My Third List of Queer Content on Netflix

June 12, 2020February 8, 2021 ~ Artiecarden ~ 10 Comments

Hey pals,

We are onto part three of the queer media I am finding on Netflix (obviously this is not just Queer media, this is just the media with Queer rep and letting you know if it’s a disappointment or not). Hope you enjoy this list during Pride Month of 2020.

Tales of the City – basically everyone is queer and live on an estate-like gay commune, racial diversity, one disabled (deaf) queer person, black, asian and latinx queers, bisexuals and the spectrum, lesbians, trans man, black drag queen, trans woman, couple who have threesomes, and the one dedicated straight duo whose child is one of the gays but (get this) the straight couple lived in the gay commune first! It’s pretty fun but also really on it with inner community violence and prejudice. Highly recommend.

One Day At A Time – Elana is gay, has a genderqueer partner who uses they/them pronouns, a lesbian cousin married to her wife. Had this recommended to me a long while ago and binged the show. It also has so much other great rep (latinx families, addiction, mental health, disability benefits, being a single parent, etc.) very family friendly but also very on it politically. Great show (and glad to say it’s coming back!)

Friends With Benefits – gay best friend. That is all.

Always Be My Maybe – queer best friend of female lead, poc in a wlw relationship having a baby, basically some side rep just coz they can which is still nice to see. Also the film generally is great with two asian leads in a RomCom. Very funny, very cute.

Wine Country – White middle age lesbian, young Asian queer woman. This is a fun film with tonnes of leading women in their 40’s. Mostly white, which is no surprise but it’s pretty good.

When they see us – last episode it is revealed one of the boys has a trans sibling (a Black trans woman), this is an incredible show. Very dark, based on real life events. Very important watch but also quite unsettling.

Easy A – the guy she does detention with is a gay white dude. I think this film is pretty funny and well spoken about the issue of slut-shaming.

Saved! – her boyfriend is gay and they have a love child at the end after he busts out of the conversion therapy center with his new boyfriend. Sorry spoilers but its a RomCom and I thought you should know it does end well for him. It honestly hilarious in a very late 90’s-early 2000’s way.

Degrassi: next gen – new generation gay dude, bi dude, a brief weird poly thing, Asian gay guy gamer, nonbinary afab gamer. A nice little sprinkling of rep across gender and race. It’s cringe but I actually really enjoyed it and I’ve never seen the original Degrassi.

Otherhood – one of the sons is gay and has a boyfriend and lives with other gay men and has a lesbian couple friend. I won’t lie, coming back to this list to add details and thoughts, I couldn’t remember this film. It wasn’t terrible but I wouldn’t go watch it again.

Everything sucks! – main girl is a lesbian. Kiss at the end of the series. I hope there’s a follow up coz this was such a long build up and quite enjoyable.

Unfinished Business – someone who works for the competitor is gay and they all go to a gay sex club in Germany. Typical dude film (kinda like the Hangover) so if that’s your thing you might enjoy this. It was alright to watch but wouldn’t watch again.

Rough Night – wlw relationship at beginning (later one of them is divorcing a husband and the wlw couple aren’t together) two main characters woc. A couple looking for a third. This has Scarlett Johansson in it but if you can ignore her (she is the least likable character and also badly acted) then it’s not a terrible film, quite funny. Kinda like a lot of dude-bro films where they all got really fucked up and ended up in a really shite situation (the Hangover) and I like when it’s turned into a women lead film, they’re funnier to me the humour is similar but less gross.

Falling Inn Love – husbands who run a cafe in New Zealand (side characters) very minimal role but I thought they were cute so wanted to include them. This is a very tacky RomCom but I liked it enough to keep it on my list on Netflix.

Hearts Beat Loud – main character (daughter) is queer and has love interest. Both woc. This is a very cute film with a daughter and her single father. She wants to go to school and studies hard but he wants her to give singing a shot (coz she has a wonderful singing voice) and I love this actress.

Atypical – doesn’t get gay until near end of season 2 and gets gayer in season 3. Possibly two bi girls, or realising they are gay. Unsure, obviously going to be explored next season as this season was more about the two getting together (spoilers sorry). I really enjoy this show, though it is apparently linked to Autism Speaks which is a really shitty charity. Not sure on the link but I was sad to hear it as the queer rep is so good! Also the queer main character is played by a nonbinary actor!

Derry Girls – one of the main group comes out as a lesbian ep 4/5. This is a really funny comedy based in Ireland during a very real TIME they had in the 90’s. It was super interesting watching it, but also entirely daft a lot of the time. The actors are amazing.

End of the fucking world – two queer lady police officers and one is black. This show was relatively funny but very intense. Quite a few content warnings for this show like attempted sexual assault and animal death. It was a new concept for a show I’ve not seen before, it was pretty enjoyable.

The Politician – gay/bi cis Male lead ? Bi cis Male lead? His girlfriend?? Gender nc black person. Main characters mother. I can’t lie, I didn’t finish this coz the more I watched, the less it made sense. I thought this show was a pile of shit but you might like it.

Cat fight – one of the main women is in a wlw relationship. Both white cis women in the queer relationship(i re-read how i write this and it sounded like i meant the two leads, and no Sandra Oh is definitely not white haha). This was honestly also a pile of shit. Sandra Oh is in it which drew me in, but it’s just women beating each other up until one of them goes into a coma and loses all their shit, repeat.

Let it snow – two girls. One is Asian. Both played by queer actors, one is actually nonbinary too! I enjoyed the book but was pleased they added a queer story to the film. I do recommend this, it’s very cute and silly.

Merry happy whatever – lesbian adult daughter previously married to a bloke, is not out to family. This was quite a weird show but I was into it. It’s Christmas with one family and you see all the in-laws have a secret meet up to get through living with this crazy family.

The Durrells – Mrs. Durrell almost marries a man who turns out to be gay, he later on has a male partner. I think they have to move away as the community finds out.

Being Human – there was one cis white male couple in one episode and one of them dies and the other has to flea. The rest of the show is constantly queerbaiting, but if you can get past that, it’s pretty funny and plot I’ve never seen before for werewolves, vampires, and ghosts. Also the werewolf actor is gay.

Skins – Generation 1 we have lovely Maxxie. Generation 2 Emily is a lesbian and Naomi is bisexual. Generation 3 none of the truly main cast are gay but Frankie has two dads and her and Mini seem to have a bit of a queer relationship in the second series. There is also Alex, not a main character really but there is some emphasis on him for plot.

Dynasty – One of the leads in the family is gay.

October Faction – the son of the main family is Black and gay, has a few love interests dotted around including other POC. I honestly don’t remember watching this… only some bits.

The Half Of It – A lovely film about friendship and becoming okay with who you are. Asian queer lead. Wholesome watching. Some weird issues with plot/story telling/writing in some areas where character actions don’t seem to make a lot of sense… but as a whole it’s a lovely film and has great rep. Also MC’s dad is so sweet.

Glee – I’m late to Glee and I’m glad i didn’t waste my life on it in my youth and used it as a time fill during Lockdown. We have out main guys Kurt and Blaine who are both gay men, both have interactions with other gay men. Then we have lesbian Santana (Latina) and bi Brittany. Santana also sleeps with Quinn at a later date in series 5 I think. Adam Lambert does a cameo as a queer band member in season 5. There’s a Black trans woman in season 5 but totally overshadowed and mostly vague, she never had any real love interests. Then there’s another surprise trans character season 6 which I’m not fond of, clear it was just a dramatic plot shoehorned in rather than something pre-planned. Season 6 has another gay character who is a jock and finds love with a hipster kid. Also introduced is a queer coded 13 yo character.

Elite – a fantastic drama based in a high school in Spain where all the rich kids go. One of the rich kids is gay, another is bi and a selection of polyamorous relationships shown. One of the non-rich is a gay Muslim boy. There’s also suggestion a female character has multi-gender attraction but hasn’t had the chance to be shown in the show, I have my fingers crossed for season 3!

3% – a dystopian show with similar vibes to the Hunger games, everyone has to compete at age 16/18 I don’t remember it’s been a while to get into the luxurious life of the 3% but it’s a lot creepier than that. One of the main characters has multi-gender attraction to some extent, ends up with a character of the same gender. Not a lot of rep otherwise but I liked this addition. There’s also a Black disabled main character for a couple seasons.

Hollywood – a different timeline of Hollywood if things had gone a little better with accepting LGBT+ people and BIPOC. We have Rock Hudson and his writer lover, the Gas station of male sex workers who also serviced many gay men. Lots of gay male rep in this and Queen Latifa plays a queer woman (Hattie McDaniel) dating one of Hollywood’s most well known queer women, Tallulah Bankhead, who just kinda dated everyone apparently (I’m hoping Jessica Kelgred-Fozard makes a video on her). There is a bisexual actress, Anna May Wong, in a minor role whose sexuality is never addressed.

Black Lightning – one of the main characters (one of the sisters) is queer, I’ve not watched very far yet. Based around a Black superhero father who has the power to control electricity and his daughters start exhibiting powers too.

Dear White People – both the show and film, Lionel is gay, in the show he spends more time in the closet and slowly coming out. Struggles with being Black in the gay community but also gay in the Black community. There are a few latinx queer characters too. The story of Black students at Winchester University (an ivy league) fighting racism and trying to gain equality on campus. One of the more minor characters is actually a Black femme lesbian as well.

Dead to Me – had a lot of sapphic undertones but turns out one of our main characters is queer and gets into a bit of a pickle. Dead to Me is about a woman’s husband suddenly dying and his murderer feeling so guilty she befriends the wife without her knowing she murdered her husband and things spiral and get a bit crazy but it’s a great show with two amazing leading actresses. One of her love interests is also actually played by a queer actress.

Dare Me – this was a weird one, kinda thriller-y. About cheerleaders who hate their new coach and try to ruin her life. The main character is a Black queer woman, it’s relatively clear she is sapphic but is keeping it a secret. Unsure if she is attracted to multiple genders or performing straightness. Same for the best friend and the Coach, not sure if it’s multi gender attraction or performative straightness/queerness depending on the situation. content warning: abuse of power. There’s a football coach (i think) but definitely some adult man who sleeps with the high school girls and also the female coach of the cheerleaders engages in some inappropriate behaviour with her students.

I hope you enjoy your viewing, my previous posts are here and here

Happy Pride!

~ Artie

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Single Mum Appreciation for Mother’s Day

March 27, 2020March 26, 2020 ~ Artiecarden ~ 5 Comments

Hey pals!

I got my dates mixed up for Mother’s Day so this is late, but seeing as we are all meant to stay inside here are a bunch of shows and films you can watch! If you’re at home with your mum, watch with her, if not then set up a video call or plan to sit and watch at the same time and text each other or try one of those watching party apps. It’s time to chill out and spend some time with people you love. I wanted to make this post specifically about single mothers because I was raised by one and I felt like I didn’t really get to see much media involving them, so here is an incomplete list. I hope you enjoy.

Princess Diaries We had two iconic single women in the first film. Mia’s mother and Mia’s grandmother. The strength and independence of these women was unheard of for young teen films, and the fact that Mia’s mum divorced A PRINCE (Mia’s father) before he inevitably died?? truly no one knows such strength. There are some really sweet moments between Mis and her mother specifically that were really sweet to see, like when Mia is going to the beach party and is talking about the ‘foot pop’, or when she’s upset so they both do really messy art together.

Leah on the Off Beat I thought her mum would have been more of a main figure by the blurb but this book is pretty introspective and is mostly within Leah’s head. However, it was nice to see a close bond in a novel between mother and daughter.

Gilmore Girls I was really late to watching this show and I’m really sad about that! This would have been a great show for me and my mum to watch together because I was semi-similar to Rory where I was pretty quiet and kept to myself and always tried to get into the best places to study and she had a really young mother. Loreli and Rory both felt like best friends first, then mother and daughter and this is something I felt with my mum that I don’t think many other people experienced. I never felt afraid of going to my mother for help and she has always been my biggest fan, and like Loreli my mother never went to university, which can also be rare on TV.

Stranger Things We all love Joy, a true icon. This show is very cool, something a little different to the majority of this list, so sci-fi lovers with an ’80s twist, this is for you.

Hope Floats Starring our gal, Sandra Bullock, the film starts with her being set up for total embarrassment on a national TV show where her best friend and husband admit to her they have been sleeping together. So she leaves him and takes her daughter back home to her hometown where she re-finds herself and finds new love.

Big Little Lies This is one of Reese Witherspoon’s female lead creations. A thriller/drama where a group of mother’s become eternally bonded by a terrible incident. One of the women is a single mother the whole time, series two shows one of the other mother’s navigating becoming a single parent when the father dies.

Pretty Little Liars I always loved Hannah Marin the most out of the crew of girls, which is weird because outwardly we are nothing alike, but she struggled with her weight and her mother is single and working where her father is useless and doesn’t get it. Again, it’s very friends-first-then-parent situation and I think I just love this so much because that was my experience but from what I’ve seen not many other people’s. This show also shows a few other experiences of being a single mother, Aria’s parents split up for a good chunk of the show before getting back together, rare in real life but nice to see. Emily’s mum becomes a single parent quite late as her husband dies around the time Emily is at college, and this is a very different dynamic as Emily is gay and had a rough time with her mum over it and her dad was the one to work things out and make it okay. It seems like she was more of a daddy’s girl, and the death of a parent can really change things.

Bad Moms This brings three very different types of parents together and exposes how all of them are seen as ‘bad mums’ when they are just trying to cope. Carla is already single and had her son out of wedlock and is a very unconventional mother. The lead is Amy who becomes single early on as she throws her husband out for being a pos to be honest… It’s a fun film from the mum’s perspective that also shines a light on what modern parenthood looks like and what it does to people.

Jane the Virgin Jane was brought up by a single teenage mother and her grandmother, who’s husband has been dead for a number of years. Jane has moments in the show as a single mother as well.

Just Go With It Another Queen, Jennifer Aniston plays the love interest of Adam Sandler. She is his Surgery Receptionist and has to pretend to be his ex wife. Both of them, her two children, her fake new boyfriend, and the woman he is pursuing all go on holiday to Hawaii. It’s silly but enjoyable.

Gossip Girl There are many single parents in this show, because we need some adult relationship drama as well as teen ones. Are they the best? No. Probably more realistic even though they’re all disgustingly rich.

The Suite Life of Zack and Cody Carey, Zack and Cody’s mum, is single and is the singer for the hotel they live in. Kids’ show.

Charmed The original three were raised by their Grams after their mother died and this woman is renowned for having many husbands, never changing her last name, and divorcing them eventually? Her daughter, the mother of the Charmed Ones, divorces her husband (the father of the original three) and tends to be a single mother for a while before she dies. Then later in the series, Piper has times where she has to be a single mother.

One Day At A Time Penelope left her husband before the show begins (I can’t remember exactly why, I think a mixture of PTSD where he isn’t getting help and alcoholism?) and raises her two children in an apartment with her mother. This is a latinx family and is a light hearted show but handles tough subjects really well.

Grey’s Anatomy Many of the women end up as single parents in this show for at least a period. Bailey divorces her husband. Meredith’s husband dies. Jackson Avery was raised by his mother alone. Arizona and Callie split up for a while. I haven’t watched the recent series and I’m not sure how things turned out with Teddy and Owen, but she may be a single mother? This show is a long standing medical drama and this would be a great one to start during lock down because it’s LONG.

The Single Mom’s Club A fun film all about a group of single mothers dating and dealing with their kids. Rom-com.

I hope you find some new things to watch! Let me know what you think of what I’ve suggested, and let me know of any other shows or films I’ve missed with single mothers!

~ Artie

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Winter Watching for The Gays This Holiday Season

December 26, 2019January 2, 2021 ~ Artiecarden ~ 6 Comments

Hey pals,

I wanted to give you a little viewing suggestion in that weird moment between Christmas and New Year for my fellow gays. It’s a short little list, but hey who cares!

Love, Simon: Not a Christmas film but has a very important section during Christmas. We love a Christmas coming out! This is generally a cute, warm film so felt it appropriate to include.

Let It Snow: The new Netflix film based on the book written by three authors from three different perspectives. The added more P.O.V’s including a queer relationship and actually casted queer people to play them too! Another soft film with Love, Simon vibes, just totally in a blizzard!

Merry, Happy, Whatever… : A Netflix show I stumbled upon about a very dysfunctional family and all their other-halves and how they all learn to accept each other and be more themselves. It also includes a coming out from someone who was initially married to the ‘opposite’ sex. It’s fun and frustrating but has a really great ending.

The Christmas Set Up: a new one for 2020! The Actors are both gay and actually a real life married couple! Hugo goes home for Christmas for the first time in ages as he is a workaholic lawyer and meets Patrick, gorgeous, charming, rich, who was a few years ahead of Huge in school. The plot doesn’t always make sense, and it is pretty cringey in parts but this is a typical Christmas film, just featuring a gay couple! Definitely a fun, wholesome time.

I hope you enjoy watching these in your free time before the New Year, and I wish you all a splendid end to 2019.

~ Artie

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