Pop Culture Fix: Suzume Was Almost a Lesbian Love Story, Instead of a Furniture Love Story

Good morning! I would like to thank 50mg of Sumatriptan for knocking out my migraine and getting my Monday off to a good start, and also I would like to thank you for reading this first Pop Culture Fix of the week! (And coffee, I would always like to thank coffee.)


+ Makoto Shinkai says Suzume was almost a lesbian romance, but he didn’t think the Japanese market was ready for a love story between two women. Speaking to Looper about the change from his original plan, he said, “At first, I wanted to turn this story into a movie about Suzume and another girl journeying. Why I even wanted to go in that direction in the first place is because I personally felt a little bit tired of telling the very traditional romance story. I felt that in Your Name, I did everything that I possibly could in terms of ‘boy meets girl’ and ‘will they, won’t they, will they meet.’ That element of romance is very relatable to the masses, which is why it was a subject matter that resonated with a large audience.” Instead of a sapphic romance, Suzume spends her time pining over a chair. Which, like, I love my frog chair in Animal Crossing as much as the next lesbian but gosh!

+ The Watermelon Woman is coming to The Criterion Collection!

+ Sophie B. Hawkins is glad “Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover” is a lesbian anthem.

+ In this week’s episode of The Rookie: Feds, called “I Am Many,” real life wives Niecy Nash and Jessica Betts will rekindle their on-screen romance.

+ Your first look at Never Have I Ever season four, with Fab’s most excellent red tux.

+ Them has ranked Succession characters by queerness. Shiv is awfully low on these lists for someone who wanted to have a threesome and then just do it with the woman doctor and without Tom back in season two, you guys!

+ Tessa Thompson will star in Nia DaCosta’s Hedda, a reimagining of Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen’s famed play. According to The Hollywood Reporter: “Written and directed by Nia DaCosta — coming off both the success of 2021’s Candyman and her upcoming MCU debut The Marvels (the first trailer for which recently landed) — the feature is billed as an epic and visceral reimagination of Henrik Ibsen’s famed 1891 stage play, and reunites the filmmaker with Thompson after she starred in the director’s critically acclaimed 2018 debut feature Little Woods.” Hedda Gabler! The lady Hamlet! Let’s go!

+ Nissa and Chandra: MTG famous’ LGTBQIA+ couple are canon now!

+ Lili Reinhart would like to explore Betty’s sexuality before Riverdale ends.

+ Billy Porter to star as Black queer icon James Baldwin, in a movie he’s co-writing.

+ Our TV Team’s Eagle Eye, Natalie, spied Sepideh Moafi in this new Class of 09 trailer from FX.

+ The Last of Us plans to be around longer than two season.

+ Netflix apologizes for botching last night’s Love Is Blind reunion.

+ And finally, two video game trailers I know you’re gonna love! Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores.

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Heather Hogan

Heather Hogan is an Autostraddle senior editor who lives in New York City with her wife, Stacy, and their cackle of rescued pets. She's a member of the Television Critics Association, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, and a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer critic. You can also find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Heather has written 1718 articles for us.

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