One of the great things about being queer,
gay or whatever, is the freedom to get all mushy gushy over your favourite
holiday movies. There are some great candidates – two of the
best are actually television specials – the 1980 M.A.S.H. holiday special “Death Takes a Holiday“ wherein the
doctors B.J. Honeycutt and Hawkey, and nurse Margaret Hoolihan, spend their
Christmas keeping a dying soldier alive so his family will not have to remember
Christmas as the day their son / husband / father died – extremely poignant as
we all know persons who have lost loved ones and partners around the holidays in
America’s current conflicts. Very
difficult – and yet another good reason why we should not have to wait further
to celebrate queer love in such cases until it becomes politically convenient
for those who start such wars in the first place.
The other all-time best holiday tv special must be, in my humble opinion, Northern
Exposure’s “The Raven Pageant” which
comes as close to celebrating the diversity within the unity of the holiday
season that I have come across. It is
noteworthy especially for the Raven Pageant exploring Native Alaskan tradition
in the Far North.
As
far as films go, I admit to being somewhat quirky. My second favourite holiday movie of all time
is a John Wayne classic – Donovan’s Reef
(1963). “That’s not a holiday
movie!” one might immediately object.
“Oh yes it is!” would be my firm rejoinder. The movie is all about two holidays –Donovan’s
(John Wayne) and Gilhooley’s (Lee Marvin) shared birthday and Christmas – which
is the time that outsider Boston capitalist Amelia Denhem (Elizabeth Allen)
begins to truly fall for Donovan and to understand what love, family and life
are all about in the Southern Pacific.
Classic lines include the moment when the Marquis André de Lage
announces the visit of the Magi (Epiphany for those of you Swedes and
Norwegians), and in walks the King of
Polynesia, the Emperor of China and the King of the United States of America.
But,
hands down, barring none, the greatest Christmas movie of all time, even better
than Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates
(1962), has got to be the British flick Love
Actually (2003). In fact, Love Actually is one of only two films I
cannot make it all the way through without tearing up – the other being Broken Hearts Club.
In
fact, there are very few films as queer
about love and the holidays as is Love
Actually. While there are no
obviously major gay subplots, the only obviously “hetero-normal” plot is the
failing marriage of Emma Thompson and Allan Rickman. All other love partnerships range from the
bizarre and the lonely to the saccharine sweet quest of 8-year-old Thomas
Sangster to get the girl of his dreams to fall in love with him.
Even
the corny, age-old comedic bumbling of Colin Firth and Lúcia Moniz, playing an
English writer and his Portuguese maid who speaks no English but has fallen for
her employer, still makes one smile and weep just a little at the end.
Emma Thompson, whose marriage we said is breaking up, is so stoically
strong and tragic that we need the comedic interludes of aging Rockstar Billy
Mack, played by Bill Nighy, and special
vignettes by Rowan Atkinson, aka Mr. Bean
just to keep the mood up. (Yes, the only
British cinema giants who fail to make an appearance in this brilliant movie
are Judy Dench, Maggie Thompson and the aging Peter O’Toole). Thompson’s memorable line is ”… Don’t worry, after thirty years of ‘But
you always loved scarves’, my expectations are not that high.”
The
lesson of Love Actually is that at
Christmas, we need to be honest about who we love and that we do in fact love –
and perhaps should even dare to take a chance on those feelings and where they
might lead – in other words, come out of the closet and love. Such a determination might lead us into
uncomfortable, unexpected or even extremely sweaty places – but love is actually worth it, especially
when “the holidays are all around you!” (a
very, very small theme within the movie).
One
of the best morality tales for the holidays is not in fact a Christmas special,
but rather the lessons Queen Latifa learns as a woman diagnosed with cancer and
only weeks to live. The story of her
journey to find joy in life and the impact she has on those around her are
delightfully and humorously captured in Wayne Wang’s Last Holiday (2006).
The
holidays are so easy to get lost in the drama, the hype and the speed
shopping. Say what you may about modern
culture, but as long as we still take time to make and enjoy great holiday
specials and films, there will always be a small part of the holidays that
remains special, intimate and saccharine – and gives us time to relax,
celebrate and sniffle slightly with our loved ones (in this case, three special
furry ones – Riley, Calvin and Klein who will take any opportunity to snuggle
on the couch in front of the tv).
Have
a happy holiday. Be safe. Be happy.
And watch whatever movie makes you feel sappy, happy, warm and gay
inside.
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