Gay Best Friend: Damian in "Mean Girls" (2004)

a series by Christopher James looking at the 'Gay Best Friend' trope  

"She doesn't even go here" - Daniel Franzese steals yet another scene as Damian in "Mean Girls."Everyone remembers their first.

I don’t think Damian from Mean Girls was the first gay character I saw on screen. So many comedies throughout the 90s and early 00s used gay characters as easy punchlines or setup for gay panic jokes. However, Damian was the first time I saw someone who said it was ok to be gay. It would be many years before I myself came out, but Damian always felt like a touchstone to come back to. Damian is arguably the most famous example of the “Gay Best Friend” trope in 21st century movies thus far. He epitomizes the stereotype in both positive and negative ways. What stands out and makes him timeless is the way he takes up space within the school, especially at a time where gay kids often tried to “make it through” or “fade into the background.” If he was going to be a stereotype, by God he was going to let you know that he was the stereotype and you'd better pay attention...

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"the greatest people you will ever meet"

Instagram Battles: Where and With Whom?

Would you rather

...hang out with Connor Jessup & Apichatpong "Joe" Weerathaskeul in San Fran?
... attend a costume party with Daniel Franzese and his fiancé?
... spot Ewan McGregor just hanging out in NYC where his movie is playing?

When worlds collide! @connorwjessup #sanfrancisco #strandreleasing #connorjessup #apichatpong

A photo posted by @strandreleasing on Oct 17, 2016 at 1:12pm PDT

I think @wellhayley has Howard making @joeylovesthat and I feel like we should go bananas for @bananagramsinc this Halloween again.

A photo posted by Daniel Franzese (@whatsupdanny) on Oct 19, 2016 at 6:51am PDT

Here we go!! #americanpastoral

A photo posted by Ewan McGregor (@mcgregor_ewan) on Oct 21, 2016 at 6:14pm PDT

 

Link Slippers. They're Surprisingly Comfortable

Defamer Jessica Lange throwing shade Lady Gaga's way in an American Horror Story press event
White Noise wonders why Hollywood can't get hackers (and computers in general) right?
Salon Excellent interview with Daniel Franseze (Mean Girls) about his breakout Looking character, a complete rarity for TV, and HIV prevention 
Playbill has an updates on the musical version of Mean Girls that Tina Fey is working on
CHUD Bobby Cannavale says that there's a lot of comic improv in the Ant-Man film this summer 
Pajiba looks at "Jonathan" (aka Danny Strong) and how the Buffy super villain surprisingly became such a success story after the series. 

Comics Alliance Captain America: Civil War wants to start shooting in a couple of while while the various Avengers actors are still deep in promotion duties for Age of Ultron. (Marvel has definitely moved into "rush everything!" mode. It wouldn't seem to impossible if all the Avengers weren't in it but they seem to be.)
PressPlay has a video essay on what it means to be an auteur 
Playbill Liza Minnelli has reentered rehab after a recent back surgery
Black Maria has some recommendations on Warner Archive. I keep wondering if I should join this but I already spend so much $$$ on movies. Have any of you tried them out?
The Dissolve is horrified by forthcoming Robin Hood adaptations from Hollywood. Yes, there are five of them in development and they all sound quite dumb!
Pajiba omg you guys, did you see the Miley Cyrus wax figure? Yikes.
The Film Doctor looks back at Nightcrawler's "atrocity montage"
Women and Hollywood check on these horrifyingly sexist casting ads. Like this one... ugh:

There's something unnerving about her. Maybe she's read too many books?

Oscars are so far away but Oscar talk never is
Gold Standard Glenn Whipp on why the Academy shouldn't go back to 5 Best Picture nominees. Did I share this already? I might have shared this already.
Awards Daily One of our most high profile documentarians, Alex Gibney, has a possible contender this year in Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief which hits HBO at the end of the month. (Seems like wishful thinking, Oscar-wise, to me since Hollywood has a lot of Scientologists that will undoubtedly be offended by it.

Cinderella is still spinning
i09 in our Cinderella retrospective we forgot about this oddity. Fairie Tale Theater's version with Matthew Broderick as Prince Charming!
Guardian attacks the new Cinderella for not being more like Frozen and selling feisty girlpower and for its "pinkification"... whatever that word means in this context. Sigh. This article and line of thought make me angry. Listen, I'm all for feisty girlpower but you know what's even better for men and women alike? diversity in representation. It's not good for boys to only have heroes that are physically intimidating and it's not good for girls to only have heroes that are anachronistic 'you go girl!' athletic types. There's more than one way to be an admirable film character that kids can look up to. I think this adaptation does wonders keeping the princess-to-be true to the material while also transforming her into a better role model. A protagonist that emphasizes fine-tuning your inner moral compass and positively affecting change through compassion and forgiveness is a protagonist that's still mighty heroic and worth emulating if you ask me. Not every "hero" needs to be able to kick ass.

Beauty Break: "On Wednesdays We Wear Pink"

Mean Girls Week Begins! For the next seven days (betwixt the normal blogging) we'll be dropping in occasionally on the students of North Shore High to celebrate 10 years of Mean Girls which opened April 30th, 2004.

For now please to enjoy this very pink gallery with a lavender note from Damian...

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