The "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" boys grow up: Gay subtexts and physiques of Zayne, Elijah, and Steele. With bonus Dad chest

 

Link to the n*de photos

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015-19) starred Rachel Bloom as Rebecca Bunch, a driven attorney (with degrees from Harvard and Yale both) who drops everything and moves to West Covina, California to track down Josh, the boy she met at summer camp 15 years ago (Vincent Rodriguez III, who would go on to play everyone's favorite family-friendly gay guy).  

As she tries to steal him away from his current girlfriend, then gives up and dates other guys, Rebecca becomes immersed in the lives of his friends and associates, including the gay White Josh (David Hull, left), who dates her newly-out bisexual boss.  And there are musical numbers that reveal the characters' inner state, such as "Fit Hot Guys Have Problems, Too."

We liked it so much that we went through the series twice.

Paula Proctor (Donna Lynne Chaplin), Rebecca's confidant and partner-in-crime in the devious schemes to land Josh, is a nuclear family mom with a troubled marriage to Scott (Steven Munroe, below) and two kids who dislike her.

1. Brendan is a budding juvenile delinquent who is obsessed with knives and swords ("What did I say about the katana on the table) and sells marijuana, with customers including Josh's girlfriend Valencia and Dad Scott. His heterosexual identity is not established until Season 3, when he mentions that Rebecca has "nice b* oobs" When his father tells him to be respectful, he changes it to "beautiful br* easts."

In Seasons 1 and 3, Brendan was played by 16-20 year old Zayne Emory, who has 27 credits listed on the IMDB, including episodes of Modern Family, Shameless, Supergirl, and a lot of teencoms.  

He played JC Spink, Adam's bully-turned-friend on 29 episodes of The Goldbergs (2015-22).  JC has a gay-subtext buddy-bond with Brian (Zach Callison).

Most recently Zayne appeared on 10 episodes of The Rookie (2018-24) as Henry, son of main character John Nolan (Nathan Fillion).  He has a girlfriend.

Zayne appears to be heterosexual in real life, but at least he's given us a n*de selfie (on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends)

2. In Season 2, Brendan was played by 17-year old Elijah Nelson, who has 38 acting credits on the IMDB, including episodes of The Thunderman, Bizaardvark, American Housewife, 911 Lone Star, and SWAT. 

Most recently he has played himself in 91 episodes of Shiloh and Bros (2020-25).  Brothers Elijah, Micah, Judah, and Josiah, and their sister Shiloh, post humorous videos like "Dress to Impress in Real Life" and "If Among Us Had No Chats."

More after the break

"The Sandman": Season 2: What happened to the beefcake and gay romance? After watching, you'll need to see some hunks

  

Link to the NSFW version

We're watching Season 2 of The Sandman on Netflix, based on the 75-issue Neil Gaiman comic book series featuring the Dream of the Endless negotiating crises with humans, various magical beings, and his siblings, whose names all begin with D (Death, Destruction, Desire) and end with "of the Endless."  

1. In Season 1, the Sandman is an otherworldly creature, dark and mysterious, who rarely intrudes upon the human realm.  He spends 50 years naked in a bottle, staring at the humans as if they are a bizarre alien species.  In Season 2, he is a jaded aristocrat who hangs out in the human realm all the time, taking cabs and paying for things.

Or look at Lucifer: in Season 1, a seductive, dangerous being with motives and desires that are impossible for humans to comprehend.   In Season 2, an elderly British aristocrat who wants to sit on the beach with a cup of tea.

2. In Season 1, the Endless are responsible for the working of the human realm.  When Dream is captured, the world falls into chaos: millions of people fall asleep and can't wake up, and others can't fall asleep at all.  In Season 2, the Endless mostly engage in partying and pranks.  The only one we see doing any actual work is Death, who escorts people to the afterlife. 

3. Season 1 has high stakes. A nightmare is running rampant in the human realm, plus an unstable guy has acquired Dream's ruby of infinite power, and changes the world, with disastrous results.  In Season 2, there's some rumbling about a prophecy, but mostly it's episodic stories, like deciding who to give the keys to Hell to after Lucifer retires, or trying to track down Dream's ex-girlfriend from 10,000 years ago (who is not interested in getting back together).

4. In Season 1, there are many gay characters.  A gay couple in the first episode.  A lesbian couple in the second.  In Episode 6, two gay/lesbian couples emerge among the six people stuck in a diner, when they are forced to tell the truth of their situation. Plus a heterosexual liason involving the lady in charge of the company and job applicant Mark (Laurie Brewer, right, n*de on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends).

More after the break. 

Kurt R: Catholic, dancer, bodybuilder, TikTok star with a potential boyfriend, some selfies, and three bodybuilder brothers

  

Link to the nude dudes

Another Instagram recommendation: Kurt R., posing with...his boyfriends or his buddies?

The two guys on the right end pose separately: "Best Workout Partner." I still don't know which one is Kurt.

"Family Tradition."  I think they're brothers.  Imagine, four bodybuilder brothers, all about the same age. The food bill in that family must be enormous.

There are some selfies on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends.  For the G-rated version, here's the family all together (except for a couple of girls that I cropped out).

More after the break.  

Everybody's Talking about Jamie: A 16-Year Old Aspires to Drag Stardom

For movie night, we almost always get post-apocalyptic, sci-fi, or Marvel Comics Universe.  But last night, we watched a musical: Everybody's Talking About Jamie on Amazon Prime.  

Newcomer Max Harwood plays Jamie New (great name!), a 16-year old gay boy in Sheffield, England who dreams of becoming a drag queen because performing in drag always means instant fame and fortune.  (Um...no.  Most drag queens perform as a hobby; only a few make a living from it).  

He has the full support of most students, including his best friend Priti (the only Muslim girl in school), plus his Mom and her best friend, a woman named Ray.

His only detractors are a group of homophobic, Islamophobic bullies led by the boorish Dean Paxton (Sam Bottomley, top photo and right, who is 20 years old and a gay and Muslim ally in real life).

Plus the Career Education Teacher, Miss Hedge, who claims that she's opposed to drag because it won't lead to a successful career, but actually just disapproves of feminine boys.  

Also, in a subplot, Jamie's father (Ralph Ineson, but without the scraggly hair and muscular chest) wants nothing to do with him, but Jamie's Mom has been sending him cards and presents under Dad's name.  When the deceit comes out, Jamie has a meltdown and angrily breaks up with his Mom (yes, they have a quasi-romantic relationship, most evident when Mom sings about a "lost love" who broke her heart when he left, and she means Jamie: "my man...my son...my man!").

Turns out that Jamie was traumatized early in childhood, when Dad caught him trying on makeup and called him "disgusting," "a freak," and so on.  Ever after, he's considered himself "nothing," and he thinks that becoming a drag queen will make him "somebody."

Seeking out a dress, Jamie goes to a drag shop in Sheffield (Sheffield, England has drag shops?), where he meets Hugo, aka legendary drag queen Loco Chanelle (Richard E. Grant, who is not a drag queen in real life, but he has starred in Twelfth Night, My Fair Lady, Doctor Who, and some Marvel Comic Universe movies).  Hugo demonstrates that drag is not about being famous, it's about fighting homophobic oppression.  With his mentoring, Jamie performs as Mimi Me at the local drag club (yep, Sheffield has drag clubs, too), and gets a standing ovation.

Now all that remains is to go to the prom in a dress.  Miss Hedge, who apparently has full power to dictate proper prom attire, absolutely forbids it, but gives in when the students rebel en masse.  Even the bully Dean Paxton promises to be nice "just for one night," and he and Jamie go into the prom hand-in-hand.  

Beefcake: None.  

Gay Characters:  Jamie and the drag queens, presumably, although here "gay" really means feminine.  Jamie never expresses any same-sex interest.

Heterosexism:  None.  No one but Ray expresses any heterosexual interest, unless you count Jamie's Mom being in love with "my man."

Implausibility:  A drag store and a drag club in Sheffield, but no other gay kids at Jamie's school.  Are 16-year olds admitted to bars in England?

Soundtrack:  Some of the songs are annoyingly repetitious.  

My Grade: B.