I hope one day you review a beautiful Australian movie called Holding The Man it's a true story of two young teenagers. It was a book first by the same name. Shows how long love can last.
@@pasfran4911 I really hope they react to Dating Amber someday. I just discovered it a few weeks ago and I was a sobbing mess by the end, but in the best possible way.
Nicholas Galitzine gave a respectful, thoughtful reply when he was asked in a podcast about being a straight actor playing a gay character. I put this quote in my replies to a couple comments on this video, but I wanted to leave it here too. "I wanted Matthew (the director) to know very early on...I think it's a very sensitive subject. I have a lot of friends in the community and some of them are very for straight actors playing gay roles and some of them are against it. I think the important thing for me was to let Matthew know that I loved who Henry was as a person, and I empathized with him as a character, and I just wanted to try and deliver as honest a performance - never a caricature - as I could." He was specifically talking about his role in RWRB here, but I'm sure it's how he felt while playing other queer roles as well.
That scene on the train between Connor and his teacher is so bloody sad - the teacher loses an opportunity to be a supportive role-model, and Connor is forced even further into the closet. It's quietly heartbreaking.
I watched this film for the first time a few years ago and went into it expecting there to be a relationship between the two main characters, but actually I think it's so very lovely that there isn't one. It's such a beautiful depiction of queer friendship and the impact that the actions of one person can have on the experience of another - it really made me value having a queer community so much more.
I think there's an argument for that but in this movie in particular not only are we supposed to believe that 2 guys that good looking at that age and forming a close friendship wouldn't want to be together (In real life they'd be all over each other) but they movie spent ages setting them up to get together - that whole guitar scene? - only to bail on it last minute. It was all set up and no pay off. So it's nice that a movie has two characters being supportive gay friends but it was disappointing in this movie
my thoughts exactly!!! because of the title and everything i thought they'd get together, and i would've been perfectly fine if they did, but it's just as good having them be super close friends. that is very important, no matter which part of the sexuality spectrum you are a part of.
@@usaskjock I do understand your point, but 1. As others have pointed out, Ned’s sexuality is never actually confirmed in the film; rather, the label of ‘gay’ is given to him by the other boys at the school because he is different. It is a reasonable assumption that he isn’t gay at all. 2. I had multiple queer friends at school that I was never romantically/sexually involved with, so I don’t think that’s unreasonable at all. I understand what you’re saying about scenes appearing to set them up for a relationship, but ultimately I don’t think that any of that could not also be explained by finding close friendship with someone with shared experiences and understanding. 3. Even if, as you say, the most realistic route would be to have the characters together, my question would be: is there an obligation in film to depict the most obvious/likely scenario? Is it not enough for a film to make use of two fictional characters merely to convey a sense of symbiosis in the wider community? The point of the film is not about the individual lives of the characters, but the way they interact with their identity and its place in the world, and, in this case, I think that’s enough.
It would be so cool if we can get to the point where actors can play characters regardless of their sexuality in all possible directions as long as they are doing the role justice, and also without people pressuring disclosure. Normalising how actors engage in roles regardless of sexuality surely helps make things normalised and mainstream and means we get more media as a result, and more lgbt+ roles overall.
I've never understood the backlash re straight actors playing LGBT roles or vice versa. MANY gay actors have played straight roles. I think straight actors being accepted to play gay characters more often models the fact that it's just acting and nobody should care about the actor's orientation. 🤷♀️
Agreed. Gatekeeping queer roles does our community a huge disservice. It limits allies ability to make a stand in broadening societal acceptance of the various aspects of queer culture as well as forces some to come out before they're ready in order to defend themselves against such attacks. What was done to Kit Connor last year after the first season of Heartstopper was completely unacceptable. It was as if those who claimed to be fans of the show yet were attacking him online completely missed the themes of it - the bi-erasure, coming out on your own terms/timeline, bullying, etc.
actually nick (galitzine) liked and quoted a tweet of someone comparing his character here, conor to nick (nelson) so i'd say it's a great comparison 😁
Also as someone still in a British high school, the word ‘gay’ is still regularly used in school…. But it isn’t tolerated by teachers at least, not in the locker room tho 😂🫠
Such a beautiful movie. I sob every time I watch it. I can relate to Ned so much and it hits so hard. It has such Dead Poets Society vibes imo. What a gem this film is 💜 Edit: Came back to say I just got to the bit where Josh said it reminds him of Dead Poets Society. I knew it wasn’t just me
I've loved this movie since it came out, and I'm so glad that Nicholas is going on to become more and more successful! Also, I hope y'all watch the Amazon Cinderella he was in. For the camp. And because his Prince character had FAR more chemistry with his male friends than with Cinderella. And Nicholas' singing voice is soooooo good!!!
I watched your reaction to RWRB and to this back to back, and your nuanced musings are bittersweet. To be a closeted teen is so very heartbreaking, so much isolation and guilt. It just reinforced for me how important romcoms like RWRB are for the LGBTQIA+ community, how important unabashedly escapist queer joy is because so much of the experience and of the storytelling are so heavy.
Oh I'm so happy you're reacting to this, it's my favourite queer comfort movie. It's so unique in its representation and is so realistic (in showing the bullying) but still uplifting. I think that comes from having a protagonist who is confident, at peace with himself and not afraid of the bullies. I have worked at several schools and nowadays the amount of knowledge of students in regards to queerness varies hugely. Generally the awareness is higher but not always the acceptance which creates strange situations. A girl (aged 9) told me she gets made fun of because she likes drawing rainbows and "the other kids say rainbows are the symbol of gay people". Also I agree everything is automatically better if it has Andrew Scott in it :D
i've watched this movie multiple times since it came out and this is the only reaction/review i've seen for it and it's honestly god tier it made me notice things i haven't before
And Josh nailed it in one! Connor [Nicholas] is totally Nick and Ned is Charlie, just a less nice Charlie and Connor is less able to cope than Nick was. I wouldn't even be surprised if Alice Oseman had SEEN this and took the central relationship from Handsome Devil and told her story from a different viewpoint. The two boys in HD are literally the SAME AGES as Nick and Charlie are and in an all boys school.
Two handsome devils doing a video about a handsome devil - I’m Irish myself, so being an older Irish gay man, I’m sassy and a shameless flirt - my extended family back home in Ireland (I’ve lived in Manchester 21 years) have labelled me a “sass queen” when they saw me flirting with a cute blond guy at age 52 - I’m also quite partial to cute ginger guys too 😂🇮🇪☘️🇮🇪❤️
I'm often so blown away and thankful for the fact that through enough pride, representation and activism, the word "gay" did not irreversibly transform into another slur for homosexuals. It's so common for a word that was never intended to be an insult to become an insult through the repeated derogatory use of it. Half the words that we consider offensive nowadays would've started off in the same way; as just simple descriptors. People have so much power over language in that way. In secondary school I'd always cringe when the word gay was said, because for better or worse it was going to be in a negative context. It started feeling offensive in nature, and inched closer and closer to just being another F-slur or P-slur, to where I even felt compelled to try and think of words other than gay to describe my homosexuality with. I don't know when next in my lifetime I'll ever be able to experience a word go through such a metaphorical tug-of-war between an insult and a normal descriptor, only to come through as a normal descriptor. But I'm glad I saw it at least once.
I actually never had thought of any darker implications between teacher and student when watching this, so that take was a bit of a shock for me 😂 I’m assuming that the boys’ “secret place” is likely under the stage in the hall. Just basing that on how my school worked and there was a spot underneath there that was sort of similar I know people have suggested In From the Side. But if you’d like to watch a documentary about a _real_ gay rugby team, I would suggest you watch Steelers: The World’s First Gay Rugby League Team. I don’t really even like rugby and I enjoyed it so much!
I love this movie, and the soundtrack is amazing, I discovered great bands like Prefab Sprout, and beautiful songs that I hadn't heard from artists I already knew like Rufus Wainwright... waiting for part2, greetings from Mexico
Language changers specially that is about sex or sexuality it was still recently that people used the P word for gay men. Years from now there will be new labels for the LGBTQ community. As a child I knew the word queer stood for both gay and lesbians.
the utter shock learning mr. galitzine is a straight man is a traumatazing experience we all share i mean no straight man should look that gorgeous or have such lips come onnn
I love HD! Watched it twice and will watch it again when time permits. Nicholas was so good in it, and Andrew Scott was the cherry on the cake. Didn't expect you to do a reaction to an oldie but goody! Thanks so much!
I've seen this film twice. I loved it and I thought Nicholas Galzatine gave a very good performance. BTW, when he isn't working he has a lot of blonde highlights.
I watched this a few days ago. I didn’t really understand the siginificance of the title, honestly. It could have been titled better, IMO. Also, I recommend “The Beat Beneath My Feet”. Nicholas Galitzine plays a hyper socially awkward teenager (Tom) with dreams of becoming a guitar god. Luke Perry plays a reclusive former guitar god from the 90’s who has long been thought to be dead. Tom struggles with his mother’s extreme attitude toward musicians because of the deadbeat and overall churchiness. It’s really good and you get to see Nicholas’ chops as a musician/singer. He’s doing a good job of acting like he can’t play guitar but he absolutely can. Luke Perry gives a really sensitive and understated performance.
This is one of my favourite films of all time. This was right after Andrew Scott came out publicly and seeing him give such a heartbreaking performance of a gay man closeted to save himself but still trying desperately to help the younger queers around him is so devastating
I think the handsome devil is Conor. The title of ned's essay at the beginning is Handsome Devil, and the entire movie is the content of his essay, unfolding from his perspective and writing about the impact that Conor's arrival has had on him.
Omg, I watched that movie around a year ago (summer 2022 I think) and I did not remember Nickolas! Watching R,W&RB I liked him a lot, but his face did not ring a bell in my head at all. Even now it get me a minute to recognize him😂
26:32 Teachers in school get away with some of the most heinous things without batting an eyelid. I used to have a PT/Games Teacher who was openly misogynistic and more in a classroom. That’s not the precedent one wants.
He has literally statee he is straight so many times and og fans know all his ex gf and current gf. We just don't delve deeper into his relationships. Heck fan accounts don't even post any pics with any of his gfs.
For all the hype, every bit of encomiums deserved by the actors. he script and the devoted actors BUT there is no lust: affection, gentle, devoted, fuzzy BUT observe Joong and Monk, there is love and lus.
Nicholas's sexuality has nothing to do with me. In fact, it has nothing to do with anyone. But by choosing the movies he plays... like: Handsome Devil, Craft, RWRB, Mary & George........ After all, he reads the script first and then he chooses the role after knowing the story of the movie! And so many homosexual roles make a lot of people doubt... anyway...... Nicholas was made to be an actor! Show me someone who can express such feelings, sadness, pain, happiness, loneliness, and even love from his face and eyes??!!! No one can! All that directors have to do is to make a movie, and put Nicholas Galitzine in it!
so happy you are doing this! I loved this movie. Even if the ending left me bittersweet because: what if Conor wasn't an amazing player but just as good as anyone else? must a gay guy be better than everyone else to be supported that way? But I loved it all the same, and I'm loving your reaction. You always are both funny and very good at analyze the movies you watch.
Nicholas is very beautiful and the most comfortable is that his face is very beautiful and handsome so I like to watch his movies and his creativity is good at singing, playing and dancing very perfect.❤
Watched this movie AGES ago and can’t for the life of me remember what happens in the second half, so am looking forward to re-watching with you both! At this point I will just be here watching anything you two watch 😂 Also, at the school I teach at, I never hear “that’s so gay” anymore, but did have to have a chat with a student last week about using the f-slur in a casual conversation with his mates, so there’s that. When I chat with the allies club kids, they tell me it’s the worst in the locker bays. So my feeling is that things are much better but not perfect for queer kids at school these days. I do think the representation in tv/film/books etc is helping though. It certainly creates more awareness/knowledge of non-cishet identities, and kids are much more open to exploring who they are rather than just assuming they’re straight and cis. And that’s really cool to see.
Your reactions just get better and better. I watched this a few years back and thought it was a beautiful film. Interesting that NG does opt to take many LGBTQ roles. In his next film next he plays James I lover. Keep doing what you are doing as it never fails to make me smile.❤
International lgbtq+ themed films were pretty hard to find where I live even a few years ago, but Handsome Devil was one of the few I could get my hands on. It's been a while since I watched it, but I should. I remember feeling so frustrated with how homophobic this school was. This has similar themes to Heartstopper, but a lot darker tone. It'll be interesting to watch this now that Heartstopper has shown how uplifting it can be to see queer kids be accepted by theif peers.
He made another queer character in the movie craft: legacy. Really interesting to be honest but i as a person who actually investigate if any of the actors i follow have ever made a gay movie. It's kind of funny to find out like, really unexpected actors sometimes has a gay movie they're in it.
Love your reactions ❤ I have rewatched many times some of your reactions cuz it’s just so funny 😂 but I mean why not one video of Maurice (1987) 😮/ my fv gay movie of all time
Re:Taylor and Nicholas discourse. I am of the opnion they have said enough and shown enough with thier actions (esp Taylor via pre kissing booth release) that its reasonable to think that 1.Nick is straight 2. Taylor is queer. Nick has previously referred to himself as an ally and he didnt say anything about the variety article characterising him as straight. Taylor has never stated his sexuality but again if you were in his socials pre kissing both he wasnt really hiding his queerness. Ofcourse sexuality is fluid and a spectrum so how people label/identify themselves can change esp if you grow up in an environment where you werent allowed to be curious and/or express yourself in certain ways. People redefine their sexualities later in life and thats valid. But for now i think its totally reasonable to infer thier sexualities as being what i previously stated.
Nicholas tweeted out a happy pride tweet and referred to himself as an ally. And also the variety article referred to him as "identifying as straight" and he spoke about his role as Henry in terms which made it obvious he was talking about the role from a straight identifying point of view. He has also recently said he is going to STOP accepting queer roles because he is aware that it may become really problematic if he continues to do so. Why would he say that if he was queer?...
Yes, sexuality is fluid and a spectrum. It’s entirely possible to identify as straight and have experienced gay sex, even not excluding future such encounters. Does that make one ‘bi’ ? I don’t know. As Uma Thurman says in RWRB, ‘B’ is not a silent letter. Also, tastes and attractions may change or evolve over time. So, from straight to occasionally bi/gay to straight again is entirely possible. The problem with the LGBTQ acronym is that it tends to compartmentalize one’s sexuality.
Sutch an underated movie. When U watched it for the first time I loved it so mutch. The story and all characters are so interesting. Also re-watched it yesterday cause I saw u were gonna react to it. So I had to for Nicolas
Absolutely love this movie. Not a gay romance but definitely deals with so many issues. I adore Andrew Scott's character. Really think I need to watch it again. Looking forward to seeing the reaction to Part 2
I'm new to following you on Social Media--just since your RW&RB reactions 1&2. Did you ever post a video with your origin story? I thought at first that you were a romantic couple, but then realized that you were just close friends. I would love to know how you became friends and then decided to start this channel.
I remember vividly going to a gay bar downtown during my lunch break (they served burgers at a grill), and being seen by a coworker leaving. I told the truth: I went in for a burger. Turns out they weren't being judgemental, just curious, and they thought I was straight and brave. This was around 1980. I wouldn't have been too concerned about it, except my brother *also* happened to work there, so I was afraid of having to talk about it with *him*. Was nowhere near being out yet.
It’s 2024 now and ‘that’s gay’ still is used at my school as an insult. I was called many names that I will not repeat even before I came out. After it just got worse, I was in year 7. I’ve been told by what I thought was close friends that I will go to hell. So I don’t know how much we really have progressed in that sense.
When I watched this one for the first time I was like WTF because the actress who plays the lead character's stepmum looks so much like Rhea Norwood (Imogen in Heartstopper)
I recall loving this movie when it was hot off the presses! Now I am thinking you may as well review all of the media where Nicholas Galitzine plays a queer individual. Also, I am sure you both were at schools during Section 28. I wonder what period this film is meant to be set in?
