We Choose Our Own Families

July 12, 2018

This week, we take a deep dive into "Pose," Ryan Murphy's new show on FX, and unpack the role of queer chosen families in pop culture. We dissect some of our favorite scenes — featuring Blanca Abundance Evangelista (Mj Rodriguez), Elektra Abundance (Dominique Jackson), and Angel (Indya Moore) — and celebrate the nuanced stories told of queer and trans characters of color by queer and trans people of color. Are we free to create chosen families that support who we are and who we're trying to be, or are we destined to replicate the burdens and blessings of our biological families?

Discussed this week:

• "Far From the Tree" (dir: Rachel Dretzin, 2018)
• "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" (dir: Morgan Neville, 2018)
• "Whitney" (dir: Kevin MacDonald, 2018)
• "Review: ‘Whitney,’ a Pop Music Tragedy, Is Sad, Strange and Dismaying" (Wesley Morris, The New York Times, July 5, 2018)
• "Three Identical Strangers" (dir: Tim Wardel, 2018)
• "Whack World" (Tierra Whack, 2018)
• "Pose" (FX, 2018)
• "Queer Eye" (Netflix, 2018)
• "My House" (Viceland, 2018)