Imagine my shock as a neurodivergent teen when I first realized that using large vocabulary and eloquent speech doesn’t make you less likely to be misinterpreted, rather it adds an entirely new layer of misinterpretation I had never even realized existed in the form of people thinking you’re being snobbish or condescending when you’re just trying to be specific
as we’re all staring down the barrel at this whole extremely grim death of art tier deepfake ai script future of cinema I feel it’s time for us all to throw everything into weird independent films by like 4 people with one camera and a $200 budget. we need to start watching them and supporting the filmmakers ofc but more importantly everyone needs to get a camcorder and start going wild with it
if I could recommend any independent projects….. (note: I’m not calling any of them “weird”, this post just reminded me that there’s a lot of indie projects that need more attention and I am ALWAYS quick to shout out my favorites :D)
blackpine_nj on instagram (account ran by multiple characters that documents the strange happenings of their town)
pritty not pretty on youtube (Black queer romance about a boy learning how to swim, very beautiful animation and intriguing metaphors)
the progenies (rewriting of Descendants with more of a focus on interpersonal relationships and school drama, also recasting with more queer characters and poc)
terri starstrike (cute, colorful superheroes and worldbuilding described as “a cosmic-cool world inspired by 1960’s b-movie sci-fi”)
petty rituals (still in development but basically a graphic novel about a codependent relationship between two girls as they perform odd rituals in the woods)
viscera objectica (new comic being developed by yugo limbo, described as “a quaint, queer introspective tale about a tailor named VITO & the charming (albeit inanimate) puppet he buys from a strange vendor”) (honestly any of yugo limbo’s projects are worth checking out)
peter to the extreme (one of my favorites,, a series of animations and comics made by doiduh that tells the story of two middle schoolers whose friendship develops and shifts over time)
ANY CEPHRI PROJECT (funky little aliens with insanely good worldbuilding, as well as funky retro-style synthy music. this is a shameless shoutout for my friend check out his stuff please thanks!!!)
ANYTHING published by silver sprocket… I’m so serious they have such good independent comics I wanna get one for my birthday..
and finally if I could share my own project.. memento (series of comics and podcasts that tells the story of a college student who slowly remember their past as they explore a new town in the middle of nowhere)
if you see this and want to repost and add your own project, PLEASE do!!! I’m always looking for cool new stuff to check out :)
I’m watching that documentary “Before Stonewall” about gay history pre-1969, and uncovered something which I think is interesting.
The documentary includes a brief clip of a 1954 televised newscast about the rise of homosexuality. The host of the program interviewed psychologists, a police officer, and one “known homosexual”. The “known homosexual” is 22 years old. He identifies himself as Curtis White, which is a pseudonym; his name is actually Dale Olson.
So I tracked down the newscast. According to what I can find, Dale Olson may have been the first gay man to appear openly on television and defend his sexual orientation. He explains that there’s nothing wrong with him mentally and he’s never been arrested. When asked whether he’d take a cure if it existed, he says no. When asked whether his family knows he’s gay, he says that they didn’t up until tonight, but he guesses they’re going to find out, and he’ll probably be fired from his job as well. So of course the host is like …why are you doing this interview then? and Dale Olson, cool as cucumber pie, says “I think that this way I can be a little useful to someone besides myself.”
1954. 22 years old. Balls of pure titanium.
Despite the pseudonym, Dale’s boss did indeed recognize him from the TV program, and he was promptly fired the next day. He wrote into ONE magazine six months later to reassure readers that he had gotten a new job at a higher salary.
Curious about what became of him, I looked into his life a little further. It turns out that he ultimately became a very successful publicity agent. He promoted the Rocky movies and Superman. Not only that, but get this: Dale represented Rock Hudson, and he was the person who convinced him to disclose that he had AIDS! Hewrote the statement Rock read. And as we know, Rock Hudson’s disclosure had a very significant effect on the national conversation about AIDS in the U.S.
It appears that no one has made the connection between Dale Olson the publicity agent instrumental in the AIDS debate and Dale Olson the 22-year-old first openly gay man on TV. So I thought I’d make it. For Pride month, an unsung gay hero.
RATING: RELIABLE
you can listen to the clip of the 1954 interview here and find him on wikipedia here
