Captain January (1924)

Greta Garbo, a queer actress playing a real-life queer Queen is the best of both worlds.

Even with its straightforward premise, “Richard Jewell” is ramped up by exceptional drama. In all honesty, the performances are out of this world. As Jewell, Paul Walter Hauser becomes a walking representation of gullibility. His bumbling antics create the perfect hero, and very quickly, we feel the societal heat that surrounds our protagonists.

Although Christmas is a time of year for love and cheer for all, holiday cinema has not always represented diverse communities. Being a holiday with Christian origins, much of its media consists of straight white families or straight white romances. Luckily, modern years have been bringing with them plenty of POC and LGBTQ+ representation that the holidays so desperately need.

In Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It (1986), we follow the love life of powerful female protagonist Nola Darling (Tracy Camilla Johns) and explore the relationship dynamics she has with her partners. She sees three men simultaneously: Greer Childs, (John Canada Terrell) Mars Blackmon (Spike Lee), and Jamie Overstreet (Tommy Redmond Hicks). Though an 80’s film, She’s Gotta Have It is surprisingly progressive with its themes of female sexuality, although at some points in the film it is handled clumsily. Overall Nola is an incredibly compelling character especially for modern women, as we as a society acknowledge female sensuality more and more without the negative stigma.

As I typed this, Chris Evans was being “cancelled” on Twitter. I did a little research on this since I always thought Chris Evans was well-received. It turns out the backlash is because of a white savior movie he made called Red Sea Diving Resort.