Blame it On Christmas - Shea Diamond & Bebe Rexha
I only send songs that I actually like in this newsletter, and I think this one is excellent! The repeated “not on me” backup vocals call to mind It Wasn’t Me, except the narrator is singing a playful duet, not, y’know, gaslighting a partner they’re cheating on. I partly blame this song, which opened up the trailer for Happiest Season, for making me think I would enjoy that movie.
No spoilers, but I did not enjoy Happiest Season. Kristen Stewart and Aubrey Plaza looked amazing in their suits, and Dan Levy was a delight, but I feel honestly kind of confused by the positive reviews. Quoting Rosanna McLaughlin, in a review more after my own heart: “Happiest Season has been widely praised by media outlets either unable or unwilling to differentiate between interesting or useful queer representation and any representation at all”.
Is this unfair? This is the first time a big studio has made a lesbian Christmas movie. The soundtrack features queer artists on every song. The plot is based on director Clea Duvall’s own experiences (and, honestly, makes a lot more sense if you imagine the movie takes place in 1990s America, rather than an alternate COVID-less 2020). I know it’s hard to be the first representation of anything, since you have the weight of determining what everyone’s first impressions of that thing will be.
Maybe my standards are too high, and Happiest Season is more interesting or useful than I’m giving it credit for. In middle school, I remember inhaling any halfway-authentic representations I could find of teen girls who liked girls. (So, mostly, I read a bunch of queer webcomics.) Even back then, I had it pretty easy; my math teacher sold 2” buttons that said “Homophobia Sucks, and not in a good way” and various classmates bought them. Nowadays, I live in a big city. A lot of my friends are queer. Perhaps in a different context, this movie would have meant a lot?
Probably not, though! I was promised a holiday romcom, and was so profoundly disappointed by the movie’s lack of romance that, in a fit of pique, I spent a few hours scripting a different ending for it. Anyway, whatever. The soundtrack is good.
Just can't keep my cool while I'm tiding all of this yule,
—Tessa