Gay Best Friend: Stanford Blatch (Willie Garson) in "Sex and the City" (1998 - 2010)

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

Stanford (Willie Garson) and Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) were an inseparable pair. Willie Garson will be dearly missed.Representation is always important, whether or not it is good or bad, strong or weak. I wanted to start this series because my first encounters with queer characters were in the “gay best friend” characters, both good and bad. Especially for those who grew up in the 90s and 00s, this was the experience of many people in the LGBTQ+ community. 

One of the most frequent and high profile gay best friends during this time was Stanford Blatch (Willie Garson), Carrie’s gay best friend and fellow serial dater. Garson passed away last Tuesday at the age of 57 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. His work served as the template for a whole generation of gay characters in film and TV and his work will live on in television history. Stanford made his first appearance in the legendary pilot, which aired on June 6, 1998. From there, he appeared in all seasons, 27 episodes and both movies. Everyone always talks about the four women at the center, but Stanford is one of the most important supporting characters. Garson was an astounding talent that will be greatly missed. In celebration of his life and defining career work, let’s take a look back at the best moments of Stanford Blatch...

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Dan Stevens is a tempting romantic ideal in "I'm Your Man"

by Matt St Clair

Despite having otherworldly leading man looks, Dan Stevens has a clear affinity for playing eccentric character roles. That being said, some of those roles that he’s played, like flamboyant, implicitly gay Russian singer Alexander Lemtov in Eurovision Song Contest and the enigmatic titular character from The Guest, have allowed him to play into his sex appeal. The German sci-fi romance I’m Your Man, which is opening today in US movie theaters, is a continuation of that trend. 

Stevens plays Tom, an android designed to be the perfect companion, someone with perfect looks who is programmed to fulfill the every need of their human partner...

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Germany submits "I'm Your Man" to the Oscars

by Nathaniel R

Dan Stevens and Sandra Huller in a scene from "I'm Your Man"

Germany, which has long been popular with the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has announced their submission for the 94th Oscars. They're going with the sci-fi flavored romantic comedy I'm Your Man starring British hunk Dan Stevens (who happens to be fluent in German) as an android specifically programmed to make a woman happy. The movie, distributed by Bleecker Street in the US, hits theaters a week from Friday... 

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Almost There: Melanie Griffith in "Something Wild"

by Cláudio Alves

The 59th Academy Awards showcased a rare variety of genres in its acting honors. Usually, AMPAS restricts itself to prestige dramas, but they were atypically adventurous in 1986. Best Actress alone featured a sci-fi action epic, nostalgic time-travel fantasy, a black comedy on themes of suicide and murder, trashy neo-noir, and, of course, the respectable adaptation of a dramatic play. It's a pity that, amid all this, there wasn't space for some lighthearted romantic comedy. No matter how popular it is, it seems that genre always has some difficulty getting into the awards conversation. As for the 1986 crop of romcoms, none feels more like an "Almost There" case than Jonathan Demme's Something Wild. While arguments could be made for all its principal players, we shall focus on the picture's beguiling leading lady, Melanie Griffith…

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Little Gold Men on 1934's "It Happened One Night"

by Nathaniel R

The year of guesting on podcasts continues (after no invites forever I'm suddenly mouthing off everywhere!) with Vanity Fair's "Little Gold Men" podcast. I join Katey and Joanna to talk about the early Best Picture winner It Happened One Night. The story of Clark Gable's bare chest sending undershirt sales plummeting is old school famous, of course, but Joanna's additional research nuggets kind of blew my mind. I'd seriously never heard the bit about Bugs Bunny before (whaaa?!). We also talk briefly about the 2021 Academy invitees previously discussed right here. 

Have a listen and even a watch (the movie is streaming free on Crackle with ads). What a great film.