And Pose’s Christmas episode embraces the long-held queer notion – for many, by necessity – that the most important family is your chosen one. Lena Waithe’s Emmy-nominated “Thanksgiving” episode on Master of None uses the cyclical nature of holiday celebrations to acknowledge that coming out is something that happens over and over again. In Desiree Akhavan’s Appropriate Behaviour, Persian New Year is the setting for Akhavan’s protagonist Shirin to come out to her mother – or rather to try and fail. Queer film and media makers who have ventured into this territory have often chosen to reveal its contradictions and exclusions. But a very particular set of expectations seems to be levelled at the holiday movie, which is not just about its seasonal setting (famously, Die Hard is counted out) but its “spirit”. Jamie Babbit’s But I’m a Cheerleader – starring DuVall herself – managed to make a traumatic gay conversion therapy storyline both funny and heartwarming. A literal “trapped in the closet” gag will certainly get knowing laughs, but isn’t it a little close to the bone? But there’s a paradox at the heart of DuVall’s bid to make a romcom premised on the painful process of coming out. Happiest Season acknowledges the genre’s undeniable heteronormativity by making a spectacle of it. And Hallmark and Lifetime both release their first gay Christmas films this year.įilms, like ‘But I’m a Cheerleader’ managed to make a traumatic gay conversion therapy storyline both funny and heartwarming. The website Etsy centres a gay couple in its 2020 Christmas advert. Netflix is following up 2019’s Let It Snow with A New York Christmas Wedding. Online and off, ‘tis the season for new perspectives on Christmas, too.
From the Oscar-winning Moonlight to the critically acclaimed coming of age comedy Booksmart, film is certainly turning a corner. In spite of 2020’s COVID-shaped dent in cinema releases – Happiest Season was diverted online because of the pandemic – the year caps an unprecedented decade for LGBTQ+ representation on screen.
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But Clea DuVall’s Happiest Season, is a little different in that it’s the very first LGBTQ+ holiday movie from a major Hollywood studio. Make it a “ heart-warming Christmas story” and you get Hulu’s “ best viewership for any original film” attracting “more new subscribers than any other previous feature title”. When the collective back catalogue of a film’s cast and crew includes stars like Kristen Stewart, Schitt’s Creek’s Dan Levy and GLOW’s Alison Brie, you know there’ll be a ready-made audience waiting in anticipation, whatever the theme.