Browsing Tag

television

Representation on Screen: Powerful TV Series Showcase BIPOC LGBTQ Narratives

Posted on August 5, 2021

In my first-ever article for Spectrum South, I elaborated on the need for and importance of more BIPOC LGBTQ representation within the hip-hop and rap scene, arguing that the industry won’t change for the better until more queer artists—and those in leadership roles within the music industry—live and produce openly. This logic, however, isn’t siloed to the world of music; as more and more BIPOC LGBTQ actors come out, and our narratives are written into episodes, the television industry is…

To Be Real: The Revolution of ‘Work in Progress’

Posted on April 23, 2020

Every once in a great while, a television show will come out that truly reflects our lived realities, our silent thoughts, and our hidden truths and, suddenly—just like that—we know that we are not alone. For me, Showtime’s Work in Progress is that show.…

Queers on Screen: What to Watch While Quarantined

Posted on April 1, 2020

Representation matters. The way we and our communities are portrayed matters. In observing queer characters in books, movies, and on television, we see options for who we can be and validation of who we already are. As human beings, we are in constant need of affirmation that we are not alone—that our thoughts and experiences aren’t isolated.…

Emmy-Nominee Vera Drew on Trans Representation, Her Creative Process, and Adolescent Humor

Posted on September 22, 2019

“Please make me sound smart,” laughs Vera Drew, Hollywood editor and recent Emmy nominee for her editing work on Sacha Baron Cohen’s Who is America? We chat by phone as I sit cross-legged at a coffee shop in Houston’s Montrose District. Across the country, Drew drives to a set location in Los Angeles. I assure her that her “rambling” is, in fact, excellent, if not tender, commentary on what it means to be a newly out-of-the-closet transgender woman in the…

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power: The Best Queer Cartoon Around

Posted on August 16, 2019

There’s a new superhero in town, and her name is She-Ra. Well, she’s not exactly new. She-Ra originally appeared in the 1980’s as a feminine answer to He-Man, and it was widely acclaimed as being…well, campy at best. When I told one of my coworkers that I was watching She-Ra, he verbatim asked, “You mean the old toy commercial?” Sometimes delightful, sometimes cringe-worthy, always cheesy, the She-Ra of the last century was a cult favorite that faded into the fabric…