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Sarah Warn, AfterEllen.com Editor
Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever.
by Sarah Warn, AfterEllen.com Editor
The lesbian pop culture column



Friday, August 25, 2006

Macy Gray in IdlewildMACY GAY
Hip Hop group OutKast's long-in-the-works film Idlewild debuts this weekend, with Macy Gray playing a lesbian singer. The musical, set in the Prohibition-era American South, follows a speakeasy performer and club manager who must contend with gangsters, love and family obligations.

Gray's character is a Ma Rainey-style blues singer who performs at the club, then falls in love with Nicole Kidman's TB-riddled character, gets thrown in jail where Queen Latifah is the warden, and--oh wait, I'm mixing up my musicals again. Nothing really happens with Gray's character in this one.

THEY'RE LIKE A LESBIAN ROSS AND RACHEL, IF RACHEL THREW PUBLIC TANTRUMS AND BIT PEOPLE
Bravo's reality series Work Out aired its finale this week, and it was Lesbian Dysfunction on Parade, complete with biting and throwing of glassware, as Mimi berated Jackie in front of her staff for dating other people, while Jackie repeated the equivalent of "We were on a break!" Mimi has reportedly been posting on message boards recently about how unfairly she was represented by Bravo, but did they make her throw that glass?

In typical lesbian fashion, however, Jackie and Mimi reportedly reconciled after a 5-month break. Which means they're back together just in time to start filming Work Out 2: Terror at the Sky Spa.

BUT AT LEAST WE HAVE FLAVOR OF LOVE
GLAAD released a report this week that included the bad news we reported months ago: that there is only one lesbian on primetime scripted network TV in the upcoming season, and it's a supporting character (ER's barely-there Kerry Weaver). Not that it's too much better for gay men; only 1.3% of this season's scripted TV characters are GLB or T, according to GLAAD, and most of them are white.

No estimates are available on the number of gay or lesbian reality contestants on the air this season, but with the return of Amazing Race, America's Next Top Model, and American Idol, we're bound to have better representation in this category, at least in terms of quantity.

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Fortunately, we still have cable. September sees the return of Liz on Nip/Tuck and Det. Greggs on The Wire, Spencer and Ashley on South of Nowhere on September 29, and Deanna on Degrassi is returning on September 29th as well. Our parent company Logo also just announced they will begin airing the entire series of Queer as Folk on September 21st. This is good timing--given the current lack of lesbians on network TV, the Melanie and Lindsay subplot is now looking like a love story of epic proportions.

LESBIAN GANGS OF NEW YORK
Don't let the lesbian kiss in the trailer for John Tucker Must Die fool you: while it sounds like the name of a film dramatizing the recent "lesbian gang" attack on a New York street vendor who wouldn't take no for an answer, there's no queer content in this teen sex comedy. But if anyone is thinking of actually making that lesbian gang attack movie, might we make some casting suggestions? I'm thinking Jackie Warner, Michelle Rodriguez, Jenny Shimizu, and Queen Latifah--that group wouldn't even need a steak knife to kick some sexual-harassing ass.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN OF EXPLOITATION
Ranie Yang Taiwanese film star Rainie Yang is trying to shed her wholesome teen-star image by playing an "Internet escort and lesbian" in the upcoming Taiwanese movie Tattoo, which also stars Hong Kong’s rising singer-actress Isabella Leung as a tattoo master. Yang portrays Xiao Lu, a girl with a difficult past who begins a complicated relationship with Leung. And by "complicated", I'm guessing they mean someone gets stabbed with a steak knife.

In September we have the release of Love Guru in India, which from these promotional photos, looks like a soft porn flick following in the illustrious footsteps of the stereotype-laden Indian films Men Not Allowed, Girlfriend, and Lesbians Are Unhinged Killers who Want to Seduce Your Daughters.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
Bisexual contestant Patrice was eliminated from Rock Star this week. But we still have the too-cool-to-be-straight Dilana to root for!

Orbitz aired a new commercial this week on Bravo featuring an interracial lesbian couple competing against a straight couple in a game show. The lesbians win, naturally, and share a celebratory kiss. I'm sure the FCC is looking for ways to levy fines as we speak...

Season 2 of Dante's Cove kicks off on Friday, September 1st, and the second season of Logo's black gay soap Noah's Arc has just introduced a "married woman with a secret" (which is code for "girlfriend on the down low").

AND BY "THANKS" I MEAN "THANKS FOR NOTHING"
I'll be attending MTV's Video Music Awards in New York next Thursday, August 31st, so I won't be posting a new edition of Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. next week. But I'll report back on any lesbian VMA moments when I post my next column, and if I see multi-nominated singer Nelly Furtado, I'll be sure to tell her thanks on behalf of bisexual women everywhere.

That's it for this week! Check back Friday, September 8th for a new installment of Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. or read past installments here.
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