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Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever. (March 7, 2008)

HI, I’M BUFFY SUMMERS, AND THIS IS MY LOVER SATSU In the 12th issue of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 comic book series, released this week, it was revealed that Buffy slept with a woman ((Thanks to the dozens of AE readers who wrote in to alert me to this news!). You should definitely check out the whole issue – it’s a good one! – but for you impatient types, here are the relevant panels, in which Buffy wakes up in bed with a fellow slayer named Satsu who had recently confessed her love for Buffy: I loved Buffy’s comment, “I didn’t get a lot of prep time here, and I think that should be taken into consideration before final grades are given.” It sounds so her.

In an interview with the New York Times about this revelation (Sidebar: Can you believe this actually made the New York Times?), Whedon made it clear that this revelation doesn’t mean Buffy’s gay now, or even bisexual-identified.

“We’re not going to make her gay, nor are we going to take the next 50 issues explaining that she’s not,” Whedon told the Times. “She’s young and experimenting, and did I mention open-minded?” So basically, she’s just like the rest of the straight women out there these days, it seems. (For more analysis on this turn of events and if/how it makes sense in the context of the Buffyverse, read this interesting blog post I came across).

Whedon told the Times he was already imaging the humorous situation this could create with Willow (Buffy’s lesbian best friend), suggesting, “Willow might be defensive about it: ‘Well, I didn’t want to sleep with you anyway.'”

Heh. I like how Joss thinks. But forget Willow for a moment – how jealous is Faith going to be when she finds out?

MORE SEX AND CYNTHIA NIXON John Polly at NewNowNext.com recently interviewed the cast of Sex and the City about the upcoming movie (opening May 30) and got some great comments from Cynthia Nixon about the movie and her personal life. My favorite quote from Nixon was in response to a question about the show’s gay sensibility. “For the first couple of years, we didn’t have any women writers on the show,” she told John. “The two writers we had were gay men and there was this idea, that actually these characters are not really women, they are really gay men – which was always very annoying.” That last line was so unexpected that it made me laugh.

When John asked whether “the show’s progressive reputation made it easier for, er, one of you to come out” (love that question!), Nixon responded:

It’s funny, when I announced and said, “Yes I’m dating a woman,” it freaked people out a lot. I think people have a hard time separating us from our characters. So people were like, “Miranda is GAY!???” And there were all these crazy things I would read in the paper, like “… but Miranda kissed a girl and she didn’t like it. And Samantha’s had a lesbian lover, shouldn’t she be the one?”

And another freaky thing was because our characters are seen as so iconic, it was also viewed as maybe like, “Hmmm, is this is a trend?” Like, maybe this is what happens to these women, who are out there and dating a lot of men. Eventually they start dating women, that’s what happens. This is where Sex and the City takes you! Miranda dated too many men and, well, whatta you know? Now, this.

I’m guessing there are more than few actors who can sympathize with Cynthia on this issue of being confused with their characters – the straight actresses on The L Word, for example, probably have to fend off romantic invitations from women all the time, and Janina Gavankar probably received a lot of bad hats last Christmas. On the other hand, I bet not a lot of people pick a fight with Summer Glau anymore, so it’s not always a bad thing.

Read scribegrrrl’s new blog post about the interview to learn more about what was said about the movie.

LET’S VOTE THE WHOLE THING OFF Actresses and recent We’re Getting Nowhere guestbians Meredith Scott Lynn and Coley Sohn – aka MC Jew C and Lil’ Mitzvah of “Merry Hanukkah (A Jewish Christmas Rap)” fame – just created a hilarious music video for their new rap song, “You Say Hillary/I Say Obama,” in which they battle it out verbally over whether to vote for Clinton or Barack.  

Funny and catchy, with a message that’s strikingly on point, and music provided by “DJ Vajayjay.” What’s not to love?

LESBIANS ROCK (IN CASE YOU DIDN’T ALREADY KNOW THAT) True Colors, the summer concert tour for LGBT rights launched last year by Cyndi Lauper and HRC, just announced its 2008 tour dates and lineup.

I created a collage of the lesbian and lesbianish performers involved; see if you can name all seven! Or just click here to get the list of names if you want to be boring about it. (You take the fun out of everything!)

KATE AND JULIE’S BIG GAY … COMMITMENT CEREMONY? If you haven’t noticed, Julie Goldman and Kate McKinnon recently launched a weekly vlog on AfterEllen.com to answer your questions about The Big Gay Sketch Show, Celesbian Interviews and what kinds of underwear they prefer.

But being the goofballs that they are, they also recorded a music video last year called “Commitment Ceremony,” directed and produced by Julie Goldman and Erin Greenwell, and it’s so amusing I couldn’t resist including it here.  

God bless lesbians with too much free time.

Want more Kate and Julie? Check out their vlogs here and look for new episodes on Wednesdays (give or take a day) each week.

THE LESBIAN GAUNTLET SMACKDOWN THAT ALMOST WAS This week on MTV’s The Gauntlet III (a sort of young adult version of Survivor, but a lot less interesting and with a lot more annoying drama), openly gay contestant Coral quit when she realized she was being set up to be kicked out by her own teammates after they nominated her to go up against the season’s other lesbian contestant, Ev (who, you might remember from a previous edition of BLWE, was/is dating eliminated contestant Brooke).

Here’s the scene from this episode where Coral quits and Ev expresses her disappointment at not being allowed the opportunity to pummel her:  

As steeped in unnecessary and inconsequential drama as this show often is, one of the good things about it is how nonchalantly it treats its gay and lesbian contestants. It almost makes up for A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila.

But not quite.

Speaking of which …

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO GO BACK IN THE FOAM … A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila: The Complete Uncensored First Season will be released on DVD on April 15, complete with deleted scenes including “Spin the Bottle,” “Brandi & Vanessa Shower” and “Strip Club” (because they haven’t exploited bisexuality and lesbianism enough already, apparently). I’d link to where you can pre-order the DVD, but then I’d have to live with the knowledge that I knowingly contributed to the downfall of civilization, and I’ve got enough on my mind already.

While I started off thinking the show was silly but fairly harmless and at least sometimes entertaining, I was soon turned off and eventually angered by the show’s ongoing parade of bad stereotypes about lesbians, bisexual women and Asian women (and by how blatantly the producers exploited those stereotypes for ratings).

This actually brings up an important issue for us at AfterEllen.com. Although we’ll continue to report on any actual news surrounding Tila Tequila, we’ve been having a debate among the AfterEllen.com staff about whether to cover the next season of A Shot at Love, and if so, how much. In other words, should we do recaps again? Should we review the show?

Our conflict stems from the fact that while most of us abhor the show’s exploitation of lesbian and bi women – and don’t get Lori started on what the whole Asian sex-kitten stereotype it’s perpetuating – there will be millions of people watching it. And pretending it doesn’t exist on AfterEllen.com doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. So should we be talking about it because everyone else will be?

On the other hand, does writing about it help promote it in any significant way? Because I don’t know if I can sleep at night knowing I’m doing that.

Or is our coverage such a small ripple in the tidal wave of media coverage of this show that it doesn’t matter, plus at least that way we’re proving a safe place for AfterEllen.com readers to vent about it?

We want you to weigh in, so please take this poll and let us know what you think we should do.

When the second season of A Shot at Love airs, AfterEllen.com should: Not cover it all Review it, but not recap it Review and recap it view results

 

Thanks!

I’D LIKE TO SEE PEGGY PEABODY TRY TO GET HELENA OUT OF HERE As we told you last week, HBO Latin America has launched an edgy new drama series called Capadocia, about a women’s prison in Mexico City that is consumed by power struggles among prisoners and the people who run the prison. Naturally, since it’s a show about a women’s prison, lesbian relationships are prominently included.

A riot broke out in the first episode, and a prisoner named Bambi (Cecilia Suárez) took that opportunity to kill the reigning leader among the prisoners and take over.

The spoils of her victory included the dead prisoner’s girlfriend, “La Colombiana” (Cristina Umaña).

As AfterEllen.com reader Paula explained, “everyone wants to be with [La Colombiana], so the one who has all the power in prison has the ‘right’ to be with her.”

OK, so that’s a little disturbing. But AfterEllen.com reader Anna wrote to us that she was impressed by the realistic way in which prison riot was portrayed. She also told us about several memorable points in the first episode, including the fact that some of the women were in jail for “crimes” such as stealing diapers and milk for a newborn or hitting a rapist; the fact that the one in charge of the operation during the riot and the leader of the special forces were both woman; and the speech given by prison administrator Teresa Lagos, who said that that women aren’t forgiven for crimes that men are instantly forgiven for because women are portrayed as the foundation of the family, which is society’s foundation.

Sounds intriguing. Spanish-speaking readers can learn more about the show and watch trailers for it on www.capadocia.tv. Us non-Spanish speaking readers will just have to wonder again why we took French in high school instead of Spanish.

DANGEROUS CELLO PLAYING Out actress Saffron Burrows co-stars in a new film opening in the United States this weekend called The Bank Job. But I’m more interested in her upcoming film Dangerous Parking, directed by Peter Howitt (Sliding Doors) and opening in the U.K. on May 23 (thanks to AE reader Cloogle for the tip!), because she plays a queer character in it named Claire.

Based on the novel of the same name, the movie follows a drug and alcohol—addicted indie film director’s attempt to turn his life around. According to the movie’s official website, “When fate sends him a guardian angel in the shape of cellist Clare Mattheson, he tries even harder to shift his focus from self abuse to self preservation – and on the road to selflessness … and that is when Mother Nature deals him the cruelest blow of all.”

I’m guessing the “cruelest blow” he suffers is discovering that Claire is romantically involved with another woman and not interested in him. To which I say, buck up, mister! Lesbians have to deal with that every day, ’cause we’re always falling for straight women, and you don’t see us making a movie about it! Well, not this year, anyway.

There’s no U.S. theatrical debut set for the film yet, but here are some pics: Is it just me, or is there something sexy about a woman and a cello? Ditto a woman playing the piano. Or the violin. OK, I guess it’s just musical instruments in general.

Except the recorder – that just conjures up memories of having to play “Hot Cross Buns” 6 million times in elementary school. Yes, I’m still bitter.

TWO LESBIANS WALK INTO A BAR… After I watched the train wreck hilarity that was Bridget McManus and Karman Kregloe interviewing celebrities at the 3Way Hollywood Premiere Party last month, I got the crazy idea to give them their own red carpet/travel series called You Can’t Take Them Anywhere! Yes, more of Bridget and Karman running around with a microphone is a scary proposition! But the good kind of scary (mostly). It’s a “red carpet/travel” series because they’ll be covering both celebrity-type events (parties, fundraisers, and events like Dinah Shore) and travel destinations like Lake Tahoe and Cancun, Mexico. But both types of episodes will feature them interviewing people – gay and straight, famous and not-so-famous – in their humorous, gay, and slightly inappropriate way.

In their first episode, Karman and Bridget interview guests at IN magazine‘s 10th anniversary party in Los Angeles, including actresses Thea Gill and Carlease Burke and radio host Doria Biddle.

Unlike the vlogs, which are new every week, we’ll probably run new episodes of this series only twice a month or so, depending on what’s happening. This weekend, Bridget and Karman are at Lake Tahoe WinterFest (that’s a gay and lesbian ski week) shooting their next episode, which will include Karman attempting to snowboard and failing quite spectacularly. Look for that in a week or two. (I know I will!)

ATTENTION ALL CURRENT AND FUTURE FILMMAKERS AND TV SHOW CREATORS! In partnership with Q-Me Con (an annual conference focusing on queer media), we’re announcing a contest to find the next great lesbian/bi web series!

We want to use AfterEllen.com as a place to help launch the next 3Way, Time Traveling Lesbian, or You Can’t Take Them Anywhere! While we can’t give you money to make your series, we can give you a platform to expose it to a large and very passionate fan base. And since our readers also include women who work in the entertainment industry at all different levels, we’ll also be giving you the opportunity to showcase your writing/editing/acting skills to women who are in a position to fund your series. Or hire you. You never know what could happen!

The deadline for submission is April 15, 2008. We’ve posted the submission guidelines in the forum, but here are some of the highlights: Your series doesn’t have to be big-budget, it just has to be good; it’s not limited to Americans – anyone may apply, as long as the series is in English or has English subtitles; and both scripted and unscripted series are eligible. Oh, and obviously, the series should have some lesbian or bisexual women, or a lesbian/bi story line or theme.

We’ll review all the submissions, and up to three winners will be announced at the Q-Me Con NYC 2008 Women’s Summit during the AfterEllen.com-hosted panel, “Alternative Routes: Web & Mobile Distribution Opportunities for Your Queer Content” on Saturday, May 10. For more information about the Q-Me Con NYC 2008 Women’s Summit, visit www.qmecon.com.

All three winners will have their episodes published weekly on AfterEllen.com, but the Grand Prize Winner will also receive:

  • A feature in GO magazine.
  • A 30-minute one-on-one mentorship call with Nancylee Myatt (Emmy-winning writer, former show runner of South of Nowhere, and current producer on the web series 3Way).
  • A 30-minute call with me to talk about online promotional strategies for your series. (Besides running AfterEllen.com for six years, I have extensive experience in online advertising, search engine marketing and viral online marketing … and why do I suddenly sound like I’m applying for a job?)
This is your opportunity to make the lesbian series you’ve always wanted to see! With the demise of South of Nowhere, the ending of The L Word either this season or next, and Cashmere Mafia just making lesbian/bi visibility worse (if it even gets renewed), we need to be creating our own entertainment now more than ever.

And if you’re new to this and have doubts about whether you can make a web series, remember what Margaret Mead said: “Never underestimate the ability of a small group of lesbians to change the world.” Or something like that.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! British lesbian magazine Diva recently had to change its cover at the last minute because a major European retailer deemed it too controversial.

Dorothy Snarker’s blog won the Lesbian Lifestyle’s blog of the year award! A very deserving choice, in our completely unbiased opinion.

There’s a new off-Broadway musical debuting that focuses on the relationship between Gertrude Stein and her partner called 27 Rue de Fleurus.

In the Life Media is now seeking documentaries about the LGBTQ experience for their 2008 and 2009 seasons.

We need more stories for our Dinah Shore improv! Get cracking, all you creative types!

The next episode of Cathy DeBuono‘s vlog What’s YOUR Problem? will be posted this afternoon, with guest Jennifer Corday.

Bridget has a special guest on Brunch With Bridget this weekend … Yes, last weekend when I was in L.A., I finally accepted Bridget’s invitation to be a guest on her vlog, and what started out as a conversation reminiscing about our childhoods, ergonomic technology products, and the ’80s series Rags to Riches quickly descended into a name-calling session that could only be settled with a Very Special Pillow Fight. Tune in to AfterEllen.com on Sunday morning to watch the downward spiral.

That’s it for this week! Got the inside scoop on a hot new lesbian/bi actor/musician/TV show/film? Tell us at [email protected]. Check back next Friday for another edition of Best. Lesbian. Week. Ever.

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