Take a Prideful Beat w/ Gay Echo Chambers and Nonbinary Genre Movies

On 7/3/2024 we are challenging societal and filmic norms, then we're questioning whether we ACTUALLY are, then we're embracing it all nonetheless.

Jul 03, 2024

It is 11:57 PM the Tuesday night before the 9:30 AM deadline at which this newsletter MUST be published, and I have been hard at work for the last [rescinded] hours. Who is setting this deadline, exactly, you ask? And why is that deadline so important to them?

AS IF I could understand the mind of that crazy new-venture-obsessed TYRANT who runs this thing… so anyways here’s some gay shit that’s important to him:

Celebrating the opening night of NYC Pride Weekend 2024 in the loving arms of Swedish pop legend Robyn
Feeling so seen at my first NYC apartment pride party
Feeling so herded at my second NYC apartment pride party
In appreciation of the nonbinary genre film, which does not identify as exclusively one genre or another
Bits & Bobs from Presidential Debate Twitter (nonpolitical)

NYC Pride Weekend Ep. 1

Robyn Night @ 3 Dollar Bill

The big question going into Robyn night at 3 Dollar Bill in East Williamsburg was, “How do you play Robyn for 6 straight hours?” We found the answer to be, unequivocally, you don’t.

We arrived at the venue 3 hours into the 6-hour runtime of the event, and I, of course, immediately became a competitor to Shazam. Where Shazam and I differ, however, is in Joshzam’s value proposition that I’ll tell you the name of the song whether or not you asked 😎.

“Oh my god they’re playing “Sugarboy” off Masseduction by St. Vincent?? Highkey my favorite song on an otherwise somewhat middling St. Vincent record…”

“Okay they’ve OFFICIALLY played all three bonus tracks from Brat and it’s the same but there’s three more songs so it’s not!!!”

“Is this Peaches??” to which Sam (rightfully) retorted “Is this Peaches singing “the teaches of peaches”? Yeah, I think it’s Peaches, Josh 🙄.”

And it was an entire hour of a free Joshzam trial that my friends were forcibly gifted before we finally heard the titular ROBYN.

Liv very patiently waiting to hear Robyn

Then right around 8 o’clock, they PLAYED ROBYN.

They kicked off the main event with “Call Your Girlfriend”, a song that perfectly encapsulates the equal parts sad and sweaty club goer that Robyn is. The concept behind “Call Your Girlfriend” is that Robyn has recently met someone special. But this someone special already has someone else special in their life. BUT BUT BUT, unfortunately for that other-someone-special, Robyn is decidedly more special.

For most pop artists, this would be a braggadocious song about having the bombest p*ss and being generally unmatched by your female peers, but with Robyn, it is a song about the power of empathy and undeniable chemistry. She is instructing her new lover how to let his soon-to-be-ex-lover down easily, and despite how unrelatable and strangely intimate that scenario is, for Christ’s sake we’re dancing like there’s no tomorrow and belting out every confounding word.

Because with Robyn, it feels relatable, and that intimacy sure as fuck IS something to club about, BECAUSE THE SONG FUCKING RIPS.

So we danced through the rest of Robyn night as she sang to us about wishing she could fix past mistakes (“Time Machine”), how challenging it is to overcome trauma (“Get Myself Together”), and how much she loves and supports her friend in their times of need (“In My Eyes”), to name just a few of the sentimental subjects that Robyn had us bouncing around to at the club.

While we were taking a break from the dance floor to get some drinks, the spirit of Robyn came over me, and it said: “Time to get senti at the club, Josh <3”. So I gathered my friends in a circle, gave a toast to how supported I felt by them on the opening night of NYC pride, and raised my glass with them.

Then we proceeded back to the dance floor for some more emancipatory ass shaking.

NYC Pride Weekend Ep. 2-3

Two Pride Parties Later: Feeling Like a Seen, Green Sheep (Who is Gay)

It’s true: We are living in the age of the mob mentality. Critical thinking is at an all time low — all you have to do is pick a side and let the party form your opinion for you. Taxation is theft, or kill the billionaires? Old fascist fools, or rotting corpses that drool? Adam and Eve, or Adam and Steve / Ada and Eve / Adam and Steve and Ada and Eve and also Alex?

Meanwhile, it is generally agreed upon that progress can only be made by engaging with those with whom we disagree. That by allowing our long-held beliefs to be challenged we are welcoming enrichment into our lives. That while echo chambers are comforting, they are ultimately dangerous to society and crippling to the intellect.

But this weekend, I retreated to a beautiful, uplifting echo chamber, and baby, it was (incidentally!!) Brat green.

Party #1: The Nation of Brat (Williamsburg)

Apartment party #1 was at my friends Carson’s and Jonathon’s place in Williamsburg. As a list-obsessed pre-crastinator, I was delighted to find that this party had an AGENDA posted upon entrance.

The first agenda item of the night was the National Anthem. Now, we all know that one-hit-wonder Francis Scott Key ditty is not a banger, nor is it queer canon, so I was SHOCKED when the National Anthem that played was, in fact, the Star-Spangled Banner…

BUT NO — IT WAS A FAKEOUT!

So what did Carson and Jonathan actually decree as the National Anthem for all queers in their safe space apartment?

None other than the Brat breakout single “360”!!!!

From then on, the green chamber walls of this LGBTQIA+ safe space were continuously reinforced by a playlist comprised of 80% Brat songs, popper prizes, a Take a Beat trivia shout out, a performance of “Pink Pony Club” by local queer artists (Carson and Jonathan), and, to quote the agenda, “gay conversations and dancing”.

I smell poppers and also history being made

So maybe rather than an echo chamber, it was ultimately more like a Brat-green weighted blanket, wrapped snugly around me by the endlessly tasteful, like-minded people I am lucky enough to call my friends :)

Party #2: A Herd of Brat Sheep

Now, what does it indicate that while I didn’t seek out a single Brat-themed event during NYC pride, I somehow found myself at two separate ones, each hosted by friends of mine…

Is it indicative of the brilliance of Charli XCX’s Brat? Is it a reflection of Charli’s and her team’s impeccable marketing strategy? Or is it something much more sinister…

While at Brat-centric party #2, I couldn’t help but notice (i.e., gay spidey-sense) that the previously heretofore discussed Charli XCX Boiler Room set was playing on the TV in the background…

And later I was astonished to find that the VJ had switched from Charli’s DJ set to Troye Sivan’s Architectural Digest tour, an iconic AD tour that was just outside the previously published 5 Best AD Tours of All Time Take a Beat piece…

Suddenly, the Brat-green weighted blanket was tightening around me… until I found myself suffocating in a gay electro-pop strait jacket of my own making! The gates had broken, and existential dread was flooding in, as I asked “Who AM I? Am I just another Brat-pilled homosexual? Have we all taken the same beats one million times over? Is art consumed en masse even art anymore? Or is it just commerce? Is being proud and gay even an act of defiance, or is it just another label meant to hold us all down???”

JUST KIDDING —

I was delighted and told all my friends they had amazing taste and continued to dance along to the 4th play of the Brat masterpiece “Talk Talk” ;D

HAPPY PRIDE!

Nonbinary Cinema Tea

5(ish) Genre-Defying, Renegade Films

Some of the movies that I admire most are those that defy genre labels. In some cases, these movies start as one thing and artfully morph into another. This transition can be subtle, only noticeable upon reflection after the credits begin to roll. Sometimes the transition happens like *that*, with a critical event or a new framing device that flips the story on its head.

And sometimes there is never really a transition to speak of; the film resists conventional definition from the jump. And in some of the cases below, it is a dazzling combination of these.

Below is a list of movies that bravely resist classification to dizzying and dazzling effect.

Lady Macbeth

WIYL: Florence MF Pugh; women going through it; the English countryside; unlikeable characters; still life portraits; dark sh*t

Barbarian

WIYL: Horror; Airbnb mishaps; when colonizers are treated poorly; utter fucking confusion; Justin Long playing against type; mommies :)

A Bigger Splash

WIYL: Luca Guadagnino; Dakota Johnson being deceptive (when is she not!!); Tilda MF Swinton; Italian countryside; rich people problemz; rich people MESS