A Moment with 'Baby Reindeer's Nava Mau; Lucy Porter on 'The Green Room', The 'Inside Out 2' and 'Black Barbie' Of It All
Issue No. 17: When two people from Texas meet each other... it's a moment.
Bonding with ‘Baby Reindeer’ Star and Fellow Texan Nava Mau
During Sex and the City‘s sixth season, Samantha is trying to launch Smith’s career as an actor and she says, “First come the gays, then the girls, then the industry” as he questions her publicity practices.
She couldn’t be more right… at least with the “gay” part.
As soon as Richard Gadd‘s Baby Reindeer dropped on Netflix, people immediately flocked to it like moths to a flame. Like all culturally relevant information, I received word about Baby Reindeer through the vast, sophisticated queer word-of-mouth communication system (aka Instagram). I watched and everyone was right: this show is wild and it reminded me of the 30 Rock episode where Jenna was obsessed with her stalker… but a lot darker.
Based on Gadd's award-winning Edinburgh Fringe one-man play, the dark comedy spotlights struggling comedian Donny (Gadd) as he becomes tangled in a relationship with his female stalker Martha (Jessica Gunning) as trauma returns to the forefront of his life. Martha and Donny develop a deeply complex and almost co-dependent relationship as he tries to move on with his life and girlfriend Teri, played by Nava Mau, one of the many breakout talents that come from the critically acclaimed series.
I had the opportunity to sit next to her and her wonderful entourage of friends at the Critics Choice LGBTQ+ celebration. And when I find out someone is from the problematic Republic of Texas, my ears perk up. Even though Texas is filled with racism, bigotry, transphobia, misogyny, homophobia, etc., there is a unique sense of pride when you have spent the majority of your life in the Lone Star State. So when Mau told me she was from San Antonio, I squealed and she immediately knew what I was gonna ask next: "What high school did you go to?"
Click here to find out which Texas high school Mau attended.I know you’re dying to know!
‘Inside Out 2’: Did Riley Ever Make Up With Meg?
Mild Inside Out 2 spoilers ahead.
First off, Inside Out 2 is so queer. I mean, did you see that hockey team? I mean the movie is giving rainbow alphabet.
That aside, let’s talk about one character I miss: Meg. She was Riley’s (Kaitlyn Dias in Inside Out 2; Kensington Tallman in Inside Out 2) red-haired BFF (voiced by Paris Van Dyke) in Minnesota. She seemed like a fun, spunky gal… then this happened:
It made me wonder: did Riley end her friendship with Meg right then and there? We never hear from her again.
Did they keep in touch after that or did Riley never reconcile this friendship therefore teaching us another harsh truth about life?
I love Riley’s new friends Bree (Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green) and Grace (Grace Lu). As a trio, they are definitely giving DEI stock photo and are so cute. However, there is a point in the sequel where she does them real dirty. They end up reconciling, but are we seeing a pattern here?
I’ll give Riley the benefit of the doubt — but if she does something similar in Inside Out 3 (if there is one), I’m not going to be happy. Until then, #JusticeForMeg.
DIASPORA Watch List: Lagueria Davis’s Docu Black Barbie
After the pink avalanche that was Barbie and its relentless awards season campaign, some of us wanted more, others wanted something different.
Enter Black Barbie, a feature documentary from Lagueria Davis, whose aunt, Beulah Mae Mitchell, actually worked with Ruth Handler, the creator of Barbie. They were not only colleagues but good friends — and Beulah is in the docu!
Black Barbie tells an the story of three Black women at Mattel had on the evolution of the Barbie brand as we know. It shows how the first Black Barbie came to be in 1980 and navigates the cultural impact it had and how it was the a benchmark when it came to the importance of representation. The film drops on Netflix on June 19 (aka Juneteenth).
Davis and and producer Aaliyah Williams were guests on my now-archived podcast Problematic Fave after the documentary premiered at SXSW and was on its festival run.We talked about watching Greta Gerwig's Barbie — and there were many thoughts. Listen to the full ep below.