‘Even five years ago, I can’t imagine this movie being made.’
We recently wrote on JOE about how 2022 looks set to be Hollywood’s big coming out party, thanks to the fact that some of the biggest production houses in the world – Disney, Amazon Prime Video, NBC, Universal – have huge gay and queer movies and shows arriving very soon.
One of those first arrivals is Fire Island, which debuts three days into Pride month, and marks the perfect jumping off point to celebrate new queer cinema this year.
It is basically a gay retelling of Jane Austen’s classic Pride & Prejudice, but set on the legendary island off the coast of New York, which proves to be a mecca for the LGBTQ+ community every Pride season.
In the run-up to the movie’s release, JOE caught up with the movie’s stars, including legendary comedian Margaret Cho, SNL performer Bowen Yang, Joel Kim Booster (who also wrote the movie) and director Andrew Ahn. You can check out those chats in full right here:
During the interviews, we asked everyone about their feelings on this new supportive movement from Hollywood for these queer projects. We listed all of the ones above, and asked if they felt a sea change within the film-making industry to tell more of these kinds of stories?
Joel Kim Booster told us: “Yeah, when you list them all out, and you also have [Netflix show] Heartstopper and [Prime Video’s new movie] My Fake Boyfriend coming out soon, it does feel that way, but it’s still hard. It is hard to be in the room and get them to take you seriously.
“My hope is there is enough variety within all of this media that is coming out, that people will be able to see that it’s not just one thing. Being gay or being queer, it is not just one voice, it is a lot of different perspectives. And there is room for many more.”
When we put the same question to director Andrew Ahn, he told us: “I constantly tell Joel that ‘I don’t know how you bamboozled [Fox] Searchlight into making this movie. Because even five years ago, I can’t imagine a movie like Fire Island being made, but I do think that Fire Island is a sign of changing times. The industry is finally catching up to what audiences have been wanting to see for so long.
“They want more diversity on screen, they want more queer stories, they want more intersectionality. I still think it’s hard out there, and I’m still waiting for a real, gay Lord of the Rings or something.”
Margaret Cho immediately interjects: “That would be so exciting! Lord of the Cock Rings! I’m Gandalf. I would be such a good gay Gandalf. And they’re all foot fetishists. Foot fetishist bears. I think that would be hot. Lord of the Cock Rings, let’s do it!”
Fire Island is available to watch on Disney+ right now.
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