by Kay Curry
Northwest Asia Weekly
“Fire Island” at its best is a place to feel safe and relaxed, as center Howie (Baowen Yang) does here. (Courtesy of Hulu and Disney+)
“I’m glad you found a way to make us feel good despite all the fucking shit we dealt with**. But you think that if you’re just vulnerable for a second, everything will fall apart; maybe it’s coming to you It’s true, but not for me. I want to be vulnerable.”
Howie (Yang Baowen) tells Noah (Joel Kimbust) during a trip to New York’s Fire Island that every day at “Gay Disneyland” isn’t necessarily your happiest day.
The film Fire Island, based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, tells the story of five gay friends who have a tradition of meeting regularly on the island. They live with Erin (Margaret Zhao), a lesbian who Zhao describes as a “mom of the group” and an “unintentional creeper.”Weird third wheel – or [sixth] wheel. “
The story goes that Post once read Austen’s seminal novel on Fire Island and announced that he was going to write a gay version – and he did. In the movie, not five daughters, but five friends. Instead of trying to get them both married, the goal is to have sex. “Hot” Noah, in particular, vows to help “Rat” bestie Howie lose her virginity, even if it means Noah himself will have no sexual adventures.
Of course, the two ended up falling in love, Noah was heavily criticized for being nosy, and we both found that we could be mean to each other even in our inner circle or our “safe space.”
Booster observed to the media that while reading Pride and Prejudice, he realized that Austin’s way of showing people “hate each other but not each other” was another version of what gays call “shadowing.”
Family is how you are in Fire Island. (Courtesy of Hulu and Disney+)
“People say things that are insulting,” explains director Andrew Ann. “That’s how we feel as queer people and people of color in this world.” The film is full of micro-attacks based on body image, race and income, with gays and lesbians attacking each other in film, underscoring that even It’s “Fire Island” and it’s not a place that’s fully inclusive of the gay community.
According to Cho, “…within the queer community…we can be biased, but we don’t recognize it because we’ve been oppressed in other areas…this film is really about queer and Asian Complex relationships and what that means within the community as a whole, in a place like Fire Island, where everyone has a lot of privilege despite being gay.”
In the film, Howie, Noah, and their friends meet Will (Conrad Ricamora), the film’s Mr. Darcy, a wealthy doctor who, in Noah’s view, , he is “the symbolic Asian in a sea of white friends”. Noah and Will develop a love-hate relationship, and Howie falls in love with a wealthy white man named Charlie (James Sculley), whose friends object to his association with what they consider trash. Shy, retired, and not obsessed with the body, Howie opens up, only to be hurt by the shallow conspiracies of the Charlie tribe.
“It’s not just about Charlie. It’s Charlie’s life,” Howie moaned.
Shadows are brutal and familiar.
“Can I help you?” Every time Noah and a gang enter the shelter of the rich kids, they make annoying poses that mean “you shouldn’t be here”.
“We don’t play games,” said a sullen Will. “You’re all kids.”
“One of his parents was white,” said Will’s snobbish white friend, “that’s why he’s good-looking” and “that’s why I can like him.”
To Noah’s relief (though he also caused a lot of stress) as he happily — and correctly — made every offensive comment and action. The consolation was Howie, who was willing to be the real person who offered solace to all. Relief is a bunch of impoverished friends who are ecstatic that if one of them dates a doctor, “it’s like having health insurance again”, they learn that the only permanent thing in life is change.
“The queer community lives in an age where we come out at some times and close at other times because we don’t feel safe,” Ahn shared. “We’re open about our sexuality to some people, but not to others. It’s a tough thing to navigate…and that’s reflected in the way we make our films.”
“Brothers,” a predominantly white film set to hit theaters in the fall, bills itself as “the first all-LGBTQ cast” movie from a “big studio.” “Fire Island,” in partnership with Hulu and Disney+, seems to fit the category, and has multiple people of color. Ahn strives to do just that.
“I like giving queer actors opportunities that we don’t always get.” Ann told Weekly that when they were looking for Mr. Darcy, people told him to give up and find a straight actor. “I was like, ‘No, I think we can find that guy.’ … The more actors and opportunities we can provide for queer actors, the happier and healthier the industry will be.”
“We’ve done a really good job of telling stories that haven’t been told and going beyond identity into a place that allows time to share who we are,” Cho said.
I want everyone to watch this movie, even though I know it’s not going to happen. It’s so funny and charming and clever, so visceral, so revealing. I know, especially, that there will be straight people who can’t stand watching two gay men kissing (or more). As Weekly discussed with Ahn, gay people have been watching straight films for generations, whether you like it or not, so why can’t straight people accept gay films as just another genre? Ann said he made “Fire Island” for himself and his gay friends, and he’s now happy with it.
“I want regular audiences to watch this film and get really excited about it and find something that moves them, but…I want queer Asian Americans to see that, to see themselves on screen in some way and not Feel excited and inspired to tell your own story.”
Fire Island will have its world premiere at NewFest Pride in New York City on June 2, and air on Hulu and Disney+ on June 3.
Kay can reach info@nwasianweekly.com.
