The Invisible Queer

 Disclaimer: I wrote this back in 2020 for a company I was writing for. The person in charge left me hanging after I sent in the article. I have no idea whether he ever did publish this anywhere or not. So if you see this anywhere else, it better credit me, McCartha Evita, because I wrote it. I signed no contract, so I feel like I have a right to post it here, since this is one of the best things I have ever written. The big lie about lesbians and gay men is that we do not exist. - Vito Russo  Entertainment today has represented more people than ever before. Shows like Queer Eye, Will and Grace, Queer as Folk, and the upcoming, Love, Victor, portray queer characters in a positive light. Films such as Love, Simon, The Danish Girl, and Rocket Man has told queer stories. Not only are queer films and shows becoming part of the norm, but so are recognizing queer filmmakers and actors. Jodi Foster, Janelle Monae, Zachary Quinto, Keiynan Lonsdale and Kate McKinnon are just some of th...

Happy Sunday! Here's another "That Time..." post! This one is about Alexander Hamilton and the Reynolds Pamphlet. Disclaimer: I did not read the entire pamphlet because boy is it long and I have the attentions span of a squirrel. If you'd like to check out the version of the Reynolds Pamphlet I found and used for this post, you can find it here . Photo from Missouri Historical Society Alexander Hamilton is considered one of the "Founding Fathers". That term puts a bad taste in my mouth so let's talk about the other things he's known for. He was a Major General in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He served as the United States' first secretary of the treasury. Hamilton also founded the US Coast guard. He was also known for his writing. Having founded the New York Post, writing a fraction of the Federalist Papers and a little thing called the Reynolds Pamphlet. He achieved more, but if I wrote everything he ever did, this...

 Heyo! Happy Friday. Today's post is about one of my favorite actors who I have been a fan of for more than half of my life. So without further ado, let's get into it. Most of you who clicked on this post know Sebastian Stan for playing Bucky Barnes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Some of you have been fans since his first appearance in the MCU in 2011 and some are relatively new due to his appearance in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier show that premiered on Disney+ last year. My introduction to Sebastian Stan was sometime in 2007ish. I don't remember exactly when, but I know I wasn't even a teenager yet. I didn't have cable, I had a select few channels on TV with my crappy little antenna. On one of the channels, they were showing The Architect. NOW I was 10 or 11 when I watched this film, I haven't watched it since. I believe there was a sex scene between Sebastian Stan and another character. That truly was my first introduction to this man. Thus, also bega...

Heyo! Hope you've been doing well. Please note most of this post is opinion based. You may disagree and you are welcome to disagree in the comments. If you enjoy musicals like I do, you know there's been a weird history of movie musicals within the past 20 years. So let's talk about it. Disclaimer: I don't like Cats. Have never liked Cats and I will never watch the film adaptation. This is the hill I will die on. The idea for this post came LONG before the 2021 releases of Tick, Tick...BOOM and West Side Story. But those two musicals are great examples of what happens when you cast theater people over big names in Hollywood. Movie musicals is such a weird genre because you can have a great production, but one person who can't sing on your cast can put a sour taste in people's mouths. The two musicals that come to mind are Phantom of the Opera (2004) and Les Miserables (2012). The Phantom of the Opera film I only watched once, but I've rewatched the musical s...

 Happy "That Time..." Sunday! This one is a doozy. Yes, you read that title correctly. How much do you know about former President Abraham Lincoln? Abraham Lincoln painted by George Peter Alexander Healy (1989) As you may or may not know, Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States. Born in 1809, he was known for signing the Emancipation Proclamation. He led the United States through the Civil War. He also served in the military during the American Indian Wars, but that's maybe for another post if you're interested. He was part of three different political parties. He was then assassinated in 1965. Most know Lincoln as a politician and a lawyer, but did you know he was also a wrestler? The man stood tall at 6'4. Allegedly, he only has lost one match. NOW wrestling wasn't quite the spectacle we know it as today. There are no official records of Lincoln's matches. All that we know are from other people's accounts. At the age of 19, Lincol...

 Heyo! I figured why not share my opinion that no one asked for. I am not comparing Barnum and The Greatest Showman in this post, but if you would like me to, I'll do a post comparing the two. I am going by the original London cast of Barnum since there is a proshoot of that production. Also because this is a Michael Crawford stan blog. He'll be getting his own post soon. Barnum, the musical, and The Greatest Showman, the film, are two pieces of media about the same man: Phineas Taylor Barnum. Or as most people know him, P.T. Barnum. For some background, he was a businessman, entrepreneur, author, politician, philanthropist and showman. He is most known as co-founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus with James Anthony Bailey. He was known as the "Prince of Humbug" and even credited with coining the phrase "There's a sucker born every minute". You can even say he is the father of freak shows. Barnum, the musical, premiered in New York in 1980 and in London...

 This is a long awaited post. I wanted to post this at the very beginning when I started my blog back in 2017, but as you can see that never happened. So we're talking about the immensely talented, Hadley Fraser. Hadley Fraser came onto my radar in 2012. I watched the 25th anniversary performance of Phantom of the Opera on Netflix. I was blown away by his performance as Raoul - along with Sierra Boggess and Ramin Karimloo's performances, but they deserve their own posts. Hadley's voice is so beautiful. Not to mention the man is very attractive. I'm just going to come out and say it, 2012, while only a decade ago, was a much different time with technology. Spotify was not the same music app we know today. I also wasn't the musical theater fan I was today, so at first the only thing I could listen to was Phantom 25 on YouTube. I had a crappy little phone, an early touchscreen android. I had an app to download music and I just put Hadley Fraser in. It gave me a few boo...

Yes, you read that right. Welcome back to That Time...! It's been a minute and I missed writing these. Above: "Pope Gregory IX approving the Decretals" painted by Rafaello Sanzio (1510-11) Pope Gregory IX became pope March 19, 1227. One of his first acts as pope was to give Konrad von Marburg, a German nobleman and priest, more inquisition power.  As part of expanding his inquisition power, Konrad was permitted to go against standard procedure to investigate heresy. Now, if you're like me and aren't super familiar with that lingo, it means that Konrad was able to do whatever he wanted to investigate people who went against the church. Konrad was known for being unreasonable and unjust. In June 1233, Pope Gregory IX sent out the Vox in Rama, condemning the hersy of and authorizing a crusade against Luciferanism, more commonly known as Satanism. This was in response to Konrad's numerous allegations and often coerced admissions of heresy. One such admission, clai...