ben-j-erickson

[ben-j-erickson]

I'm trying to figure out a good way to say "you really should actually learn the basics of small talk" with sounding like I'm biased against autistic people.

[ben-j-erickson]

Whoever said that there are no stupid questions did not work a customer service job during a 50% everything sale.

[ben-j-erickson]

I should've realized I was gay WAY younger than I did bc i kept pausing and going back to this scene in Revenge of the Sith. Shirtless Anakin really was a cultural reset for me.

[ben-j-erickson]

RWRB: Thoughts on the movie

SO a while back, i let the entire internet(like 2 people) know my thoughts on the RWRB trailer. i watched the movie last night. and i have so many, SO SO many thoughts about it. Buckle in kiddos, this is gonna be one long fucking post.

In honor of Mr. Alex Claremont-Diaz and his endless lists, here are some lists including but not limited to what i liked and what i didn't like.

What i liked:

Uma Thurman. Slayed as per usual. I did think they could've done more with her bc she's so much more mom-president in the books. Still, though, Uma Thurman is always amazing and it's amazing to see her.

The way they did the texts and calls? Phenomenal! Did they technically only do that once? yes but we ignore that for a minute

The way that they addressed being queer and the coming-out experience. Everyone deserves to be able to figure out their sexuality/gender in their own time and to be able to tell the world at their time and pace. And they made sure to put that in the movie. [Quick tangent: two of the biggest queer projects of the year(so far), Heartstopper and RWRB both have themes about coming out and how it should be. ]

The sex scenes were actually not bad. The "let's make love" scene never happened in the book and their first time having sex together was way more low-key in the book but I liked that gay intimacy was shown in a very unflinching sort of way. The book certainly doesn't shy away from-for lack of a better word- smut and I'm glad that the movie took a less fade-to-black approach. (and yes, reader, it did make me want to get dicked down. No, I will not elaborate, take from that what you will)

Phillip. I never thought that I'd say this but Phillip in his little 2hr condensed form is actually really accurate. he pisses me off and he's condescending and a real prick. good job writers

Okay. That's some stuff i liked. Apologies readers, my dislike list might be longer than my like list but its coming from a place of love, I promise

What I didn't like:

June. WHERE WAS JUNE???? i get that its a 2-ish hr amazon movie but still. You're gonna have Nora(more on her in just a sec) but not June?? June was a very big part of the book who is a big support for Alex and is just generally cool. Making Alex an only child did not feel right y'all.

If you're gonna have Nora in the movie or like combine Nora and June or whatever the writers/directors/producers had in mind, then DO IT RIGHT. Nora in the books is firmly queer and cool and like probably austistic and a hacker(?). She's got her own sideplot with the whole Richards leak(again, more on that later). She helps Alex come to terms with his bisexuality. And you're just gonna make her a little side character that gives Alex advice and is maybe working on the Claremont campaign. like c'mon. Nora and June are Alex's support system, they're the people he relies on, the people who have seen him before being first-son and after becoming first-son.

Speaking of Alex being the first son, i wasn't happy that they sort of just glossed over Alex's insecurities. we get a little of them in the emails but part of what makes Alex so relatable is that he is confident and he is smart and he does want to help people but he also understands and feels the difference between himself and Henry. Henry is white and British and privileged and has a myriad of insecurities too but Henry will never understand being judged solely on your skin. On being compared to someone else but understanding the double-standards that come along with it. i honestly don't know if i put it correctly but that is why i loved alex so much.

FUCKING MIGUEL RAMOS. WHO MADE THAT FUCKING DECISION????? first off, for those who have yet to read the book, Miguel Ramos is not in the book. Rafael Luna is. Liam is. Both men are very important for Alex(and Henry)'s story. Liam is a key component in Alex's journey in bisexuality. Rafael Luna's involvement in the Richards Campaign is also very important plot-wise. Luna is also one of the guys who Alex realises he thought was hot btw.

The Richards Campaign!?!?!?!! felt very non-important. like i just don't really feel the need to root for the Claremont Campaign or root against the Richards Campaign when they sort of take a backseat. in the book the Richards campaign is the one to leak the emails and its a more malicious strike against the Claremont Campaign vs a jealous reporter who the Alex hooked up with once leaking the story.

WHILE we're on the emails, i know that you can only fit so much in here but COME ON MAN. the emails are sort of the foundation of Henry and Alex's romance. they text(AFTER ALEX GIVES HENRY HIS NUMBER BTW) and then they email each other and its so gay/bi and so happy and so romantic and the quotes man the FUCKING quotes and i didn't get that and can you tell that the emails mean a lot to me

the "history,huh?" moment did not feel as impactful to me. fight me on that , i don't care.

Bea. Said it before, not how i pictured. But boy did they really reduce Bea. Mind you, she's got a very big role in Henry's life an they do try but the powder princess stuff is kind of important.

Princess Catherine. Where is she? Who knows? Again, cut for time but my gosh people, she's the reason Queen Mary turns around on Henry and Alex.

Speaking of Queen Mary, they switched her around for a king?!?!?! LISTEN i get not wanting to make real-world comparisons yadayadayada but Stephen Fry?!?!?! im so sorry that man is too nice for you to try to convince me that he's a racist and homophobic ruler.

Alex's parents. They're together, i guess? minor thing so that's why its here idk.

SO that was a lot of complaints and some good stuff.

You may be thinking "THANK GOODNESS, it's over"

WRONG.

I have more thoughts, dear reader.

Look, was it a perfect adaptation? no. adaptations rarely are.

Was it a good movie? yes. it was.

This movie made my little gay POC heart very VERY happy. it made me happy to see something that I treasure be put out into the world in a movie that I will be watching over and over and over. I'm obviously not pleased with the multiple liberties they took but I'm taking what I can. We need more queer everything out in the world. More queer books, more queer movies, more queer photography, more queer tv shows, more queer museum exhibits, you name it. Given the current state of the world and attitudes about queer people, it is essential to make and consume queer media in all its forms. Queer media makes sure that everyone knows that we're here and queer and we're not going anywhere. This is an important story to tell. And it doesn't have to be perfect. It just needs to tell OUR stories.

Henry, Alex (and also Nick Nelson and Charlie Spring) have made me want a love like theirs. A love that is genuine and real and honest and full of hope. A love who understands me and who I understand. To quote Dr. Taylor Alison Swift: "A love that was really something, not just the idea of something."

[ben-j-erickson]

So the RWRB trailer is out. And I have thoughts.

I wanna preface this by saying that I am gay and that I also love RWRB with like all of my heart. That book is the first piece of queer media that I bought for myself. Just so we’re clear on where I stand vis a vis the book.

SO on very very first impressions, I just don’t have high enthusiasm for this film. I get that it’s a 2ish hour movie and there’s a lot that you can put in and things you just gotta leave out. But I’ve heard that they’re combining Nora and June and that upsets me bc they’re both PIVOTAL to the plot in their own ways. Also how??!?? do you combine them?!?!? Anyway…into the next bit of BTS that makes me upset: combining Liam and Raf into some ex of Alex which totally defeats the purpose of Alex discovering his bisexuality in the way that he does(everyone say thank you to HRH Prince Henry of Wales).

Also I keep noticing things like little details that aren’t right to me: Henry getting Alex’s number and not Alex giving it to him, Alex wearing not-a-burgundy-velvet-suit at the New Years Party, just like little things like that.

Just on a lil headcanon moment tho: Bea is not how I imagined at all if that is Bea talking to Henry in the trailer. She’s not ginger to me. I always sort of pictured as Ella Purnell or Holly Earl(if you want my full list of the peeps I envisioned as the cast, hit me up, no disrespect to the cast tho)

HOWEVER I am happy to report that I INSISTED that Nicholas Galitzine and Taylor Zakhar-Perez has the kind of chemistry that Alex and Henry have and I.WAS.RIGHT. Also Una Therman as Ellen Claremont ROCKS, she has big president energy anyway. Also if Cash isn’t in the movie whatsthepoint

Ultimately though, it is too early to tell and the movie could be really good and more importantly it’s always good to have more queer film out there. Representation like this always something that I am on board with.

ANYWAY, thank you for coming to my lil rant, that is all.

[ben-j-erickson]

I Can See You is such a Henry-and-Alex-coded song. That’s all.

[ben-j-erickson]

Do you ever think about how in the end, Arthur forgot that he was mad at Merlin and forgave him and all that mattered was that Merlin loved Arthur and Arthur loved Merlin and everything was gonna be okay and then suddenly it wasn’t? Because i do

[ben-j-erickson]

Merlin really went from “he’s a dollophead ” to “he’s my dollophead” in like two episodes

[ben-j-erickson]

Watching BBC’s Merlin and thinking about how the dragon is like “Merlin, Arthur is your soulmate” and Merlin’s like “this idiot? no thank you” and the dragon’s like” I don’t know what to tell you, it’s non-refundable”