By Emily R. Zarevich, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Pride Month is a time to celebrate differences in human identity. It’s also a time to celebrate and appreciate how the wide spectrum of identities is portrayed in the arts. Burlington has produced a number of creative individuals, from actors to writers and filmmakers, who have used their mediums of choice and their social platforms to explore 2SLGBTQIA+ themes and open up necessary conversations. Here are some artistic endeavours with a Burlington connection to watch during Pride Month.
Tiny Pretty Things is a 2020 Netflix one-season drama series, created by Michael MacLennan and starring Brennan Clost, an actor who grew up in the city of Burlington. Clost plays an openly gay ballet dancer named Shane McRae who enjoys a casual sexual relationship with his roommate, Oren. Oren is closeted, and his and Shane’s secret relationship, or “situationship,” as it is called in modern terms, is hushed up for the sake of appearances. The two young men masquerade as platonic friends, and Oren’s public relationship is with his girlfriend, Bette. This naturally creates tension among the characters.
Tiny Pretty Things is based on a novel about the politics and intense competitiveness of American ballet academies by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton. The show explores homophobia, bullying in school, and the dangers of modern online dating culture, as a subplot involves Clost’s character being tricked by a hookup he encounters through a dating app. The show was not renewed for a second season, but its introspective first and only season is still worth a watch.
We Forgot To Break Up is a short film directed by Burlington-raised director Chandler Levack, who has enjoyed considerable success this year with the release of two feature films: Mile End Kicks and Roommates. We Forgot to Break Up was Levack’s early 2017 short film that incorporates the elements that make her more current projects so memorable: coming-of-age, coming to terms with one’s sexual orientation or gender identity, navigating relationships during a shaky period in life, and humans immersing themselves in passion projects.
We Forgot to Break Up is about Evan (played by Jesse Todd), a shy trans man who belonged to a thriving rock band back when he still lived publicly as a woman. He broke away from the band to focus on exploring the identity that feels most authentic to him. In the present day, he has fully transitioned into his new self and is attempting to reconnect with his former bandmates, whom he hopes will be supportive and accepting. We Forgot to Break Up is a story about how old friends can become either allies or enemies, depending on their attitudes.
This film does contain some transphobic language and behaviour. The story is adapted from the novel Heidegger Stairwell by Kayt Burgess. This short film, which first premiered at TIFF, has been fully uploaded to Vimeo (click here).
I Love You Phillip Morris is a 2009 black comedy film directed by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra. It stars Burlington-raised actor Jim Carrey as the real-life con artist Steven Jay Russell. In the film, Steven begins the first part of his adult life in a traditional heterosexual marriage in which he feels oppressed, before revealing to his wife that he is gay. He then enters into a chaotic life of crime with a boyfriend named Jimmy, played by Rodrigo Santoro, leading to a stint in prison where he proceeds to fall deeply in love with his cellmate, Phillip, played by Ewan McGregor. Love leads to lifelong obsession, and Steven will commit any felony if it means being with Phillip.
Telling stories about closeted lives is always tricky, and this was an especially risky undertaking for filmmakers in the early 2000s. I Love You Phillip Morris opens up some discussions about how concealing and repressing one’s sexual or gender identity impacts behaviour and personal relationships. The film is available to watch on Crave and Amazon Video.
