5 Movies that SHOULD Be Queer Culture

[silence, then a little click]

- I don't think that made a difference! Too bad!

Hello everybody, welcome back to the channel!

In case my novelty earrings from Etsy don't give it away,

I'm gonna talk about five more movies that I absolutely love

that definitely have an impact on me as a person.

I love movies! I wouldn't buy popcorn novelty earrings

if, like, movie-going wasn't an experience

that shaped part of who I am, you know what I mean?

Since I did the first part of this video over two years ago at this point,

I'm not gonna repeat any of the preamble other than just:

I love movies and I want to talk about them!

Without further ado, here are five more movies that I love.

♪...is even more than anyone that you adore, and love...♪

Who doesn't love the 1998 Parent Trap

with Lindsay Lohan, Dennis Quaid, absolute bombshell Natasha Richardson,

Elaine Hendrix! If you're gonna tell me that you don't love the 1998 Parent Trap,

you're a liar! The Parent Trap from 1998

was co-written and directed by Nancy Meyers.

You notice more and more of Nancy Meyers'

specific style the more Nancy Meyers movies you watch.

So you've got The Parent Trap, you've got The Intern,

The Holiday, It's Complicated- like,

she has a very [laughs]

"Nancy Meyers" style. But The Parent Trap

is set apart in that it's not really about the romance -

there is romance in it but it's not about that - it's about

the family that you make along the way!

- [Hallie] It took us around 30 seconds after you guys left

for us to realize we didn't want to lose you two again.

- This was Lindsay Lohan's first theatrical

appearance and she just

nailed it, you know? Like, we still talk about how great Lindsay Lohan is

in this movie! The entire cast is great, like,

Dennis Quaid is a goddamn hunk

[sighs] who owns a vineyard...

What isn't to love about that?

And then Natasha Richardson is just this, like, very posh, very pretty,

very fun and adorable wedding dress designer!

Um, yes please and thank you!

And then we just have characters that are

evergreen, like Chessy and Martin.

- [Martin] Enchanté, Mademoiselle. [flirty French music plays]

- [Chessy] Gee, the pleasure's all mine monsieur!

- I want to take a second to just make the argument that

Chessy and Martin are both extremely bisexual,

and being in a, um, hetero-appearing relationship

does not change the fact that they are both

very Bi. I mean, look at the things that Chessy wears!

- [Chessy] Oh I would pay big money to see that woman climb a mountain.

- [Paige] The fact that Chessy is not at all

interested [in] or attracted to Nick Parker,

regardless of the fact that Nick Parker is legitimately one of the hottest men

in any Nancy Meyers movie ever made,

because Chessy has an extremely specific

type when it comes to the men that she dates,

and that extremely specific type just happens to be...Martin!

- [Martin] And may I say, as a friend,

if I were seeing my ex after 11 years and I had your legs,

I'd wear this little baby.

[seductive music]

You'll kill in it!

- [Paige] Who's also incredibly bisexual!

He is a leather jacket bisexual if I have ever seen one!

[inhuman noises]

Their relationship is not a straight  relationship, it's just "straight passing."  

It doesn't change the fact that

they're very bisexual. This is coming from a very,

very bisexual person.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way,

it's just an incredibly fun movie!

It's so light-hearted that you don't even  realize that it's over two hours long.  

[sighs dramatically] The writing is great!

- [Meredith] The day we get married is the day I ship those

brats off to Switzerland! Get the picture?

It's me or them!

- [Nick] Them. [twins gasp]

- [Meredith] Excuse me? - [Nick] T-h-e-m. Them.

Get the picture?

- There are some little bits and pieces,

which I think are more of a Nancy Meyers staple,

where you just kind of question

"Why didn't a character do this?" or "Why did a character do that ?"

or "Why isn't the reaction of the characters

"um a little less dramatic?" you know?

Um, but it's just a Nancy Meyers thing.

The more movies of hers that you watch, the more you just kind of accept it.

I, of course, have been watching The Parent Trap

since I was a little girl. Like I was born in 1993,

so by the time it came out I was almost five.

And it's been one of my favorites, and one of my dad's favorite movies,

since 1998 because it is just that good!

- [Annie] Hi Mere!

- [Meredith] Hello.

- [Hallie] How you doing?

[Meredith screams]

- [Nick] Honey, did I ever mention to you that Hallie was a twin?

- My dad is not a very sentimental guy,

but The Parent is the exception to the rule

because that's how good it is!

[Hallie sings] ♪Let's get together, yeah, yeah, yeah, why don't you and I combine?♪

[♪"We Run This" by Missy Elliot♪]

The next movie is Stick It from 2006

which has been one of my favorite movies since 2006.

It doesn't hurt that most of the soundtrack is, like Missy Elliot,

Green Day, and Fall Out Boy.

[gymnasts cheer] ♪♪

♪♪

So I just get a lot of enjoyment out of watching Stick It for the soundtrack alone!

Although there are many other reasons to love this movie -

one of which is baby Kellan Lutz, who just is adorable and

I love him. He's buff, but also like a tiny baby

and I...mmm!

So what is Stick It about?

A young girl named Haley, who used to be a really high-ranking gymnast in

American national gymnastics circles.

When we meet her she's kind of a delinquent and I say that, like, lightly. I don't mean-

I don't mean to be judging her for it! I mean that, like,

we open the movie and she and her two friends

are, like, doing BMX stuff

in abandoned houses- in house- in houses that haven't been finished

being built yet. And they get caught,

and instead of going to juvie, she ends up going back into the gymnastics world.

- [Judge] Haley, I leave it to you to decide. Where would you like to go?

- [Haley] Texas Military Academy, Your Honor.

- [Judge] VGA it is.

- [Haley] What?! [gavel pounds]

- Reliving all of her trauma, reliving  all of the, like, the physical

and emotional

stress that she had to go through

while she was in the sport.

I don't want to give too much away, even though this movie is from 2006,

'cause I know people that haven't seen it- which is a travesty!

Everybody, especially queer people, should have to watch Stick It!

If you're gonna try to tell me that Haley, the main character,

isn't a lesbian, I'm once again going to call you a liar!

It's just a thing- the movie would never address it because it's 2006,

but Haley is for sure,

one hundred percent, I have no doubt in my mind,

a lesbian! Stick It needs to be Queer Culture!

I am not even lying! Let's bring it back,

let's talk about it. It's been over 10 years since the movie came out.

♪Oh mama, I'm in fear of my life from the long arm of the law♪

- The cast is also really great; I mentioned Kellan Lutz,

Missy Peregrym plays Haley Graham;

we got Jeff Bridges, we've got Nastia Liukin making a cameo!

There are a lot of reasons to watch this, um,

ladies gymnastics is a huge one because it's literally, like- the

plot of the movie is just ladies gymnastics,

and I promise you it's so worth it!

Stick it is like watching the Olympics when the Olympics aren't even on,

and it's got its own storyline so it's not just watching the sport.

It's watching the characters go through everything

within the context of the sport.

I was signed up from the day that I saw this movie and

I have not gotten off the list since then.

I don't know what list, just go with the metaphor.

Uh, once again Editing Paige here! So there are a few things

that I forgot to mention that are kind of important about the movie.

I just forgot about them because I was busy talking about Queer Culture, and that's fine.

First of all, this movie is technically

a wonderfully made film. There's so many really cool visuals that they utilized

through gymnastics, through just, like,

athletes being athletes

that, like, it is a very interesting movie to look at.

It's never boring.

The second thing that I forgot to mention that I think might

actually be more important

is that really it's about

the athletes taking their autonomy back.

- [Judge 2] Her bra strap was showing, Burt.

- [Burt] Oh come on! - [Judge 2] It is an automatic deduction if an undergarment

is showing, Burt!

- [Paige] Part of the whole plot is that

they realize that scoring in gymnastics can be very biased

and not fair. They decide to take that into their own hands.

So I guess you could say that on one level, the movie is about female empowerment,

but really it's very specifically about

these gymnasts realizing what they can do to make their sport more fair for everybody

and doing that, making sure that everybody has a fair chance

to win, to be seen, to be heard.

The only kind of squicky thing that comes to mind in this movie is that

the two, like, male characters that are Haley's friends

do wear dresses at some point, and I know some people can be sensitive to that

and that's totally fine. I will say that

it's not supposed to be like,

"Oh look, haha, two guys are wearing dresses!"

It's like- they're going prom dress shopping and

the scene is filmed in such a way that is fun without

punching down at anybody.

Stick It is also directed by Jessica Bendinger, making it

another movie directed by a woman!

It's a movie directed by a woman,

for women, about women.

I don't know if I could ask for much more for 2006.

Like, 2021 is a different story, but 2006?

I don't know why we're not talking about Stick It!

- [Joanne] It's not called Gym-Nice-Tics.

[clapping]

- The next movie about female athletes happens to be one of my top six movies.

I know I don't have this list in any particular order, but

I'm just gonna put that out there. I. Love. Whip It from 2009.

- [Bloody Holly] You came second! You came second!

- [Razor] You came in second out of two teams. Nice.

- [Hurl Scouts chanting] We're number 2! We're number 2!

- Whip It is another movie that needs to be Queer Culture,

and queer people need to be talking about Whip It!

Especially because Elliott Page plays the main character!

I know that the movie suffers

from compulsive heterosexuality - I get it -

but also

there are cases to be made for

almost every character to be Queer!

There's no reason that we shouldn't be talking about this!

[♪High Times by Landon Pigg and the Turbo Fruits♪]

This movie is also directed by Drew Barrymore,

a Queer woman herself!

Drew Barrymore also is in it, and I think she's great. I love her.

I do want to say that

this movie obviously came out before Elliot Page

transitioned and came out as a Trans man,

and therefore I'm just going to be

referring to Bliss, the character that he played,

as a girl because Bliss the character is.

But I recognize that Elliot Page

is a man. That's not up for debate.

Whip It is about a young girl named Bliss

who is being forced into pageantry by her mom.

- [Mom] I'm sorry that these pageants don't live up to your high moral standards, Bliss,

but there's a lot you can learn from them no matter what you go on to be in life.

- [Paige] And one day they go into the city - I think into Austin -

and she sees Roller Derby girls leave pamphlets

in the store that she's in with her mom,

and she decides that she wants to be a Roller Derby girl -

and then she becomes one!

Roller Derby is Queer Culture and you cannot argue with me about that!

The one, like, Australian Derby Girl on their team...erm...

You want to tell me that that woman is straight?

I do not believe you. There is a scene

where they go to Jimmy Fallon's character's

house - they call him Hot Tub Johnny or whatever - and

Ari Graynor's character and Eve's character are

sitting in the hot tub together, very close,

Ari Graynor's got her arm around Eve - because

Eve is literally one of the most beautiful people on the planet! -

and you want to tell me that that is straight?

That those two women don't have any kind of

romantic or sexual relationship?

- [Eva Destruction] Not in this lifetime, Johnny.

- [Rosa Sparks] Or the next one.

- This movie is Queer Culture!

Let's talk about it!

Elliot Page! Alia Shawkat! Drew Barrymore!

Kristen Wiig! Eve! Ari Graynor!

[sighs]

I have very strong feelings about Whip It,

in case you couldn't tell and uh...

-[Corby] So what are you, like, alternative now?

- [Bliss] Alternative to what?

- I just love it so much, and I wish

more people would watch it

and have discussions with me about it because it is just

that worthy!

- [Dad] I'll tell you what kiddo,

I've seen some ball games in my time but

this... this was even better.

♪celestial, tense music♪

- The one movie on this particular list that is directed by a man

that I want to talk about is Stardust,

which was directed by Matthew Vaughn, who also did the Kingsman movies!

I remember in 2007, when this movie came out,

I really wanted to see it in theaters and, like,

nobody I knew wanted to go see it with me.

I just [sighs] didn't get to see it

when it came out. When Sarah and I were in college, I

finally watched it because it was on Netflix

and, um...changed my life!

Another two-hour long movie

that doesn't feel so long because it is just

full of action and romance and fun and adventure and...

Robert De Niro plays an extremely

Queer character named Captain Shakespeare

who harnesses lightning to sell!

He's a sky pirate who harnesses lightning

and also enjoys wearing dresses and

makeup and dancing!

Captain Shakespeare is my favorite character in the movie.

I love him so much.

Stardust is about a young man named Tristan Thorn, who

makes a promise to a girl that he's in love with that he'll

bring her back a star from beyond this place called The Wall.

Nobody in his town is allowed to leave the wall -

actually, I think his town is called Wall -

because beyond the wall

is where, like, magic and fae and witches live.

But he makes it beyond the wall

and he finds a star who has fallen out of the sky. They go  

on an adventure where he thinks that he's gonna bring the star,

who is embodied by Claire Danes,

back to Wall to show Victoria, the woman that he loves.

Well, Victoria is the worst, first of all.

Yvaine, the star, is amazing. I love her!

-[ Yvaine] Yeah, this is where it fell! It is!

Oh, if you want to be really specific,

up there's where this weird bloody  necklace came out of nowhere and

knocked it out of the heavens when it was minding its own business!

This is where it got hit by a magical flying moron!

- [Paige] Tristan is played by Charlie Cox, so, like,

wha- how- why would I complain about that?

It's a great movie and I want more people to talk about it because

it's worth it! If you like the Kingsman movies,

there's no reason that you wouldn't like Stardust, you know?

- [Yvaine] What do stars do?

Shine. [music swells]

[indistinct tv noises]

- And finally,

the movie to defeat all other movies...

possibly. The movie that has,

in the last 10 years, made a resurgence,

thankfully in Queer circles, where it belongs:

Jennifer's Body from 2009, directed by Karyn Kusama.

I don't- I don't know if you can see this

but, um,

it says Jennifer and Needy.

I just so happen to be a huge Jennifer's Body fan!

I saw this movie in 2009 in theaters with my friends, and I

loved it! I was scared as hell, but I loved it.

- [Bill Hader] Mark me down as scared and horny!

- And then my friends kind of convinced me that it wasn't as good as I thought it was,

which is kind of shitty of my friends to be very honest.

And then 2019 was the 10th anniversary of Jennifer's Body

and somewhere between, I think, 2017 and 2019 the

movie itself made a resurgence, like I said, in Queer circles.

Queer people especially have rediscovered this movie,

have fallen in love with it,

have decided that it is genuinely a great movie -

and with a few tidbits, a few little tiffs here and there,

it is just a good movie.

Jennifer's Body is about two young girls

who are best friends, one of whom is attacked

and inadvertently turned into a succubus.

And then she goes around and eats boys. Famously.

- [Jennifer] I am going to eat your soul

and shit it out, Lesnicki!

- [Needy] I thought you only murdered boys.

- [Jennifer] I go both ways.

- [Paige] It of course stars Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried,

and at the time and still I have...

had a huge crush on [laughs] both of them.

So like, of course I loved this movie!

I was in love with the two main characters!

Young Neil from Scott Pilgrim is also in this,

and unfortunately, he's just a boring character but,

I don't really blame him. I don't blame the actor.

It's just that...

Chip doesn't mean anything to me.

There's a lot to be said about Jennifer's Body. I think

Queer people have picked up on it in the last couple of years because

we've realized that Jennifer and Needy are not only friends but are

hopelessly, helplessly in love with each other.

- [Needy] People found it hard to believe that a babe like Jennifer

would associate with a dork like me.

Sandbox love never dies.

Jennifer's here. - [Chip] How do you know?

-[Jennifer] Needy, quit tampooning yourself and get down here!

- [Chip] That's [censored] weird.

- [Paige] Diablo Cody has famously said about this movie that

she wrote it to be about a toxic friendship that

literally kills one of them.

I totally respect that reading of it, especially because

she is the writer of the movie, she put it there.

However, Jennifer and Needy go to a bar

where they meet a band who turn out to be Satanists -

um, a very bad depiction of Satanists. They're not so much, like,

what actual Satanists are, as much as, like,

they made a deal with the actual Devil to become famous-

rich and famous rock stars, you know?

- [Nikolai] You want to be a big loser? Or

do you want to be rich and awesome,

like that guy from Maroon 5?

- [Dirk] Maroon 5.

- [Paige] They need a virgin to sacrifice in

order to get what they want.

Jennifer falls under their spell,

tells them that she's a virgin out of panic,

and then they take her out into the woods and they kill her.

But because she's not a virgin,

she doesn't die and she's being possessed by a demon!

The hardest part of watching this movie is recognizing

that what happens to Jennifer is very clearly

and obviously a metaphor for sexual assault.

With that being said,

the moment that Jennifer is conscious again

after this assault, she finds somebody to eat first -

because she's starving, but that's the demon part of her,

not the sexual assault metaphor part -

and immediately after that, her first thought

is not to go home and sleep in her own bed,

but to find Needy

because she knows that Needy will take care of it.

Like, subconsciously you read the scene

where Needy finds her in the kitchen and you're like,

"Well Jennifer just showed up here in the middle of the night after this...

[deep breath]

"after this thing has happened to her

"because she knows that Needy will take care of her!"

Yes, she gaslights needy the next day.

- [Needy] Last night at my house-

- [Jennifer] You do have a tendency to overreact.

You remember when we were in Girl Scout camp

and you totally thought that there was an earthquake,

but it was just two guys with a ghetto blaster?

- That's another story. I'm not making the argument that

Jennifer is a good person.

I'm just making the argument that Jennifer is very clearly in love with Needy,

and that Needy is also very much in love with Jennifer.

I don't think for a second that Diablo Cody wrote the script for Queer people -

she very clearly states that the movie is about and for young girls -

but Queer people, the Queer community are who is reclaiming this movie,

giving it its due, finding ways to pay reparations to Megan Fox for what

Hollywood and especially Michael Bay did to her after this.

And even the-the studio! Even the studio that this movie came from!

The marketing for this movie was,

for whatever reason, geared towards young boys

because Megan Fox is hot - which, yes, obviously she is! But...

the movie's not for them!

They're the ones that are dying!

[stunned silence]

I could talk forever about how much I love this movie because it is

so good. There are

things in the writing - like actual lines of dialogue - that

would not exist in the movie if it were made

even in the last couple of years,

rather than in 2009 (or it was released in 2009).

And even then I think

some of what is said is not okay

or was not okay. I think part of that was the point,

to build up to this idea that

Jennifer is not a good person, but what she goes through

is not justified

just because she's not a good person.

I think that's another aspect of the movie that isn't necessarily touched on a lot,

but it's also very important that, like,

just because you're a mean person who says mean things to people,

even people that you love,

it doesn't mean that you deserve to be assaulted

or sacrificed to the actual devil,

in some cases I guess.

There are other forms of justice to be had, but

what happens to Jennifer is not justice.

That's why Jennifer's Body is a horror-comedy.

Those are five more movies that  I absolutely love and adore!

Thank you for sticking with me through this.

What are your opinions on these movies?

Because I love talking about them!

That's why they're in my top 10.

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