March 11, 2025 • 20 mins
Description:
Alex Mell-Taylor from Alex Has Opinions joins to talk about A24 and representation. We talk about some of the recent examples of positive representation and compare it with some not so great examples. We also talk about how someone who is not part of a particular group benefits from seeing what their life is like when representative actually reflects that experience, and how great it feels for people to see characters and stories that they can identify with on screen.
Links:
Follow Us:
Cinejourneys - YouTube Channel | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Instagram | Letterboxd | BlueSky | Threads
Jill Blake - BlueSky
Aaron West - BlueSky | Letterboxd
Alex Mell-Taylor from Alex Has Opinions joins to talk about A24 and representation. We talk about some of the recent examples of positive representation and compare it with some not so great examples. We also talk about how someone who is not part of a particular group benefits from seeing what their life is like when representative actually reflects that experience, and how great it feels for people to see characters and stories that they can identify with on screen.
Links:
Follow Us:
Cinejourneys - YouTube Channel | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Instagram | Letterboxd | BlueSky | Threads
Jill Blake - BlueSky
Aaron West - BlueSky | Letterboxd
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are now listening to the Someone's Favorite Productions podcast network.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Hello, welcome to another episode of the A twenty four
New Wave Companion podcast. This is the first since our
crowd fund So yay, I'm here with Alex mel Taylor.
I hope I pronounced it that correctly, Mel Taylor. Yes, okay,
and so and so Alex, you go by Alex right, yes, yeah,
(00:33):
it says Alex.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
On the screens. I would assume.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
So, but Alex, would you like to tell people what
you do, what you're into, what where to find you
that kind of thing?
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Of course, Aaron, So name is Alex. I'm a pop
culture and politics commentator. I have a medium blog. You
can find me at Alex's Opinions, where I'm given all
sorts of hot takes. I always joke that if there's
a hill out there, I've died on it. So yeah,
(01:05):
that's that's me in a nutshell.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
There are a lot of hills to die.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
You know.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
We've got to pick our hills wisely.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
But but I like opinions, and I respect opinions even
if I don't agree with them.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
But I think we'll get into that.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
So, so we're going to talk today about representation and
in film, and this is A twenty four, so we
can start there. But of course, you know it's not
the not the only, the only game in town. There's
there's lots of lots of representation. I'd say, some good,
some bad. I'm interested in your opinions on that, but
just to tee it up from from the book standpoint,
(01:40):
So I I chose A twenty four in large part
because I mean, I like their movies obviously, but I
also like how so I am.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
I am a straight Cis male, white male.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
And uh and so I'm very much in a bubble
and I'm very much you know, only you know, exposed
to my world. And I think that film is a
great way of sharing another person's experience, whether it's a culture,
whether it's.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Any sort of representation.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
That's why I love foreign films, because you know, I
want to I like to learn about how people live
their world. So for example, Menash is a a twenty
four film about Hasidic Judaism. I would never get that
exposure anywhere else but film, just because it's a very
insular crowd. So that's that's part of why I wanted
to write about A twenty four and I have a
(02:35):
chapter I'm nearly finished with the first draft of the manuscript,
and I have a chapter later that I actually have
have been waiting because I want to see all the
movies first, and it's just about representation. But I've already
written the Moonlight chapter, for example, So that's twenty sixteen,
and as you can see, the cover of my book
is inspired by Moonlight.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
I've written the Gredit Growing chapter.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
And they've had a lot of female filmmakers and and
so I'm also looking at you know, different there's of
course Asian filmmakers with every everything everywhere all at once.
And I'm looking specifically at queer films too, And so
I just watched Problem Eista the other day, and of
course I saw the TV Glow as a big one
(03:19):
this year, and of course Queer the movie Queer, I
have not seen that yet, Dix the musical. So there
are bodies, bodies, bodies, so there's a lot of a
lot of kind.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Of and I just watched Climax this week, so that.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Has a little bit of that's a that's a whole
lot of stuff that's gutsper no trigger warning with.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Any gasp way film. I would I would beware. But
so so Alex put you on the spot.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
I know you're an A twenty four fan, but do
you want to talk about what you like about A
twenty four or what you and yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Yeah, of course I relive that twenty four just goes
for big swings in general. I feel like conceptually you
had a lot of stagnation in the Hollywood space, Like
there's been this sort of financialization with a lot of
media where a lot of IP that more traditional studios
(04:15):
are doing is very safe. It's trying to hit sort
of almost like a formula or an equation. You have
the NCU, you have all the other properties that are
out there, and A twenty four, Like, there are many
very talented and innovative filmmakers out there, but ah, twenty
four seems to be like almost an incubator to use
(04:35):
sort of like a VC term for yeah, films that
probably would not be financed, films and television shows that
would not be financed today if it didn't exist.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
I like the you pointed out TV because A twenty
four is a lot more than a film. And also
comedians too, so there's a there's a big comedian space also.
I'm kind of in the preliminary research. That's the thing
is there's like one hundred and seventy films in counting,
and some of those are stand up, you know, specials.
So just watch Remy U Seff the other day and
(05:12):
he has another one, so he's an interesting voice.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
But yeah, I think I think.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
It was around twenty sixteen. And I know this because
I've written most of the book. But you know, they
started out, I like your word incubator. They started out
just like any film company or any labor book. I
guess distribution company just go into festivals buying films, and
there's a little bit of representation and diversity. But once
(05:38):
they started producing their own stuff, and Moonlight, by the way,
was the first film they produced of their own. Then
they and then Lady Bird I think was their third film.
The Lovers was the second, and then of course they
produced a whole bunch more and and I think that
once they've had more control over their their content, you know,
(05:59):
they're not just bidding against different companies. Basically, it seems
like they've gotten more diverse, and I think they've leaned
into that. So are there any films that stand out
in their catalog?
Speaker 1 (06:11):
I love. I saw the TV Glow. I think it
was one of my favorite movies last year. It's just
it's very I understand why their other movie got nominated.
It's very frustrating that the Oscars Amelia Perez is sort
(06:33):
of the like queer movie that is is in the
nomination space and not I saw the TV Glow because
I just thought that was such a good one.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I loved so Jane Shunbrowne. I believe it is how
you pronounced her last name, and I think I think
her pronounced I'm I'm not positive, but but I like that.
The response to not getting nominated was it was something like,
oh that tracks.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
That makes sense.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
And we had a prior conversation before coming on the
podcast about Amelia Perez, and I think that, you know,
I don't know some people that liked the film and
and I think they like it because it's it is ambitious,
it's daring. I don't know, if you watched The Umbrellas
of Cherbourg by Demi, I kind of think of it
(07:22):
as trying to be that, but but it makes I
just personally don't like it as a film. I think
it I don't really know why, but I wouldn't like
it with that as a film, whether it was good
with the culture, whether it was good with portraying a
trans character. Now for me, so I again, I'm in
my my I guess privileged bubble for lack of a
(07:46):
better term.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
So I wouldn't.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
And I watched I saw the TV Glow and I
did not know when I first saw it was almost
probably almost a year, maybe a little less. I didn't
did not know the subject matter. I just knew the influence.
So there's David Lynch is all over it. Of course
Buffy is a big part of it. But I and
you know, I'm watching it like I would watch a
David Lynch film, trying to piece it together, and then
(08:10):
it all kind of clicked at the end and I
was like, wow, so that so yeah, is that kind
of how it hits you?
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Or I just think it's go ahead?
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Sorry, oh no, if we're talking about I saw the
TV Glow For me, I sort of saw it from
the very beginning because the film uses color theory very well, yes,
all throughout, so the trance colors are very prominent in
pretty much every scene that's white and pink and blue,
(08:42):
and specifically the colors pink and blue are very prominent,
like you see them almost in every scene. So I
really love the movie for its color theory, Like it's
the use of colors with that. I thought that was
very clever. So I thought that immediately. But I'm very
(09:04):
hyper sensitive to that. So it's like the very beginning
of the film, they're in this sort of like tent
like structure. Yeah, and that's the trans flag in the background,
like the colors, and so you see that and you're like, oh, well,
I know where this is going. So the subtext is
there immediately, but it does take I would say, like
(09:25):
tell the second act or the third act of the
film to really like, yeah, the twist to sort of
rear its head.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
The third act, I think especially.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
And that's so again, Emelia perez Bad, I saw the
TV Glow good, but uh, you know, I think I
saw the TV Glow use film language to communicate like
what it feels like to be trapped, you know, and
to basically live a lie I would say, and and
not be out. So so yeah, that's that's a feeling
I can't relate to. But I think that's the case
(09:56):
with most queer films. I don't know if you've seen
the actual film Queer with the Aaniel Craig yet, which
is not I haven't either. I'm waiting for it to stream.
It didn't get up much about the actrical release, at
least around here, but they've had had some others, So
I mentioned Moonlight, Everything everywhere all at once as well.
(10:16):
And I'm glad you brought up the MCU because I
think that just generally, film has been trying to be
a little more inclusive, and sometimes even if it's not
the main character, it'll be a peripheral character will be,
you know, have a girl will have a girlfriend, or
a boy will have a boyfriend, or they'll be you know,
(10:37):
there's usually going to be a Hispanic or Asian or
plaque or sometimes you know, a very mixed cast, which
I think is good for mainstream films as well. But
obviously you're not going to get something to the extent
of tailing a.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
Queer or a cultural narrative.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
So are there any films outside of Age twenty four
that you like as far as really any representation.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Oh, that's a good question. I really did, like I
love the TV. It's so hard because A twenty four
has been on the pulse for a lot of the
films like I'm Thinking about So, I watch a lot
of YouTube filmmakers and one of my favorites actually just
(11:22):
got picked up by A twenty four has been Hotel.
It's being distributed through Amazon. It started as a YouTube
short call has Been Hotel. It's about a bunch of
demons in Hell and it's about the daughter of Hell
trying to create a reform hotels for sinners to reform
(11:45):
their ways. And it is very queer and it's very funny,
and it's a musical. I'm a huge musical fan, so
I love that, and I love the spinoff show that
they have for that, called Hell of a Boss. It's
they are full length TV shows. They're just on the
Internet and now syndicated on Amazon Prime Video via Age
(12:10):
twenty four. I love English Teacher. If you've ever seen that.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
It's I'm married to an English teacher, so I've seen
in the real life one.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
It's good that that stars a gay man teaching English,
and like Contemporary America, it's very funny. It lampoons a
lot of things. That person also created a television show
on the Internet called I Think It's like The Gay
and wonder Lit Wondrous Life of Jordan Alvarez or Brian
(12:47):
Alvarez or no Caleb Gallo or Jacob Gallo or something
like that, and it was this it's this television show
that someone just like self financed and it was very
impressive at the time. So it's refreshing to see a
twenty four sort of have these sort of like well
financed things because for the longest time, when I was
(13:09):
watching queer media, it was either by a sort of
like solitary sort of like gay specific independent food film
studio like a Lone Wolf, or it was being self
financed on the Internet and there were people that were
putting money down to do these full length shows, like
(13:30):
there was also one called The Outside was really into
and these are all just like full length shows that
people just put on the Internet.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Yeah, that's what I love about media, and especially independent film.
You know, independent film is can be just somebody grabs
a DV camera or you know, even old today's a
Super eight or something and just goes out and shoot.
And that's how a lot of film directors got their start.
And I'm just looking and I'm looking at Hasben hotel.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
And I love.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Yeah, I don't like gatekeep what is a movie or not?
Or what is a TV show or not? You know,
whether it's online. I watch a lot of online content too,
but I have not watched this. And I see Stephanie
Beatrice is involved in this at least with the series,
so yeah, I don't I don't know if that's so. Yeah,
(14:19):
I'm actually really intrigued now. So eight episodes with the pilot,
and I do see that production companies A twenty four
Amazon MGM. Yeah, yeah, so I'm looking forward to that.
And an English teacher, I don't know much about it
at all. I see it's an FX show at least, yes,
so so and and good point about TV. You know
(14:41):
A twenty four is has I guess a few years
ago when well Euphoria was the big TV show, which uh,
And I think that A twenty four is finding. Yeah,
I'm gonna use the word niche because you know, but
Finding it's championing projects that that you wouldn't see, like
(15:02):
even the independent studios like that, they just wouldn't understand.
It's like it's giving rise to voices and in fact,
Jane Schonbrun and I can relate because I were dy
we just finished the Kickstarter and Jane they had a
Kickstarter twenty fourteen. I believe it was, so I have
(15:23):
not finished my research on that, but on that, but
I can't wait. I have the Blu ray from the
A twenty and there's a commentary on it, so I'm
just really looking forward to digging through that. But and
also has been Hotel, so I hope that I guess
that'll probably be. Yeah, is it already on the Amazon
It is.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
And I think it got picked up for a second season,
So that's great. That's great, so I highly recommend it.
I also like Beef. I hope. I'm not sure that
that's going to be I think the plan was for
it to be an anthology, but I don't know if
it got picked up for a second season or not.
It's sort of hard on Netflix.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Yeah, So, and that's a great point. So I we'll
talk about representation as Asian Asian characters. Ten years ago,
it would be really really tough to see a series
like that sweep like every award category for a year,
And of course this year was Showgun. Actually I so,
but but.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
Yeah, I'm a big fan of Beef. I think it's
a great show.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
There is going to be a second season, and and
I think it's coming out next this year, and I
forget it's but it's a new beef, it's a new
set of characters and and I have to we'll see
It'll probably be good. But but yeah, Ali Wong and
Oh the guy from Burning uh and other and Walking
Dead too and Mini.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Oh, I know who you're talking about.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Yeah, yeah, But I also think of other films too,
Like I'm a big fan of Portrait of a Lady
on Fire by Selene Siama.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Have you have you seen that one?
Speaker 1 (16:58):
I have not seen this film, Okay.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
The French film, so, but it's about a lesbian couple
and it's kind of set during it kind of has
It's filmed very much the style of like an English
period piece, even though it's French. You know, it's a
very large mansion, great performances. So I would.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Recommend that one. I'm trying to think of other others.
But Carol a French French Carol, huh. I love Carroll.
But we we just did a big, big.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Thing on on Douglas Sirk and Fastbender and then Todd
Haynes in January. It was great, and we watched Carrol
and and I don't know if you've no Fastbender, but
we watched The Bitter Tears of petrovon Cant, which is
very close to Carrol. Yeah, i'd say French French Carol,
but but it different. It's showed up on the site
(17:55):
and sound two fifty. Actually, I don't know if you
follow that.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
But a couple of years of sorry I'm a major filmer,
and obviously but.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
It was back to A twenty four. There's also this
year Love Lies Bleeding. I thought did a really good job.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Have you seen that one yet?
Speaker 1 (18:13):
When you say this year, do you mean twenty twenty
five or twenty twenty four?
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Twenty twenty four? Yeah, sorry, I'm still in last year
film Lies. It's really early in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Yes, no, totally understand. I've heard of Love Lives Bleeting,
haven't seen it. I wanted to see it, but it
just didn't It didn't like pan out essentially.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Well, gave some great recommendations. I can't wait to check out.
Has been a hotel and English teacher, and so if
you want to think that it was a brief but
very fruitful conversation. So I appreciate you coming on. So
can you share where to find where people can find you?
You mentioned your blog.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Oh yeah, so people can find me. I'm very googleable.
I'm Alex mall Taylor. Alex has opinions. You can find
me on medium. That's also Alex's Opinions dot com. I
also am part of a writer's collective called After the
Storm magazine, and we accept speculative fiction pieces. So if
you're a writer, we do pay, so reach out to us.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Yes, nice, Yeah, thank you for paying writers. We love
our friends getting paid. We built a company so our
friends could get paid, so that's awesome. I also love
the very googleable, so we'll put links in the description,
so I recommend you check out Alex. I did see
you had a piece about Amelia Perez, which I've been
(19:37):
busy so I have did not get a chance to
read it, but I'm going to read it after I
record this podcast. Probably i'll put it in the show
notes too. And yeah, now it's.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
A great, great meeting you. Great talking to you, Alex,
and yeah look forward to having you back.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Yes, wonderful talking to you, and I am excited to
see how the podcast goes and best of luck with
the book and people should definitely buy it.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
I'm going to put that on the book with that cover.
Alex has opinions and one of them is people should buy.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
This book, so yes, you can quote me on that.
Speaker 4 (20:12):
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(20:34):
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You are now listening to the Someone's Favorite Productions podcast network.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Hello, welcome to another episode of the A twenty four
New Wave Companion podcast. This is the first since our
crowd fund So yay, I'm here with Alex mel Taylor.
I hope I pronounced it that correctly, Mel Taylor. Yes, okay,
and so and so Alex, you go by Alex right, yes, yeah,
(00:33):
it says Alex.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
On the screens. I would assume.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
So, but Alex, would you like to tell people what
you do, what you're into, what where to find you
that kind of thing?
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Of course, Aaron, So name is Alex. I'm a pop
culture and politics commentator. I have a medium blog. You
can find me at Alex's Opinions, where I'm given all
sorts of hot takes. I always joke that if there's
a hill out there, I've died on it. So yeah,
(01:05):
that's that's me in a nutshell.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
There are a lot of hills to die.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
You know.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
We've got to pick our hills wisely.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
But but I like opinions, and I respect opinions even
if I don't agree with them.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
But I think we'll get into that.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
So, so we're going to talk today about representation and
in film, and this is A twenty four, so we
can start there. But of course, you know it's not
the not the only, the only game in town. There's
there's lots of lots of representation. I'd say, some good,
some bad. I'm interested in your opinions on that, but
just to tee it up from from the book standpoint,
(01:40):
So I I chose A twenty four in large part
because I mean, I like their movies obviously, but I
also like how so I am.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
I am a straight Cis male, white male.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
And uh and so I'm very much in a bubble
and I'm very much you know, only you know, exposed
to my world. And I think that film is a
great way of sharing another person's experience, whether it's a culture,
whether it's.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Any sort of representation.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
That's why I love foreign films, because you know, I
want to I like to learn about how people live
their world. So for example, Menash is a a twenty
four film about Hasidic Judaism. I would never get that
exposure anywhere else but film, just because it's a very
insular crowd. So that's that's part of why I wanted
to write about A twenty four and I have a
(02:35):
chapter I'm nearly finished with the first draft of the manuscript,
and I have a chapter later that I actually have
have been waiting because I want to see all the
movies first, and it's just about representation. But I've already
written the Moonlight chapter, for example, So that's twenty sixteen,
and as you can see, the cover of my book
is inspired by Moonlight.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
I've written the Gredit Growing chapter.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
And they've had a lot of female filmmakers and and
so I'm also looking at you know, different there's of
course Asian filmmakers with every everything everywhere all at once.
And I'm looking specifically at queer films too, And so
I just watched Problem Eista the other day, and of
course I saw the TV Glow as a big one
(03:19):
this year, and of course Queer the movie Queer, I
have not seen that yet, Dix the musical. So there
are bodies, bodies, bodies, so there's a lot of a
lot of kind.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Of and I just watched Climax this week, so that.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Has a little bit of that's a that's a whole
lot of stuff that's gutsper no trigger warning with.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Any gasp way film. I would I would beware. But
so so Alex put you on the spot.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
I know you're an A twenty four fan, but do
you want to talk about what you like about A
twenty four or what you and yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Yeah, of course I relive that twenty four just goes
for big swings in general. I feel like conceptually you
had a lot of stagnation in the Hollywood space, Like
there's been this sort of financialization with a lot of
media where a lot of IP that more traditional studios
(04:15):
are doing is very safe. It's trying to hit sort
of almost like a formula or an equation. You have
the NCU, you have all the other properties that are
out there, and A twenty four, Like, there are many
very talented and innovative filmmakers out there, but ah, twenty
four seems to be like almost an incubator to use
(04:35):
sort of like a VC term for yeah, films that
probably would not be financed, films and television shows that
would not be financed today if it didn't exist.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
I like the you pointed out TV because A twenty
four is a lot more than a film. And also
comedians too, so there's a there's a big comedian space also.
I'm kind of in the preliminary research. That's the thing
is there's like one hundred and seventy films in counting,
and some of those are stand up, you know, specials.
So just watch Remy U Seff the other day and
(05:12):
he has another one, so he's an interesting voice.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
But yeah, I think I think.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
It was around twenty sixteen. And I know this because
I've written most of the book. But you know, they
started out, I like your word incubator. They started out
just like any film company or any labor book. I
guess distribution company just go into festivals buying films, and
there's a little bit of representation and diversity. But once
(05:38):
they started producing their own stuff, and Moonlight, by the way,
was the first film they produced of their own. Then
they and then Lady Bird I think was their third film.
The Lovers was the second, and then of course they
produced a whole bunch more and and I think that
once they've had more control over their their content, you know,
(05:59):
they're not just bidding against different companies. Basically, it seems
like they've gotten more diverse, and I think they've leaned
into that. So are there any films that stand out
in their catalog?
Speaker 1 (06:11):
I love. I saw the TV Glow. I think it
was one of my favorite movies last year. It's just
it's very I understand why their other movie got nominated.
It's very frustrating that the Oscars Amelia Perez is sort
(06:33):
of the like queer movie that is is in the
nomination space and not I saw the TV Glow because
I just thought that was such a good one.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I loved so Jane Shunbrowne. I believe it is how
you pronounced her last name, and I think I think
her pronounced I'm I'm not positive, but but I like that.
The response to not getting nominated was it was something like,
oh that tracks.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
That makes sense.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
And we had a prior conversation before coming on the
podcast about Amelia Perez, and I think that, you know,
I don't know some people that liked the film and
and I think they like it because it's it is ambitious,
it's daring. I don't know, if you watched The Umbrellas
of Cherbourg by Demi, I kind of think of it
(07:22):
as trying to be that, but but it makes I
just personally don't like it as a film. I think
it I don't really know why, but I wouldn't like
it with that as a film, whether it was good
with the culture, whether it was good with portraying a
trans character. Now for me, so I again, I'm in
my my I guess privileged bubble for lack of a
(07:46):
better term.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
So I wouldn't.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
And I watched I saw the TV Glow and I
did not know when I first saw it was almost
probably almost a year, maybe a little less. I didn't
did not know the subject matter. I just knew the influence.
So there's David Lynch is all over it. Of course
Buffy is a big part of it. But I and
you know, I'm watching it like I would watch a
David Lynch film, trying to piece it together, and then
(08:10):
it all kind of clicked at the end and I
was like, wow, so that so yeah, is that kind
of how it hits you?
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Or I just think it's go ahead?
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Sorry, oh no, if we're talking about I saw the
TV Glow For me, I sort of saw it from
the very beginning because the film uses color theory very well, yes,
all throughout, so the trance colors are very prominent in
pretty much every scene that's white and pink and blue,
(08:42):
and specifically the colors pink and blue are very prominent,
like you see them almost in every scene. So I
really love the movie for its color theory, Like it's
the use of colors with that. I thought that was
very clever. So I thought that immediately. But I'm very
(09:04):
hyper sensitive to that. So it's like the very beginning
of the film, they're in this sort of like tent
like structure. Yeah, and that's the trans flag in the background,
like the colors, and so you see that and you're like, oh, well,
I know where this is going. So the subtext is
there immediately, but it does take I would say, like
(09:25):
tell the second act or the third act of the
film to really like, yeah, the twist to sort of
rear its head.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
The third act, I think especially.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
And that's so again, Emelia perez Bad, I saw the
TV Glow good, but uh, you know, I think I
saw the TV Glow use film language to communicate like
what it feels like to be trapped, you know, and
to basically live a lie I would say, and and
not be out. So so yeah, that's that's a feeling
I can't relate to. But I think that's the case
(09:56):
with most queer films. I don't know if you've seen
the actual film Queer with the Aaniel Craig yet, which
is not I haven't either. I'm waiting for it to stream.
It didn't get up much about the actrical release, at
least around here, but they've had had some others, So
I mentioned Moonlight, Everything everywhere all at once as well.
(10:16):
And I'm glad you brought up the MCU because I
think that just generally, film has been trying to be
a little more inclusive, and sometimes even if it's not
the main character, it'll be a peripheral character will be,
you know, have a girl will have a girlfriend, or
a boy will have a boyfriend, or they'll be you know,
(10:37):
there's usually going to be a Hispanic or Asian or
plaque or sometimes you know, a very mixed cast, which
I think is good for mainstream films as well. But
obviously you're not going to get something to the extent
of tailing a.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
Queer or a cultural narrative.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
So are there any films outside of Age twenty four
that you like as far as really any representation.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Oh, that's a good question. I really did, like I
love the TV. It's so hard because A twenty four
has been on the pulse for a lot of the
films like I'm Thinking about So, I watch a lot
of YouTube filmmakers and one of my favorites actually just
(11:22):
got picked up by A twenty four has been Hotel.
It's being distributed through Amazon. It started as a YouTube
short call has Been Hotel. It's about a bunch of
demons in Hell and it's about the daughter of Hell
trying to create a reform hotels for sinners to reform
(11:45):
their ways. And it is very queer and it's very funny,
and it's a musical. I'm a huge musical fan, so
I love that, and I love the spinoff show that
they have for that, called Hell of a Boss. It's
they are full length TV shows. They're just on the
Internet and now syndicated on Amazon Prime Video via Age
(12:10):
twenty four. I love English Teacher. If you've ever seen that.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
It's I'm married to an English teacher, so I've seen
in the real life one.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
It's good that that stars a gay man teaching English,
and like Contemporary America, it's very funny. It lampoons a
lot of things. That person also created a television show
on the Internet called I Think It's like The Gay
and wonder Lit Wondrous Life of Jordan Alvarez or Brian
(12:47):
Alvarez or no Caleb Gallo or Jacob Gallo or something
like that, and it was this it's this television show
that someone just like self financed and it was very
impressive at the time. So it's refreshing to see a
twenty four sort of have these sort of like well
financed things because for the longest time, when I was
(13:09):
watching queer media, it was either by a sort of
like solitary sort of like gay specific independent food film
studio like a Lone Wolf, or it was being self
financed on the Internet and there were people that were
putting money down to do these full length shows, like
(13:30):
there was also one called The Outside was really into
and these are all just like full length shows that
people just put on the Internet.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Yeah, that's what I love about media, and especially independent film.
You know, independent film is can be just somebody grabs
a DV camera or you know, even old today's a
Super eight or something and just goes out and shoot.
And that's how a lot of film directors got their start.
And I'm just looking and I'm looking at Hasben hotel.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
And I love.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Yeah, I don't like gatekeep what is a movie or not?
Or what is a TV show or not? You know,
whether it's online. I watch a lot of online content too,
but I have not watched this. And I see Stephanie
Beatrice is involved in this at least with the series,
so yeah, I don't I don't know if that's so. Yeah,
(14:19):
I'm actually really intrigued now. So eight episodes with the pilot,
and I do see that production companies A twenty four
Amazon MGM. Yeah, yeah, so I'm looking forward to that.
And an English teacher, I don't know much about it
at all. I see it's an FX show at least, yes,
so so and and good point about TV. You know
(14:41):
A twenty four is has I guess a few years
ago when well Euphoria was the big TV show, which uh,
And I think that A twenty four is finding. Yeah,
I'm gonna use the word niche because you know, but
Finding it's championing projects that that you wouldn't see, like
(15:02):
even the independent studios like that, they just wouldn't understand.
It's like it's giving rise to voices and in fact,
Jane Schonbrun and I can relate because I were dy
we just finished the Kickstarter and Jane they had a
Kickstarter twenty fourteen. I believe it was, so I have
(15:23):
not finished my research on that, but on that, but
I can't wait. I have the Blu ray from the
A twenty and there's a commentary on it, so I'm
just really looking forward to digging through that. But and
also has been Hotel, so I hope that I guess
that'll probably be. Yeah, is it already on the Amazon
It is.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
And I think it got picked up for a second season,
So that's great. That's great, so I highly recommend it.
I also like Beef. I hope. I'm not sure that
that's going to be I think the plan was for
it to be an anthology, but I don't know if
it got picked up for a second season or not.
It's sort of hard on Netflix.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Yeah, So, and that's a great point. So I we'll
talk about representation as Asian Asian characters. Ten years ago,
it would be really really tough to see a series
like that sweep like every award category for a year,
And of course this year was Showgun. Actually I so,
but but.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
Yeah, I'm a big fan of Beef. I think it's
a great show.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
There is going to be a second season, and and
I think it's coming out next this year, and I
forget it's but it's a new beef, it's a new
set of characters and and I have to we'll see
It'll probably be good. But but yeah, Ali Wong and
Oh the guy from Burning uh and other and Walking
Dead too and Mini.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Oh, I know who you're talking about.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Yeah, yeah, But I also think of other films too,
Like I'm a big fan of Portrait of a Lady
on Fire by Selene Siama.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Have you have you seen that one?
Speaker 1 (16:58):
I have not seen this film, Okay.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
The French film, so, but it's about a lesbian couple
and it's kind of set during it kind of has
It's filmed very much the style of like an English
period piece, even though it's French. You know, it's a
very large mansion, great performances. So I would.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Recommend that one. I'm trying to think of other others.
But Carol a French French Carol, huh. I love Carroll.
But we we just did a big, big.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Thing on on Douglas Sirk and Fastbender and then Todd
Haynes in January. It was great, and we watched Carrol
and and I don't know if you've no Fastbender, but
we watched The Bitter Tears of petrovon Cant, which is
very close to Carrol. Yeah, i'd say French French Carol,
but but it different. It's showed up on the site
(17:55):
and sound two fifty. Actually, I don't know if you
follow that.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
But a couple of years of sorry I'm a major filmer,
and obviously but.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
It was back to A twenty four. There's also this
year Love Lies Bleeding. I thought did a really good job.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
Have you seen that one yet?
Speaker 1 (18:13):
When you say this year, do you mean twenty twenty
five or twenty twenty four?
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Twenty twenty four? Yeah, sorry, I'm still in last year
film Lies. It's really early in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Yes, no, totally understand. I've heard of Love Lives Bleeting,
haven't seen it. I wanted to see it, but it
just didn't It didn't like pan out essentially.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Well, gave some great recommendations. I can't wait to check out.
Has been a hotel and English teacher, and so if
you want to think that it was a brief but
very fruitful conversation. So I appreciate you coming on. So
can you share where to find where people can find you?
You mentioned your blog.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Oh yeah, so people can find me. I'm very googleable.
I'm Alex mall Taylor. Alex has opinions. You can find
me on medium. That's also Alex's Opinions dot com. I
also am part of a writer's collective called After the
Storm magazine, and we accept speculative fiction pieces. So if
you're a writer, we do pay, so reach out to us.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Yes, nice, Yeah, thank you for paying writers. We love
our friends getting paid. We built a company so our
friends could get paid, so that's awesome. I also love
the very googleable, so we'll put links in the description,
so I recommend you check out Alex. I did see
you had a piece about Amelia Perez, which I've been
(19:37):
busy so I have did not get a chance to
read it, but I'm going to read it after I
record this podcast. Probably i'll put it in the show
notes too. And yeah, now it's.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
A great, great meeting you. Great talking to you, Alex,
and yeah look forward to having you back.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Yes, wonderful talking to you, and I am excited to
see how the podcast goes and best of luck with
the book and people should definitely buy it.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
I'm going to put that on the book with that cover.
Alex has opinions and one of them is people should buy.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
This book, so yes, you can quote me on that.
Speaker 4 (20:12):
Hey, this is Jason Kleeberg from The Force five podcast,
a show that forces a guest to come up with
a movie theme, top five list topic, and then we
reveal our picks on air. Top five heist films, top
five tier Jerkers, top five movie dogs. Every show you'll
be asking yourself what would be on my list. Guests
include directors, screenwriters, actors, podcasters, musicians, authors, and even a
(20:34):
professional wrestler. Subscribe to the Force five podcast and you
won't just be a listener, you'll be a list nerd.
The Force five podcast available wherever you are listening now
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