This is what dreams are made of (sort of)!

This whole list would be nothing, nada, a crumb of zilch whizzing around a black hole, if it weren’t for the writers who created many of these stories in the first place. So thank you to them. And to you, Tumblr, for celebrating the good and standing up for each other through another year. Here’s to a kinder 2023.

#year in review #queer tv #tumblr2022

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wanderlust-in-my-soul · 5 months

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Geez! I thought I was watching Jack and Rose.

#the sign #the sign the series #the sign ep 1 #BillyBabe #billy patchanon #babe tanatat #Phaya x Tharn #I am already in love with them!#bl drama #bl series #thai bl #thai drama #thai series #asianlgbtqdrama #queer series #queer tv #myedit

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weirdly-specific-but-ok · 3 months

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Why the fight for queer rights isn't over (it should be obvious, but to some people it isn't)

TW: transphobia and homophobia

Hi, Tumblr, this is Asmi. If you know me, it's probably as the Good Omens Mascot, which is flattering. I've found so much love and queer positivity in the good omens fandom, and the beautiful thing is how it's canon. Many people outside the queer community don't realise how crucial media and communities like this are. Right now since I'm on break from education, I'm on tumblr for most of the time I'm awake (which is not a lot, I nap more than Crowley). It's wild how different it is from the real world, that I live in at least.

I'm sure a lot of you might have had a similar experience to this: Basically, two people in my life, my bio father and my ex, both told me to my face that queer people needed to stop calling themselves oppressed and how now it's queer people who hold all the power and are oppressing other people. With all due respect, what the fuck.

I live in India, and being a trans guy who is bi and aspec, it's a cesspit. While I'm gendered correctly on Tumblr, and people are so loving and supportive, in real life even my friends who say they support me misgender me 90% of the time. Same with my family. In my previous college which I had to leave because of bullying by both the students and admin, even the queer students would misgender me (I told them I used they/them pronouns, because he/him would have been too unsafe, but even that they didn't manage). In the college I'll join next, it won't be safe for me to be out at all, at risk of losing opportunities and safety. Gay marriage is still illegal. Homophobia and transphobia is the norm. This doesn't even cover all the daily indignities like queerphobic jokes, casual discourse on whether or not we deserve rights, etc. Discrimination against aroace-spec people is rampant even within the queer community, worldwide.

And I live in an urban area, one of the largest cities in India known for its progressiveness and for being relatively safe for queer people. I am privileged compared to other queer people here. The story in other cities, in rural areas which make up most of the country, is far more horrifying. I'm unqualified to speak about anything other than my own experience, but if you can (if you are in a stable and calm enough mental state to handle the information, please put your mental health first) I'm sure there are first person accounts on the many forums.

The fight for equality is not over. It doesn't end with laws riddled with loopholes, it doesn't end even with laws that genuinely help the queer community. Aside from the huge problems of living safely and with access to equal opportunities and resources for people, we deserve dignity, peace, and the right to feel accepted and that we're not an abnormality. And so much more.

I haven't said anything that hasn't been said before, but it can't be said enough. To the queer people reading this, take all my love. We need to stand together, eliminate discourse over who is queer enough to be queer, and be the safe space that the world will not provide for us.

It's not over, and it hasn't been won by a long shot, but what matters is that we're fighting. Even existing as ourselves in a world that tells us it is a crime, is defiance and a step towards making this right.

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prettysweetprettysweet · 4 months

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"Why are you smiling? Did I not get it all off?"

Cherry Magic (Thailand) | Season 1 Episode 4

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crowleyscardigan · 11 months

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Chaotic bisexual and their gay bestie <3

#heartstopper #xo kitty #heartstopper netflix #xo kitty netflix #heartstopper series #heartstopper show #nick nelson #tara jones #kitty song covey #kitty covey #q xo kitty #bisexual #lesbian #gay #queer icons #queer tv #i love them so much

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squeezetheduck · 11 months

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XO, Kitty is soo messy and dramatic but like in a super queer way, therefore it’s amazing

#xo kitty #queer tv #to all the boys i loved before #kitty song covey #yuri #i say stuff

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ashleyrguillory · 1 year

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A comic about wishing there were more sapphics on tv and being grateful for the ones we have now...

#a league of their own #aloto #queer tv #logo #lgbtquia #lesbian #gay #autobio comics #comics

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rhfffas · 3 months

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wake up babe us sapphics have our own angel x demon ship now!!!!!!

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ladygayspanker · 9 months

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Come on: a show in which one queer lead says that about another queer lead ... you don't wann sleep on that!

#butch friendships - she gets it #deadloch #deadloch spoilers #queer tv #dulcie collins #loved every second of it

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viago-vamps · 8 months

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I love the diversity of gay love stories on television rn. specifically when its people's first gay relationship. you can be young, old or anything in between. these relationships can build slowly over time, or it can be love at first sight. they can be intense and fiery, or quiet and gentle or both at different times. you can be in an accepting environment or an unaccepting one. so many stories are coming out and their all different and beautiful in their own ways and god i love gay people

#queer #gay #queer tv #heartstopper #young royals #shameless #our flag meets death #the last of us #good omens #i am not okay with this #first kill #tagging all the gay shows i can think of at this point #uhhh #what we do in the shadows

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rahullkohli · 4 months

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so when are we getting a series about thomas barrow and guy dexter frolicking the world being gay and in love and attending ritzy parties so we can see thomas being the spoiled twink he deserves

#he really did a number on me #i miss him so much #thomas barrow #tv #tv: downton abbey #queer tv

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wanderlust-in-my-soul · 5 months

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You like it?

#last twilight #last twilight the series #last twilight ep 3 #jimmysea #mhokday #mhok x day #jimmy jitaraphol #sea tawinan #bl drama #bl series #thai bl #thai drama #thai series #asianlgbtqdrama #myedit #queer series #queer tv

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weirdly-specific-but-ok · 1 month

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I was just rewatching crack videos of Sherlock and while I love Sherlock, really, it just sort of hit me again. like. how much more Good Omens means to me. you know?

in good omens the two main characters are in one of the healthiest relationships I've ever seen, while it's a comedy none of the characters are just caricatures for the bit, there's so much genuine representation that's integral to the storyline, the women aren't 'defanged' (as I remember one critic of Sherlock saying, accurately, I think, because most of the women in Sherlock end up losing their agency or being outwitted by Sherlock, especially Irene who in ACD's canon outwitted Sherlock), the queerness is just so understated and real.

and I could go on and on and on. how the second season doesn't try to blow up the first season in terms of scale, which shows so often do, but instead retains its spirit and does what it does well rather than becoming some heavily action-driven mess. it's a story with so much heart and plot and character and everything.

ANYWAY WE ALL KNOW I ADORE GOOD OMENS, I'M THE BLOODY MASCOT OF THE FANDOM, BUT I JUST WANTED TO SAY IT AGAIN. HOW MUCH THE SHOW MEANS TO ME. HOW BEAUTIFUL AND LOVELY BOTH AZIRAPHALE AND CROWLEY'S ROMANCE AND FRIENDSHIP ARE. HOW DISTINCTIVE THE STYLE OF THE SHOW IS. HOW LOVELY THE SIDE CHARACTERS ARE. HOW QUEER IT ALL IS. THE WRITING THE ACTING THE DIRECTION THE STORY THE EVERYTHING.

It's just so rare that I can watch something and not have to wince and think ah, yeah, that bit, that's oof, but overall I love it. Instead when I watch Good Omens I'm always like AH YEAH THAT BIT OH MY GOD I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

#good omens mascot #weirdly specific but ok #asmi #maggots #good omens #good omens fandom #crowley #aziraphale #lgbtqia #neil gaiman #queer tv #queer media #tv shows #I LOVE THIS SHOW OK #WE ALL KNOW IT #BUT I'M YELLING IT AGAIN #I LOVE. THIS. SHOW.

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prettysweetprettysweet · 4 months

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the best actor of the modern era exists in Thailand and his name is First Kanaphan. does everyone involved in bringing this scene to life know that they created a masterpiece????

as my friend @fulltimehabibti said, First Kanaphan as Akk in The Eclipse is the most realistic and grounded depiction of internalized homophobia. its not over the top or dramatically aggressive - its real, its insidious, its constant, its walking on eggshells every second of your life while slowly, slowly sinking under the weight of omnipotent dread. every minute part of his performance is pitch perfect - his anxious and stiff body language, his shaken voice, the palpable fear in his eyes, and the moments his body lets down its guard long enough to be touched and cared for. i'm very thankful for this performance.

#first kanaphan #khaotung thanawat #the eclipse #thai bl #queer film #queer tv #lgbt #ไทย #yo mismo

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demontobee · 7 months

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Queer erasure and the BoL

Omg I just realised that the whole language around the Book of Life is actually super evocative of the whole discourse around Queer History and queer erasure from history? Like the whole "behave, stand in line, conform to our standards of normal and don't make trouble or we will write you out of history to make it so that you will never have existed" is pretty close to how queer communities, identities and histories get invalidated on a daily basis. "These are 'new' identities, they didn't exist in the good old days, which is why I won't respect and acknowledge them" etc. ... It's like being erased from the BoL not because we actually never existed but because normative society wills it so. It isn't an observation, it's a threat. A rewriting of history to make it fit your narrow narrative. Wow.

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