Vid: Straightening Up the House, Marvel Comics and Films

[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!

Comments

[harpers_child]

Yes. This. I really liked the rundown of all the queers in comics at the end. Nice way to cap it all off.

[happydork]

This is a masterpiece I wish didn’t exist. What a perfect and effective set of gut punches — and that ending, wow. This is amazing, you’re amazing, but also, shit, that really is a lot.

[laurashapiro]

This was my favorite! I am SO IN LOVE with it! <3<3<3

[kabal42]

I love this - great idea an execution, the showcase is immensely compelling and impossible to argue with.
Even more love because my fandom and FFS, just get over it Marvel and at least have minimum representation! Why is it that it's always "too soon"? Ugh.

[bironic]

Wow, yes. That last shot, indeed. It's going to take me a few more viewings to absorb all the text; there's a lot packed in here. But even on first encounter it packs a wallop, all those erasures, those missed opportunities, that willful blindness toward the impact inclusion would have, the immensity of the revenues Marvel has amassed as if it couldn't serve as a buffer for taking "risks," and that inarguable march of icons at the end that just goes back and back and back. Thank you for going through what it took to put this together.

[ghost_lingering]

There's so much here I know I'll have to rewatch to get all the details, but the broad strokes are so damning on their own. Great work!

[sasha_feather]

This vid is SO awesome and expresses the point so well. Thank you for making it.

[devohoneybee]

this is brilliant and makes me angry.

*sigh* well done. sorry it was necessary.

[garrideb]

Watching the vid show and seeing Arnie Roth show up in a vid was such a startling, amazing experience! By the way, I'm the person who came up to you after the vid discussion panel to flail over your vid some more. This vid speaks to so many of my fandoms: Steve/Tony fandom, through which I met my roommate, through whom I learned about Arnie Roth (it was the topic of our first meatspace conversation); XMFC fandom, where lots of people wrote fic to do what the movies didn't and establish Destiny as Raven's lover; and even a nod to Nomad fandom, a lonely fandom of three who will nevertheless appreciate the hell out of you including that one panel from Nomad #11.

Anyway, great job making a high-concept vid clear and engaging. That is a tall order and you pulled it off with flair!

[sineala]

This is really good and I am filled with righteous anger.

Also, wow. that ending!

(I didn't catch them in the montage, but I think Union Jack/Destroyer -- first queer couple by internal Marvel chronology, or so Wiki informs me -- dates to 2002, or at least that's when the retcon-as-gay was.)

[fairestcat]

This vid is my everything.

[krytella]

This is so powerful. Perfect song choice! The whole thing is so perfectly put together and gets everything across in a way I haven't see before. Wonderful!

[caramarie]

This is really excellently done. The parade of characters counting back at the end is so great and so damning.

[muccamukk]

Oh, I have the right icon for this!

Really great vid! It's so well put together. I really appreciate including Arnie especially. That was the NineteenFuckingEighties. But nooooo, 2008 is too soon, even for queer coded characters.

[petra]

I can't remember the last time I saw such an eloquent, elaborate, and elucidated "Fuck you and everything you do to the seventh generation."

[opusculasedfera]

This is so eloquent and telling. The contrast between the hopeful end of the song and the last quote from Feige/the montage of canon queers was such a gut punch.

[eruthros]

Thank you!

[eruthros]

Thank you! Wishing it didn't exist is how I felt about it, too - like, just give us thirty seconds of Arnie! It would be so easy!

[eruthros]

Thank you, I'm so happy to hear that!

[eruthros]

Thank you!

And yes, I feel that way too. This is one of my main fandoms for the last ten years - and I read the comics as a kid, so it's been one of my fandoms for a really long time - and it is so infuriating to have so many Marvel movies that keep doing this.

[eruthros]

Thank you, I'm so glad that you liked it!

[eruthros]

Thank you!

[eruthros]

Thank you!

[eruthros]

Thank you!

[eruthros]

Oh hi! I was so excited to meet you! And I'm so happy to hear that this vid worked for you and that I put in enough Arnie feels :)