Freche Mädchen 2 

Netflix recently added Pose by Ryan Murphy to their streaming and I watched the whole first season for the first time last week. While we can all recognize that Ryan Murphy has made a lot of not-so-great work, he certainly got it right with Pose. Netflix recently made a $300 million deal with Murphy to house his work and after Glee, The Prom, and some questionable themes in Scream Queens and The Politician, Pose has solidified Ryan Murphy’s place as King of Queer Representation in Television in my head. Since 2009 with the premiere of Glee, Murphy has been committed diligently to representing queer people in his work. Many of these shows/ movies have shaped the way a mainstream culture views queer people and for the first time, Pose represents the BIPOC Transgender community and Ball culture through the late 80s and the AIDS epidemic in NYC. Documentaries such as Paris is Burning had previously shared insight into this community and Pose builds on this to give us complex and beautiful queer characters in the form of a heartfelt TV show.

While the AIDS epidemic is central to this show, the characters live their lives in an effort to leave their mark before they are taken by the deadly virus that targeted the queer community. This show will bring you through the full range of emotions of this period from severe grief and loss to absolute queer joy and the love of found families. There is no lack of celebration through this show regardless of the tragedies that occurred in the devastation of AIDS. Pose shines a light on one of the darkest times for queer people and outlines how community and love can be stronger than hate.