36. Make the Yuletide (Movies) Gay

Snarky Opener (0:00)

All right, Hollywood, I see you making the Yuletide gay with these movies.

Episode Introduction (0:24)

Hello, my LGBTQuties, and welcome back to another episode of A Jaded Gay. I'm Rob Loveless, and today, I'm a non-jaded gay because I deleted my Twitter and Facebook.

And, I'm talking about both my personal Twitter and the podcast Twitter account and then my personal Facebook.

And I know there's been a lot of talk recently about things going on at Twitter. That wasn't really the reason I deleted it. I mean, it was a factor.

But at the same time, for a while now, I've kind of just wanted to deconnect a little bit. And I don't know, just deleting Twitter and Facebook.

I don't use either of those platforms a lot, so it just felt good to delete that, kind of detox, and cleanse out of there. You know, I am a little bit more of a minimalist with certain things.

Like, the past year, I've really been working to just kind of clear out my house. You know, donate old clothes I don't wear anymore, get rid of things that are just sitting around in the basement.

Either sell them or donate them places, because I don't know. I just don't like the clutter. And I feel like, sometimes, Twitter and Facebook, it's like emotional clutter.

And a lot of the time, from what I see people post on there, I don't really care about it. Sometimes it frustrates me. Sometimes I'm just indifferent.

But it's just not engaging, and it's not really doing me any favors. I don't care enough about it. And so, I made the executive decision to delete it, and I don't regret it at all.

And that being said, going forward, you know, I am still on Instagram. The podcast is still on Instagram and TikTok. You could still engage with me there. But so long, Twitter and Facebook.

Queer Holiday Movies (1:38) 

Anyway, the holiday season is upon us, and I love me some Christmas movies. You know, it's the one time of year I allow myself to feel a little joy.

But I do refuse to watch Hallmark movies. I just, I can't stand it. It's cutesy, it's irritating, it's nauseating how cute it is.

And my mom loves it. She's always like, I love Hallmark. Everything just works out in two hours or less. And I tried watching a few movies, and I just...repulsed.

I cannot deal with it. I mean to each their own, but not for me. Sorry. That being said, though, I do love Christmas movies. And I especially love Christmas movies with gay characters and storylines.

So today, I'm going to be talking through some of my favorites.

But before we do, let's pull our tarot.

Tarot (2:18) 

So, for this episode, we pulled The Moon. And this is a Major Arcana card. It's number 18 in the Major Arcana. And, you know, in numerology, when we have double digits, we add them together.

So, one plus eight equals nine. And nine in the Major Arcana is The Hermit. So, this card's kind of connected to The Hermit. And the number nine, it's really tied to independence.

You know, it's near the end of a cycle, so we're nearing completion of something. Again, when we go through The Fool's journey, we start at zero, end at 10. So, we're pretty close to the end of this cycle, whatever it may be.

And also, in astrology, The Moon is tied to Pisces, which is very representative of, you know, intuition and empathy. And this card is really presenting the duality of us. You know, the good and the bad.

And it's kind of twofold in the sense of, you know, I view the moon as being very nurturing. Like the full moon, it's supposed to be good for your energy, recharges crystals and water.

So, part of that, I feel there's kind of a maternal energy around the moon. It's very comforting taking care of us. But at the same time, if you think about it, the moon is not as bright as the sun.

So, in the moonlight, we can see things, but there's still, you know, the darkness of night. And because of that, it might create some illusions.

We might not see things as clearly as we should be able to, compared to seeing them in the sunlight. So again, this card is revealing the duality between us, and it's kind of forcing us to see what has been previously hidden.

And sometimes, when we're confronting these things that are hidden, they might have been hidden because we repress them out of fear.

And by doing that, we're actually projecting fear into our present and our future based on past experiences. So, while it might be uncomfortable, The Moon is really kind of bringing those things to the surface.

It's illuminating through the darkness. And we need to sit with these feelings. It might feel uncomfortable, but it's really important that we don't act irrationally. We don't act purely out of emotion. So, no fast decisions.

We really need to just focus on the moment, sit with these feelings, and process because, like I said, too, while the moon does illuminate things throughout the darkness, it's not as bright as the sun.

So, we might be seeing illusions. And when I say illusions, I mean more so bias. We might be presented with things we need to confront, but in the moonlight, we might not see it clearly.

So, we might be biased in how we're processing past situations, biased in how we're dealing with the fear.

So, it's really important that we take the time to see through those illusions and really get in touch with our intuition, be empathetic, and an unbiased party when we're looking at those fear-based situations we might be reflecting on.

And remember, The Moon is cyclical, so we have different phases of the moon. You know, waxing, waning, full moon. Each cycle of the moon brings something different.

You know, there's the time of new rebirth, the time of attunement. You know, the full moon's recharging us and revitalizing. So, really, depending on where we're at right now, this moon can mean different things to us.

Maybe it's refining our reactions to a certain situation that we might have not responded to positively. Maybe it's the start of a new moon cycle where we're starting to grow and expand and continue to move onward in our journey.

Or maybe it's the full moon that's there to take care of us from that maternal instinct and really recharge us and re-energize us.

So be mindful of that and see what area the moon reflects with you, where you're at right now.

And, moving on from moonlight to Christmas lights, let's talk Christmas movies.

My Love of Queer Holiday Movies (5:05)

One of the reasons I like gay Christmas movies, apart from the representation, is that I feel like they're more real than traditional Christmas movies.

You know, last episode, we talked about how for queer people, holidays aren't necessarily the commercialized joyful occasions we believe they were growing up.

And so, I feel like gay Christmas stories deal with some of these themes, even if they're watered down a bit to still be lighter on the surface.

And heads up, I'll probably be giving away some spoilers about these movies coming up, so you've been warned.

Holiday in Handcuffs (5:29)

But let's kick it off with the first Christmas movie I ever remember seeing with a gay character. And this is the 2007 ABC Family original movie Holiday in Handcuffs, starring Melissa Joan Hart and Mario Lopez.

Now, admittedly, neither of the main characters are gay, and it isn't necessarily a gay story. But Melissa Joan Hart, she plays Trudy Chandler, who feels like she's failing to live up to her family's expectations.

You know, her sister is a successful law school student, and her brother is a finance bro with a hot girlfriend.

Meanwhile, Trudy is an artist who works as a server in a restaurant, and she's struggling to get her big break.

And so, for the holidays, her family rents out this beautiful cabin in the middle of nowhere, and she's really anxious about this because she feels like she has nothing to offer her family compared to her siblings.

So, her only saving grace that year is that she's bringing home her new boyfriend to meet the family.

However, he is a douche and literally breaks up with her while she's at work right before they're supposed to leave. He does it in front of everyone. It's humiliating. I get secondhand embarrassment watching it.

Anyway, cue Mario Lopez coming in for lunch at the restaurant. Trudy kind of snaps, and she ends up kidnapping Mario Lopez at gunpoint.

She handcuffs him, brings him to her family's cabin, and forces him to pretend to be her boyfriend for the holidays. And I mean, relatable. Who wouldn't do that?

But in all seriousness, I think we can all relate to the feeling of needing to prove something to others at the holidays. Especially if we're single and feeling lonely.

And it's also a little kink-friendly:

"I'm not her boyfriend. I met her today when she poked a musket in my ribs, tied me up with furry handcuffs, and drove me to wherever I am right now."

"Furry handcuffs. Now I'm embarrassed."

Also, there's a sassy, fabulous grandmother in it. So, what's not to love?

Anyway, as the story goes on, Trudy and her fake boyfriend, of course, begin to fall in love. Shocker.

But there's one scene toward the end where the family is getting ready for their Christmas dinner, and Trudy's taking out the trash to the garage.

And her brother is chilling in there, drinking a beer, and they start talking. And he says how happy he is for her to find love and hopes that he finds that someday:

"So, you're engaged. Man, I'm so happy for you, Trudy."

"Thank you. You know-"

"I really hope that happens for me someday."

“What do you mean? It has happened for you. Jen's great.”

"Yeah. About that. Um, Jen and I broke up, like, six months ago."

"Shut up."

"And I've started seeing someone else."

"Shut up."

"And his name is Ryan."

"Oh my gosh. Well, you know, I think maybe I knew. Yeah, I knew."

"What? You didn't know. Come on, I didn't even know. I mean, I guess I kind of knew, but-"

"Well, does anyone else know?"

"I thought I'd tell everyone at dinner."

"Are you out of your mind?"

And I remember the first time I watched this, I was a closeted freshman in high school, and I was actually watching this with my mom. And when the brother came out, I remember I felt my face flush.

Like back then, I would get so anxious anytime anything gay came up around me because I was afraid it might lead to conversations where my own sexuality was questioned.

But, you know, at the same time, while I felt a little uncomfortable at the time, it was also kind of affirming to see this. I mean, back in 2007, when I saw this, I only knew of gay stereotypes, and I didn't have any gay role models growing up.

But when I saw this movie and heard the brother come out, it was kind of reassuring. Like, oh, guess what? You can be gay and still want to have a long-term, serious relationship.

And also, this coming out scene to his sister, it wasn't some big shameful ordeal. It was just like, yeah, I've been seeing someone. His name is Ryan.

And Trudy's like, oh, wow, that's awesome. It didn't seem fake or like she was trying too hard to be supportive. It felt genuine. And at almost 30 years old, this scene still gets me in the feels.

I mean, when he first says, I hope that happens for me one day, it almost sounds like there's a bit of sadness, which I can definitely relate to.

You know, when you first come to terms with your sexuality, you sometimes wonder if you can have the life you thought you would when you were younger.

But between his sister's acceptance of him, and, not to jump too far ahead, you find out he has a boyfriend, and the family meets him in the end. It just kind of feels validating and gives me a sense of hope.

Anyway, fast forwarding a bit, at dinner, right before the brother is about to come out, his sister actually cuts him off.

And she tells the family that she dropped out of law school and used the tuition check her parents gave her as a down payment on a Pilates studio.

And the dad is furious, and the mom is kind of just laughing it off because she's kind of reached her own breaking point, too, since things aren't going great in their marriage.

And then, finally, it's a brother's turn for his own revelation:

"Everyone, I want to say something too. I'm gay."

"Oh, honey, I know."

Again, the mom laughs it off, and the dad gets mad at her for not taking things seriously, which leads into them fighting about their own relationship. And then this happens:

"You think I am controlling? You are the ass who is forcing your children to become mini versions of yourself. This isn't my world because if this was my world, I wouldn't have to picture Clint Eastwood just to get through our annual birthday sex."

"Oh!"

"Aren't you glad you're gay?"

Yeah, cringy. I mean, imagine if you heard your parents say that. Anyway, I don't want to give away the ending completely, but it ends in February, I believe, at Trudy's art gallery.

The family has resolved their issues. The parents are in therapy, and they're accepting their kids' lives instead of trying to force them into molds of themselves.

And then they end up meeting the brother's boyfriend. And it just wraps a movie up really nice.

So yeah, that was the first gay Christmas movie I ever saw, and it definitely stands out to me as part of my own coming-out process.

But there was actually another movie that came out a few years earlier with openly gay characters.

The Family Stone (10:57)

Now, I didn't discover this one until I was a bit older, but it's really become one of my favorites. And that is The Family Stone from 2005.

I love this movie because it's another one that focuses on some of the family drama and tension that arises during the holidays.

It has an all-star cast. You know, Diane Keaton, Craig T Nelson, Dermot Mulroney, Sarah Jessica Parker, Luke Wilson, Claire Danes, Rachel McAdams and Tyrone Giordano.

So basically, Dermot Mulroney brings his uptight girlfriend home, that's Sarah Jessica Parker, to spend Christmas with his family.

And there's some conflict, like his sister, played by Rachel McAdams, and the mom, Diane Keaton, they don't really like Sarah Jessica Parker.

You know, she's uptight and a little bit more conservative. They're much more liberal and open.

And part of the tension is the fact that the mom knows that Dermot is going to ask her for her engagement ring to propose to Sarah Jessica Parker, and she doesn't feel like she's the right woman for him.

And Sarah Jessica Parker ends up having her sister come to stay with them, and the family likes the sister a lot better. And as it relates to gay Christmas, the one son, so Dermot's brother in the movie, he's gay and deaf.

And he's married to his partner. It's an interracial marriage, and they're in the process of trying to adopt a child. And keep in mind, this was 2005, so pretty ahead of its time in terms of diversity.

However, there is one scene in the movie that always makes me really uncomfortable.

They're all having dinner one night, and Sarah Jessica Parker's sister is asking some personal questions and getting to know the family.

And at first, Sarah Jessica Parker, she thinks that it might be a little too intrusive, but she sees how positively the family's responding to the sister, trying to get to know them better.

So, she tries to do the same, and it ends up backfiring:

"Do you boys believe in nature versus nurture? I mean, is that all a concern in terms of bringing a child into your house?"

"Not sure I follow you."

"Why wouldn't we bring it into the house?"

"Well, I just mean the gay thing, you know? I mean, there's no irrefutable evidence, one way or the other. Yes, they think they've isolated a gene, but what does that mean? They don't know what it's for or what it does."

"Didn't they determine it's for window treatments?"

"There you go."

"One of the contributing factors to being gay may very well be the environment."

"Well, I mean, look at my drapes, right? Aren't they horrible? There's absolutely no way it was this environment."

"Meredith, most of us here believe that sexual orientation is a result of a genetic predisposition, much like handedness."

"Well, that and mom."

"Tried to make us all gay."

"Hey, what are you talking about? I didn't try, Everett. No, true. I did hope. I did, I did desperately hope that you would all be gay. All my boys, and then you never leave me. So sorry, by the way, girls."

"Oh, right."

"She would ask me when I was eight years old if I was gay."

"Hey, she asked all of us that."

"Yeah, Thad. Stop pretending you're so special."

"Hey, Ben, are you sure that you're not gay?"

"Hey, I'm here. I'm queer. Get used to it."

"I just don't think that any parent would hope for a child to be challenged like that."

"I'm sorry. I didn't hear a word you said."

"Sorry, this isn't coming out right. I just, all I'm trying to say is that I, what I mean to say is life is hard enough as it is, and it just seems to me that you wouldn't want to make it any more difficult for your child. I mean, Patrick. Patrick, you must understand what I'm trying to say, right?"

"What did she say?"

"Oh, well, now, boss, I think we have been hit twice."

"No, no, no, I'm sorry. I did not mean that. Honestly."

"Why don't you try saying what it is you do mean."

"Everett."

"Alright, that's enough."

"I'm sorry."

"That's enough."

"I just think any parent would want a normal child."

"Oh, God damn you, okay?"

"Sybil"

"Don't Sybil me."

"Just for the child's sake, just to make it easier for the child."

"That's enough!"

Anyway, as the story goes on, it turns out there's a little switcheroo.

So, Dermot starts falling for Sarah Jessica Parker's sister, and Sarah Jessica Parker starts falling for his other brother, played by Luke Wilson.

And she gets drunk and thinks she sleeps with the brother, but it turns out they didn't. But then the next morning, before she realizes that, she tries to tell the family.

She's like, oh my God, and I'm terrible, I come here, I ruin your Christmas, and I sleep with your brother. And he's like, what? And she's like, oh yeah, I slept with your brother.

And then Luke Wilson jumps in. He's like, no, we didn't sleep together. And at that same time, Dermot also tells her he can't marry her because he's in love with someone else.

And she just starts tearing up, and she goes, doesn’t anyone love me? Which I think is very relatable for most of us. And you know, that being said, definitely one of the funnier, lighter moments.

It does get kind of dark toward the end, and that's another reason I love this movie. It's like equal parts family drama, comedy, and then, you know, some true sadness and grief.

So as the movie progresses, it's revealed that Diane Keaton, she's previously battled breast cancer, and it's come back, and this time, it's terminal. And they're realizing this as it gets closer to Christmas.

So, the movie, it starts wrapping up, kind of, you have your happy ending for the time being.

But then the movie fast-forwards to the following Christmas. So, Sarah Jessica Parker, she's with Luke Wilson. Dermot is with Sarah Jessica Parker's sister.

And his brother and his partner, they have adopted a child. And they all come to the family house for Christmas, and they look at a picture of the mom because she's since passed away.

And it's very emotional but also very beautiful. I mean, I think this movie really encapsulates a lot of the true holiday feelings.

You know, there might be some family friction. We might be dealing with grief since the holidays make us nostalgic.

So again, the movie, it's like equal parts funny and, you know, sad, but it just feels very real and genuine, which is a reason I love it.

Happiest Season (16:24)

Anyway, coming into the current decade. A newer one that I loved is Happiest Season, which came out in 2020.

And I feel like this one, it's a blend of Holiday in Handcuffs, you know, feeling like the outcast in your family. And then also combined with The Family Stone because it does get a little heavier.

So, it stars Kristen Stewart as Abby and Mackenzie Davis as Harper. It also features Allison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Mary Holland, Victor Garber, Mary Steenburgen, and Dan Levy, who I love.

Like, love anything with him in it. And he plays Abby's best friend. And bringing this movie close to home, it was actually filmed in Pittsburgh.

And I remember when they were filming this because I applied to be a movie extra, and I was hoping it was my shot at meeting Dan Levy so he could fall in love with me and propose to me.

But none of that happened. I didn't get selected, and maybe I'm just a little jaded about it. But let's save that tangent for another day. Moving back into the movie.

So, Abby and Harper, they're a couple. And Harper spontaneously suggests Abby comes home with her for the holidays. Abby's parents, they died when she was 19, so she usually spends the holidays alone.

And at first, she declines, but then she thinks about it, and she agrees. However, when she gets there, Harper admits that she never came out to her parents and that she said Abby's her friend.

So, Abby has to go back in the closet and go along with the charade and navigate some difficult dynamics with Harper's family. And this one is tough.

You know, on one hand, you can see Harper's side and understand the pressure of having to portray this perfect image for your family. You know her dad, I believe he's a politician.

He's been in the spotlight a lot, so there's been pressure on her and her sisters to all be perfect children. But then, on the other hand, here's Abby living openly but being forced to tone down herself to appease others.

And really, for a lot of this movie, I dislike Harper. I mean, I understand her predicament, but I feel like she's selfish and inconsiderate of her girlfriend.

And Aubrey Plaza plays Riley, Harper's ex-girlfriend. So, a little backstory. In high school, they dated, and she put love notes in Harper's locker. And one day, one of Harper's friends found one of the notes.

And when she was confronted about it, Harper denied the relationship and she said she was straight and that Riley was just obsessed with her and leaving her all these notes.

And so Riley kind of got bullied for it, while Harper continued to live on just the way she was. And I feel like Riley is a really underrated character in the movie.

Like I would have loved to have seen more of her, and I was actually kind of hoping that she and Abby would end up together instead of Abby and Harper.

But as the movie goes on, Harper's sister finds out about the relationship, and she outs Harper and Abby to the whole family, which is awful. A very cringy scene.

But even worse, Harper tries to deny it, which is so hurtful. And she does this in front of Abby. And so, Abby leaves, and Dan Levy tries to console her, and he says this really powerful line:

"Harper, not coming out to her parents has nothing to do with you."

"How could it not?"

"Remind me, what did your parents say when you told them you were gay?"

"That they loved and supported me."

"That's amazing. My dad kicked me out of the house and didn't talk to me for 13 years after I told him. Everybody's story is different. There's your version and my version and everything in between. But the one thing that all of those stories have in common is that moment right before you say those words, when your heart is racing, and you don't know what's coming next, that moment's really terrifying. And then once you say, those words, you can't unsay them. A chapter has ended, and a new one's begun, and you have to be ready."

Anyway, it does have a happy ending, similar to Holiday in Handcuffs, the parents realize the pressure they were putting on their daughters. Harper's family accepts her, and she reconciles with Abby.

And it fast-forwards to Christmas a year later, and Abby and Harper are engaged. All's well, that ends well, right?

Single All the Way (20:25)

And then, just one more to close it off, on a happier note, is Single All the Way, which came out last year.

Again, another all-star cast featuring Michael Urie, Philemon Chambers, Luke Macfarlane, Kathy Najimy, Jennifer Robertson, and the gay icon you all know and love, Miss Jennifer Coolidge:

"It's not because the gays know theater. It's because the gays just know how to do stuff, you know? I mean, they're survivors. And for some reason, they're always obsessed with me. I don't know why. But I like it."

So, Peter, played by Michael Urie, lives in LA, and he's excited to bring his boyfriend home to New Hampshire for the holidays because he has always been the single one.

And Nick, played by Philemon Chambers, is Peter's best friend. He's a handyman. I think he works for TaskRabbit, and he's putting up some Christmas lights for a woman, and she's talking to him about her husband.

Blah, blah, blah, this and that. Well, the husband comes home, and surprise, it's Peter's boyfriend, whom he had been dating for three months.

So, Nick obviously tells Peter, Peter's devastated, and, you know, breaks it off with the guy. And then, Peter decides to convince Nick to come home with him and pretend to be his boyfriend.

Now, the family has known Nick all his life. I think Peter's lived in LA for, like, 10 years, and Nick was one of the first people he met. So, the family knows about him.

For a long time, they were wondering why they weren't together, but the mom, Kathy Najimy, she's like, well, that's a problem us straight people do. We just assume that because two people are gay, that they're meant to be together. That's not the case.

But Peter realizes this is his shot. He could convince the family that him and Nick are together and get the pressure of being single off his back.

However, he's a little surprised because when he gets there, he realizes that his family has other plans. His mom has actually arranged a blind date between Peter and her spin instructor, James.

And this causes a bit of a family divide because the majority of the family wants Peter to end up with Nick. They think they see a genuine connection between them, but the mom really wants him to end up with James.

So, the family comes together. They decide that Nick is the guy for Peter, and they try to get the two to spend more time together, which includes helping out in the Christmas pageant that Jennifer Coolidge is working on.

And just to add in real quick, I would love a spin-off movie from this that is purely Jennifer Coolidge's nativity story because here's a quick excerpt from that:

"Joseph and Mary knocked on every door in Bethlehem, looking for a place to stay. They nearly gave up. And then they tried one last place. Help. Help. Please, my wife, she's having a baby. Are you kidding me? My rooms are full. All I have is my stable, where we keep my animals. Thank you so much, sir. We really thank you. We'll take it. Oh, my God. I have to have this baby. Please give me some privacy. That's how it's done."

Also, there's a fun little dance scene where Peter's done some choreo to My Only Wish This Year by Britney. We stan.

Anyway, eventually, Peter and Nick admit their feelings for each other, but Peter's scared about what will happen if things don't work out, and he loses Nick as both a partner and a best friend.

So, Nick packs his bags, he gets ready to leave for LA. But before he does, he accepts one more TaskRabbit job before he leaves. And that's to repaint a shop whose owner's retiring.

So meanwhile, Peter's rushing to find Nick, and he sees his rental car outside the shop, so he runs inside, and Nick tells him that as a Christmas gift, he actually bought Peter the shop and paid for the first six months in rent for him.

And the reason he did that is so that Peter can move home to be close to his family like he wants and open the plant store that he always dreamed of having. And Peter finally tells Nick he's in love with him, and they kiss.

And the movie ends with Peter and Nick announcing they're moving back to Peter's hometown together as a couple. And I really like this movie because it was cheesy and cute, but not in a Hallmark way. I actually didn't vomit once while watching this.

And also, the movie's depiction of gay characters in an everyday setting without sexuality-based conflict received praise from critics. And, kind of similar to Schitt's Creek.

I believe Dan Levy gave a quote about, you know, Schitt's Creek and that it's a place where homophobia doesn't exist. Because, you know, being gay or being pansexual, in the case of David Rose, it's just purely accepted, just the same as being straight.

So, I thought that was really nice to see in a Christmas movie because, again, the other ones, definitely more authentic, and there is a lot more of that, you know, genuine conflict there.

But then, if you need something just to kind of cleanse the palette, this is just kind of a nice, easy one.

Episode Closing (24:49)

And you know, if you haven't seen any of the movies I just talked about, I would definitely recommend them. They always put me in the holiday spirit. I love them.

You'll have a good time, you'll laugh, you'll cry. Can't recommend it enough.

And connecting it back to the tarot. You know, The Moon, it's having us confront some of the uncomfortable things within. And it's really kind of shining an illusion on the duality of human nature.

And, you know, I think not even just from the movie standpoint, but the holidays in general, it is kind of dual-sided. We talked about last episode how the holidays aren't always a happy occasion.

There's a lot of stress and anxiety. There's difficult family dynamics. Or maybe we're putting too much pressure on ourselves to have it be the perfect holiday by trying to get, you know, all the gifts and this and that.

Or maybe we're feeling extra lonely because we are single around the holidays, and we're seeing all this happiness, joy, love, and laughter.

And so, I think, just like The Moon, these movies, especially Holiday in Handcuffs, The Family Stone, and Happiest Season, really illustrate the duality of the holidays for LGBTQ+ people.

You know, you see these characters. They're in happy situations or in a happy family, but there are struggles internally. They're dealing with pressures to be the perfect child or the perfect partner.

They might be encountering some career hardships or failed relationships or just struggling to connect with others. And I think that's something a lot of us can relate to.

And while we relate to it, I think it might bring up some emotions within us, and it's important that we confront those emotions. You know, we can't be afraid of them and repress them and push them down.

We also can't approach them with bias and view them as an illusion seeing what we want to see.

We have to be unbiased when we confront these emotions, to really sit with them, see how we feel, and understand why we're feeling that way.

Reflect and then, you know, take time to make an action plan and move forward from whatever situation we're in. And just like the phases of the moon, we're growing, we're expanding.

Or maybe we're, you know, focusing on attunement and refining. Or maybe we're just really accepting the energy of the moon. Maybe we're not in a place to grow and expand or refine.

We just need the maternal energy that is recharging, revitalizing of the full moon. Moon cycles change just like we do. We're always changing, we're always evolving, we're always growing.

So, this card really is kind of fluid in its meaning. But I think in the scope of these movies and wherever you may be at with your current situation, you can definitely see the parallels there.

And in closing, I hope you do watch these movies and I hope you enjoy them.

Connect with A Jaded Gay (26:53)

If you do, please let me know what you think. You could send me a message rob@ajadedgay.com.

Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe. Giving me a five-star rating and a positive review on any podcast player would be the ultimate Christmas present. Definitely would appreciate it.

You can connect with the podcast on, remember, just Instagram and TikTok now, @ajadedgaypod, or me, Rob Loveless, on Instagram @rob_loveless.

And remember, every day is all we have, so you gotta make your own happiness.

Mmm-bye.

Outtake (27:45)

So, for this episode, we pulled The Moon, and this is a Major Arcana card. It's number 19 in the Major Arcana and... it's number 18 in the Major Arcana.