The coming out process always involves a little bit of historical re-contextualizing — your emotional attachments to your female best friends or your unexamined aversion to the way men smell in the morning suddenly take on new meaning when looking backwards through brand-new homo-tinted glasses. Your pop-cultural loves are no exception.
Today we look at some of the early-to-mid ’90s films that defined the youths of young queers born in the ’80s. These aren’t gay films, because well, there really weren’t many gay films back then (not like there really are now either though), but films with undertones or secret stories that queers heard loud & clear whether the mainstream knew it or not.
If you like this list, you’ll also like our list of Badass Girl Team movies, which celebrates flicks about girl gangs, girl sports teams, and otherwise group-related girl activities.
Regardless of when you grew up, what were the films that define your queer retrospective? And why do so many of ours star Whoopi Goldberg?
+
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
This story is multi-generational, jumping around from the past to present day. We love us some Jessica Tandy and Kathy Bates (her quip about car insurance in this one is classic), but let’s be honest, Mary Louise Parker and Mary Stuart Masterson are the real meat of this movie. Their characters meet when they are super young and obvs fall in love. Idgie is a classic dyke, but Ruth tries out the straight thing for a while. Of course, her marriage fails miserably, and the two women end up reuniting. Collective awwwws all around, especially for Idgie’s adorable over-protectiveness and devotion.
This is one of those “coded” movies that passes as hetero to all of those unenlightened viewers. But to those of us who were looking for a bit more under the surface, the relationship between Ruth and Idgie will give you everything you need. At least, for a fairly PG movie. And of course, if you’ve read the book by Fannie Flagg, it’s abundantly clear that these two women were actually in love. Rumor has it that the actresses wanted to make things a lot more explicit, but Hollywood just wasn’t ready. It also provides a handy straight/gay test: just ask a girl her thoughts on this movie for some extra clues on her orientation.
+
A League of Their Own (1992)
A League of Their Own is the gayest not-gay movie of all time. Rosie O’Donnell and Madonna play best friends, and the rest of them are farm girls who don’t fit in and just want to play baseball. I mean, COME ON. I know they all go out to a bar and dance with dudes, and yeah Madonna is boy crazy. But remember, this was in the 1940s. What else is a girl to do?
Gay or not, we love the story of women stepping up to the plate (see what I did there?) and taking over such a traditionally masculine arena.
+
Little Women (1994)
Jo March, played by ’90s heroine Winona Ryder, is The Tomboy Archetype. With an emphasis on the bonds between sisters and the women-without-men wartime household, this film warmed the cockles of many queer hearts.
+
Girls Town (1996)
Though largely ignored by mainstream audiences (who can only handle so much girl power), this indie cult film quietly caught on amongst teenage girls and indie film circuits for its stark and female-focused portrayal of urban American life. A tight group of female friends is torn up when their best friend commits suicide, which they later discover was prompted by a rape she never told them about. Basically it’s about how girls bond with other girls to protect themselves from the slings & arrows of the men and the families that neglect them. Also, there is a lot of flannel, sports jerseys, and serious overall action.
The soundtrack gets bonus points for featuring queer faves like PJ Harvey, Salt-n-Pepa & Queen Latifah.
+
Now and Then (1995)
I remember this movie sold out when we went to see it in the theater, which was devastating, so we all had to buy tickets for some other crap and sneak in, where we sat in the back in the unoccupied wheelchair area in a girl-packed room.
The film centers on four grown women who’ve spent all their life trying to recapture the youthful energy they felt at the age of 12 in the summer of 1970 “when everything started to change,” like right before there was puberty and dating and boys and all those other things, let alone marriage & babies & other hetero trappings. The four girls, played by iconic ’90s girl actresses Christina Ricci, Thora Birch, and Gaby Hoffman, along with Ashleigh Aston Moore (Moore stopped acting in 1997, and tragically died at the age of 26 in 2007 from pneumonia and bronchitis), fought boys who talked shit, played boys’ games and weren’t afraid to get scrappy.
Extra gay points for Rosie O’Donnell as the grown-up Christina Ricci character, Roberta, who was originally supposed to be a lesbian although that storyline was edited out by producers wary of controversy. Demi Moore was dashing in her menswear and her daughter Rumer, who now plays gay on 90210, appeared as Demi’s daughter in Now and Then. ALSO, our dear Haviland Stillwell was an extra/stand-in.
+
How to Make an American Quilt (1995)
Want the weird girls to see your normal-looking movie? Cast Winona Ryder. While How To Make An American Quilt is essentially about a young woman, Finn (Ryder), who’s about to marry this dude (Dermot Mulroney), it’s also about a how group of women learned to navigate the world while still maintaining a close, if sometimes rocky, friendship with one another. Lesbians love that stuff.
The character of Finn is kind of brooding, confused and agitated. She sulks around in over-sized t-shirts and messy hair. She has feelings. She writes! She’s like us, but straighter. Anne Bancroft is quietly badassy, as per ushe, and Maya Angelou is calming and perfect, probably just like IRL.
+
NEXT:
Five more generation-defining flicks of the early-to-mid ’90s!
Pages: 1 2
107 responses to “Top Ten ’90s Movies Beloved by Girls Who Turned Out Gay”
I love this. Honorary mention? (cause it was made in the 80s, right?) Some Kind of Wonderful!
and also b/c it featured Mary Stuart Masterson again!! golly i do love her. so i second your emotion
**note: I totally sang that last sentence and i am IN starbucks.
YES! Awesome and TRUE.
This entire list is WIN (and my entire childhood). Do ya’ll remember that movie “Just One of the Guys” ??
I just watched that again last week!
Me and my girl just saw Fried Green Tomatoes for the first time just a few weeks ago. It was amazing!!! I cried for like the last half hour of it though haha. I was listing the classic 90s movies she needs to see and half of them were on your list
loooove Now and Then and Practical Magic!!
NOW AND THEN. A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN. I sense a pattern….rosie o’donnell is awesome, basically.
oh my god NOW AND THEN i love that movie.
What, no one mentions Thelma & Louise? And who didn’t crush on Uma Thurman in Henry & June?
So unbelievably spot-on.
i had a lot of feelings about practical magic and always thought i was the only one for real. a lot of the feelings involved wanting sandra and nicole to make out. which i mean they’re supposed to be sisters, so.
You are DEF not the only one with such feelings. It’s one of the movies I watch when I’m really stressed out. It makes me want to buy a big white house in New England and grow a lot of herbs.
NOW AND FUCKING THEN. holy shit, i feel ridiculously validated to hear that Roberta was supposed to be gay… like, she binds her boobs for chrissake. But I’m also disappointed, now, to hear that they didn’t follow through on that.
Anyway, this is kinda gay but when I was little and my dad would be traveling for work on the weekends, my mom, and my sisters, and I would have a “girls’ night” and watch Now and Then, Girls Just wanna Have Fun (which I recommenddd), or Little Women EVERY TIME. I saw each of those probably twenty times before I even turned 10. So good work, all these movies are bomb.
Girls’ night sounds so fun!
Helen Hunt in Girls Just Want to Have Fun was my fucking idol in high school (and this was in the mid-90s). I even replicated those dinosaur hair clips she wore.
This list is ridiculously accurate. I was a big fan of Tank Girl as well. Because umm…Jet.
uh yes. totally. BAM BAM BAM!
This!
Totally. Even with the kangaroo’s trying to get in her pants. If that wasn’t queer… I don’t know what is.
Plus… Lori Petty is awesome!
Tank Girl is my number one fashion icon
Yeah! Tank Girl! I watch that movie at least once a year. I heart Lori Petty and Naomi Watts in it! Plus, they kiss!
Tank Girl and All Over Me were my coming out movies!
I heart’d Leisha Hailey way before the L Word.
(I miss her pink hair)
YES sister act 2. i don’t even remember sister act 1 that well, but i can sing every fucking word to joyful joyful INCLUDING the rap.
-
i also seriously loved Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion. that has alan cumming in it too, so super gay.
I still have my Sister Act 2 soundtrack- It’s a cassette. I’m actually surprised it’s not worn out…
I also purchased the Sister Act 2 soundtrack on cassette. Seriously though Whoopi Goldberg was my favorite actress. idk.
Ahah, I watched The Craft just the other day… This is such a great list! Shoot, looks like I have some netflix-ing to do.
P.S. I’d like to give a shout-out to Spice World and But I’m a Cheerleader.
Yes! Spice World! Internet high-five for you ma’am.
damn you Miley, what did you do with my rabbit?
Just gave my gf the quiz. She LOVED 7 out of 10. Check.
I have seen 8 of these and I own 7 of them (Little Women on VHS!) I watched Foxfire, The Craft, Now & Then, and Sister Act 2 almost exclusively for years. No wonder everyone else knew I was queer before I did. I just thought they were good, fun movies…
“Seriously did anyone besides the homos love the sequel, maybe not. We loved the sequel.” What is this maybe not? Of COURSE everyone loved the sequel. You could probably use it as a test. “Did you love ‘Sister Act 2′? No? You’re probably a robot.”
hm, i remembered it not doing that well, but i guess it actually did. it made like 60 million, whereas the original made 130 million. It also got like really bad reviews. But maybe everyone did love it. i LOVED IT
ok, maybe this is too late to count, but what about Harriet the Spy (1996)? I was nine, so I feel like that’s young enough to count as a kid.
YES.
I totally loved Harriet the Spy when I was a kid, but I was watching it again recently, and I couldn’t believe how MEAN Harriet was! “If I was the kid with purple socks, I would just kill myself?” Really Papi?
Hands down totally gonna mention Harriet the Spy. Also, Rosie O’Donnell is the nanny and Harriet expresses no romantic interest in any of the male characters, which is how movies about 10 year olds should be.
Plus, when I was 10, I read that book religiously and wore out my VHS tape, had all of the spy equipment, my journal was stolen by a classmate who read it out loud during school, and I turned out to be a huge homo so obvs Harriet is too.
Harriet the Spy is such a good call
i think we need a seperate list for these — i was thinking we could do one with like harriet the spy, matilda, polly, babysitter’s club, whale rider and shit like that with little girl heroines changing the world, being intrepid etc.
WHALE RIDER. I was obsessed.
i loved whale rider more than anyone else in my christian awareness class. i should have known i was gay.
wait i think whale rider is one of the movies that i have seen in in its entirety. is that the one with the native american girl who rides a killer whale?
She’s Maori, It’s a New Zealand film.
Ohhhh. So this is why I loved Sister Act so much. It all makes sense know.
My other “I inexplicably loved this film when I was growing up but it’s clearly because I was gay and didn’t know it” movie is Bend It Like Beckham. I IMDB’d it and it came out in 2002. So it’s close to the 90′s. And it was super gay, but not, because she gets with the Irish guy instead of Keira Knightley.
Parminder’s character was originally supposed to get with Kiera’s character, and not the Irish guy, but that got changed to be more ‘mainstream.’ And that’s why Kiera’s ‘there’s nothing wrong with being gay’ reaction to her mom seemed so heavy-handed.
Ahhhh. That explains a lot. So I didn’t make up the gay vibes then. Haha.
I LOVE Bend It Like Beckham.
Several of these films really enthralled me. I think I’ve always been fascinated with films about bonding. It always bothered me how quick friendships could fall apart too. The Craft is a good example of that.
I loved A League of Their Own, but I think Top Gun might be the gayest nongay film of all-time.
I grew up in a hick town, I know farm girl softball players too, I really got a kick out of those characters.
OMG NOW AND THEN. I think Roberta was my first real girl-crush.
ENTIRE LIST. SO TRUE. MIND BLOWN.
i nominate you for a comment award this week*! you captured collective voice of this thread -> it is the way that we live(d)
*note i do not belong to the official comment committee so my nomination has no value
Thanks so much! I appreciate it.
And because you said “it is the way that we live(d)” all I can do is type the following (while singing obnoxiously):
AND LOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVEEEEEE!
“A League Of Their Own” was my favorite movie growing up. I always cry every time I see the scene where when they are older they sing the song the lady with the uke wrote. Gets me every time.
me too!! like you’d think after the first or 2nd time you’d be immune to or whatever haha
I literally just watched Sister Act 2 yesterday. I mean come on. Lauren Hill. Dame Maggie Smith. Whoopi Goldberg. Baby Jennifer Love Hewitt. Alanna Ubach(Who I forget about all the time and later hate myself for it because…seriously…have you seen her?!) LOVED IT. Will forever love Sister Act 2. There. I’m done.
Honestly, I had to google Alanna Ubach. I am probably the only person who would think of the Brady Bunch Movie upon seeing her picture. But alas, I am a dork that kinda loved that movie. They even sang in Sears. Anyhow, that was a gay movie too, and she had the hots for Marcia. And it wasn’t subtle for anyone… except the Brady’s.
yes her character in The Brady Bunch Movie made me afraid to be gay, cuz i thought gays were weird and gross girls who just hung on to pretty girls because they had all these latent sexual desires towards them!
I felt the same way, but it was slightly mitigated by the fact that I’d had a crush on her since she was in some weird Saturday morning science show with a fat guy in a rat suit. …This list/comment thread is seriously making me realize exactly how gay I was even before I’d really taken the time to analyze myself. So…thanks?
*GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP*
fat guy in a rat suit…BEAKMAN’S WORLD?!?!?!?!?!
I FUCKING LOVED THAT SHOW AS A KID. Waaaaay better than bill nye the science guy, cause it was fucked up and weird JUST LIKE SCIENCE CAN BE
also this whole list is making me have a nostalgigasm. tonight ima rewatch the craft and romy and michelle and tank girl. THANKS AUTOSTRADDLE
Yes! Thank you! I forgot the name and wondered for a sec if I’d dreamed that show.
Jax or Jazz was her name, right?! ‘You Can with Beakman (and Jazz)’? I totes watched that and recognized her in SA2 right away
Fun Fact: Jennifer Elise Cox who played Jan in the Brady Bunch movies is out. [edit: I know I saw this in an interview somewhere. Need to dig to confirm]
shut up jess. SHUT UP. she’s like my favorite. between the Brady movies, Will and Grace, and Lovespring International, i am such a huge fan of hers. ahh!!
WHATTTTTTTT
JESS GET AN INTERVIEW RIGHT NOW DO IT
Seriously DO. I googled about trying to find one and maybe it’s the epic hangover clouding my internet abilities but I couldn’t find any mention of it and I selfishly want her to share all of her feelings with the rest of us homos.
Awesome
Can you do a 2000′s one too?
Wow. I was born in ’89 so I should really be too young for this but…League of Their Own: I played softball for 15 years. I worshipped this movie. Now and Then: Inspired many a seance over a Ouiji board back in the day and has made me sing “Knock 3 Times on The Ceiling” whenever I ride a bike in summer. Little Women: My sisters and I watch this every Christmas Day and quote it daily. “I am so degraditated. I can hardly hold my head up. I owe at least a dozen limes!”
This is way too accurate for me. Curiously, my sisters had the same favs growing up and they’re straighties. Effects of a female dominated household?
I feel a movie fest coming on. Because omg this is the most accurate and amazing list ever. And while I love almost every one of these movies, it has been a long time since I’ve watched them.
I agree with the above mention of Thelma and Louise. And also how about Beaches? It wasn’t very gay but was another one of those strong bonds from a young age movies like Fried Green Tomatoes. And also: Bette Midler. <3
Mmmm, yeah, this list pretty much rules. Also, even though it’s in the wrong decade by about 2 years, I wanna say Josie and the Pussycats. Maybe that was just me and my teenage feelings for RLC though though. I dunno. Anyway, I’m off to watch Practical Magic and Now and Then ’cause they’re all that I currently own.
I feel deprived because I was born in ’82 and have only seen two of these movies… XD
Of course, the two I DID see were with my mom when Dad and my bro were out hunting or fishing or whatever. I swear my mom wishes she were gay/is actually bisexual possibly.
I’d like to throw out there Empire Records… this one might be a bit tenuous (or bi instead of lesbian), but the teen angst angle was always particularly apt for me and I always thought that chick who shaved her head at the beginning was probably queer.
Also, I’d love to see a list like this with YA books, and not necessarily the obvious ones like Annie on my Mind – just the other day I was thinking that my deep and abiding love for Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonsong and Dragonsinger had to do with my budding queerness (and that Menolly should have totally hooked up with Mirrim and not Sebel and possibly the third book should have never happened, but that’s another story).
That’s weird, I always thought she should hook up with the older Masterharper guy because I’m sure there was total frisson going on there at some point.
Also an ’82-er, and I am alarmed by how few of these films I have seen, but it doesn’t matter because League of Their Own is in there and that’s all I need!
Yeah, there was a lot of that going on too. I think in one of the later books, Sebel thinks to himself that he’s only her third love, after music and the Masterharper… ^_^;
God I will always heart Empire Records.
Well “Sinead O’Rebellion.” Shock me shock me shock me with that deviant behavior!
i love this list, and i love that i was in 2 of them. nice ladies, nice!
Awesome. I’m going to watch them and play a game of Where’s Haviland?
I’ve only seen two of these movies (League of Their Own and Sister Act 2), but they’re two of my favorites, so yeah…
And I know the movie was in 2001, but Josie and the Pussycats.
I completely forgot about Now and Then. I should watch that again. I never saw Practical Magic or The Craft. Clearly, I missed out on the queer/witch connection.
Oh my good gay! i’ve just realised maybe i’m not *whisper* a homosexual… I don’t remember watching any of these.
but if we’re going to talk about it, sneaking downstairs to watch girlfight [2000] on late night tv cos i liked ‘sports’ movies may have indicated something…
[...] Top Ten ’90s Movies Beloved By Girls Who Turned Out Gay [...]
Mmm, nostalgia. Is it just my degrading memory and advancing age, or were the ’90s magical?
I would add these two on my faves list:
Hackers – Ok, so there’s like only one girl in it, but it’s Ms Jolie with a pixie cut AND she’s a badass hacker. And the movie’s nerdy/bad/awesome.
And I loved the ring she wears.
No kidding, I said aloud on many occassions, in public, “Oh my god! I desperately need Angelina Jolie’s finger-ring!”
Yeah. Well, hindsight and all of that…
Clueless – Oh my god! I love Cher!…And now I don’t know how to act around her…
HACKERS.
What does it mean that half of these are on my mom’s favorite movies list? I miss the 90′s.
I’ve only seen one of these movies. I spent most of the 90s playing computer games and hiding from the big bad scary girl gangs in town. My high school was kind of tough.
I love Fried Green Tomatoes SO MUCH. I recently set out to trace my earliest homo celeb crush and while in all honesty it was probably the Pink Ranger, Mary-Louise Parker and Elizabeth Mitchell tied for strongest denied affection.
If you haven’t read the book yet, DO! It’s a fun read. Also, watch the director’s commentary if you ever get a chance. It’s hilarious (mostly because the director whines so many times about various things you’d think they filmed in a war zone) and the director says he thinks of the food fight as their sex scene.
1. The Pink Ranger. Yes yes yes.
2. That food fight scene is SO AWESOME.
A League of Their Own!!!! I played softball for like 15 years and was hardcore into that movie. I even listened to “This Used to Be My Playground” on repeat for like, weeks on end.
Yeah, this is one of the films that cemented my gayness. And my love of third base.
This list is scary accurate and I’m not even a lesbian. Foxfire!! Jenny Lewis <3
great list! the only thing missing is Tank Girl (I believe thelma and louise was made in the 80′s)
MERMAIDS. MERMAIDS MERMAIDS MERMAIDS MERMAIDS.
THE FIVE BEST THINGS ABOUT MERMAIDS:
1. CHER
2. CHER
3. CHER
4. TEEN WINONA RYDER DRESSED LIKE A CATHOLIC SCHOOL GIRL FOR NINETY MINUTES
5. BABY CHRISTINA RICCI
GUYS, MERMAIDS.
MERMAIDSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
<3 YOU AND I ARE ONE, CLEARLY
appetizers!
OMG YES MERMAIDS
100% yes to this list! Mary Louise Parker, OMG. And Practical Magic- best thing ever. Strangely, though, the thing I liked best about that movie originally was that Stockard Channing was one of the aunts. I loved her because she read the audiobook versions of all of Beverly Cleary’s Ramona books (Which is another quasi-gay piece of 80′s/90′s pop culture I think. I mean, tell me Ramona doesn’t grow up to be gay…)
Strange and geeky connection for my little brain to make at that time- that I loved the Ramona stories, especially when told by Stockard Channing’s voice, and therefore I loved Stockard Channing and anything she did.
RAMONA QUIMBY! oh shit.
Hi,
You may also see Top henchwomen in films that will do whatever it takes to get the job done. Know more about these womens in this website http://www.dailytop10.net/top-10-hench-woman/
Thank you.
Poison Ivy!
Messed up, but I remember being reeaally into the Drew and Sara action
Tank Girl
i think i was just converted. gay-verted? convinced? gay-vinced? whatevs, relating so much to little christina ricci taping down her tits in now and then should have been an automatic red flag to my little self.
Uh…need to add the movie All Over Me.
Reason numero uno that Leisha Hailey is number one on the fantasy list. I wore out the VHS of this film when I was in college.
Totally agree with the rest of the list. Is it just me or did Rosie not look very happy in the movie Now and Then. Looked depressed.
I totally agree with All Over Me!
The first time I watched it I knew I was gay. I thought I couldn’t be because I’m so girly but then I saw Leisha with her pink hair making out with Alison Folland (she was in To Die For w/ Nicole Kidman!) and that was it! Wow! I love that movie.
And whoever said Top Gun was the gayest/non gay movie of all time…get out! (Elaine voice from Seinfeld).
Had this discussion today at work (yes, these are the convos that occur in surgery)…
How gay is it that they had a montage of sweaty men, playing beach volleyball…to the song Playing With the Boys??? I actually recall some posing/muscle flexing going on
This list is so true it’s a bit creepy. In fact I own every movie except Sister Act 2 (including Tank Girl, Hackers, Empire Records, Bend it Like Beckham, & Romy and Michelle) and most are on vhs; which I still watch. But what does this say about my “straight” best friend in h.s. who watched these movies over and over again with me every night??? Oh wait… we slept together for 5 years; maybe the movies made her gay
I know this movie came out recently.. But, seriously… Whit It! Freaking amazing. I loved it. I wanna own it and add it to my collection of awesomeness in movies. XD
I gotta see Foxfire.. *Wanders off to Netflix.* My parents are gonna hate me for a while. XD “Where are the other movies WE want to see?” “Uhhh lemme get my fix first.” “Damn you child.”
Yay for hippie parents.
I must really be gay because I’ve seen all of these movies and I love them!
I’d like to add G.I. Jane to this list because Demi Moore was hot with her shaved head!
omg hahahhahaha this explains EVERYTHING!
and woah, I need to see Foxfire now…
THE CRAFT! Amazing…it’s in my top 5. And yes, I did go out and buy a spell book after I watched it! I’ve seen all of these movies except for Fried Green Tomatoes. What an awesome list.
<3 now & then and a league of their own. i still have them on vhs
Practical Magic is one of the best movies ever made I DON’T EVEN CARE WHAT YOU SAY
And yes, this homo loved the Sister Act sequel. I still know all the words to the final number. You down with G-O-D? Hey you know me. Who down with G-O-D? EVERYBODY! (I think it is testament to this film that it made me love a gospel number.)
Hey hey hey, this list is pretty gay.
New rule I had not heard of apparently. Women can not be friends without being gay for each other. NOT EVER. NOT ANYMORE.
Alright, well I was just passing by, trying to help a goon with a movie search. As there are no chainsaw/breast obsession shenanigans here, I’ll just let myself out the back way. BYE!!