#around usamerican cultural events

[intern-seraph]

if your activism can be significantly disrupted by a few hours of award show, you're just a bad activist

#seraph speaks #i promise that a nation on the other side of the globe #has not and does not schedule its military operations #around usamerican cultural events #pinkie promise. there are actual things to be mad about. #this is not it. #if you think everything is a (((zionist conspiracy))) i think you're just stupid #and also antisemitic. #so unpack that.

[evilwickedme]

I saw ur post about the Israel Superbowl Ad and tried to find it, if I'm not mistaken it's the one that starts w "To All the Dads" rather than being specifically about fighting antisemitism. Or am I missing something?

Hey so I'm choosing to take this ask in good faith, please don't make me regret that 😅

Firstly - no, they weren't talking about the To All the Dads ad, they were talking about the Stop Jewish Hate ad. See here (includes the ad in question). And here. And see literally anything that heritageposts and their ilk have posted in the last four months to see how just mentioning antisemitism is enough to make these people fly off the handle.

Secondly, basically nobody saw the "To All the Dads" ad. It aired only on Paramount. And even if it was the ad that made everyone mad - why? Why would you be angry at a plea for awareness about actual hostages currently being held with no food water or medication (despite the fact that medication was recently sent into Gaza in a deal that specifically specified that hostages would receive the meds, no proof was received, and the two hostages rescued on Monday morning aka during the football season finale said they didn't even know they were supposed to get those meds)? Like frankly being mad at that ad would have also been fucking ridiculous.

But finally, my post didn't mention any ad at all until somebody else brought it up. I wasn't talking about the ads. I was talking about the big picture, covering a subject I have covered repeatedly on this blog: conspiracy theories. My post was about the idea that Israel and the IDF would choose to act specifically around USAmerican culture events, as was shown with the Black Friday and Spotify wrapped debacles previously, and obviously with the Superb Owl now. Major shit happens in this war all the time. But the "activitists" on here choose to only note that something dramatic happened if it coincided with their fucking limited experience.

Focusing on the ad - either of them - is frankly beside the point. But claiming that Israel bombed Rafah at an early hour Monday morning because of a game of AMERICAN FOOTBALL??? That's straight up ridiculous conspiracy theory. And if you ask "why" for even a second, it falls apart. Because I promise you the CIA was paying attention to the Israel Gaza war even as the water pressure across the US went down. I promise you nobody important outside the 50 states - and possibly only the lower 48 - was even a little bit "distracted" by this game. Any three letter agency you can think of and ones that don't form acronyms too and South Africa and the UN and most importantly, the actual gazans whose lives were at risk, they weren't distracted by this game. And that didn't stop Israel and the IDF from bombing Rafah and rescuing those hostages. And even if they had been, inexplicably, distracted, all those people would have found out what happened just a couple of hours later.

My post wasn't about the ad. It was about the idea that because the average American can be distracted by something as simple as a few hours of television from a war going on, that means everyone else must be distracted as well. Well, the world doesn't revolve around USAmericans. Deal with it.

#antisemitism #jew tag #i/p #jumblr #gail speaks

[edge-oftheworld]

thinking about the way when i interact with fellow aussies on here I see so much disappointment about how they didn't come here on their last tour. how sydney 5sos fans are a different brand of human i'm not really sure how to describe (we all freaked out when we went to the same concert lauren was at for example). thinking about how the australian leg of take my hand tour felt like it was almost its own thing, sandwiched between the gap after the bulk of the tour before it and that short gap before they announced the most recent tour after it--almost as if it was meant to bridge both of those tours. how they played in newcastle and on the gold coast and it wasn't quite cairns or coffs but it was a bit more than your state capitals headline tour. how, with the exception of the big four, we often don't realise how small our cities are on a global scale. there are only 27 million of us on this desert island.

thinking about how they wrote easy for you to say and had to perform it on tour six months before its actual release, it was so important to this setlist, to the vibe, and how it's about nostalgia and missing sydney and they finished the tour in sydney and it makes me wonder, i can kind of guess when the song means the same thing to me, how much it hurts to be able to perform here and yet not be able to stay for longer than a holiday. and yet they do do that for us, put on shows about as regularly as any other artist does. even if they didn't play splendour in the grass. or falls festival. even if it's been four years since fire fight australia, it was only months ago sierra was promoting beyond blue as a charity to donate to. friends of friends did some fundraiser for a youth centre in blacktown: maybe I have to look to see it, but I can see the impact they've left.

and then I see how happy they all seem to look when they've gotten a chance to hang out in australia. ashton covering songs in the heat. calum obviously having a blast. luke dropping sydney pics that were assumedly from before it got really hot, looking carefree, a familiar skyline and familiar urban graffiti. the way when michael arrived in perth for the first time after lockdown he simply had to tell us all right away. and i've always kind of seen them coming back here for good? heck, joel madden even assumed right on his podcast some of them might have already. the way ashton doesn't have a dog in the states, and how i've always seen him with an aussie. the way luke integrates seamlessly into the life and culture of the inner west area; and calum carries blue mountains vibes with him wherever he goes, as michael does with the sydney pop punk scene. we know brandy and sierra at least love australia--i was actually fangirling about sierra in their comments with the veronicas just the other day (bless them for deciding my comment was something that needed to replying to). while crystal does have a massive group of usamerican friends and family I can see her enjoying the vegan places in melbourne and brisbane (they're coming to sydney too. the inner west and parts of the north side are almost there) and maybe being a little more hopeful about politics. I can also see it being a really healthy place to raise lua.

maybe it's the hopefulness of an urban designer who sees the impact of art and culture and having people around who create for a living on our cities, but maybe I see myself in 20 years bringing my kids to see them play and being able to tell the story of a series of songs (red desert, efyts, whatever is next in the theme in the works for 5sos6 as well as the solo stuff like a lot of wfttwtaf and boy) and how they figured out what we all have to, how to find and create a place that's home to you--because it's actually a pretty likely event. and i love seeing the evolution from the 'let's get out' / 'worked every weekend just to get out of town' vibe of self titled and sgfg to now. I really do want them all to feel like they can relax now after so many years of working and depriving themselves of the love that comes from belonging (I do feel like we've heard more about it from luke and ash specifically) and I also get the subtle vibes of where that might happen. and how much it might hurt when they don't get to have that. what did they do for aussies? gave us hope that we could make it, in whatever we want to do and whatever success means for us. maybe it's just me though. for now. maybe i've got the expectations of someone who grew up unable to afford things like concerts mixed with the anticipation for this june. I hope i'm not projecting, but also, the empathy I feel when I see myself in someone is usually spot on.

so idk. one day i'm gonna design some really classy public housing made to unfuck the status quo and i'm gonna raise money to build it and sierra will write a song and say she's doing a donation to this charity in australia doing things about homelessness and the class divide and it's gonna help me fund it. that's just one option of something i can see going down that's not completely unrealistic if very very optimistic but it's how i live my life. but i'll go to a 5sos concert eventually. i'll play their songs i've arranged with an orchestra one day too and we'll do it impressively, noticeably. i don't really know what else i'm supposed to expect? I know my experience is worlds away from many people's. but these guys inspire me to create and I don't really need anything else to do that.

#will add that i think if they were to move back here it would be something that would require work to be better than as kids #because it was never perfect for them to begin with and we do all deserve better than to pick the less uncomfortable uncomfortable option #fr though sierra + the australian music industry is just #like i really feel like she's at home there. more so than 5sos even #australia #5sos5 city #what am i talking about #i feel like it's just my experience really #official efyts post #nfattne tour brisbane #5sos #5 seconds of summer #luke hemmings #ashton irwin #calum hood #michael clifford #sierra deaton #almondmilkhunni #crystal leigh

[intogenshin]

On the circularity of time

Putting aside the manuals, all the Mondstadt books we have saved in the inventory (instead of the archive) seem to be lore relevant in one way or another: Handy Handbook of Hilichurlian, Along with Divinity, Wind Courage and Wings, History of Kings and Clans, Biography of Gunnhildr, Ancient Investigation Journal.

However, the book in the screenshot is just a random tale about a Harpastum anecdote, and doesn't have any practical use.

The title as well as the story are a reference to the irl book "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel García Márquez, it's the novel that gave birth to magical realism in Latin America and completely changed the literary scene (this is a book most latam kids read in high school).

The book uses many devices to emphasize the theme of repetition: it revolves around a family across several generations who continuously repeat the behavioral patterns of the previous generations; they have very similar names (im still traumatized from trying to memorize the genealogical tree for school) and seemingly are fated to relive their counterpart's mistakes; and there is a whole lot of incest that isolates the family more and more.

The author purposefully made it this way to depict the circularity of time, as a reflection of the history of Colombia (and Latin America) because we seem stuck in loops of political violence and civil wars, with the ever present threat of USAmerican neocolonialism. This book is very, very important in the collective identity of Latin America for these reasons.

Mondstadt is a mishmash of Northern Europe, it has nothing to do with Latin America —except for the fact we're told Natlan is based on pre-Columbian America and Africa, and Vanessa's people who originally came from Natlan were enslaved by the Lawrence clan, which, yikes! But all traces of Natlan people seem to have vanished after the clan was defeated by Vanessa, and she herself seems to have adopted the culture of Mond instead for some reasons so! This book seems out of place.

If hoyo chose to include it in Genshin (and even moreso, to put it in the inventory to be easily seen), it had to be with the intention of highlighting the theme of cycles in history. Though whether it's only in reference to events of smaller scale (like Mondstadt going through two different tyrants) or of greater scale like the entirety of the continent being stuck in a loop, it is up for debate.

#Mondstadt #Short post #Genshin lore

[thesweetnessofspring]

As someone who has read The Hunger Games trilogy, what lessons you can take from it?

Mockingjay deals with rebellion of the Districts toward the Capitol.

What lessons can we apply to current world affairs?

Thank you.

@curiousnonny

This is a huge question. I've appreciated many of the responses already given from others, especially @bodyelectric77's post and @pearlbeth's post on the matter.

I think the most important takeaway many who read it can learn is that you are Capitol. If you are in this moment reading a response to a Hunger Games question on tumblr.com, more than likely you are in some ways a Capitolite. Maybe you aren't the most Capitol of the Capitol (the Heavensbees and Cranes and Snows) but at least in some areas, have advantages others don't currently have. And so it's important to ask: what can I do with that? Am I going to go along with the oppression of those who live far away from me, have less than me, who historically have been against my people?

Will you be a Cinna? Will you support the oppressed and use your expression to condemn these actions?

Clearly right now, that issue is Palestine. Of the list released two days ago, 7,000 were dead and 3,000 were children. And horrifyingly, Palestine's ability to communicate with the world has been cut off. The Hamas attacks that ignited this were terrible as well, but since that time Israel has used it as an excuse to kill innocent people and children and the atrocities the Palestinian civilians have faced is disproportionate and at this point, is clearly an attempt to eradicate an entire people and culture. Israel not letting aid in. Israel is bombing hospitals and cutting off medical aid. The bombs are going off all of the time. This is in no way a "just war."

First, it's important to get educated and educate those around you. This is a long history and depending on your country/education might not have gotten around to it. To start, the BBC has a brief history of the conflict and personally, I like to follow Al Jazeera for current updates. Although it's hard, keeping up on the news of current events is important, especially to communicate about this issue with others. Some people will have their opinions formed and it isn't helpful to engage with them in argument. It's my belief that in order to not drain yourself, engage in discussion with people who are at least open to understanding this issue from all sides. Getting into arguments will only make people more entrenched in their beliefs and this is an emotional topic that can lead to burnout, especially depending on other stressors in your life.

For those who have a representative in their government (especially those whose countries provide aid in this conflict), it's important to speak your concerns to your government at the very least. If you're anxious about what to say (I am too!), I found a script that I used to call my representatives which is most helpful for USAmericans, but other countries could use it as a starting place.

As said before, aid isn't going through, but any amount to relief organizations will still be helpful for when, hopefully, aid is able to get through. Palestine Children's Relief Fund is considered a reputable charity (to the best of my knowledge).

So yeah, I think that should be the lesson learned. Do something.

#curiousnonny #the hunger games #palestine #this is a huge question with a lot of answers but this feels the most relevant

[fairycosmos]

not the original anon but it's an exhausting case of american cultural colonization honestly. so many fascinating beautiful traditions of cultures around the world that were practiced this time of year that are dying out because of everything getting americanized. and more and more people simply settling out for... fucking costumes. storebought, to make it worse. and candy and parties. it's just so. idk. spiritually dead and commercialized. to each their own though but just about any tradition is better than the modern capitalist usamerican one imo in every context

ohhh hey this is an interesting perspective i didn't consider! i thought anon meant like they just didn't enjoy the customs of the holiday but through this lens it makes a lot of sense. i feel the same way about christmas for this reason, how commercialised and commodified it feels. there's an emptiness, you know? and yeah it is a very american / wsternised event for sure

send me an opinion and i’ll say whether i agree or disagree!

#anon

[imaginary-wanderer]

Ok so, as I said in a previous post, I started watching 9-1-1 like 2 weeks ago and I've been sort of binge-watching it since I always put a low-commitment series to "watch" when I crochet. Gifsets have been on my dash for years and I decided to watch it after a more recent character development. Tumblr did it again, making people watch something thanks to gifsets. Best marketing ever indeed.

And one of the first things that really stood out was how religious, and especially christian, the show was. At first, it just made me eyeroll because I know it's an USAmerican tv show (as in not streaming), and I know they're made for a very wide audience, and it's the US, and it's Fox, so it makes sense. But it's so heavy on the religion, like all the damn time, that I started to doubt: is it officially a christian show? lol

So I looked it up and I'm surprised by the amount of people who didn't even notice the amount of christian content. There's absolutely no religious diversity in this show so far (I'm in the 3rd part of season 5), everyone is christian or it's not addressed, everyone prays, everyone thanks God, everyone is grateful for miracles. And I mean, fine, yeah, if I don't like it I can just stop watching it! It's not like I'm the target audience. But more than the content of the show, it's how culturally telling it is, and it's very interesting.

I've always lived in countries where religion, whatever it is, has no real place in entertainment. It doesn't mean it's not there, just that it's not culturally something people will use as a central topic in media, not usually, unless it's specifically about it. As an atheist, religions have no real place in my life but that also makes it easier to watch things with various religious background since I'll watch them from a neutral place: a religion is a religion, it's never "mine vs the others". So when a show has so much religious content like in this one, it really feels like it's a full on christian show.

What is also funny is how educative the show is, showing once again the audience target is very definite: gay people are okay, biracial couples are okay, children outside of mariage are okay, depression happens, mistakes happen. It's all good... as long as you're a good christian. And not as long as you have faith, no, it's about being christian. I'm still waiting to see what they'll make of Ravi's character and background.

The episode where they make a very heavy point to mention "trust in science!" only to oppose it to a big circle praying had my eyes roll like a slot machine lol I understand how religion can be a huge source of support and comfort for people, but in the years 2020, it feels like they live in a completely different world when it comes to life as a society.

Interstingly, I saw people opposing the constant christian undertone to other types of diversities. But being gay or black is not a choice (I know, it's still a hot debate among dumb people), while religion absolutely is (and yes, it's still debatable with how people are born into religious family and raised with no other choice).

Anyway, I haven't watched a show like this since probably the 1990s or the early 2000s, absolutely made to educate people around more modern christian values. It's always very interesting to watch from a societal pov, how they tackle current/recent events, how they deal with nationwide or world wide problematics like the pandemic and the covid vaccine and how, once again, it's clearly made to educate people. Which is fine! I just didn't expect this show to be so heavy on the christianity of the characters and the US society.

#9-1-1 very personal opinion #not tagging this because i have no idea how protective of this show the fandom is #i like the characters though they're nice #but all the christianity is killing me ahaha #i really hope they add someone with a different religion or kind of faith #i also understand that the us is a very christian country so obviously it makes sense to see that in tv productions #and i repeat: buck and eddie should fuck it would solve their respective problems (no but also kinda) #(and it would make us happier for sure)

[wariocompany]

On Thursday, November the 5th, 2020, came a revelation so uniquely earth-shattering it overtook the news of the ongoing US Election on social media trends [1]. Fictional character Castiel from hit show Supernatural was, in fact, in love with Dean Winchester.

For such a frivolous event like a show’s love confession – even less ground-breaking considering the way in which fictional gay representation has become far more commonplace in recent times – the world seemed to be in utter disbelief. “[W]ell. [W]here’s that Lenin quote[?] There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen”, one Tumblr user wrote, referring to the sensation.

What may have appeared as a bizarre overreaction from a minority to the general Twitter userbase was, however, the culmination of more than a decades’ worth of Generation Zoom’s childhoods. The memories of being a 14-year-old girl in 2011 having just discovered social media and posting maniacally about Supernatural– wildly theorising, sharing interpretations and expressing love for the show’s characters – had swiftly rushed back into the minds of millions of now-adults. Such a scene in the show, that would have sent their former selves into cardiac arrest, inspired a particular nostalgia-induced mania among ex-fans, with one user summarising the strange emotion by saying “Tonight feels like we’re staying up too late at a sleepover”.

More specifically, “Destielgate” as it came to be known reinvigorated an age-old question – Why were millions of gay teenagers yelling at show-writers in 2013 to stop “queerbaiting” them, while simultaneously aggravating heterosexual middle aged male fans who had no issue with the lack of gay romance in the show? What would prompt such infamy? What was the reason for the extent of blood, sweat and tears being put into this show by zealous fangirls in the early 2010’s?

Why were such a great number of LGBT US American teenagers so vehemently obsessed with Supernatural?

The obvious answer would be the age-old concept of self-actualisation through fiction. Particularly observable in teenagers solidifying their identity and personality, the fictional world provided ample ground for people to find plots, characters and ideals with which they resonated [2]. Research suggests this is especially true for twice exceptional teenage girls [3], who indeed are perceived to made up a good part of the “Destiel” fans within the Supernatural community – as well as demographic surveys of the fandom showing the majority of fans to be around 15-year-old girls who are LGBT [4].

The idea of Supernatural heavily focussing on a gay romance would thereby mean a great deal to aforementioned fanbase who relied on fiction not solely as entertainment but as a means of identity development. Indeed, the concept that “representation matters” was a popular one among Destiel fans, implying that to have main characters Dean and Castiel being LGBT in some way would serve as validation for their own identities.

Such an idea would perhaps hold water, if it were not for the glaring issue that Supernatural hardly had the essence of a plot that would allow for aforementioned self-realisation. As a matter of fact, the core aspects of the Supernatural identity did not seem to imply they were seeking a young LGBT audience in the slightest. The show was, rather, infamously entrenched in Midwestern masculinity culture.

The premise of the show is of two all-American brothers who ride around the USA to fight the eponymous supernatural entities that plague the country. The aesthetic choices associated with this genre, when not mythical and terrifying, encompass a blatant USAmerican stereotype. Looking at the show’s features for a minute or two provides a useful picture for Supernatural’s identity. Even the song most commonly associated with Supernatural, “Carry On Wayward Son” by Kansas, allows for a picture-perfect mental image of the show’s aesthetics and culture.

While LGBT people are born at random, meaning there is no one culture they are more likely to be born into, the Midwestern identity and culture is rarely associated with being LGBT - instead opting for urban areas with higher population density and less emphasis on traditional working-class professions such as farming. As seen in a political survey, conservatives make up the largest political alignment in the Midwest at 38%, 51% of whom say homosexuality “should be discouraged” and 63% of whom “oppose or strongly oppose” gay marriage [5].The show’s story, too, can easily be read to imply a certain lack of LGBT culture within. Sometimes there was blatant condemnation on the show of people who perceived male/male friendships romantically, including Destiel itself. More subtly, enemies of Dean would frequently refer to Castiel as his boyfriend or something similar solely to ridicule or offend him. Confirmed gay characters besides Castiel certainly existed, but hardly for long. Supernatural was never a particularly LGBT-centric show.

Indeed, the people who worked on the show itself were more than happy to make this a known fact. An infamous incident in 2013 wherein Jensen Ackles, the man who plays Dean, responded to a girl asking whether Dean was bisexual at a convention by groaning “seriously?” and the crowd booing [6] is particularly relevant here. While whether any malicious intent was present in that moment is a point of contention, for a great deal of LGBT people it is recalled as a sour and alienating memory. While other team members such as Misha Collins had a more favourable reputation, it stands that an LGBT interpretation of the show was generally received negatively by the puppet masters.

This is all to say that, on a surface level, it would seem bizarre that so many LGBT people, especially USAmericans, gravitated towards Supernatural as a show that was for their identity development. Not a great deal of the show’s setting, plot or production called for LGBT fans, besides the subtext regarding Castiel and Dean which would not be explicitly addressed until the series was effectively over.

However, the thematic implications of the Supernatural story may give insight into the origins of the Supernatural fanbase. For these fans, to resonate with the show was not to avoid these themes or hostility towards them, but to see them as aspects building towards a far more powerful gay love story.

#hi de ho

[butyouvealwaysbeenthecaretaker]

i read the first tales of the city last week after picking it up at an out of the closet (usamerican gay thrift shop chain) (i refrained from picking up any pulp sff bc i know i usually don’t get around to reading it, and any books with hairy shirtless men on the cover bc i was embarrassed, but like. the gay cashier isn’t going to judge me so if there’s anything left next time i go in... anyway) do you think i should read more of the series before gawking at the show

Great question ^_^

There's a couple of different answers to this:

1) In terms of continuity/canon, the Netflix TV series is set in the present day as a sequel to the book series. But it's a free adaptation, and diverges from the canon whenever it feels best to them.

It doesn't matter that much if you haven't read the series; the concept is, as in the books, ensemble cast of intertwined tales of queer chosen family in San Francisco - and that's the sort of thing you can pick up at any stage. And I'm not convinced that the new series meaningfully constitutes  "spoilers" either, because it's so clearly a parallel canon rather than a replacement or continuation.

THAT SAID. A bit like Picard, it leans heavily on sentimental nostalgia; I'm not sure why you would care enough about the indulgent, semi-deification of the characters if you weren't already invested in them.

2) There's also an older TOTC adaptation, with the same cast, which I haven't seen - but would still like to.

3) In terms of pleasure: I just counted on my shelf, and I own all nine TOTC books plus one of his others. I think the book series is fantastic. In contrast, I watched three episodes of the show and haven't bothered to finish it.

The books are a series where you'll either read one of them, or all nine. The first book is an essential part of our literary history and culture; but if you buy what he's selling, it's pretty irresistable.  

TOTC books are an interesting historical document - especially the first few which have a slice-of-life wit and a parodic eye. "The City" is Maupin's great love affair, so it's a document of that moment and that place - as well as notable for its groundbreaking representations of LGBT characters.

Beyond that, it's a string of sausages story and you stick with it because you love the characters. Maupin isn't immune to a very silly plot twist, but his observational character writing is always excellent; he seems to struggle with finding the narrative on which to hang his character work. Expect a soap opera twist at the point 75% through the novel when he thinks just having characters talk to one another isn't enough and something ought to Happen. But you know what? It is enough. I wish he had had the courage in his observational work to let it stand on its own.

I also think he has one of the most interesting treatments of AIDS in literature. His books are semi-autobiographical, written contemperaneously, and it's telling to me the way he chooses to almost step around it - for example, killing main characters in the time between books, so as not to tell the story of their illness on the page. In both TOTC and the Night Listener, he explores HIV through the experiences of straight characters. You get a real sense of him needing to approach this topic from the side, rather than head on. That's important to me, in and of itself, as a document of that part of our history.

4) I think the best run is books 5-7: Significant Others/Sure of You/Michael Tolliver Lives, with the last of those being the one I've read to death.

I didn't get on with book 8 (Mary Ann in Autumn), but it has a nice subplot about young gay trans man Jake connecting with this Mormon youth pastor missionary who may-or-may-not-be-gay. Book 9 (the Days of Anna Madrigal) was a travesty, absolutely terrible. The more you learn about Maupin's life, the more you realise the books are literally just things that happened to him - including having disappointing sex with a closeted film star. The reality of Book 9 is that Maupin is an married man living a quiet life, and not much is happening any more.

So if you're reading, you can stop after book 7.

5) One of the most important things about the series is how connected Maupin is to the world he's writing about. Filled with knowing references that his gay readers of 1974 would have understood, to people and places and bars and events and things you see on the street there.

The Netflix has attempted to replicate this by updating it for modern queer culture and modern SF. I don't think the writers are part of that world, it doesn't read as "real" to me.

For one thing, adjusting Jake from a young gay trans man who hooks up with the poly, married, older cis male protagonist - courageously, but with confidence - to one of the "young people" characters, having relationships with other young people newly created for the series. There's a subtle othering going on here, suggesting Jake's life is a "young person's thing". But in one stroke, they've erased the age gap, the open marriage, the long history of gay trans San Franciscans as an equal part of a historic community...trans lives are not validated by cis people's acceptance or by sex, but when you're adapting the longest-running openly gay character in literature, the character who comes to embody the life of a gay man over the course of 3 decades of books, and you choose to write the trans characters out of his bedroom, and into this nebulously modern queer space instead, you are Making A Choice.

I had horrible experiences in queer spaces, so the rosy-tint everything has doesn't read as real to me; and where are all those trans young artists living in San Francisco anyway? Yeah, Anna and Edgar are running an Instagram account, but the tale of the city is not the tech revolution, but the people crushed underneath it.

You know, what happens in the book series at the moment we move into the present day is that Mrs Madrigal has to sell her house - that iconic house,  the house on which everything centers - because she's an older woman in a rapidly gentrifying city that's shifting underneath them, and she needs the money.

But in the show, there she is, at Barbary Lane, luminous and surrounded by loved ones; it's giving us what we "want", part of the Maupin brand. But Barbary Lane is not the house, but the way the people within it create home for one another there. I think what it misses is that these are tales of the city, and like any lover, you adore it even when your heart is breaking - you have to be honest about that which you love, in all its imperfections; Michael Tolliver Lives explores that a little in 2016, what it means for the city to be gentrifying, but a series made in 2019 shies away from it?

To me, this sort of exemplifies the queerwash cowardice of the series. It's something hollow draped in a rainbow flag. Maupin was never cruel to his characters - but he never lied about them either. The series is safe, unwilling to criticise, unwilling to take risks, unwilling to look at the modern city or modern queer life with a clear and honest eye, it's like eating a wad of colourful cardboard.