A Little Life struck me strangely. For the first hundred pages I was enchanted, then I figured out where it was going, and going, and going. Eventually each new
porn plot twist had me howling. Truly. The great camp classic of the new millennium. Now Mommy Dearest can rest in her grave.
this!! is so good! When I was younger, I invested a lot of energy (for some reason) in decrying the way that queer people were depicted in media. But as I've gotten older, I just don't have the angry energy for attacking other queer people for the types of stories they want to write. I'll still make fun of the occasional big media schlock-fest, but otherwise, none of us will get out of our ambivalence about marginalization through yelling at people on Twitter. Should being gay be normalized, legal, mainstream, and safe? Or should it be cool and edgy and involve lots of drugs and orgies? I don't know, and I don't really want to tell other people what to think. I'll just write my little things in the corner.
YES. I'm glad it's not just me noticing this. Nothing makes me feel like an aging (aged already maybe) queer like these fights. I sound like a 2nd gen feminist muttering "just be glad there's so much TO critique and go enjoy life good grief" to myself.
trying to figure out how much i agree vs disagree with this is hard but it's regardless a needed take-- ESPECIALLY with regards to how the critiques always center whiteness and how everyone involved can whitewash the non-white aspects of the gay novels they critique/rave about/everything about. seeing people take so much issue with a little life gays and how sad the book is also feels so weird because uh i think there are bigger problems with the book than how accurate it is to gay life? if youre going to critique it, actually get into it at least. surface level white centered litgays.
Mr. Loverman by Bernadine Evaristo was one of the so-called ‘gay novels’ that really brought in a fresh perspective. It was about two ageing gay men but told with so much humour and delight! Definitely a treat. Honestly, I question the whole branding of novel as a gay novel because it really confines and reduces the novel’s intrinsic capacity to bring in several other questions than just ‘gay’ questions. For instance, Shuggie Bain was marketed as this queer novel bla bla, but there was so much more the author was trying to do in that book. Really enjoyed reading this article. Thanks for sharing it.
This rules. Some gays need to read sad things to process life and history and others are allergic to same. It's very individual, and thank Judy gay fiction has grown eclectic enough that there is something for everyone.
WHEW!! "Don’t we all feel that way as we watch people do what it is that we want to do in a way that feels slightly too close to the way in which we want to do it? Particularly when our sense of ourselves is not robust and not strong, when we are full of doubt and anxiety. The first we way know to secure the ego against death is to kill. To rend and make the God over in our own image." Thank you thank you for this!!
This was a very thought provoking read, thank you. I don't take issue with "gay sadness", representation, etc, & I actually really enjoyed "Shuggie Bain" & "Cleanness".
My biggest issue with "A Little Life" can be encapsulated by something the writer David Schmader said in his commentary track for the movie "Showgirls": speaking of a very brutal scene near the end, he refers to it as having "unearned gravity", & that's how I felt about much of "A Little Life" - like, you're *telling* me this is heartbreakingly sad, but you're not making me *feel* it.
I've not stopped ruminating over your words, and I just stumbled on a quote from "Notes of A Native Son" by Baldwin that mirrors your piece.
"One of the difficulties about being a Negro writer is that the Negro problem is written about so widely. The bookshelves groan under the weight of information, and everyone, therefore, considers himself informed. And this information furthermore operates usually to reinforce traditional attitudes."
A Little Life struck me strangely. For the first hundred pages I was enchanted, then I figured out where it was going, and going, and going. Eventually each new
porn plot twist had me howling. Truly. The great camp classic of the new millennium. Now Mommy Dearest can rest in her grave.
this!! is so good! When I was younger, I invested a lot of energy (for some reason) in decrying the way that queer people were depicted in media. But as I've gotten older, I just don't have the angry energy for attacking other queer people for the types of stories they want to write. I'll still make fun of the occasional big media schlock-fest, but otherwise, none of us will get out of our ambivalence about marginalization through yelling at people on Twitter. Should being gay be normalized, legal, mainstream, and safe? Or should it be cool and edgy and involve lots of drugs and orgies? I don't know, and I don't really want to tell other people what to think. I'll just write my little things in the corner.
You dare tell writers to actually write? To write the books they want to read, no less? Quickly, go and find me a fainting couch, for I must faint.
YES. I'm glad it's not just me noticing this. Nothing makes me feel like an aging (aged already maybe) queer like these fights. I sound like a 2nd gen feminist muttering "just be glad there's so much TO critique and go enjoy life good grief" to myself.
trying to figure out how much i agree vs disagree with this is hard but it's regardless a needed take-- ESPECIALLY with regards to how the critiques always center whiteness and how everyone involved can whitewash the non-white aspects of the gay novels they critique/rave about/everything about. seeing people take so much issue with a little life gays and how sad the book is also feels so weird because uh i think there are bigger problems with the book than how accurate it is to gay life? if youre going to critique it, actually get into it at least. surface level white centered litgays.
my favorite quote now & forever: “I had a sad life! I’m sorry!”
I feel called out - but I think I've been waiting for it/needing it/deserving it(?). Cathartic energy all round. Excellent essay.
Yep, a lot of it is jealousy masquerading as critique.
Mr. Loverman by Bernadine Evaristo was one of the so-called ‘gay novels’ that really brought in a fresh perspective. It was about two ageing gay men but told with so much humour and delight! Definitely a treat. Honestly, I question the whole branding of novel as a gay novel because it really confines and reduces the novel’s intrinsic capacity to bring in several other questions than just ‘gay’ questions. For instance, Shuggie Bain was marketed as this queer novel bla bla, but there was so much more the author was trying to do in that book. Really enjoyed reading this article. Thanks for sharing it.
This rules. Some gays need to read sad things to process life and history and others are allergic to same. It's very individual, and thank Judy gay fiction has grown eclectic enough that there is something for everyone.
Thank you.
Yes!
WHEW!! "Don’t we all feel that way as we watch people do what it is that we want to do in a way that feels slightly too close to the way in which we want to do it? Particularly when our sense of ourselves is not robust and not strong, when we are full of doubt and anxiety. The first we way know to secure the ego against death is to kill. To rend and make the God over in our own image." Thank you thank you for this!!
This was a very thought provoking read, thank you. I don't take issue with "gay sadness", representation, etc, & I actually really enjoyed "Shuggie Bain" & "Cleanness".
My biggest issue with "A Little Life" can be encapsulated by something the writer David Schmader said in his commentary track for the movie "Showgirls": speaking of a very brutal scene near the end, he refers to it as having "unearned gravity", & that's how I felt about much of "A Little Life" - like, you're *telling* me this is heartbreakingly sad, but you're not making me *feel* it.
May I ask which book you’re referencing, initially?
I've not stopped ruminating over your words, and I just stumbled on a quote from "Notes of A Native Son" by Baldwin that mirrors your piece.
"One of the difficulties about being a Negro writer is that the Negro problem is written about so widely. The bookshelves groan under the weight of information, and everyone, therefore, considers himself informed. And this information furthermore operates usually to reinforce traditional attitudes."
Thanks for sharing your beautiful perspective ❤