eruthros

Title: Straightening Up the House
Fandom: Marvel comics and films
Song: Straightening Up the House by Romanovsky and Phillips (from "Emotional Rollercoaster," released in 1988)
Length: 4:00
Contains: No standard content notes. Queer erasure. Suicidal ideation (in comics speech bubbles). Opens with a terrible James Gunn interview.
Summary: Commemorating more than ten years of queer characters (not) appearing in Marvel films.

This is my premiere for the

wiscon_vidparty! I have been thinking of making an angry vid like this about the translation of comics to films and tv for a long time, and I happened upon this amazingly perfect song last year. I had a lot of ... fun? trying to combine comics and films (I initially was doing some comparison panels that did video and comics side by side that just did not work) plus trying to combine lyrics + comics dialogue + title cards.

Thanks so much to

thingswithwings for making this vid what it is - her beta work was invaluable.

Also,

kuwdora made the motion text in the opening credits - this was so so helpful, because I didn't have to figure out how to do it or what it should look like (my brief was, like, "here's the music, something about text getting less rainbowy") and also, once someone else had made credits for me, I was committed to the vid and couldn't give up when it got infuriating.

Most comics footage in the vid is titled with character names, but if there's anything you want to hear more about I would be happy to tell you where it's from or the context of the panels.

Download: Straightening Up the House, 68 MB, 1280x720
Subtitles: Straightening Up the House subtitles

Streaming version:

Interview + Lyrics:
James Gunn:
You know, somebody asked me, you know, will there be any gay characters in, you know, Marvel movies? And, what - what I, you know, what I meant is, there's a lot of characters in the MCU, and very few of them have we delved into what their sexuality is, whether it's gay, or straight, or bisexual, we don't really know. Um, so I imagine that there are probably, you know, gay characters in the Marvel universe, you know, we just don't know who they are yet.

Romanovsky and Phillips
Today I took the nudes down off the wall
Ten minutes after I received her telephone call
She'll be here Friday morning so there's not much time to clean
Better hide the Advocate and Mandate magazine
We'll redecorate the guest room so it looks like it's been used
Separate our wardrobes or she'll really be confused
Then get ready for a lonely week of sleeping on the couch
We're straightening up the house

Tomorrow I will put away your gay pride shirts
And our Halloween assortment of jewelry, pumps, and skirts
Then pack up all the books by Quentin Crisp and Rita Mae
And the "His & His" towels that you bought me yesterday
And you'd better hide the albums by that lesbian group
She has no ear for music, but she has been known to snoop
And remember not to kiss me, just forget that you're my spouse
Straightening up the house

The snapshots of the two of us in Spain will have to go
Don't tell me this is totally insane, because I know
And I cannot wear the wristwatch with our names engraved in gold
The one that says "I love you, John, with all my heart and soul."

This is our first Christmas here in our new home
In a hostile world, it's our only safety zone
I never should have promised I'd continue with this lie
But Dad was so certain if she found out she would die
But if it's killing anyone I think it's killing me
'Cause it tears me up inside to hide my true identity
And asking you to help me makes me feel like such a louse

I'm thirty-two years old, why am I acting like a mouse?
I'm a man and he's my lover
If she freaks out she'll recover
Come on and help me to just clean the house!