When a character in a 2022 movie says “way harsh, Tai” in casual conversation, you just know it’s destined to be a cult classic. The film in question featuring said Clueless line is Hulu’s Fire Island.
via: Daily Beast
A modern Pride and Prejudice adaptation with two gay, Asian-American leads, set on the famous LGBTQ vacation spot and starring a cluster of beloved comedians, such as Booster, Saturday Night Live’s Bowen Yang and I Love That For You’s Matt Rogers, seemed like an easy sell when it was first announced—at least for their religious followers on the internet and Las Culturistas stans like myself.
Booster stars as the story’s protagonist Noah, an analogue of Elizabeth Bennet from the Jane Austen novel. When he and his group of friends go on their annual trip to Fire Island, he’s determined to get his timid best friend Howie (Yang), the film’s Jane, laid—a mission that becomes equally as telling about Noah’s vulnerabilities and insecurities as Howie’s. At the same time, Noah is dealing with his own unexpected romantic encounter when he meets his Mr. Darcy, an uptight lawyer named Will (Conrad Ricamora).
The best friends’ parallel experiences on the island paint a rare, fascinating portrait of desirability and respectability politics within the Asian queer community and the queer community as a whole. Of course, there’s plenty of quotable one-liners and a hilarious Marisa Tomei line reading that make Fire Island a capital-C comedy. I’d also be remiss not to mention that it’s a visually stunning film.
When asked if he thought having that visibility is a double-edged sword for underrepresented group in Hollywood. Joel went on to tell the Daily Beast.
“It’s very hard to feel the win because that part of, of, you know, the representation and the diversity is always a part of the conversation and in both ways that helps and hurts. And it’s one of the reasons I’m so grateful that Billy [Eichner]’s movie is coming out around the same time. And Keiynan Lonsdale’s movie My Fake Boyfriend is also coming out this summer and, you know, shows like Heartstopper and Love, Victor— it feels like the scarcity part is becoming less of an issue for people. And so my hope is that, you know, if people don’t connect with this movie, they are able to just sort of move onto the next one, or be inspired to create their own story. I genuinely hope that there are a million Fire Island clones and that many of them are able to end that. This part of the conversation isn’t going to be the forefront.”
Read more at The Daily Beast.
