June Reading | Watching | Listening
June felt like forever and also went way to fast, and I consumed accordingly
Movie: Past Lives (In theaters now, soon on demand): I cannot stop thinking about how I felt watching this movie and how I feel whenever it crosses my mind. I will continue to evangelize for everyone to see this movie. I found it moving, tender, real - the three main leads are excellent actors, and the characters we get to know are honest, vulnerable and have no delusions about the choices in front of them.
TV: Deadloch (Amazon): Mates - this is one of the funniest and smartest crime procedurals I’ve ever enjoyed! And Australian to the bone, fully takes place in Tasmania. There are still two episodes left to air in its first season and I still have no idea who the killer is, but I have so many theories, and because I love every character on this show, even the ones I hate, it’s worth it! You can enjoy this as a snarky, funny, mysterious crime thriller, and that would be enough. BUT it is also a excellent piece of work that takes on tropes around women, men, cops, murderers, and heternormativity - all in funny, smart and cutting ways. And while I love freaking everyone in the main cast, I love baby cop Abby the most. Watch this!
That's not to say that Deadloch is some kind of tiresome, didactic feminist chore. Each twist feels as organic and fresh as the town's local produce; the thrill of constantly having narrative assumptions challenged by the story keeps the viewer on their toes. And in case the prominent singed pubes in the cold open didn't tip you off, it's also very, very funny. - "'Deadloch' is the feminist Australian buddy-comedy-murder-noir you didn't know you needed”
TV: Never Have I Ever (Netflix): This show, which entered out lives in the spring of 2020 when we are all locked down just ended with its 4th season. And it’s been a joy to watch the entire time. It’s a teenage family dramedy, and as I’ve said before, teenagers are extra, but this one has the added ingredient of weaving in immediate and long lasting grief. This show was intense, because Devi was a teenager, who was grieving, and going through all the teenage things at the same time. While the show purported to be about which love interest Devi would end up with, for me, it was truly about the relationship Devi had with her mother, her family, and her friends, her grief, and of course herself. And in those relationships, the show did a great job with all those arcs. I hope so many of the actors on this show have long careers, they were excellent.
THE BEST:
Year after year, the soundtrack kicked ass!
Gears Brosnan, IYKYK
Poorna Jagannathan - her acting, her fierceness, and her clothing on the show
A big change from past Mindy projects (get it?) in that this show allowed an Indian immigrant family and Indian American teenager, to live a life that reflects all of who they are, running away from our culture to “fit in,” being embarrassed by our parents and culture, and still living in it and loving it too, it’s both/and for most of us.
THE WTF?: Nothing is perfect and as I’ve said before with Shonda Rhimes, I don’t think Mindy Kaling should be held to higher standards just because she’s brown, but the NHIE team did make some WTF choices over 4 seasons.
There’s already plenty of think pieces on Mindy’s focus on white men as the end game for all her WOC characters. It is what it is. But why would the show also give a “white boyfriend” to Grandma in the form of Jeff Garlin, who was fired from the Goldbergs for misconduct?? There are SO MANY middle age white guys they could have hired to be Pati’s white boyfriend. SMDH
Thankfully they course corrected on one of the biggest WTF, in their first episode, so much that almost everyone has forgotten that when the show started, Devi was in a wheelchair. They were on a path, brief as it was towards jokes about mobility, very rude! Thankfully someone told them to end that quickly.
John McEnroe, I was WTF about his being the narrator for Devi in the first few episodes, seriously? He can barely pronounce any of the Indian words correctly, and does he need the work? Then it worked. As I learned more and more about Devi’s anger issues, it made more sense!!
TV: Vida (Hulu): This three season show is not new, but it’s finally more available after it’s short, critically acclaimed, but barely watched run on Starz. About two sisters, who barely get along, who return home to deal with their mom’s bar after she dies, the mom’s community, their own community, love, financial struggles, gentrification of their neighborhood, and just figuring it out. I really loved this show, wish it had more seasons, but the three we have are perfect!
TV: Indian Matchmaking/Jewish Matchmaking (Netflix): Plenty has been written about Indian Matchmaking in the 3 years since it premiered. I hate-watch it. I was quite worried when they announced a Jewish Matchmaking in the same vein. I was pleasantly surprised because in Jewish Matchmaking, the matchmaker, Aleeza, meets with all types of Jews (both in practice and nationality and background) something that Sima from Mumbai would never (her clients are usually higher caste Sikhs or Hindus, she barely tolerates East African Indians). I often yell at Sima when I watch her, I never once yelled at Aleeza - although she could have been a little more direct with some of her clients’ unrealistic and un-self aware demands. What both shows have in common however, is that I yell at the clients a lot!
WTF?!: And like all humans, we are also the worst and reflect the worse of our societies (including internalizing some self hate), like the Indian American dude who wanted a girl who speaks Hindi, but didn’t want someone with an Indian accent and he wanted a Brahmin caste but he eats meat (Sima actually called him out on both, the first time she has ever done that to a man in my memory!). Or the Jewish American guy who said he wanted an Israeli who had blonde hair and blue eyes, or Jewish Italian guy who wanted more “European” looking girls.
Icing and Froth:
TV: Glamorous (Netflix): Fun, frothy, campy, a Queer Ugly Betty (and Bold Type and Devil Wears Prada), that even has some things to say about corporate rainbow-washing and even more. Easy to watch and also fun and silly.
Movie: Perfect Find (Netflix): I love Gabrielle Union and Gina Torres, which is why I watched this romcom. It has great soundtrack, great fashion, great old movie clips (think black & white old Hollywood movies), and Gina Torres just was the best thing ever. But the plot…WTF? But worth having on while you do other things or want to forget the world.
TV: With Love (Amazon): I enjoyed season 1 when it came out during mid Pandemic and enjoyed season 2. It’s a family dramedy (but not for kids) that always starts on Noche Buena with the Diaz family and goes 6-8 episodes through the year as they try to find love, fix love and figure out family. I love it - so many great actors and stars and honestly all so beautiful and gorgeous! Can’t wait for next season - so many creators and actors connected to this from the amazing and short lived One Day at a Time remake which you should also watch!
