Hi! Here's my last list of what I've been watching this year and I'm pretty happy with this month's list. It's quite varied in terms of content and it's not full of super heavy things nor is it full of YouTube channels. lol It's been a full year since I started WIBW, and I think I'm going to keep it going. Let's get started!
Carol Burnett 50th Anniversary Special
In case the story or main person involved are new to you, I'll give you a brief (for me lol) rundown: Kate Del Castillo is a Mexican film and tv actress; she has a very long and varied resume of different films and novelas she's been in and in Mexican media, she's big shit. I fully agree. lol If you've seen Queen of the South, it is based off of the novela Reina del Sur, which starred Kate Del Castillo as La Reina. I dabble in Spanglish at best so obviously when I watch her I'm all over the English subtitles but who gives a shit. I love her. lol Anyway, this series covers the mediastorm, both American and Mexican, of Kate Del Castillo and Sean Penn being able to meet with El Chapo while he was still on the run and the frenzy that followed. Kate herself as well as her family, friends, and various figures of both American and Mexican press walk the viewer through how everything went down and what it meant to different people, and I've been enjoying it. The word on the street is that Sean Penn and his team attempted to stop this film from being released on Netflix due to safety concerns, but Netflix went ahead with it anyway. I knew about the story but didn't know how everything originated, so the documentary was able to answer that for me.
I believe I featured season 1 of Easy in an earlier WIBW list, but season 2 came out earlier this month so I wanted to come back with an update. I felt like Season 1 was more about sexuality and building openness and intimacy in relationships, and the second season seems a bit more about life struggles, some of which just happen to include sexuality. The risque sexual bits seem to take a backseat in many of the episodes in lieu of different things, like ticking biological clocks, double standards in feminism and confronting old wounds. The same openness towards sexual situations is still there, but it's not as prominent as it was last season. Easy seems to have found its stride this season and the energy while letting these episodes unfold seems a bit more relaxed. I love the diversity, inclusivity of different elements (interracial relationships, main characters who don't fit the traditional physical mold, performance art with women of all sizes, queer relationships that aren't immediately defined as such, having dolls of color in a White household, etc) without needing to make any of them plot drivers, and the rollercoaster of acceptance that needs to happen at some level in each episode. It was nice to see returning characters sprinkled into storylines with new ones, allowing us to see them both in their own stories and how they connect to the others. I especially love that creatives, "off-brand" individuals, seem to have their place among those who have traditional jobs. The show accomplishes the increasingly difficult goal of saying something without actually having to say it. I appreciate that a lot.
For someone as bitter and cynical as I am, I love my wedding programs. lol I wouldn't go as far as to say I'm anti-wedding or anti-marriage. I love weddings and I love watching my happily married friends carry on with their lives. But I don't want a wedding for myself nor do I want the trouble of having to be married. lol Ideally, I could plan a wedding, obviously pretend to be in love so we can have the spotlight for a minute, have the planning process televised, but then not have to actually be married afterward. LOL My delusional desires aside, I've been missing my wedding programs. I found this Australia-based show called Cheapest Weddings on Netflix earlier in the month and it only has a few episodes so I've already finished it but I liked the concept. It's pretty self-explanatory but in short, three couples per episode share their attempts to plan their dream wedding on microscopic budgets. I was expecting it to be some extreme penny pinching efforts and still trying to have a luxury wedding but it isn't. If you're missing out on wedding programming like I am, this scratches the itch but I'll be waiting impatiently for next summer when Bridezillas comes back. lol
I was born 9 years after The Carol Burnett Show went off the air, but I remember watching clips and reruns growing up with my mom and it's just as hilarious to me now as it was when I was a kid. If you're unfamiliar with the show, it was an hour-long variety program that was on the air for 11 years, from 1967 to 1978 and they parodied everything. Soap operas, daily life, tv shows, movies, they all had their moment in the sun along with skits and sketches with original characters. It wasn't risque, wasn't overly campy and wasn't offensive. It was just funny. The 50th anniversary special was aired on CBS earlier this month with an ensemble cast of celebrity guests and former co-stars as various clips were re-aired and I loved it. It was a nice bit of nostalgia that I appreciated. My only complaint is that Betty White wasn't one of the celebrity guests. Where is she, anyway? Where is my Rose?
Find My First Love is a show on FYI that I found earlier in the month about people trying to reconnect with lost loves. I watched a few episodes and while the cynical part of me kinda thinks the concept of travelling across the country (or world) to find someone who has no idea they're being tracked is a little stalker-ish, I understand--especially in today's climate--the need for people to reconnect, to get closure, to potentially rekindle relationships. Now between you and I, I need my first love around like I need a high-impact bullet manually inserted into my rectum. I hope he has cold sores, just on the head of his junk, for the rest of his life. LOL Kidding. I don't wish any ill will on that goochsocket, he's a lovely man. He gets lovelier with each mile that separates us. But I understand the need for people to reconnect and it's interesting to see all of these different stories and the effort people put forth in order to close chapters in their lives or start new ones.
Voyeur is a documentary about the story that led to the release of the controversial non-fiction novel The Voyeur's Motel. A man named Gerald Foos, an admitted voyeur, bought a hotel back in 1969 and engineered it specifically to be able to spy on his guests. Obviously, being able to do that means he saw an array of private moments, which he meticulously (and creepily) recorded in detail in various journals throughout his years as the owner. Even when the hotel was briefly sold to a friend, he was given keys to continue his peeping. I think it was 1980 when he first contacted legendary journalist Gay Talese because he wanted to tell his story. Scandal followed the story leading up to the book's release, both for its content and the fact that Gerald had a documented history of being less than truthful, affecting the credibility of the book and Gay's reputation as a journalist. You start watching the doc thinking its just going to be this salacious recounting of sexual details, but it's so much deeper than that and I recommend you give it a watch.
A Christmas tradition for me is to watch Home Alone 1 & 2 (I don't acknowledge the other sequels lol) and if you still don't know what either of these movies are about, I need you to exit my blog and forget you ever saw me. The older I get, the more I see the movie from the parental point of view and by golly Kevin's parents were negligent. And why, in both movies, did nobody think to inform the parents Kevin was being hunted by criminals? A couple of years ago somebody, I think it was Funny or Die but I'm not sure, put out a very dark comedic follow-up to Home Alone and got Macauley Culkin to reprise his role as Kevin. Kevin has some...mental and emotional issues following his boy adventures, and he wastes no time taking those issues out on the poor guy who interacts with him. The fact Kevin's parents were completely unaware of the Wet Sticky Bandits in both films is astounding to me. I got caught stealing a $5 magazine when I was 17 and they were trying to arrest me, ban me from the store AND call my mom. Kevin is instrumental in getting these guys arrested in both movies, for felony crimes, and there's no follow-up to figure out the identity of the person who provided the anonymous evidence? C'mon son. Plot holes aside, I still love the films and make a point to watch them every year.
Moving on to YouTube, the JusReign channel isn't new to me but I was watching it a lot this month so I decided to include it. JusReign is a Punjabi comic who shares his stories about the Punjabi community and culture. He has this really lighthearted take on the culture, both the good and bad parts, while still being able to make it fun for outsiders like me to watch. He takes bits of everyday jobs or life events and shows what they're like for the Desi community and I think its hilarious. On a secondary note, it also shows the Sikh community, as he and many of his friends (who are big parts of his videos) have beards and wear turbans and I like that it quietly shows bigots that people can wear turbans and still live regular lives like the rest of us. I wouldn't think that needed to be explained or displayed as its fairly obvious, but I also didn't think our current president would ever be president so what the hell do I know. If you like culture-based parodies and comedy videos, just go check out the channel.
I realize the title "Anti-Gay Republicans Caught Being Gay" isn't the classiest line for a title, but its a YouTube video. It's also funny as hell and 100% true. This is basically a compilation of different Republican politicians who've made being anti-gay their mantle, only to later be caught in what I can only describe as a homosexual situation. LOL What I fail to understand about these politicians is their apparent confusion about their jobs. They are supposed to help improve our quality of life and fight for causes that are important to their constituents to ensure we thrive and have what we need. Those constituents are of all kinds of race, orientation, build and intelligence. Apart from using those four things for statistical purposes, what we look like and who we sleep with is really none of their business nor should it affect their ability to do their job in helping create a better environment for us to live in. Their job is not to tell us what lifestyles to live, especially if those lifestyles aren't hurting anyone. The level of vitriol and hypocrisy towards the LGBTQIA+ community when many Republicans are actually part of it astounds me. Just because YOU feel ashamed of who you are doesn't mean you should subject those who aren't to inhumane, disgusting, unfair and sometimes life-threatening standards. This video angered and amused me in equal amounts, but I think anger probably won out mainly because it would be so much easier to just be who you are and do your damn job. And instead of doing either of those things, these closeted idiots feel the best idea would be to pretend to be straight in public, assault people in private, lead double lives and actively lead life-threatening campaigns against the people who aren't ashamed to be themselves. Do you understand the visibility, the stereotypes that it would kill to have openly gay, lesbian, trans, pan, or bisexual members in our government on both sides? Conservatives can be LGBT+ too and the perception that they can't be because of their sexual orientation is there partially because of the public rejection of the lifestyle by bigots in the conservative community. Some of these people may even have good ideas for the public! Whodathunk, right? SMH Not approving flyers for the gay community to warn others about the AIDS epidemic in the '80s, not allowing for STD education in the gay community, hiring gay prostitutes while attempting to pass laws against that very thing, those were just some of the things the mentioned politicians did to others. Homophobia based off of repression is a real thing. It's a real thing, and it's dangerous. And many of those bastards are our politicians, our representatives. Just be who you are, do your job and mind your damn business. What others do with their genitals is not only nobody else's business, its their job to ensure people are responsible with what they do with their genitals and that there are relevant punishments for them if they aren't. Irresponsible genital slangin' in general leads to STDs and puts the greater public at risk, which they should be trying to avoid. Their job description should not include rallying for destruction in the community they'd rather die than admit they're actually a part of. If you're LGBTQIA+ then fine. Live your truth. But don't lie about it, don't make going after those who are your mantle, and don't rally for their downfall. OMG lemme stop before this turns into a (longer) rant. Point is, be who you are, stop trying to destroy others and just do your fucking job. The end.
Pick of the Month: Voyeur
Throwaway Pick: Home Alone 1 & 2 (because seriously--who hasn't seen these movies yet??)
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