#fire island 2022

[kajaono]

Remeber this headline?

This was when Netflix Persuasion dropped and i already hated the headline back then (thanks for nothing NYT). But now that I am watching Sense & Sensibility 2024 by HALLMARK (for gods sake!) I hate it even more.

The two best Austen adaptations we had recently were Fire Island

A modern PP adaptation featuring Darcy and Lizzie as gay asian men.

And yes, the Hallmark version of Sense & Sensibility, with the main cast being - more or less - exclusively POC

Is it rushed? yes. Does it pepper in extra scenes for Edward and Brandon just for the sake of it? Yes. Is the acting often medicore? Yes!

But it stayed true to the spirit of the story and is such a delightful watch. and the costumes are lovely!

netflix Persuasion was just bad. Full stop. Don't blame that on the fans. And dont you dare the play the racism card. (and yes, fuck everyone who hated Persuasion becasue of the Musgroves being people of color).

Your Austen adaptation can be queer, and diverse, and colorblind or in highschool, or include a BJ... you can all have this... as long as you repect the true spirit of the story.

Yes, I am still extremly angry at CC and her shit "Austen women faint too much!"

[loisfreakinglane]

dance with me

[kamwashere]

just watched fire island and right away, conrad ricamora is in my top 5 darcys ever

[ru-inn]

just a quick FYI if you haven't watched fire island (2022) GO WATCH IT NOW

I'm absolutely obsessed

[palaceoftherakes]

"all this romance bullshit makes you vulnerable."

Fire Island (2022), dir. Andrew Ahn

the homosexual agenda is so real.

as one of the first films i watched of 2023, fire island stunned me. it was this absolutely hilarious, loose adaptation of pride and prejudice and i lived for it. the soundtrack for one stunned me, the visuals O-M-G, i was flawed. when donna summer's last dance started playing while noah and will danced in the sunset i screamed and danced for joy. this is a romcom!! this is a gay romcom like you have never seen.

the question is, would we get the same film if it was wlw? definitely not. there's this uniqueness to gay men falling in love that weirdly society accepts, but the minute we get an ounce of wlw representation, even in it's mildest sense, it get's repressed. take Paramount's rise of the pink ladies, it takes an iconic musical world and creates a prequal series with singing, dancing and acting far better than the original. but what really differentiates this series from all the others that came out in 2023 is the beautiful queer representation. cynthia and lydia's love story is so beautiful and timeless and air notartomosa's vocals are on another level. with a built-in fanbase and growing fans, the series gets removed from the streaming platform after only being released for around 2 weeks in its entirety.

i don't want to take away from fire island because i love that film with all my being, but where are the female and non-binary representation in romcoms and love stories that so many people in the queer community yern for?

[fictionandmusic]

thanks for witnessing my regularly scheduled rewatch of Fire Island (2022). i am still unable to make GIFs so in order to properly convey my adoration for the movie I’m going to make youtube comp of the moments that make me laugh the most. stay tuned!

[cherryblossomshadow]

tbf tho moonlight still hits me hard as just a queer guy/masculine ish person having their masculinity devalued bc of their queerness #moonlight #moonlight movie #kevin and chiron #chiron #kevin #fuck why is this film so good #please everyone should watch it #barry Jenkins #barry jenkins highkey was cooking with this film (comment and tags courtesy of OP)

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#yes this all this!!! #moonlight 2016 #the story of him coming to grips with his sexuality felt so realistic to me at least /because/ he didn't have a big coming out scene #like. that narrative feels like it's supposed to happen cause that's always what happens in tv shows and movies where there's a queer #--character. they were only allowed to exist in stories to tell the “coming out story” #like they'll have other stories involving them but they have to have a coming out story #and that's just not how it works for every queer person #some of us just have to figure this shit out and then deal with it and not come out because our parents are homophobic #and some of us probably have a story like chiron #but yeah moonlight isn't just a story about sexuality #it's got multiple facets #and there's so much character work we didn't see in those tine skips #such a great story (tags courtesy of @suibianworks)

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“female representation”

I mean, this reminds me of the Bechdel test getting weaponized against Fire Island (2022) :(

Idk if ppl know how stereotypes work? A character is a bad character, not bc they are similar to a stereotype but bc they are JUST a stereotype. Those female characters put in the work

And on the subject of "well written female characters," not every character can be deep. Those characters did what they needed to do, and they weren't just agents of the plot, they were ppl who loved Chiron. Well written characters dont have to be deep, they just have to make sense

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“being bullied for being gay without explicitly coming out”

"at the core queerness isn't its main focus"

Exactly, OP! Kinda envious that some ppl think you can only be bullied for things you tell the world. Moonlight is intersectional as hell and all the sexier for it. I don't think you could separate Chiron from his blackness any more than from his queerness. In our cisheteronormative patriarchal and racist society, these ideas of masculinity and sexuality and racial identity and power are all bound up together. The reason ppl get bullied rarely has anything to do with what ppl SAY they're being bullied for. I think it is really valuable that stories like this embrace the "contradictions" and shit that makes life messy

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“wanting to shed his hypermasculine image for a more vulnerable one”

hell fucking yeah lets gooooooooooooooooo

Pls bear with me while I pontificate about queerness. Queerness is a whole thing bc of the way our society is. It's about how ppl treat you (outcast), about how strong you have to be for yourself (determining to stay true and PROUD in the face of hardship and hate), but I really think that, at its heart, being queer is about love. In a less hateful world, maybe the trappings of hate and self-determinism would drop away and no longer be associated with queerness bc no one would give a shit who you love

TL;DR: Being queer is bundled with so much meaningful stuff specifically in this hateful world, which isnt necesarily a bad thing. But imo queerness is, at its heart, about love and therefore vulnerability. Coming out doesn't have to be ostentatious and "look at me and repent for how you've wronged me" (tho it DEF deserves to be in some cases)

Coming out can feel like coming home

im insane for moonlight

this rlly is jsut me ranting so spoilers for the film pls guys watch it its so fucking good i swear ITS SOOO GOOD GUH oh and there's gonna be mentions of stuff like homophobia, sexism, bullying, ect but its bc i saw a review on the movie moonlight (2016) saying abt how female representation only amounts to 2 female characters playing stereotypes, and how chiron's queerness wasn't properly explored bc contradictions and shit like how chiron was bullied for being gay without him ever explicitly coming out like

okay

1. this movie is LITERALLY about a black man struggling with his masculine identity bc of his culture and his environment, no SHIT it only focuses on the older more parental female figures in his life

2. his mother and teresa weren't stereotypes at all??? his mother struggles being a single mom and turns to drugs as a way to cope and ends up abusing her son which yeah absolutely tragic but the movie makes a point to say she still does care abt her son even when she doesn't show it when needed (literally her forgiveness scene hello??)

and teresa is the motherly figure in this case yes but its almost nice how her char is subverted in the sense she's not blood related but still cares for chiron like her own which is very neat !! also she has more of a noticable impact on chiron during his teenage years and letting him feel a sense of self and freedom whenever he stays over imo those are two very well written female characters

(will say teresa could've had more depth but yk)

3. queerness and weakness are viewed to be the same in hypermasculine cultures idk how u couldnt get that one tbh

he gets bullied bc people around him expect him to be a more masculine more tough ver of who he is now, devaluing his innate character

honestly i get why people would watch moonlight and view it as a "queer film" but at the core queerness isn't its main focus, it's how black kids deal and cope with their masculinity in a toxic environment. chiron's queerness is only a fraction of what makes up his issues with his masculinity, but because of how being queer is used as an insult when he gets bullied and abuse, that ending scene just hits harder like that bc he finally lets go of his tough exterior, and admits to his queerness as a substitute/symbol for what he truly means, which is him wanting to shed his hypermasculine image for a more vulnerable one with kevin and its just GAHHHHH

[365filmsbyauroranocte]

Fire of Love (Sara Dosa, 2022)      

[saharzahids]

@pscentral anniversary event ♡ get to know the members

@lgbtqcreators creator challenge ♡ movie posters

favorite films of all times

[kajaono]

This is honestly one of my favorite moments in Fire Island

Because Howie and Charlie have the time of their life badly flirting, and both Noah and Will standing by their side heavily judging them. It not only shows that they are a) judhy bitches b) perfect for each other but also c) that Kim Joel Booster just GOT Pride and Prejudice

[loisfreakinglane]

FIRE ISLAND || MY FAKE BOYFRIEND dance with me.

[kaydeefalls]

if i were a fish - Fire Island vid by kaydeefalls

I found you, now I'm not scared. (The power of queer friendship! And romance, too, I guess.)

Made for Festivids 2023. Music by corook ft. Olivia Barton

[mrdarcygenderenvy]

Recent Austen adaptations yelling

Ok I DID make this blog to review historical-set Pride & Prejudice adaptations (with an exception made for iconic B&P). But for everyone who was DEFINITELY WONDERING, yes I have also been storing away a lot of opinions about other recent Austen adaptations that I Must Tell Someone.

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Fire island (2022)

A modern gay party cheesy rom-com P&P that genuinely made me laugh. Having seen some other (whiter) cheesy gay romcoms that were extreeeemely PG & playing it safe, I was pleasantly surprised.

Also Bowen Yang and his story just came across really earnest in a way I was into - would watch this man cry again, 10/10.

Personally as an extremely disabled british nerd (now tragically unable to travel and/or go to the club...) this gay scene is a long way from my queer scene. But I still had emotions, you know?

Kinda wanted more of the Mary analogue and generally just normal looking people (almost everyone is so ripped) but I appreciate that's how beautiful smooth people often look in mainstream american films, we can't have everything.

DARCY WATCH: I do not want to dress like this adaptation's chinos Mr Darcy. But Conrad Ricamora was generally great and very hot and awkward and understood the assignment. Good ice cream throw.

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Emma (2020)

I know I know, it's pretty... but I don't think that's enough!!!!!

Lovely production, beautiful costumes, a candy wes-anderson cinematography that really suits the story, and it's fun to notice references to actual outfits and prints from the time but lads. LADS. UNPOPULAR OPINION TIME: Where is the chemistry???

You can’t make Mr Knightley a nice sweet boy (so funny to have cast a posh folksy singing man) and leave the plot the same and expect it to work!! Also I was personally pissed off that a lot of the promo/ ads for this made it look like ~forbidden love~ when it's the 2 richest white people in town getting together?? ? There's actually not even a class difference in this one, guys.

Basically this romance was nothing to me!!! I felt nothing!!!!!!!! WHERE'S THE DEPTH

I did like the bit where he lies down though. Relatable.

Also why are you drawing so much attention to the servants when you don’t seem to have anything to say about class...? 'Wow look how many servants they had! Anyway, they don't get any speaking lines'... it's 2020 guys!!! like what are we saying here. 'isn't it cool to think about how people were rich'??

kind of the point of Emma (character) is she's pretty superficial, but the story does not, in fact, have to be

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Persuasion (2022)

Weeping softly into a pillow........ did you know this version meant a version with Sarah Snook and Joel Fry got cancelled?? we could have had it all

(standing on a table yelling) THE MODERNISATION WAS NOT THE PROBLEM WITH THIS FILM!!!

Honestly I actively liked all the entire secondary cast in this. Louisa and Mary were extremely charming fun takes to watch. ('I'm an empath' IS right for the character if you're doing modern jokes!!!) And nobody can deny this was a correct and powerful use of Richard E Grant.

Henry Golding was naturally great. Apparently he got offered the lead and took the villain instead, which DOES mean the villain is super charming and fun to watch which is... hard to match and.... kind of shows up.... the main man.

It's been said before but the main two were WOEFUL imo. I have no beef with the actors I just question the DIRECTION and whether anyone making this knew (or cared) why people... enjoy things.

Book Anne is the quietest gentlest loser and I LOVE HER and so does basically every Austen nerd. Making her a quirky wine-bath girl who's honestly just cruel sometimes fully stops the main romance chemistry and plot from working.

And it means the main boy is still like 'god I'm so horny for how KIND AND CAPABLE YOU ARE' which is just 100% no longer true. You can't transplant a personality in a romance but leave the plot the exact same and expect it to work. The chemistry IS the plot in a romance..........

you can't act morally superior to your siblings and still rate people out of ten.... also so funny to me that everyone else gets period outfits and hair whereas this protagonist looks like she just glanced at a picture of any time in the past and grabbed a couple shirts from primark. it doen't even look good or build character!!!!!

Anyway, not to be an elderly man like 'ohhh why does nobody care about character these days' but the reason something like Clueless works is because it has the heart of the story right, instead of just copying the surface level stuff.

[dailyconradricamora]

Conrad Ricamora attends the 2022 Gotham Awards at Cipriani Wall Street on November 28, 2022 in New York City.

[filmap]

Fire Island Andrew Ahn. 2022

Port Fire Island Pines Marina, MW8H+GVC, Sayville, NY 11782, USA See in map

See in imdb

[blue123bubble]

My Top 10 Favorite Films of 2022

1 Everything Everywhere All At Once

2. Top Gun: Maverick

3. The Batman

4. Fire Island

5. Bros

6. The Menu

7. In From The Side

8. Kimi

9. The Black Phone

10. Fresh