The Geeks OUT Podcast: #20biteen, Year End Review

The Geeks OUT Podcast

Opinions, reviews, incisive discussions of queer geek ideas in pop culture, and the particularly cutting brand of shade that you can only get from a couple of queer geeks all in highly digestible weekly doses.

In this special year end edition of the Geeks OUT Podcast, Kevin and J.W. Crump look back at the highs and lows of pop culture through a queer lens. We list our favorite moments, characters, and creators, and look to the future for our hopes for 2020.

Themes of Revolution in The Dragon Prince

The Dragon Prince recently dropped a 3rd season on Netflix, and continues to break ground in its diversity of representation, which is as vibrant, unique, and exciting as its fantastical setting. But it also teaches some had lessons which other children’s media shies away from.

Sapphic Queens in the Dragon Prince’s World History

The first season gave us a mixed-race royal family in which a black man is the king. In pseudo-medieval fantasy settings, this is almost unheard of, unless the nation is exclusively made up of dark-skinned people. It also gave us a particularly loveable female knight who is hearing impaired – though I’ve found that every character in this series is loveable, even the antagonists. What brought particular joy to me was watching this character speak so expressively through sign, sometimes without another character vocalising for them, and never with any subtitles. The incredible effect of this is that the viewer begins to learn her sign, and when it is not translated, is excited to learn it. I can only imagine how exciting these extra bits of dialogue are to viewers, especially children, who communicate through ASL themselves and almost never see themselves represented.

Season two introduced a character with lesbian parents, who’s heroic demise is shown in flashback. Though this certainly falls into the Kill Your Gays trope, it doesn’t make them any different from most of the parental figures on the show, who are either heroically dead, toxic, or estranged.

This third season gave us something which is extremely rarely seen in children’s media – a male couple who are not just wholesome chaste companions, but shown sharing a passionate kiss. The Dragon Prince has a few ley lines which connect its various characters, arcs, and history. These are:

Questioning Deeply Held Beliefs. It is established from the start that humans are appropriators, who steal and corrupt magic because they cannot wield any on their own. There is nothing in the continuing establishment of the lore to refute this. Yet, one of our main characters discovers he is capable of innate magic through study and concentration. At this time, there is no explanation as to why this has happened. There is no Chosen One motif, no mystery of his birth – simply a passion to learn, and to question the status quo.

A symbol of shame for those who refuse to fight in a war they do not believe in, then turned into a symbol for a cause.

Being the First Generation to Break a Cycle of Violence. The main premise of The Dragon Prince’s politics involves a small group of young people trying to stop a war which has been perpetuated by the generations that came before. But it appears in other places too – for instance, the child queen who lost her lesbian mothers is told that her parents would have wanted her to arm her nation for war, and answer the call of her allies. She agrees. Yes, that is what her mothers would have wanted. But they also raised her to be her own person, and her own judgement was to say no to war. It is not a betrayal of her family’s values, but her own way of expressing her independent ones. Before there is ever any hope for peace, The Dragon Prince shows us an assassin refusing to kill in cold blood, a child caring for a baby dragon who is the offspring of the dragon who killed his mother. A regiment of soldiers who lay down their arms and are branded cowards for refusing to fight a war they do not believe in. The show shines with small acts of gentleness that require great bravery.

Recognising Toxic Behaviour in a Loved One. Season three takes on a topic which is almost never handled by children’s media with any subtlety or realism: Being gaslit by a toxic parent. In Disney’s Tangled, our heroine needs to be a naive, isolated shut-in to be duped by her mother and not considered a complete idiot. The mother is earmarked for villainy to the audience from the very beginning, and therefore they learn nothing about how to spot a truly manipulative adult. In The Dragon Prince, Lord Viren is not depicted this way. He is styled as a villain by his profession and color palette, but so are Claudia and Soren with their respective dark magic and bullying. The three of them are depicted as more complicated than just the colors they wear. Viren’s two children are accomplished young adults with their own careers and passions, and yes, it is the cleverer one who remains trusting of him even when he has slowly turned into a monster. This is another valuable lesson – when you are the favorite child, it can be more difficult to see the warning signs, and easier to dismiss the alarm of your less-loved sibling. That is perhaps the most difficult lesson The Dragon Prince manages to get across – someone can truly love you, and be a villain too.

The pattern the antagonists in The Dragon Prince go through is almost a mirror opposite of Steven Universe, which presents binary evildoers and slowly reveals there is more to them, and inevitably, gives them all a chance to redeem themselves. The Dragon Prince Begins with a vast array of characters from different sides of a political conflict, some with duties to their nation, their race, their profession, or their family. As the plot develops, decisions need to be made, and lines in the sand need to be drawn. Some give up duty to better serve their moral compass. Some manipulate their position to achieve their goals. Characters who were once troublesome to the protagonists come to fight for them, and some who were beloved turn into radicalised monsters.

It is very rare that a piece of media for children should pull no punches when it comes to the hard lessons one learns when growing up. Your nation is not always good. Your family is not always right. And sometimes being kind is the hardest thing you can do.

All images from thedragonprince.com

GEEKS OUT BOARD INTERVIEW #5: Bethany Gonzalez-Velez

We here at Geeks OUT want you, the reader, to know more about who we are. To help with that, we’ve started interviewing members of our board so you know what makes us tick. Here’s our fifth interview!

Who are you and what do you do for Geeks OUT?

I am Bethany Gonzalez-Velez and I am the Treasurer of Geeks OUT. I keep Geeks OUT accountable to their promise to serve the community by monitoring their financial situation. 

How did you first get involved?

My former coworker was the previous Treasurer of Geeks OUT and offered me as a Bookkeeper in 2018. When the opportunity of a financial position rose again, I jumped on the chance.

What makes you geek out?

Games. I am an old fashioned gaming geek who becomes completely absorbed in board games, role playing, and strategy. My PS4 is my second therapist.

What book/tv show/comic/etc are you enjoying now?

I am far too invested in the “Lore Olympus”, “Lost in Translation”, and “True Beauty” series on Webtoons

What’s Something underrated you think could use a shout out?

Common games like Dominoes are underrated by the gaming community and every other game is underrated by everyone else. Games have personalities that do best in specific situations. They are what you make it, so the more investment you give to the platform, the more you will get out of it.

What was your introduction to geekdom?

I watched my brother play the original North American release of Metal Gear Solid in the late 1990s. My first aspiration was to train my reflexes enough to finish the game on my own. 

Review: Black Christmas

Imogen Poots is Riley in Black Christmas

The latest victim of toxic internet backlash, Sophia Takal’s Black Christmas, remakes the classic 1974 horror film for the #MeToo era.  In a society where a groundswell of support has taken down serial abusers like Harvey Weinstein even while an accused rapist sits in the White House, it’s not at all surprising that the film has “earned” a 3/10 user score on IMDb– boosted by scads of scathing reviews complaining about “sexism” (female on male, natch) and “third wave feminism.”

The truth is that the movie, while imperfect, benefits immensely from Takal and April Wolfe’s script explicitly addressing sexual assault, misogyny, and patriarchy.  The emphasis gives the film a strong point of view, sets it apart from both the original and a previous 2006 remake, and continues the horror tradition of holding up a perverse funhouse mirror to real life anxieties.  In the 1974 version, outspoken, independent women—one of whom wants an abortion despite her boyfriend’s wishes—are stalked by a mysterious killer in a college sorority house.  Here, an equally distinct, tight knit group of sorority sisters face a similar threat on the atmospheric campus of Hawthorne College.  Riley, played by Imogen Poots (who’s been quietly building a resume of interesting roles for years now) is struggling to overcome the trauma of an assault at the hands of charismatic frat boy Brian (Ryan McIntyre).  Nobody believed her then, but a campus talent show gives her an opportunity to confront Brian and his buddies.  When girls start disappearing, and Riley and her friends receive threatening text messages from someone claiming to be their school’s long dead founder, they suspect that the disgraced fraternity might be behind them.

Kris (Aleyse Shannon) faces off against the killer

The on the nose gender politics aren’t the whole show.  This is a horror film, after all, and Sakal and Wolfe’s overwritten screenplay (I mean that as a compliment) gives us characters we care about, namely: Riley, her activist pal Kris (Aleyse Shannon), and the not-as-vapid-as-she-looks Jesse (Brittany O’Grady).  Cary Elwes is in grand scenery chewing form as pretentious, smarmy Professor Gelson.  The production design is terrific, with a gothic campus and plenty of holiday atmosphere.  Sakal also stages some fun set pieces and includes clever Easter eggs for fans of the original movie.

Cary Elwes as the slimy Professor Gelson

The biggest issue here is with the third act, when the movie loses steam just when it should be hitting its stride.  The cathartic final battle between Riley and her tormentors doesn’t land with quite the oomph it should, and the supernatural machinations of the plot are a little too Harry Potter.  Still, Riley is a wonderfully real, complicated, and endearing character—one with a dynamic arc.  Black Christmas is consistently entertaining, funny, and often surprising, with a fresh and diverse cast.  I give the filmmakers props for taking a bold swing and making a statement about important contemporary issues.  The fact that this PG-13 rated film will be accessible to young women, and potentially inspiring to many of them, is profound.  That goes a long way towards forgiving its defects.

The Geeks OUT Podcast: Merry Xbox-mas

The Geeks OUT Podcast

Opinions, reviews, incisive discussions of queer geek ideas in pop culture, and the particularly cutting brand of shade that you can only get from a couple of queer geeks all in highly digestible weekly doses.

In this week’s episode of the Geeks OUT Podcast, Kevin is joined by J.W. Crump as they discuss the newly announced Xbox Series X console, new trailers for Stargirl & Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and The Hallmark Channel banning/unbanning a commercial featuring a lesbian wedding in This Week in Queer. 

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BIG OPENING

KEVIN: Orlando Jones announces his firing from American Gods
J.W.: A queer Singled Out reboot is coming to Quibi

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DOWN AND NERDY

KEVIN: Crisis on Infinite Earths, New Mutants, Lois Lane
J.W.: Astronomy Club, Rick & Morty, Florence, The Hollow

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STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER

New trailer for Stargirl

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THIS WEEK IN QUEER

The Hallmark Channel removes queer holiday commercial

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CLIP OF THE WEEK

New trailer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife

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THE WEEK IN GEEK

MOVIES

Joker nominated for 4 Golden Globes
New trailer for reboot of The Grudge
• Reboot to Home Alone finds it’s cast
• Warner Bros. releasing John Wick 4 & Matrix 4 on same date
• Flash and Shazam 2 coming out in 2022
• New teaser trailer for Birds of Prey
• New trailer for Antlers

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TV

• Thomas Lennon joins Supergirl
Code 8 spinoff coming to Quibi
• New trailer for Miracle Workers: Dark Ages
• New merch being released for The Mandalorian
Marvel TV is being phased out
• Ethan Hawke returning to The Purge
• New trailer for The Witcher
• New trailer for Dracula

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VIDEO GAMES

• New Tinder-like simulator game Table Manners being released on Steam
• Valve removes Nazi steam profiles
• Xbox announces new console

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SHILF

• KEVIN: Superman (Brendan Routh)
• J.W.: Harley & Poison Ivy

New Web Comic – I’ll See You Again

Hello comrades! As some of you may already know, unearthing and paying homage to suppressed and censored LGBT history is a great passion of mine. Lately I’ve been thinking of how to create a work that would explore places and physical artefacts that could be said to be Queer Pilgrimage sites. Perhaps some day, I’ll get a huge grant to travel the world and make a travel guidebook on that subject. The Stonewall Inn is a wonderful place, but it ain’t the only place!

So let me present to you my explorations in a new web comic, I’ll See You Again. With this comic, I aim to present a fictional pair who can show us various sacred spaces through their own explorations, while also telling their own story. The cover and first page are below, and I’ll be adding a new page every 1 or 2 weeks. I hope you enjoy!

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I'll See You Again - Cover.
I'll See You Again - Page 1.

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The Geeks OUT Podcast: It’s a (Wonder) Woman’s World

The Geeks OUT Podcast

Opinions, reviews, incisive discussions of queer geek ideas in pop culture, and the particularly cutting brand of shade that you can only get from a couple of queer geeks all in highly digestible weekly doses.

In this week’s episode of the Geeks OUT Podcast, Kevin is joined by Jon Herzog as they discuss the new trailers for Wonder Woman 1984, Black Widow, and Mulan, & celebrate Rebekah, the young trans activist featured in the latest Marvel’s Hero Project on Disney+ in This Week in Queer.

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BIG OPENING

KEVIN: New teaser trailer for Black Widow
JON: New trailer for Wonder Woman ‘84

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DOWN AND NERDY

KEVIN: Steven Universe Future, Castle Rock, Astronomy Club
JON: Knives Out/Jojo Rabbit Double-Header, Mandalorian/Binge Mode: Star Wars

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STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER

New trailer for live action Mulan

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THIS WEEK IN QUEER

New episode of Disney+ series Marvel’s Hero Project features young trans hero

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CLIP OF THE WEEK

New animated short film Hair Love from Sony Pictures Animation

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THE WEEK IN GEEK

MOVIES

New trailer for No Time To Die
Disney developing new Planet of the Apes movie
• J.J. Abrams continues to insist Star Wars will have LGBTQ representation
• First look at Ghostbusters: Afterlife
• New trailer for Free Guy

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TV

• New teaser trailer for season 2 of The Boys
• New trailer for season 2 of Lost in Space
• New trailer for The Outsider
• New trailer for AJ and the Queen
• New teaser for season 5 of Legends of Tomorrow
• New trailer for Avenue 5
• Disney+ orders Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge competition show
• Animated Tigra & Dazzler show getting overhauled
• Disney+ developing spinoff series to live-action Aladdin
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina part 3 coming in January

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COMIC BOOKS

• Marvel introduces new Strange Academy
• Batman to introduce Alfred’s “replacement”
• Marvel introduces new X-title Hellions

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SHILF

• KEVIN: Red Guardian
• JON: Mr. Sinister

The Geeks OUT Podcast: Super Thankful for Melissa & Billy Dee

The Geeks OUT Podcast

Opinions, reviews, incisive discussions of queer geek ideas in pop culture, and the particularly cutting brand of shade that you can only get from a couple of queer geeks all in highly digestible weekly doses.

In this week’s extra stuffed episode of the Geeks OUT Podcast, Kevin is joined by Nick Reid as they discuss the latest revelations from HBO’s Watchmen, applaud Billy Dee Williams coming out as gender fluid, and for speaking out about IPV, we celebrate Melissa Benoist as our Strong Female Character of the Week.

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BIG OPENING

KEVIN: Watchmen reveals identity of Hooded Justice, while exploring race and sexuality
NICK: The Proud Family revival ordered for Disney+

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DOWN AND NERDY

KEVIN: Parasite, Noelle, The Dragon Prince, Avengers, Killadelphia
NICK: Frozen 2, His Dark Materials, The Mandalorian

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STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER

Melissa Benoist opens up about IPV

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THIS WEEK IN QUEER

Billy Dee Williams reveals gender fluidity

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CLIP OF THE WEEK

New trailer for Onward

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THE WEEK IN GEEK

MOVIES

Elizabeth Banks to direct/star in Invisible Woman

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TV

• New teaser for Dispatches from Elsewhere
• New trailer for The Walking Dead: World Beyond
• Don’t expect queer love in the first season of Harley Quinn

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COMIC BOOKS

• Icon Howard Cruse passes away

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SHILF

• KEVIN: Gabriel Kringle
• NICK: Elsa