Archive

Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. (November 16, 2007)

POWER TO THE (LESBIAN & BISEXUAL) PEOPLE I was in L.A. last Sunday to give a video presentation on groundbreaking lesbian moments in television at the annual POWER UP fundraiser, the Power Premiere. The dress for the evening was what I call Lesbian Formal, which means a sea of lesbians in black pantsuits (and a few straight women in bright colors). It was a long night and I was pretty focused on not forgetting my speech, so I don’t remember everything that was said or heard, but here are a few highlights for you to go along with all the photos.

Best Dressed: This award easily goes to Michelle Paradise in her jacket and tie. Judging by all the comments – like “Okay wow … michelle paradise … swoonworthy” (dj shiva); “Michelle Paradise! She looked GORGEOUS!” (Renee); and “All other ladies step aside or what? That was Michelle Paradise’s night” (IfOnly) – it seems many of you agree.

Here’s a close-up of Michelle on the red carpet with Michelle Wolff (Dante’s Cove), but you can see her strike a full-length pose (several, actually) here. Second place for Best Dressed? I’d say it’s a tie between Michelle Clunie in her leather jacket, Renee O’Connor in her sequined silver tank top and white pants, and Mandy Musgrave in her black-rimmed glasses. But let me know what you think in the comments.

Best Photo: Jill Bennett and Maeve Quinlan kissing on the red carpet (just for fun, and to promote their upcoming web series 3-Way – but more about that on the next page).

Best Save: Halfway through the evening, Thea Gill and Michelle Clunie brought the cast of Dante’s Cove up on the stage and announced they would be walking through the room picking up donation cards, which appeared to be news to the cast. Always quick on her feet, Jill held up her six-inch heels, leaned into the microphone, and said, “Do you think I’d have worn these shoes if I’d known I was going to be walking anywhere?”

Most Interesting Revelation: When introducing director Donna Deitch, who was receiving the night’s big award, Thea volunteered that Desert Hearts meant a lot to her when it came out because she had a huge crush on her English teacher at the time. And she wasn’t talking about a male professor.

Best Auction Item: At the end of her speech, Donna and the cast of Desert Hearts brought out one of the last remaining original posters of the movie and offered to give it to the highest bidder with all their signatures. After a lot of back and forth between bidders, it finally sold for $1,300.

Best/Only Toaster Oven Joke: When introducing the video onstage with Renee O’Connor, I talked about the important role lesbian TV characters have played in the coming-out process for many women, thanking Renee “on behalf of the lesbian people” for her Xena character, Gabrielle, “helping at least six women I know discover their attraction to women.” Later, Lori and I snapped a quick photo with Renee and her manager, Michelle Grant. Many of you have asked if I can show you the video I made for the event. Unfortunately I can’t put it online due to copyright restrictions, but Lori and I discussed many of the clips I included in the presentation in last week’s She Made Me Watch This!

I saved the best news for last: I bribed my friend and co-worker Ashley into showing up and interviewing all the ladies on the red carpet. So in lieu of posting our She Made Me Watch This! video blog this weekend, we’re going to post a video of interviews from the red carpet with Guinevere Turner, Michelle Paradise, Renee O’Connor, Thea Gill, Jill Bennett, Maeve Quinlan and the South of Nowhere girls, and more. Watch it here now!.

DIP MAEVE IN THE HOT TUB AND THROW HER TO THE LESBIANS I spent the day before the Power Premiere on the set of a pilot for a new web series called 3Way, a comedy about a straight woman who lives with two lesbians that stars Maeve Quinlan (South of Nowhere), Jill Bennett (Dante’s Cove), Cathy Shim (Reno: 911) and Maile Flanagan (more movies than I can possibly list).

Maeve plays the straight woman, Cathy and Jill play the lesbians, and Maile plays Cathy’s ex. Here’s Maeve and Jill on the red carpet at the Power Premiere: And here’s Cathy Shim at a recent event: Let’s Photoshop Cathy and Jill together, just for fun: Then let’s imagine them making out in a hot tub … which was one of the scenes I was forced to watch in order to capture the exclusive behind-the-scenes footage we’re going to show you when the pilot episode(s) debuts in February.

Yes, I love hate my job some days, but these are the kinds of sacrifices we’re willing to make here at AfterEllen.com to bring you all the latest and greatest lesbian entertainment info.

PORTIA IS A PRUDE, AND OTHER SURPRISING TRUTHS This week’s episode of Nip/Tuck served up a lot of Joely Richardson and Portia de Rossi, including this entertaining scene in which Julia (Joely) and Olivia (Portia) have lunch with a skeptical Liz (Roma Maffia): I’m still a little creeped out by how much Portia and Joely look alike. It doesn’t help that creator Ryan Murphy apparently cast Portia with this in mind, telling TV Guide, “Since the show is always about the search for identity, I just thought it would be great fun to explore the world of Julia, a late-in-life lesbian, who falls in love with somebody who looks like her.” Besides being creepy, perpetuating the idea of lesbian-as-narcissist is as old as it is ridiculous and tired. On the other hand, it’s fun watching Portia play a lesbian (and an outspoken, free-spirited one at that), so I’m trying to get over it.

Portia has admitted she has her own qualms about her character. “I hate gratuitous sex scenes. I’m a prude, I really am,” she told USA Today earlier this week.

“I related to [Richardson’s] character so much more than my own. She was having a really hard time with her sexuality, and it was difficult for her to tell people she was gay. To hear her struggle like that was very emotional for me.”

Portia also talked about the decision to play a lesbian. “My relationship with Ellen is so public, I thought, ‘Am I going to play a romantic lead again?’ I had that one moment of, ‘Does this mean I’ll be typecast as a lesbian?’ And [Ellen] turned to me and said, ‘So what?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, yeah, right, so what?’ I was offered romantic lead roles, and I turned them down because the lesbian seemed more interesting to me.” Us, too!

On the topic of having kids, Portia expressed ambivalence, saying: “It depends when you ask us. A few months ago, we were thinking about it. I wouldn’t want to say never, but at this point, it’s not something I think we’re going to do. But there are times when I think I’d be really selfish to not adopt a child so we’d share our life with somebody, a little child that really needs a home.” OK, but just don’t try to give the baby away if it doesn’t get along with your cats – I can’t survive another Iggygate media circus!

Finally, Portia revealed that she rides horses three times a week. “People ask me how I recovered from my eating disorder, and I have to say that horses really helped me. It shifted my focus and got me out to nature. It was a passion and interest that was completely outside myself. It made me lighten up on everything. It’s great to muck out a stall every once in a while.”

That’s my motto, too! Now if only I had a horse …

NICE LESBIANS FINISH EARLY The Amazing Race‘s first lesbian couple was eliminated this week, which was too bad, but not surprising (all-female teams and older teams almost never fare well in the race). The season’s sole openly gay male contestant, whom Lori called an “animal abuser” because he kept screaming at the poor donkey in the first episode, was eliminated in the first round (yeah, karma’s a bitch).

But Pat and Kate were likable and kind, and they worked well together up until the end. Even their elimination scene was sweet:  

Swinging across that ditch doesn’t look easy, but it’s nothing compared to the version of The Amazing Race Lori and I endured this weekend, when we had to find our way from one hotel to another in L.A. with just a rental car, a GPS system, and a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. It wasn’t pretty, but our relationship is stronger than ever now.

ADD LESBIANS AND STIR People magazine’s Nov. 19th issue features Iron Chef Cat Cora with her partner, Jennifer, and their sons Zoran, 4, and Caje, 6 months, along with her grandmother’s mustard recipe and Thanksgiving dinner tips.

I love how People features gays and lesbians in their magazine so frequently and casually. Almost like we’re regular people (what a concept!).

In other casual-lesbian-inclusion news, AfterEllen.com reader Vanessa tipped me off to this Washington Post story about out author M. Sindy Felin, whose National Book Award-nominated young-adult novel Touching Snow is described by the Post as “a cringe-inducing novel about domestic abuse within a Haitian American family in the suburbs of New York.” I haven’t read it myself, but I’m intrigued by any novel that begins with the line, “The best way to avoid being picked on by high school bullies is to kill someone.”

The Post article notes in the opening paragraph that Felin is pregnant with triplets, and mentions “Scarlett Anderson, her partner of nearly 15 years” on the second page, noting that the two women met at a club in D.C. in 1993. Later, the article mentions that Felin knew she was attracted to girls at age 11.

Like Cat Cora and her family in People, it’s refreshing to see Felin’s partner and her sexual orientation integrated so naturally into the story, without it being the focus. But it makes me suspicious. Two articles in one week that don’t demonize, sensationalize or desexualize lesbians? What’s next, a prominent three-dimensional lesbian character on a prime-time broadcast network TV show? Nah, that’ll never happen. At least not this year.

LESBIAN QUOTE OF THE WEEK “I’m going to figure out a way to do a show out here in my blogville. I really think it’s the next way, anyway. Who the hell wants to work with a company with three letters that’s just going to get mad if you tell people what you’re doing? I don’t know.”

Rosie O’Donnell on her vlog this week, about doing an online talk show rather than another one on broadcast television.

NOW THIS IS A REMAKE OF THE BIONIC WOMAN I WOULD WATCH! Game channel G4 did a re-envisioning of the Bionic Woman as Lesbionic Woman. It’s like a Jaime Sommers-Sarah Corvus fight scene, but with kissing!  

From waking up in the hospital bed wearing flannel to fighting crime by seducing the female villain, this two-and-a-half minute video is more entertaining than all 40 minutes of your average Bionic Woman episode. How sad is that?

Someone please send this to the Bionic Woman writers – maybe it will inspire them to go in a new creative direction with Jaime Sommers. If nothing else, it will give them something to talk about while they walk the picket line.

DON’T WORRY, ALYSON – WHEN JOSS SAID WILLOW WAS A GIANT LESBIAN, HE DIDN’T MEAN IT LITERALLY In a new interview with Alyson Hannigan, iF magazine asked her how she felt about Willow’s role in the new “season 8” comic series of Buffy.

I’m a little nervous, probably. You know, when I first went through them with [Lenk], I was like, “Well, who’s that?” He hadn’t read them all either, and he said, “I think that’s you.” I said, “Why am I so big? That’s not me, that’s Dawn! She’s a giant. I don’t know what’s going on.” Joss had emailed me months and months before they ever came out, and he had emailed me the one where I was on the cover, or Willow was on the cover, and I was, “Wow, that’s a really cool drawing – I have no idea who that is or where he’s going, but awesome!” And then I talked to him, and he said, “That’s Willow.” I’m like, “Awesome! She’s done very good things to her body in the last year [laughs].”
Speaking of the Buffy comic, a new issue (“No Future for You: Part III”) came out this week, with a little bit of Willow and a lot of Faith.

IT’S A BAND, NOT A NIP/TUCK EPISODE Electro indie Canadian band Sex Party recently put out their first full-length CD and wrapped up a West Coast Canadian tour. If you don’t like electro-style music, you still might want to check ’em out, because their lead singer, Paige Graham, 21, is openly gay, cute, and lists ’80s and ’90s hip-hop as her guilty musical pleasure. For info on upcoming concerts or how to buy their CD, visit their MySpace profile at www.myspace.com/sexxxparty, and check out this recent interview with the band.

FINALLY, A MOVIE ABOUT THIEVING LESBIAN REPUBLICAN ARSONISTS! AE reader Holly tipped us off to a new film in the works by Richard Roepnack called Burn that “follows the adventures of two arsonist thief lesbian republicans as they tear up dystopian New York City and evade the police, drunk bail bondsmen and aliens.”

Unfortunately, I’m not making that plot up. Even more unfortunate? Throw in a serial killer and a Charlize Theron cameo, and the film would probably get an Oscar nomination.

Is it too much to ask for a nice romantic lesbian comedy/drama once in awhile? One that doesn’t involve crime, aliens or a lesbian affair that leads to ruin?

I MARRIED A LESBIAN MARTIAN The new futuristic space adventure Xbox video game Mass Effect has been banned in Singapore for containing “a scene of lesbian intimacy” between a female human and a female alien. Here’s the offending scene: First it’s this video game, next they’ll be banning Star Trek: Voyager reruns!

LEZ NOT Have you ever sat around and thought what the world needs is a movie about a butch lesbian forced to pose as a femme straight girl in 1969 in order to live with two gay guys in an apartment owned by a lesbo-phobic landlord? Me neither, but apparently someone did: Glenn Gaylord, the writer/director of the new movie Lez Be Friends, which Edge Dallas calls “a hilarious throw-back to the sitcoms of the 1970s.” I haven’t seen the film, so it might be the next great gay comedy, but I’m a little skeptical – based on the title, the tagline, the fact that Gaylord’s other producer/director credits include Boychick and VH1’s What Perez Says, and this trailer (although I’ll give them props for nailing the ’70s sitcom feel and the great font).

To be fair, crass comedies aren’t really my thing; maybe you’ll find it a laugh riot (AE readers who’ve seen it, please weigh in on it in the comments). To learn more about it and find screening dates and times, check out the movie’s MySpace page.

MY SO-CALLED LESBIAN LIFE There’s a new documentary in the works called So-Called Equals about homosexual and transgender people in Spain, a country that has experienced a huge evolution in gay rights. Here’s a photo of Europride in Madrid this summer, with a million and half (!) people attending. The producers made a trailer with English subtitles, so check it out here:  

Look for it to start making the festival rounds next summer.

SEE, WE’RE NOT THE ONLY ONES WHO THINK TOP MODEL IS REALLY, REALLY GAY AE reader cynm tipped us off to TVGuide.com vlogger Michael Ausiello’s report that the next season of America’s Next Top Model will have the models in bunk beds, except for four who have to share a bed. He then proceeds to enact that scenario with dolls (which is eerily reminiscent of another video blog I know).  

In related news, when I was in L.A. last week, I interviewed the “lost” contestants of this season’s Top Model, where I found a “straight” Loquacious looking suspiciously butch, and watched Lorelei and Natalia fight over which one of them is really the “top” model.  

Oh, the things I have to do for this job.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! We upgraded the website this week, which will make it more stable in the future and allows us to add new features like User Points, which award registered members points for participating in the community. Unfortunately, you do not get to redeem these points for prizes or for Michelle Paradise (as a few readers requested); it’s just an easy way to see how active someone is in the community, but you’re also free to ignore them if you like. Look for more features to roll out in the next few months – and more bugs to crop up over the next few weeks as we work out the upgrade kinks. Thanks in advance for being patient!

We launched another weekly video blog this week: U People, about the filmmaking experiences of musician Hanifah Walidah and her partner, Olive Demetrius. New episodes will be posted on Thursdays.

Need a good laugh? Watch Julie Goldman get advice from a (female) acting coach on how to act heterosexual in the fifth episode of The Big Straight Sketch Show. Then watch her try to pick up said acting coach.

That’s it for this week! Since next Thursday is Thanksgiving, there won’t be a Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. next Friday, so look for the next edition on Friday, Nov. 30.

Lesbian Apparel and Accessories Gay All Day sweatshirt -- AE exclusive

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button