Rwrb Spoilers - Tumblr Posts
RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE ↳book > screen “Baby.” It’s become a thing: baby. He’s knows it’s become a thing. He’s slipped up and accidentally said it a few times, and each time, Henry positively melts.
- - - - - - -
“Hello?” It’s Henry’s voice, sweet and posh and shaky and confused, and relief knocks the wind out of him.
He hears Henry’s exhale over the line. “Hi, love. Are you okay?”
He laughs wetly, amazed. “Are you kidding me? I’m fine, I’m fine. Are you okay?”
“Just hold on until I get there, we’re gonna figure this out.” “I will.” “I’m coming. I’ll be there soon.”
Henry exhales a wet, broken laugh. “Please, do hurry.”
Hurry. Please. I'll break the sound barrier for you.
Red, White & Royal Blue (2023) dir. Matthew Lopez
RWRB - thoughts
Already did this on the bird, so might as well retype it here:
Some thoughts on Red White and Royal Blue, and why I feel a little disappointed in some of the reactions I've seen because I need to caffeinate and also type this out into the void.
I want to preface this by saying that obviously we all consume and experience media in a vast myriad of unique and different ways, and my opinions aren't stated for the purpose of diminishing or belittling anyone else's. If you read this & disagree that's your right!
I went into RWRB expecting it to be NOTHING like the book (for ex I was aware major characters had been cut and some exposition revised). Also, the book is generally better than the adaptation - that's my mantra (w exception of Good Omens and Sandman; the Neil Gaiman effect is strong).
What I did NOT expect was how MONUMENTALLY touched I would be by such open, romantic, and intimate representation of a m/m love story on my screen. There are multiple scenes between Alex & Henry in RWRB that I have never seen so touchingly depicted before (and perhaps I'm missing other movies that do it! Drop them in the replies!) RWRB earns that R rating but it does so in such a gorgeous way - it show cases the love of these two men as a beautiful, NORMALIZED thing.
I know, you're saying - that's the bare minimum!
And it is. But, the state of our world, especially when it comes to the representation and the rights of our community - is such that I feel the need to take joy in even what is the bare minimum for people like us. (Speaking of people like us - the B in LGBTQ plus is not a silent letter!!) You can read about the importance both Casey and the director of RWRB placed on bi rep in this film in this piece.
A very important example is the sex scene in the movie, which is likely the most explicit m/m sex scene I've seen in a mass distributed highly promoted film since - ever? This is important because it's done ROMANTICALLY. And mind you - it's still leaps and bounds from explicit sex scenes in a het rom com film, which is why it's so important that we have this.
Normalizing intimate contact between couples other than those who are heterosexual is monumentally important. I for one would hate to see any negativity leveled at this film due to the (fair & justified!) disappointment folks may be having because it's different from the books take away from that very important aspect. (Also why aren't we talking about the trans rep?! Aneesh Sheth stole the show for me as Amy).
I think that's where my feelings of sadness ab some of the reactions are stemming from. I had similar thoughts when folks were upset over S&B not being identical to the books as well, but it feels even more vital for us to celebrate RWRB for everything it brings to the table and to our community instead of focusing on what its missing from the books.
I am very grateful to have a story like RWRB in existence, and I hope it leads to many more, because queer love is beautiful in all aspects, and it deserves to be seen and celebrated in ALL mediums.
getting to be with henry when the emails leaked, getting to hear “history huh? bet we could make some” out loud, how quick alex was to answer no when zahra asked if it would make a difference if she told him not to see henry again, the whole confrontation at kensington and how fucking broken they were, the little smiles always shot each others way, the stupid banter that they have, henry being the one to stand up for himself against the king, alex completely zoning out bc he was looking at henry at the state dinner, the way they’re both incorrigible little shits, i mean i truly could go on and on…
Explaining that queer people should have the right to come out on their own terms or not even come out at all and following it up with "The forced conformity of the closet cannot be answered with forced conformity in coming out of it" is so fucking powerful and meaningful to me and idc what anybody else says
stephen fry was on set for a day, served cunt, said homosexual in the funniest way possible, and went on with his day
can i just point out that alex and henry during election night were so like… established. like the way henry was in touch with alex’s emotions and feelings and the way alex needed a moment away from everything to be just with henry. it was like watching a married couple. the way their journey started quite literally from them disliking each other at the start of the movie to henry staring at alex and being his support during election night. ugh no one talk to me
PLS-👏👏
the face of a man who just got his dick sucked and heart fondled so good he's thinking about abdication
*cries*
#they're so in loveeeeeeee
WHyyyy now I’m crying 😭😭😭😭😭
“Henry kisses Alex so passionately!” “Henry holds Alex so firmly!” “Henry kisses him so intensely!” “Haha calm down Henry!”
because every time they kiss, Henry is scared it’s the last time they ever will! 😭 he doesn’t think it will last after being in love for years 😭
Stunning.
RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE (2023) + book quotes (part 2) [part 1]
#had to split this into 2 parts #I kin poor Henry so bad #get my boy a therapist
Him being happy is everything i ever needed
PLEASE PLEASE
wild child au where alex transfers to an all-boys british school where henry is the son of the principal and alex comes up with a plan to seduce him so he could get expelled but ends up falling in love
Have you ever seen your parents do the most mischievous shit, while knowing perfectly what they're doing, while also having a straight face, to your grandparents?
Well, I have. And It was fucking hilarious.
Ok. So, yesterday I was at my grandparents house with my mom and my cousins and my aunt and uncle. We just finished having lunch, and me and my two cousins (one is like 10 and the othaer one is my age) were watching TV while I was on my phone too. Then my mom comes in and tells us that my grandpa (who is like seventy-something/eighty and pretty homophobic) is watching red white and royal blue. I, of course, knew immediately that my mom was behind this, and probably told my grandpa to watch it, I obviously was shocked and laughing, because I enjoy the mischief and the chaos and exposing homophobic people to gay shit without them knowing.
I'd like to say that I also love my grandpa, he is a good person and has always been nice to me and my cousins (tho he obviously doesn't know that I am a lesbian and that my cousin is NB and pan), and he is also not someone who hates gay people, he's just from another time, and he knows he has to be respectful.
That said, let me tell you how this went. Me and my cousin were watching from the doorframe of the room where my grandpa was clearly enjoying the film, and we were holding the laugh because he had no idea of what was coming.
Later, I went to the kitchen to get food, and on my way out my mom said "Go check if Toti is still watching the film or if he's just sleeping at this point" (by the way, Toti is how we all call my grandpa), so I did what my mom told me, and he was very awake and still enjoying the film.
Now, here's the fun part. He was in the scene where Alex and Henry are about to fuck in the White House. I immediately went to tell my cousin and we ran to the door frame and watched him expecting any reaction. We were holding our laughs and tears, but then I couldn't hold it anymore, so I went back to the room where we were previously watching TV. A few seconds later my cousin came back and I asked him what Toti did, and he said he just turned the TV off. We laughed and then kept watching TV.
Then I went back to the kitchen and, on the way out, asked my mom what had Toti said about the film, she said that he had told her that it was too gay for him and that he got disturbed.
I honestly never thought that my mom was that evil. I mean, I know her, but I didn't think she was able to do something like that, and I love that she did.