SotW: If I Were a Boy from Glee Sunday, Nov 24 2013 

music and queer culture and song of the week and television thisgaudygildedstage 10:29 pm

A couple of weeks ago I flipped the channel briefly to see what was happening on Glee, a show I don’t watch much anymore, since it conflicts with Project Runway. The beginning of this video is exactly where I came in:

I wasn’t sure what had happened to lead to this song — I asked PJ later, since he watches Glee — but part of the beauty of this performance is that you didn’t really need to know what had happened to precipitate it. It’s moving and beautiful without any context.

A few years ago, Glee was on the forefront of depicting gays and lesbians on television. I’m glad that it’s continued that progressive tradition by depicting a trans character like Unique. Just as younger audiences have arguably learned greater acceptance of gays and lesbians by watching them on television, hopefully the same positive acceptance will come soon for transpeople. Orange Is the New Black and Glee are leading the way. Hopefully other shows will soon follow.

 

My Dorothy Loudon Obsession Thursday, Nov 21 2013 

music and theater thisgaudygildedstage 6:00 pm

A couple of years ago I stumbled across a video of Dorothy Loudon singing this medley of two songs by Stephen Sondheim while PJ and I were going through a big Sondheim phase:

This performance still gives me goosebumps when I watch it. It suggests how brilliant Loudon was, but I didn’t really follow up by listening to anything else by her. But this past Sunday, we were listening to the Broadway channel on Sirius when we heard a song that neither of us had ever heard before. It turned out to be Loudon singing “Fifty Percent” from a Broadway show entitled Ballroom. Here’s a video of her singing it much later:

Again, she gives a mesmerizing performance, and I now LOVE this song. And I’m obsessed with Loudon. She has a couple of albums, which I’ve purchased and have been listening to. She’s amazing!

 

12 Years a Slave: A Review Monday, Nov 18 2013 

movies thisgaudygildedstage 6:00 pm

Over the weekend, PJ and I saw 12 Years a Slave, Steve McQueen’s adaptation of the true story of Solomon Northup’s kidnapping into slavery. It’s an incredible, moving film that is surely the most realistic depiction of slavery yet produced. Here’s the trailer:

It’s almost impossible to describe this movie adequately. I knew almost nothing about it before seeing it (unlike PJ, who has read the original memoir). One consequence of this was that I really didn’t know what was going to happen next. The consensus among our friends was that it didn’t matter either way — if you knew the plot or didn’t it was still a powerful depiction of the ills of slavery (to put it mildly).

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2013: The Summer of Gay Love Sunday, Nov 17 2013 

music and queer culture thisgaudygildedstage 7:42 pm

I’ve been meaning to write this post for months and just haven’t gotten to it. This past summer will be remembered for the landmark Supreme Court decision in favor of gay marriage. While that decision did not extend marriage rights to all 50 states, our nation is headed in the right direction, and I look forward to being legally wed to PJ in the not too distant future.

Gay love was also in the air this past summer musically. In many respects, it started with Macklemore’s “Same Love”:

I’ll admit that, at first, I didn’t pay much attention to Macklemore. But once I sat down and listened to his hit, I was really impressed with what he’s achieved: he’s captured the way so many younger people now think. It’s a beautiful video, and I think it paved the way for other music made by queer artists.

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