Posted by Elisa o n June 22nd, 2009
The Queer Housewives of New York City (Real Housewives Remix) series follows Bethenny, the only single housewife, through her conflicts with coming out.
Why Queer the Housewives? Those familiar with the Real Housewives of NYC know that there is very little male presence throughout the show. The women vocal about their successful partnerships (ie Simon + Alex) are shunned and mocked by the other housewives. What’s ironic is that the other women don’t even pretend to endorse the idea that their hetero relationships are all that fulfilling. Real Housewives of NYC had the unintentional effect of making compulsory heterosexuality actually appear compulsory, rendering the “Housewives” distinction inaccurate.
Thinking about the significance of this I wondered what Real Housewives of NYC would look like if it related to a totally different audience. Instead of following white, owning class housewives in a feminism-lite, low-calorie liberation, what if the story line stayed true to it’s lack of male presence and inaccuracy of the “housewife” distinction? I think this is a much more interesting storyline.
more of my remixes can be found here.
*thanks to Dr. Suzanne Leonard for her theory, “Do Men Matter: Real Housewives as a Post-Romance”
Category: televison show
Topic Tags: gender, hollywood, queer positive, queering culture, sexuality
Posted by Jonathan o n October 22nd, 2008
My latest Political Remix Video transforms the US presidential debates into a new reality show by combining the PBS/BBC debate broadcasts with the Fox show So You Think You Can Dance. In this re-imagined narrative the judges are far more honest (and tough) on the candidates stances around issues of war, oil drilling, nuclear energy and so called “clean coal” than any mainstream news media today.
So You Think You Can Be President is a new reality television show where candidates compete for American votes! Presidential hopefuls must present their positions on major issues in front of our live studio audience then face hard-hitting critiques from our panel of judges. Viewers at home will delight in the spectacle as candidates are challenged in ways never before seen in mainstream media. In this week’s episode, only two weeks before the election, Senator Obama and Senator McCain have their feet held to the fire over shockingly similar positions on energy and foreign policy. Who will be this season’s champion and take home the grand prize? You’ll have to watch and decide for yourself, then participate in the show by casting a vote* for your favorite performer on November 4th!
*Some restrictions may apply. In certain areas these include, but are not limited to, faulty electronic voting systems, racist voter laws and/or voter roll purges. See your local polling place for details.
APPROPRIATED SOURCE MATERIAL:
So You Think You Can Dance – Season 3 & 4
2008 US Presidential Debates – 1, 2 & 3 PBS, BBC, PBS
Road to the White House – MSNBC
“The Politics of Dancing” - by Re-Flex
Category: televison show
Topic Tags: elections, environment, mccain, obama, presidency, voting, war
Posted by Jonathan o n August 12th, 2007
Whether intentional or unintentional Chocolate Cake City has created an example of a political remix that queers mainstream straight culture. However even though the video tries to pull out subtle queer undertones in the Back to the Future movies it would be far more radical if it were to “queer” the misogynistic Buff character and not the two already somewhat oddball characters of Doc Brown and Marty McFly.
Note: Above the word queer is used as a positive verb meaning to reevaluate or reinterpret a work with an eye to sexual orientation and/or gender.
Category: movie trailer, televison show
Topic Tags: hollywood, queer negative, queering culture