Gay rom com
There aren't as many as rom-coms about straight people, but as gay rom-coms are going mainstream, it's a good time to go back and watch how we got here. Joel Kim Booster wrote and starred in. From heartfelt gay and lesbian films about love and acceptance to passionate romances with trans leads, this colorful collection of 20 LGBTQ+ rom-coms will make you giggle, swoon, and wipe.
From coming-of-age LGBTQ+ movies to more nuanced explorations of self-discovery, the best gay rom-coms offer a window into the challenges and intricacies of LGBTQ+ relationships. Whether you're going through a breakup and want to be reminded that love exists, or you're just a romantic at heart, these queer rom-coms should definitely be on your list.
gay rom-coms on netflix
1. The Half of It. With all that in mind, grab the popcorn and settle in for one of these 16 best LGBTQ+ love stories that offer equal parts humor and heart: Paige’s dream of attending art school is jeopardized when. But it still feels very much part of the romantic-comedy canon. The film, which was loosely based on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice , was praised by critics and fans for exploring class dynamics in gay relationships, but also as a landmark moment in gay Asian representation.
The film was positively reviewed, but disappointed at the box office, which made it the Main Character in several weeks of social media discourse. But like many things in queer culture, people are divided over the extent to which this is radical, or even a good thing. Romantic comedies often have a holiday-centric vibe to them. Before streaming AKA, the olden days rom-coms were often released around the holiday season.
Christmas is now a recurring character in queer rom-coms too. There is a distinctly gay love for Christmas and the culture that surrounds it. It now feels like every pop star with a big gay following, from Ariana Grande to Kelly Clarkson and Kylie Minogue, has her own Christmas back-catalogue. In the U. What drives the gay love for the culture of Christmas? On an individual basis, there could be some baggage from childhood attached to it, which an overpriced shrink would have a field day unpacking.
Christmas is the time of more-is-more, where looking cheap and garish is encouraged. Speaking in simplified and general terms, queerness and camp are not the same thing—but there is a connection between them. In fact, in this context, queerness is more often defined as a political force which is continually evolving to question our societal norms and conventions. Camp is thought to have a similarly reflexive quality: it repositions itself to mess with our existing notions of seriousness and humor.
Warhol always pushed back on this snobbery. In this context, flaunting a supposed lack of artistic taste could be read as an attempt at being disruptive. In the book How to Be Gay , queer historian David Halperin describes an unease when gay culture becomes too aligned with mainstream straight culture. Halperin argues that gay men often reject representations of them in the public sphere—from fictional gay characters in TV shows to gay politicians—when they seem overly keen to appease the straight masses.
This was visible in the reaction to Bros. The film divided viewers to the point where there were think-pieces about the social media discourse. An overarching complaint was that the Bros was too conventional, or primarily made for straight audiences. Films like Bros, which position themselves as higher-quality than Hallmark-style movies, are more intensely scrutinized. In the s, the gay liberation movement argued that, rather than seek acceptance within capitalist systems and institutions like marriage, which they deemed oppressive and patriarchal, queer people should instead create their own structures.
Greater representation and legal rights have been secured this way—within capitalism and institutions like marriage. We see this at Pride parades with floats which are now sponsored by corporations. Beneath its shiny, sparkly veneer, Christmas can be a time of tension. Not only between its two main religions: Christianity and capitalism, but within families and relationships too.
And perhaps this makes rom-coms and the Christmas season the perfect cultural prism to explore the various conflicts of bringing queer art into the mainstream? Some might assume rom-coms are a superficial artform devoid of any distinct politics. Meet the Characters of Squid Game Season 3.