Lately I’ve been revisiting the work of Dolly Parton and Tim Curry and marveling at everything they gave us. “Us” meaning everyone on Earth, of course. But also “us” meaning specifically the queers. What is it about the work of these two wonderful artists that speaks so directly to the queer community?
In the case of Dolly, I think there’s a lot that endeared her to us: For one thing, she was vocal in her support for the queer community, even going back to the 80s when it wasn’t easy for any celebrity — especially a country singer! — to do so. I also think her big broad campy style instantly registered as drag; it’s a glorious, gleeful over-expression of femininity, and especially feminine power. And I think one of her many fine qualities was a refusal to be judgmental: “I don’t judge,” she always said, making it clear that she welcomes all and expects everyone else to do the same. The epitome of “I’d come out to her” energy.
For Tim Curry, I don’t have to speculate about the appeal, because after he passed away, I put up a post asking people to share stories of how Tim Curry’s work affected their life. I expected to hear about watching Rocky Horror at parties, but it surprised me how that was just one piece of the story: People described how roles like Wadsworth in Clue showed them a kind of masculinity they wanted to aspire to; how The Wild Thornberrys inspired a career in conservation; how Legend was their nerd awakening; and even how his evil clown in It made that miniseries a comfort-watch.
It makes perfect sense that Tim’s work spoke to queer folks, because a near-universal sentiment in the comments was an admiration for how he approached every role with gusto, even the ones that other actors might consider a little embarrassing. In fact, the weirder and more outrageous the role, the more he seemed to savor it. He has a sort of ferocious shamelessness that I think is particularly attractive to queer audiences — if you’ve been made to feel like you ought to be ashamed of something about yourself, seeing someone embrace their weird, outsider qualities as gleefully as Tim’s characters feels like a revelation.
I have two new videos up on YouTube about these two wonderful figures — Dolly’s Quilt of Many Colors tells the story of some work she quietly did on behalf of the queer community in the ‘80s, and How Tim Curry Changed Your Life just went life today.
Of course it’s hard to hear that our time with these two legends is at an end, but it’s honestly very hard for me to feel sad when I reflect on the incredible gifts they gave us, that they were clearly aware of how much their work meant to millions of people, and that they knew their work would live on and on and on for as long as there are people to enjoy all they gave us.
Stuff that’s new!
Two new YouTube videos! Dolly’s Quilt of Many Colors and How Tim Curry Changed Your Life.
We’ve been watching films with Dolly Parton and Tim Curry on the Sunday livestreams, and this week we’re finishing part 2 of Clue (comparing all of the endings, of course) and then watching some fun obscure Tim Curry media that you have almost certainly never seen.
On some recent Sewers of Paris episodes, I chatted with the inventor of the bath tub wine holder, the voice of Julio on The Simpsons, a museum butt expert, and re-visited a chat about Dolly and Tim Curry.
Check out these recent Patreon bonus videos about the chaotic making of Clue and what makes Frasier so gay.
Stuff that’s coming soon!
I’ll be at Ancient City Con in St. Augustine Florida from Sept 25 to Sept 27!
October is Coming Out Month, and I’ll be doing a few talks about the history of characters coming out on TV. If you have a queer group at your company or school and want to bring me in for a talk, get in touch!
I’m digging into vampire and werewolf lore for some upcoming videos! Stay tuned for more about that.
Stuff I recommend
I can’t say for sure that a new horror film starring the kid from Glee and the Borg Queen will be GOOD, but I can say for sure that the trailer has my attention.
A park in Korea staged a very fun promo for a new roller coaster.
Here’s a fun new show set in Seattle, but it’s also an example of a fascinating new trend I’m seeing lately — Gen-Z YouTubers embracing early-2000s YouTube aesthetics, down to using “vintage” camcorders. I guess it makes sense since it hits the 20-year nostalgia window, but I have a feeling this might also be a rejection of the AI aesthetic that official-YouTube is pushing pretty hard right now. Nice.
