Perhaps you, like me, are always quietly mourning the devastatingly short-lived campy little lesbian vampire show First Kill. So perhaps you, like, me, will be delighted to know that First Kill star Imani Lewis will be playing queer again (for actually her THIRD time, as she also played gay in the show Star) alongside Doc McStuffins herself, Laya DeLeon Hayes. This duo will be starring in a queer coming-of-age film about the world of Black cotillion culture in Maryland called Pure, brought to us by queer writer and director Natalie Jasmine Harris and based on her short film of the same name. Pure will take us into the largely unexplored (by Hollywood) world of suburban Black cotillion culture, where a teen poet gets thrust into this elite suburban tradition all while being in a new town and grappling with her queer identity. She has two comings-out to reckon with, if you will.
I’m intrigued by this because, based on the short, it seems to be set in modern times, with cell phones and everything, and yet cotillion is such an old tradition – and it does seem there may be some Christian undertones, if not overtones – so it will be interesting to see how Gen Z’s generally more open and positive attitude toward being queer will clash or meld with this traditionally heteronormative custom. And how any and all of it overlaps, intersects, and is informed by the characters’ race and culture(s).
The film is co-written by Yoko Kohmoto, executive produced by Britney Ngaw and Avril Speaks, and was picked up by HBO Max, where you can watch the original short film right now if your heart so desires.
Twirl into More News
+ Kate Moennig and Lesiha Hailey to star in and produce a TV version of their book So Gay For You: Friendship, Found Family, and the Show That Started it All, being developed by Charlie Covell
+ The latest season of American Horror Story is reportedly a continuation of AHS: Coven, the second best season in my personal opinion, which is unfortunate because I managed to escape the grip of this series somewhere between the clown season(s) and Will Schuster in short shorts and I swore I’d never go back…
+ Trixie Mattel has said no to the Traitors four times…but did say yes to the Traitors parody on Lisa Kudrow’s The Comeback
+ The Malcom in the Middle revival has returned with a non-binary character named Kelly, played by non-binary actor Vaughan Murrae
+ Vivian Wilson and some fellow dolls make an appearance in Katseye’s “Pinky Up” video
+ Queer actor Cora Lu Tran talks bringing nonbinary representation to network TV via Will Trent (and working with their canine costar)
+ When Melissa Etheridge’s son was 11, he “came out” to her as straight
+ Aubrey Plaza and her partner Chris Abbott are expecting their first child
+ K-drama Climax teases upcoming steamy lesbian scene
+ Queer webseries The Comic Shop follows a Black lesbian struggling to keep her comic shop afloat
