#TBT: The Purple Passions of Carl Corley

Carl Corley’s work may now seem campy, but this author and artist was ahead of his time.

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Christopher Harrity

www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/art/2015/01/15/tbt-purple-passions-carl-corley

This Dad’s Response To His Twin Sons Coming Out Is 100 Percent Perfect

Grab the tissue because this one’s a real tearjerker.

Rising internet stars Austin and Aaron Rhodes decided to start off the new year in a big way. The twin brothers decided to use their social media platform to come out to their father over the phone. And they recorded the entire thing.

In less than one year, the Rhodes brothers have garnered over 55,000 subscribers and nearly 1 million views on Youtube. Their latest video shows the guys calling their father in Ohio then struggling to break the news. When they finally do, their father offers pretty much the perfect response.

“It’s the way things are, you know?” he says. “You’re grown people. You grew up in a lot different generation than me. I just don’t really know what to say — you know I love you both and that’ll never change.”

Watch the emotional video below.

Related stories:

This Ex-Marine Father’s Touching Response To His Son’s Coming Out Letter Will Make You Cry

16 Of The Best And Worst Coming Out Stories From Anonymous Sharing App “Whisper”

Must-Read: A Dad Reacts To His Young Son’s Coming Out

Graham Gremore

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'American Horror Story: Freak Show' Episode 12 Recap: Show Stoppers
*** WARNING: Contains spoilers! Please do not read on unless you’ve seen Episode 12 of “American Horror Story: Freak Show,” titled “Show Stoppers.” Or if you don’t mind spoilers, go right ahead! ***

Revenge is a dish best served cold. Or very violently. Whichever.

This being “American Horror Story,” we know what to expect as we near the end of a season: lots of kill-offs, a touch of torture, and quick tie-offs of existing storylines. As I wrote in last week’s recap, “AHS: Freak Show” is a series of vignettes, not necessarily sensical as a whole. Neil Patrick Harris’ Chester character — the latest vignette — is (hopefully) the last “new” one to walk into the big tent, as his story wraps up after a two-episode arc.

It was fun while it lasted, and we got an enjoyable performance out of Harris. Chester also served the purpose of killing off Maggie (seriously, how jaw-droppingly disgusting was it when he pulled the box apart and all the guts were there?), taking Bette and Dot’s virginity, and giving Jamie Brewer an awesome, brief role as the demented puppet, Marjorie. Otherwise he was a distraction from the main plot (I’m not even sure what the main plot is anymore), which fizzled to an almost dead stop as Dandy was relegated to … his house, I guess.

That was nice this episode: Dandy being back. Well, sorta. It’s a shame he wasn’t around very much recently, because the show absolutely lights up whenever Finn Wittrock is on screen. His earnest, over-the-top delivery makes it impossible to take your eyes off of him. He succeeds in making Bette and Dot leave Chester — ultimately saving their lives — by showing them P.I. files about his murderous past. Speaking of “murderous,” how has Dandy suddenly stopped killing? Didn’t he have an insatiable lust for it two episodes ago? Perhaps he’s been holding it in and will go on some sort of murderous rampage in the finale. But that doesn’t seem like the most satisfying ending.

My colleague asked me how I think this is going to wrap up. I definitely don’t think Dandy will emerge the victor here. He’s done far too many horrifying things to get off scot-free in the end. My prediction is Jimmy will kill Dandy with his new hands, and then take over the freak show with Bette and Dot. Now there’s some sex that’ll be convincingly good. I mean, really, they’ve been teasing us with the prospect of Jimmy-Bette-Dot sex since the beginning of the season. C’mon Murphy & Co., don’t let us down! Also, I think the viewers probably want one more Evan Peters man bum sighting before the season signs off.

As for the rest of the freaks, it’s anyone’s guess. I’d bet that several get killed off in the finale; and if I had to predict who, I would bet Desiree (who, in this episode, suddenly became the biggest Ethel supporter around, and has recently gotten a sharper edge to her behaviour), Seal Boy (we kinda care about him), and maybe Meryl Streep, Jr. I do hope Toulouse makes it through, though. I’ve grown attached to him now.

Did anyone else have “Coven” flashbacks when Danny Huston walked into the big tent? I remembered all the scenes with The Axeman and Fiona Goode, and when Lange and Huston were back acting lustily towards each other, I felt the same way I did during “Coven”: bored. I don’t know what it is with their love stories, but they just don’t do it for me. And Massimo’s reasoning as to why he can’t love her — because he was tortured and he “has no soul” — is just lame and contrived. They really should have just let him come back, give Jimmy his awesome new hands, and depart a mysterious stranger. There was no need for the weird existential romantic talk. Chop, chop, Geppetto.

Despite all of that, I will say seeing a young Hans Gruber/Arthur Alden was worth the price of admission when it came to Massimo. Not only did “AHS” cast a young Gruber perfectly (I actually wondered if they CGIed James Cromwell. They may have, I don’t know), but it was neat to see how the insane physician fit into the big picture. We can see his torturing days started early.

Oh, and what they did to Stanley. Poor Stanley. No, you know what? Good. If anyone deserves to spend the rest of their days among freaks as a human chicken, it’s Stanley. Dandy finding him in the cage and beaming that huge smile at his discovery was a favourite scene of mine. Revenge is something “AHS” does well, in the process often sacrificing fluid plot, characterization, and logic. But this wouldn’t be “Freak Show” if it was the same as any other TV show, right?

Can’t wait to see how this show ends. I’ve got my ticket for the big top. See you next week!

Freak Of The Week: Does Marjorie count as a freak? If not, I’m still counting her. She had some great lines tonight (“That’ll pack ’em in, Chester!”) and listening to Brewer laugh and stare evilly to the side made my night.

Random Thoughts:

• Desiree: “Steal her jewelry. Then bury the bitch.”
• The scene where Jimmy yells at Elsa “I have no hands!!!” was well-done. Props to Evan Peters for consistently nailing his characters’ struggles throughout this entire series. His characters gets the brunt of the worst treatment, and yet he arguably manages to keep a believable maintenance of each of his roles, which is more than I can say for others.
• Interesting that both Dandy and Bette and Dot killed their mothers. It could be some twisted common ground for them, but as I said earlier, I think this pairing … er … trio is kaput.
• I need a GIF of Desiree yelling “Ethellllllllll!” and then chugging that booze. Internet, help me.
• Whenever thunder and lightning starts off an episode, folks, you know something baaaad is going to happen.
• Meryl Streep, Jr. has totally won me over this season. I was on the fence before, but now I think she’s awesome. I hope it’s not just the tattooed and freakish version of her that I enjoy, because when we go to the 1950s next season (which I’m basing loosely on that little clue dropped online), things will be considerably less racy. Or maybe not — this is Murphy & Co. we’re talking about.

“American Horror Story: Freak Show” airs on Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. EST on FX and FX Canada.

Episode 11 Recap
Episode 10 Recap
Episode 9 Recap
Episode 7 Recap
Episode 6 Recap
Episode 5 Recap
Episode 4 Recap
Episode 3 Recap
Episode 2 Recap
Premiere Recap

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<i>Appropriate Behavior</i> Writer/Director/Star Opens Up About Being a Bisexual Filmmaker

Portrait by Daniel Jack Lyons; hair and makeup by Asie Mohtarez

Desiree Akhavan’s first feature film, Appropriate Behavior, is generating major buzz. Written and directed by and starring Akhavan, the comedy’s website describes it as follows:

For Shirin, being part of a perfect Persian family isn’t easy. Acceptance eludes her from all sides: her family doesn’t know she’s bisexual, and her ex-girlfriend, Maxine, can’t understand why she doesn’t tell them. … Following a family announcement of her brother’s betrothal to a parentally approved Iranian prize catch, Shirin embarks on a private rebellion involving a series of pansexual escapades, while trying to decipher what went wrong with Maxine.

It debuted at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and will be released in cities across the U.S. and made available on iTunes and On Demand Jan. 16. Akhavan was kind enough to make time to sit down with me on the day of her premiere at Lincoln Center. It’s safe to say I don’t think I’ve ever laughed this much during an interview. Enjoy.

Phillip M. Miner: You have a bunch of interviews, photo shoots, and your movie’s premiere at Lincoln Center. How weird is that?

Desiree Akhavan: You know, it’s funny. Since the film was released last year, every two or three months I’ll go through a stage of a lot this kind of thing. I think the most intense period was at the London Film Festival in October, and I had a full week of back-to-back press. I would sit in a hotel room like a whore, and one after another they would come in the room. It was really intense. I went insane after a while.

PM: So I guess let’s begin our 30-minute interview where I’ll probably ask the same questions.

DA: [Laughs.] It’s definitely not the first time this has happened this year, but it is the first time this has happened in my life. It is very surprising, and it’s very weird. All of this will go away, and I’ll go back to watching Friends on Netflix and masturbating.

PM: [Laughs.] You just described my last weekend. I have a Netflix category, “You might enjoy masturbating to this.”

DA: [Laughs.] I don’t masturbate to Friends. But those are my go-to procrastination tactics. It’s, like, Jezabel.com, Huffington Post, Friends. Before that it was Gilmore Girls, whatever is new on Netflix, really — and masturbation. During a breakup once I power-watched all of Felicity in a week.

PM: Were you a Ben or a Noel fan?

DA: Ben. The dorky R.A. can go fuck himself.

PM: Agreed. I bet I’m the only interviewer who asked you that. Moving right along: Was it a challenge to take writing something like The Slope and move to writing a feature film?

DA: It was the next step. I was ready for it. The Slope was absurd and worked really well for a 5-minute Web series. For a film, the scope and performance had to feel different. Even though Shirin in this film is a bit of a caricature, she’s much more grounded than the Desiree and Ingrid characters in The Slope.

Portrait by Daniel Jack Lyons; hair and makeup by Asie Mohtarez

PM: Did you have consider what is acceptable or sellable as a feature film as you wrote?

DA: With a feature film you’re taking someone on a journey. The producer of the film and a friend I made in undergrad, Cecilia [Frugiuele], and I spent a year hammering out what we thought worked and then filled in what was missing. For example, the Iranian-family narrative wasn’t added to the script until later.

PM: That’s surprising, because that stuff is getting this film a lot of attention. It makes you a different kind of girl in New York who doesn’t know what she’s doing.

DA: Exactly. That’s why it’s so important to have a collaborator who sees what’s special about you and what matters. I don’t particularly focus on being Iranian, because when you are a minority you can’t view life through that lens constantly or you’re going to go crazy. Cecilia can instantly identify what’s affecting me in that context. And that’s why I needed someone outside of myself to say, “Focus on this or that.” It affects the narrative so drastically.

PM: How do you think your film will be received?

DA: I have no idea, and I’m trying not to give a shit. If I focus on people’s reactions, I know I’ll come out of this feeling like a failure no matter what the response is. Actually, if they don’t like it, we can just say they’re racist. It’s very simple: If you don’t like this movie, you’re a homophobic racist. I think that’s the new tagline. [Laughs.]

PM: [Laughs. Stops laughing. Starts laughing again.]

DA: Just, you know, keep that in mind.

PM: I’m going to see it! Quit calling me a racist homophobe! You’re doing something cool with your release. Can you tell me more about that?

DA: We’re doing a day-and-date release, which means the film is being released in theaters in 13 cities and on iTunes and On Demand at the same time. I want people to go to the cinema, but if you’re not in one of those 13 cities, the film should be accessible to you too. Why shouldn’t someone in the Midwest be able to download one of the two to three critically acclaimed lesbian films that’s made a year the day it comes out? I think it’s really important to give people the opportunity to pay for content that they care about. Like in any industry, money talks. Where you spend your money is like casting your vote for what you want to see made. It’s important that people have the opportunity to let the industry know there’s a demand for queer content.

Portrait by Daniel Jack Lyons; hair and makeup by Asie Mohtarez

PM: This film isn’t just a lesbian film. It’s bisexual, which is even rarer.

DA: We live in a world of black and white, and bisexuality is a grey zone. I’ve always known that I’m capable of loving men and women. I’ve been in serious relationships with both men and women. My next project is also about a bisexual. I care a lot about talking about bisexuality, because there are few depictions of it.

PM: Why do you think that is?

DA: It’s an invisible label. If I’m walking down the street with my girlfriend, then I’m perceived as a lesbian. If I were to be with a man, then I’m straight. There’s no bisexual visibility. That might be why people are confused by bisexuality. Maybe there’s a perception that it’s disingenuous for genitalia to not have an alliance. [Laughs.] People think you can’t pin bisexuals down, or they must be lying. I think that’s why there’s shame surrounding bisexuality. Tila Tequila’s our poster child. Even I feel uncomfortable saying the word, which is why I feel I have to keep saying it, and why I’m excited to maybe provide a representation of something more nuanced, something outside of the box, something to add to the conversation.

PM: Talk more about being grey. Do you see that as an opportunity or something where you feel like an outsider?

DA: I think it’s both. I’ve always felt like an outsider, but I don’t think I would have made anything of worth if I didn’t feel that way. People who make the work I love feel that way as well and use it as an opportunity to start a conversation and make really smart work. The stories I care about are about outsiders and very lonely people. To clarify, I don’t think films in their subject matter need to be miserable; I just think the people making them need to be miserable. [Laughs.] I’m an outsider in so many ways. There’s so much disrespect to Iranians. Or even being not-thin. Everything about me always feels grey and in the middle. By the nature of being myself and telling my story, everything I make is inherently political, because I’m not the things you see all the time. And that’s, you know, why it matters to not stop.

Check out a clip from Appropriate Behavior below:

Click through the slideshow below to see a trailer and stills from the film:

www.huffingtonpost.com/phillip-m-miner/appropriate-behavior-writer-director-star-opens-up-about-being-a-bisexual-filmmaker_b_6465264.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices