Not a Fan of Hanging Around in Reality (Ep. 36 - Steve Kmetko)

This episode comes out on Thanksgiving, and this year I hope you'll remember to offer your thanks to the brave pioneers who came out of the closet at a time when doing so meant putting yourself at great personal and professional risk. We're able to enjoy the freedom we have today because of the people who were openly gay in decades past, who demanded acceptance, and paved a path for future generations. 

My guest this week is Steve Kmetko, best known as the face of the E! cable network from 1994 to 2002. He hosted countless Oscar and Emmy broadcasts, reported from film festivals, and interviewed everyone who was anyone in Hollywood. It was his dream job, but privately, he was being weighed down by a lifetime of baggage: a career that demanded he stay closeted, and a religious upbringing that burdened him with guilt.

Although his career was going great, the pressure of keeping a secret just kept building as the years went on. Until finally, after years of putting tough questions to everyone around him, it was time for Steve to tell the truth about himself.

It was a gutsy move. Risky. And there were times that he paid a price for being honest about who he was. But the acceptance that LGBTs enjoy today simply wouldn't be possible if not for the high-profile figures who stepped forward in years past, people whom we give particular thanks.

Here's Steve's Advocate interview, and some great clips of Steve at work:

Music:
ParisianKevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia (Ep. 35 - Designing Women)

A quick note this week. It's hard to talk say the word "Paris" right now without thinking about what the city's been through in the last few days. Not just the pain, but in the aftermath, the unity, the strength, the resilience, the solidarity. Paris is known as the city of light not only for its beauty, but because it was a cornerstone of the age of enlightenment, a period that celebrated tolerance, liberty, equality, progress. Values that illuminate the human spirit. Values we still cherish to this day, values that survive in our resolve to stand together against violence and fear. That fellowship is what has made Paris a beacon of enlightenment for hundreds of years, and it's what I hope to capture just a fragment of on this show: the uncovering our connections to each other, the discovery of our shared bonds, the sense of solidarity with people who might have seemed a moment earlier like strangers. That's why I invite you to The Sewers of Paris every week, on a podcast adventure to discover the entertainment that changed the lives of gay men.

What does it take to get you to speak out? For some people, speaking your mind comes naturally, but others feel overwhelming barriers to saying what they feel. 

My guest this week is Brian Matthews. He grew up surrounded by strong female figures who inspired him with eloquent words. He himself had quite a lot to say, but for years kept those words confined to his mind, or at most, to the page. It wasn't until he started speaking the truth about himself that he began to feel comfortable speaking the truth about the world.

Music:
Parisian Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Channel Madonna While Playing Jesus (Ep. 34 - Madonna & Emma Thompson)

Is it better to judge or be judged? My guest this week is Bil Antoniou, co-host of the podcast Bad Gay Movies/Bitchy Gay Men, in which three gays choose a terrible film and mock it mercilessly. Of course, it's easy to poke fun at someone else's creative work -- it's a lot harder to put something of your own in front of the world and invite everyone's judgment. And for years, Bil shrank from the spotlight, keeping his own art bottled up, even though a creative spark burned secretly inside.

He worked a boring job, engaged in some unhealthy habits, and kept his artistic passions stifled. Until one day he decided something had to change.

Now he's a successful actor and playwright, with his show "Heart of the Storm" opening this week in Toronto -- but getting there took years of work and the help of some friends.

Here's a whole freaking playlist of Madonna videos, you're welcome:

Ooh and the trailer for Jeffrey! I haven't seen this in years so it's probably time to revisit:

And of course Emma Thompson being delightful:

Music:
Parisian Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Mom, I'm Super Gay (Ep. 33 - '80s Films)

My guest this week is Wes Hurley, creator of the incredible web series Capitol Hill. Season 2 of the show just premiered on YouTube this week, and it's laden with references from all across the broad landscape of American popular culture. Growing up in Vladivostok, Russia, American movies and TV shows floated to Wes through secretive, often illegal channels, and they gave him hope that maybe someday he wouldn't have to walk a mile for clean water, or carry a knife to school, or find human remains washing past his house in a flood. Bootleg American movies kept his spirits up, but when he and his mother were finally able to escape to the United States, they found the country wasn't quite what he'd been led to expect.

Here's the first episode of Capitol Hill!

Also Curly Sue's trailer. Looks pretty great.

How about a little Waxie Moon?

Music:
Parisian Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The Final Girl (Ep. 32 - Nightmare on Elm Street)

My guest this week is Keith Garcia:  film maker, film programmer, film writer, and film-everything-er. We'll be talking about film.

Keith grew up workshipping the final girls of classic slashers: the ones who escape punishment and make it out alive. He found strength in those girls' even-keeled strength, their persistence against terrifying odds, their discipline and virtue.

And as those girls are able to evade a killer's grasp, Keith was fairly evasive himself: quiet and shy, a bit of a wallflower. He was able to blend in to escape what he feared would be negative attention.

It wasn't until a few years ago that he discovered a different kind of girl: glamorous, exciting, explosive drag queens who seized the spotlight and demanded attention. Now he's launched an ambitious new project that explores a whole new side of feminine heroism -- and of his own identity.

Here's Keith's documentary project, The Heels Have Eyes:

And my exploration of the homoeroticism of Nightmare 2:

And for a change of tone, Skatetown USA:

Music:
Parisian Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

You Can't Make Us Feel Ashamed (Ep. 31 - The Rocky Horror Picture Show)

Is there any crime in giving yourself over to pleasure? No, not according to Dr. Frank N Further, as he's seducing Brad in the boudoir. And one of the great pleasures of the Rocky Horror Picture Show is its complete abandon of reason in favor of fun, and how readily audiences are willing to play along. 

My guest this week is Matthew Hintzen, senior code wrangler for the app MyRadar. He found Rocky Horror in its early days: the late 70s, when the world was just discovering how strange a midnight movie could be. At the time, he was mostly closeted, struggling to find love, and on the verge of running away from home to live on the streets. A little absolute pleasure in the form of a strange movie and stranger audience was just what he needed -- but, he eventually found, there's a dangerous down side to becoming emotion's slave.

Here's a bunch of Rocky Horror delights:

And here's Hadji from Johnny Quest. Possibly a troubling depiction, racially speaking.

We also talked about An Early Frost, which I've always found melodramatic to the point of being a little hard to take seriously.

Music:
Parisian Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

I Got a Kick out of Freaking People Out (Ep. 30 - Interview with the Vampire)

How do you balance wanting to be different and wanting to be liked? My guest this week is Levi Hastings, an illustrator who grew up feeling like an outcast in his tiny religious Idaho town. He could tell he was an outsider, and so he decided to lean into it: embracing anything dark and sinister and brooding.

It felt good to freak the world out with his talk of vampires and Marilyn Manson ... but it was also a little lonely. He knew there were other people like him out there in the world, he just wasn't sure where to find them. At least not until one eye-opening road trip to Seattle.

Music:
Parisian Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

People Wearing Masks (Ep. 29 - Hocus Pocus)

Why is Halloween so gay? I personally have never felt a strong connection to this holiday, aside from enjoying all the candy, but for many gay men it's the most important night of the year. 

This week's guest is Jamie Maurer, who you may also know as Rantasmo, host of the YouTube series Needs More Gay. He was a shy kid, given easily to social anxiety. But instead of seeking shelter from darker entertainment, he was drawn to the spooky, the unsettling, the uncomfortable. Otherworldly stories, he found, gave him the freedom to explore his discomfort with one foot in real life and one foot in fantasy. Where he could see his fears and himself in a new light.

And that might explain why Halloween appeals to so many gay men: for those of us who feel pressure to hide their true selves, it's one night of the year when we can trade one mask for another, be someone new, and scare everyone else for a change. 

Here are some of the things we talked about on this episode:

Music:
Parisian Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Trust it & Thrust it (Ep. 28 - Showgirls & Ellen)

How do you make the most of being strange? My guest Patrick Bristow found a perfect solution: stop trying to fit in and lean into your strangeness.

You've almost definitely seen Patrick countless times on TV and in movies: whenever a script calls for a strangely energetic gay or gay-ish man, there's simply no one else to call. He's been the wigmaster on Seinfeld, Larry David's dance teacher on Curb Your Enthusiasm, and the relentlessly bubbly Peter on Ellen. But you may know him best as the terrifying choreographer who swoops down on Elizabeth Berkeley in Showgirls, hollering THRUST IT into her heaving crotch.

I've watched that scene easily a dozen times. But now let's take a look at it from another angle: that of the actor crouching on the floor, bewildered by a director's command to make the lines make sense.

Here's Patrick's introduction on Ellen:

And Showgirls, of course:

And here's Puppet Up:

Music:
Parisian Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

You Don't Own Me (Ep. 27 - First Wives Club)

What's your hidden superpower? My guest Brady Ginn always thought of himself as a mild-mannered mortal. Shy, vulnerable, lousy at sports and eternally closeted. But that all started to change when he discovered that he possessed a well of power that he'd never known about before. And it's all thanks to Dianne Keaton, Bette Midler, and Goldie Hawn.

For my recommendation this week, look up the short story The Truth of Names, by James Wyatt. The story serves as a backstory for Alesha, a character from Magic the Gathering, but even if you don't play card games, the story is a marvelous piece of fantasy writing all on its own.

Alesha was born in a body and a gender that wasn't quite right. For a long time, only she knew about the secret potential hidden deep within. And it terrified her. Here was a girl capable of killing dragons, but declaring her identity -- her TRUE identity -- threw her into a panic. 

The story traces her journey through battles with monsters, with fellow warriors, and with herself. Ultimately she's able to summon her courage and follow her heart, in a scene that, even if you're not a fantasy nerd, will give you goosebumps. 

And what she finds is that following her heart blazes a path for warriors eager to follow her.

Music:
Parisian Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/