Showbiz History: Duplicity, The King and I, and the 1951 Oscars

5 random things that happened on this day, March 20th, in showbiz history...

1949 The 20th Academy Awards are held honoring the films of 1947. The anti-semitism journalism drama Gentleman's Agreement takes Best Picture with Miracle on 34th Street probably a distant second. We had so much fun discussing this year last summer and we highly recommend you watch Crossfire (which lost all five of its nominations) because it's excellent...

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Showbiz History: Julia peaks, Channing rises, and Maddie swings from chandeliers

6 random things that happened on this day, March 17th, in Showbiz History. Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

1941 The National Gallery of Art opened in DC eighty years ago today. 

1991 The 44th annual BAFTA Awards honoring the films of 1990 are held. Italy's Cinema Paradiso (which we were just discussing) is a huge hit winning 5 awards and Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas emerges triumphant with the top prize (Dances with Wolves, which will beat it at the Oscars a week later, isn't up for the BAFTAs until the following year, but it loses then to the homegrown title The Commitments)...

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Gay Best Friend: George Downs in "My Best Friend's Wedding"

NEW WEEKLY SERIES!

by Christopher James

The trope of the “gay best friend” proves that not all representation is created equally. In the 90s especially, we finally got to see openly gay characters in big Hollywood movies, specifically romantic comedies. Before that, queer characters were often only coded as such. While this representation was a step forward, the types of LGBTQ+ representation were always the same: white, cis gay men without an interior life. Throughout this series, I want to revisit these characters and examine the good, the bad and the ugly of their portrayal and how it has shaped the culture of today.

George Downs (Rupert Everett) embodies a lot of what is bad about the “gay best friend” trope. So why do I love him so much? It’s not just because Everett is incredibly charming and handsome. George starts out as a sidekick and becomes the “love interest.” Sure, we never get to spend time with him a queer man and learn more about his love life and relationships. Still, he's the force that shapes and defines the narrative. That this happens in a $100 million plus Julia Roberts blockbuster is no small feat...

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Fav Halloweens: Living my "Pretty Woman" fantasy

We thought it might be fun if Team Experience shared a few of our favourite Halloween memories with you.

by Christopher James

Some people mark time by birthdays. I mark them with Halloween costumes.

Halloween costume planning was always a weeks long planning process growing up. Harry Potter, James Bond, Ash from Pokemon - I did it all. Seven year old me wanted to be cool so bad he begged his parents for an Anakin Skywalker costume even though he had never seen any Star Wars movie yet. As you can tell by those examples, Halloween reflected my pop culture taste at the time. It was my yearly permission to pretend I was in one of my favorite movies. It’s safe to say, I never grew out of my love for Halloween.

It wasn’t until I was 25 that was able to finally pull off dressing as my ultimate pop culture hero - Vivian Ward. Yes, we’re born gay, not made gay...

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Julia Roberts' Big Mistake

by Murtada Elfadl

Today marks the 30th anniversary of Pretty Woman. It was released on March 23rd 1990. Of course now it’s remembered for making Julia Roberts one of the biggest stars in Hollywood history. It launched her career to the stratosphere and she still ranks as a major star even if the star system itself has evolved drastically in the last thirty years...

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