Pop Culture Fix: It’s Stephanie Beatriz’s World and We’re All Just Lucky to be Living in It

So many things happened when we were in the mountains at A-Camp and so if you missed any of the breaking pop culture glory of the past week or so please check out Natalie’s look at the billions of TV cancellations and green lights and her Sunday Funday link round-up, and Carmen’s Also.Also.Also. Here’s what else is going on in the world of gay entertainment! (If I double up on links you’ve already seen, I apologize. I’m just really excited to be back in the land of reliable wi-fi with all this fun stuff to look forward to!)

The Atlantic ran down the good and bad of SNL’s 43rd season and basically the only consistent good was Kate McKinnon.

Wow so shocking (not shocking) that the only person standing up for Jessica Walter against Jeffrey Tambor in this NYT interview with the Arrested Development cast is Alia Shawkat.

#MeToo, homophobia — nothing’s off topic for Hannah Gadsby in new Netflix comedy special.

It’s Stephanie Beatriz’s world and we’re all just living in it.

I do think that as an advocate for myself on set, I’m very direct. We had a guest star once who — I will not name names — but he came on and he was calling everyone “baby” and “honey” and “babe,” and I jokingly said to someone in the makeup trailer, “Oh, I wish he would call me babe.” Let’s see what happens. And then sure enough once we hit set, he did speak to me that way, and I said, I’d really prefer it if you called me by my name. And he was like, “All right, sweetie.” And then I stopped and said, “No. I am actually serious. I am not sweetie. My name is Stephanie, and I’d like you to call me by my actual name.” And he was a little bit of an older guy, and I don’t think he was used to anybody talking to him that way, especially not a young woman.

Netflix has announced the cast for the She-Ra reboot and my excitement is even higher than before (and I was already practically frantic!).

Natalie already told you but I’m telling you again: BATWOMAN!

Marti Noxon has two shows debuting this summer with the common theme of “women’s pain and rage.” Sophie Gilbert over at The Atlantic talked to her about them, about where they fit into the context of her career, and about why now is exactly the moment we need them the most.

Carmen recapped that sexy as all hell episode of Vida for you, and Vulture has a look behind the scenes.

This NYT interview with Janet Mock and Ryan Murphy is really, really good. I honestly cannot wait for Pose.

Speaking of which:

More Gina Rodriguez on next season’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine! (Thank you, NBC!)

Get to know Powerhouse Seattle Couple Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe (aka the interview in which Sue calls Megan “the poster child of gayness.”)

Tig Notaro’s comedy special, Happy to be Here, is now streaming on Netflix! (She’s also not here for a Louis C.K. comeback, just FYI.)

Anna Paquin’s new film is coming to the Edinburgh Film Festival.

The Fosters spin-off will be called Good Trouble.

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Heather Hogan

Heather Hogan is an Autostraddle senior editor who lives in New York City with her wife, Stacy, and their cackle of rescued pets. She's a member of the Television Critics Association, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, and a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer critic. You can also find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Heather has written 1718 articles for us.

23 Comments

  1. That entire NYT article is cringy as fuck. I’ve been hearing stories for years about what an asshole Jason Bateman is so I’m not at all surprised about his behavior here in this interview. Dude, are you seriously trying to explain the business to Jessica Walter? She’s been winning acting awards since before you were in your daddy’s sack. I’m also not shocked about UnOfficial MeToo/TimesUp spokesperson Amber Tamblyn’s trash ass husband defending him either. He’s been making excuses for Tambor since the original sexual harassment allegations dropped and is just consistently awful in general.

    The way they all(save for Alia) ganged up on Walter in that interview was astonishing. Of course, she wants to let it go now and forgive. They all basically bullied her into it. Who even thought it was a good idea to trot Tambor out for these press interviews to promote the new season AD anyway? Don’t they know this doesn’t make anybody look good? I swear the men in this industry have really been bending over backwards lately to do everything they can to give their male colleagues a million chances/excuses and claim MeToo is all a “witch hunt”. That is why the industry is never going to truly change. The ones with the most power are not about to let it.

    • I guess there’s a reason I’ve always thought Jason Bateman is so great at playing assholes in movies and TV shows. He just is one.

    • Jason Bateman Cut in front of me (and tons of other people) in line at the iPhone 4 release date. Have hated him ever since

    • I’ve had flames on the side of my face ever since reading that interview. I now feel glad that the only part I ever really watched of Arrested Development was Charlize Theron’s episodes and haven’t bothered on catching up on the rest of the show. I will continue to enjoy Jessica Walter’s role as Mallory on Archer instead:

      • Crap, I know I used the correct img tags and double-checked everything. Perhaps my mistake was using the image source and Giphy doesn’t like that? Sorry everyone, only recently started commenting in these parts despite being a loyal reader for the last couple of years, haha, so much more used to Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr, and my old life on LiveJournal. ::waves::

  2. Speaking of Alia Shawkat, this week’s episode of Queery with Cameron Esposito was with her, and they were talking about her latest film Duck Butter. I did a quick search but it doesn’t seem like autostraddle talked about. From googling and the interview the basic summary is” Two women, jaded by dishonest and broken relationships, make a pact to spend 24 uninterrupted hours together, having sex on the hour.

    Also, didn’t David Cross get in trouble for being a racist asshole? Shame that most of the cast is just defending the Tambor. Maybe I missed it, but I don’t see Portia mentioned much, which probably means she stayed out of this interview? Also, not really a fan of comparing Portia to Ivanka. I wonder how Ellen feels about the comparison.

    • Portia wasn’t there. She announced last week that she’s retiring from acting. Just in time to skip the AD press I guess. I don’t blame her.

      As for Duck Butter, it’s gotten mixed reviews from critics but I liked it. There is quite a bit of sex in it but it never comes off as gratuitous to me. Each sex scene is very short and is fairly realistic. Much of the film is really just about the clashing personalities of these two women that takes place over a day. And having seen it, I totally get why Alia says the movie wouldn’t have worked with a man as the other lead. My only real complaint about the film is that I felt it ends abruptly.

      • Hmmm I’ll have to take a look. Yeah Alia said the same thing on the podcast about how it wouldn’t have worked out with a man as the lead. I didn’t realize Portia decided to retire. It be interesting if she would come back if they do a season 6, and if she will do late night shows.

  3. Honestly the Arrested Development article broke my heart. What was Bateman thinking?

    • Exactly. ? Broke my heart is just the wording I was looking for. The comparison to a “family thanksgiving dinner” at the beginning of the article was so apt— reading that interview felt like the slow creeping dread of sitting around a family dinner and realizing fully that your relatives are bullies, problematic AF, and moreover that it’s not a safe place for you to be anymore.

  4. “Not to belittle your experience, but” is the new “I’m not homophobic, but”. What an awful interview.

    I don’t know if you guys already mentioned it, but the latest episode of Popcast (a NYT podcast about music) is an interesting conversation about Rita Ora’s Girls. Two of the guests are queer musicians, Shura and Torres, and they talk a little about the discussions that the song generated. Here’s the link https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/18/arts/music/popcast-girls-rita-ora-gay-songs.html

  5. that NYT article… yikes. just give jessica walter and alia shawkat a show together and be done with it at

  6. Tig Notaro’s new special is a delight, I highly recommend it!

    The last 15 minutes had me in stitches :D

  7. Can’t wait to see Nanette when it comes out on Netflix. Hannah Gadsby is brilliant.

    • I just watched it and am legit in need of someone to talk to about it HOLYHELL!! She is so good

  8. Holy hell, Jason Bateman was insufferable in that interview.

    I’m pretty sure Jessica Walter wouldn’t have been brought to tears had kept his mouth shut.

    How was he able to say such asinine things with his lips attached to Tambors ass like some sorta anglerfish?

  10. Also, also, also…does anybody else think that Westworld’s Officer Maling (Betty Gabriel) is most concerned with finding…SPOILER ALERT…
    ……
    ……
    ……
    ……
    ……
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    her missing girlfriend Elsie?

  11. I’ve been dreading that Arrested Development cast interview, and I finally brought myself to read it just now and Omfg it is brutal. Such a crystal clear example of mansplaining & male privilege– not to mention it distilled all the little nagging feelings that have accumulated for me as an AD fan over the years, like “huh Jason Bateman seems like he might be kind of an asshole in real life…” And “Wow David Cross is wild racist…”. It brought up for me all the ways I tried to explain away these nagging feelings; as an ardent fan of the show for 10+ yrs, I didn’t want to believe that the cast and its creators could be so cruel and dismissive. (Yet, the proof is in the pudding when I look back at the subject matter in some of the episodes. The whole Rita storyline, Jesus!) Anyways, Jessica Walters and Alia Shawkat are my sheroes!

  12. I’m willing to accept Jason Bateman’s apology in this instance. It was pretty direct and actually addressed his transgression (instead of being a generic “if anyone was offended…” or whatever). It was really painfully brutal to read the interview, though. Ugh.

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