One of the most powerful quotes I’ve heard about the Academy Awards is a throwaway line in the fifth episode of the podcast “You Must Remember This.” Karina Longworth, the show’s host, is talking about Judy Garland’s (the star of “The Wizard of Oz”) endless troubles, when she pauses for a quick sidebar 17 minutes in and says: “When it comes to the Oscars, actual quality has never been a major motivating factor, but the awards do tell us how Hollywood wants to be seen and what it values.”
In a year where, for the second time in a row, there was no celebration of diversity in the Academy Awards, this quote seems to speak volumes about what Hollywood is currently valuing. In a year where fantastic films such as “Carol,” about a lesbian couple in the 1950s, was left off the Best Picture list and movies such as “Concussion,” starring Will Smith, were snubbed altogether, the message that “homogeneity is king” seems clear.
If you’re like many actors, creators and fans who boycotted the Oscars this year, here is a (very) short list of diverse films you can watch and celebrate instead, all of which are available on Netflix.
Out in the Dark
There is a whole wealth of drama focusing on gay, lesbian and transgender people from the Middle East. “Out in the Dark” is one of the rare subsets of this genre that doesn’t end completely miserably for everyone involved. This 2012 foreign drama tells the story of Nimir, a Palestinian student, and Roy, an Israeli lawyer, whose subsequent romance breaks through multiple cultural taboos. While the story can be a little heavy-handed — the pair’s relationship is used as a metaphor for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict — the film’s skillful performances and the strong chemistry between the two romantic leads is more than enough to make up for it.
While it may not have won an Oscar, it did manage to snag 25 awards from film festivals around the world.
Eat With Me
Is this film the greatest queer film of all time? Maybe not. Did it win hundreds of awards? No. But it does have the two middle-aged leads Nicole Sullivan (known for her recurring role on the sitcom “King of Queens”) and Sharon Omi getting high on accident, and that makes up for a lot of its failings. This 2014 comedy follows Emma (Omi) as she moves in with her gay son, Elliot (Teddy Chen Culver) after separating from her husband. What makes this film so stand-out is not so much its plot (which can feel a little slow at times) or its slightly generic themes of acceptance of self and others, but the fact that it is a film about an Asian-American family and queer people where these identities are not the focus. They play a role in the film but don’t define it, and the characters get to take on a situational comedy usually reserved for white, straight people only.
Also, did I mention George Takei (of “Star Trek” fame) is, for no real reason, in this? Because he is.
Cloudburst
Although Hollywood would like you to think otherwise, lesbians can and do grow old. This 2011 comedy-drama follows Stella and her long, long-time girlfriend, Dotty, as they escape the confines of Dotty’s nursing home and flee to Canada to get married. Throw in an oblivious granddaughter, a young man they quasi-adopt who may or may not be a stripper, and great acting, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a film to win 41 awards throughout the U.S., Canada and Britain. This movie fills a cinematic void you didn’t even realize existed. Sweet and filled with low-drama but also poignant and powerful, this film shows the intersections between queerness and aging in such a nuanced, beautiful way so few dramatic films do. While the film may not have the happiest of endings, the bittersweet feeling lands more on the sweet side, feeling more like a celebration of a long-lasting love than despair over the end of their lives.
This one critique of this film is that it is glaringly white — not one actor of color appears onscreen, even in the background. But the film still proves its worth by telling the story of two not-particularly-attractive elderly queer women who just want to get married.
@Ehmannky