"Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse": How Is This Not a Coming-Out Movie?

Spider-Man, introduced in 1962, was one of the first in Marvel Comics' stable of flawed superheroes, a welcome counterpart to DC's indefatigibly stalwart square-jaws:  high schooler Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider, gets spider-powers, and doesn't know how to save the world while negotiating teen angst.  Many high schoolers in the Vietnam-Nixon-Kent State era could relate.

Since then Spidey has spun off into comic books, movies, a tv series, a Broadway show, and dozens of "what if?" alternatives, some of whom come together in the gay symbolism-packed Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

In a trippy near-Earth,  Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore, top photo) is a outsider (gay) kid, obsessed with comic books, street art, and his hero, Spider-Man.

His (homophobic) straight-laced father, police officer Jefferson Davis (Bryan Tyree Henry) doesn't like (gay people) Spider-Man.

Time out:  who decided to name a black guy after the President of the Confederacy?

Miles (realizes that he's gay) is bit by a radioactive spider, joins a gym (gets muscular overnight), and excretes sticky webs  (you figure it out).

He sneaks out to visit his Uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali, who played a gay character in Green Book and the father of a gay kid in Moonlight).

Aaron is estranged from Dad because he's (gay) a screw-up.  He gives Miles lessons on how to talk to girls (guys): hand on shoulder, intense gaze, sultry "Hey."

Spider-Man dies, and Miles must take his place.  He negotiates high school, not telling anyone that he is (gay) the new Spider-Man, wishing that he wasn't the only (gay person) Spider-Man in the world.

Due to a space-time vortex created by the (heteronormative) Big Bad, Spider-People living in alternate worlds  are swept away from home and  end up in Miles' world.

Miles bonds with Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), a middle-aged Spider-Man who married his girlfriend Mary Jane, but now is divorced because he is (gay) a screw-up.

The other (gay people) Spider-People include Gwen Stacey, a (lesbian) female Spider-Man; Spider-Man Noir, from a film noir world; Peter Porker, aka Spider-Ham; and Peni Parker, a girl from a distant future world.

The  (gay club) secret Spider-Man group works together to defeat the (heteronormative) Big Bad and (assimilate) get back to their home dimensions.

Miles now accepts his role as a Spider-Man (gay person).  Still in disguise, he rushes up and hugs his Dad, who is shocked by his (gay) affection. Dad says "I don't approve of your (lifestyle) methods, but I respect you."

Miles concludes:  "When I feel alone, like no one understands what I'm going through (as a gay teen), I remember my friends who get it. I never thought I'd be able to do any of this stuff, but I can. Anyone can (be gay) wear the mask. You could (be gay) wear the mask. If you didn't know that before, I hope you do now. Because I'm (gay)  Spider-Man. And I'm not the only one. Not by a long shot."

10 Things You Should Know about Chris Petrovski

Someone found his way onto this website by googling "Chris Petrovski gay."  I never heard of Chris Petrovski before, so I had to look him up.  I discovered 10 essential facts.

1. He is 27 years old, born in Macedonia but raised in New Zealand.  He moved as an infant, so he has to fake his Slavic accents.

2. His first role involved displaying his chest in Spartacus: War of the Damned (2010).

3. After college he moved to the U.S. to become a serious actor.  He graduated from the Stella Adler Academy.

4. He starred in Live to Tell (2012), about a gay teenager who keeps a vblog, and Finding Dad (2012), about a teenager who comes between a long-term gay couple.

5. He starred in In the Moment (2016-2017), about the life of a struggling actor, with episodes on "what to do if your friends aren't actors" and "where to work out in L.A."

6. Currently he is appearing on Madam Secretary, about a female secretary of state (not based on Hillary Clinton).  His character is a Russian soldier who becomes an American spy.

7.  He has a lot of male friends.

8. He has a wife.

9. Finding beefcake pics is easy. The guy doesn't appear to own a shirt.

10.  I also found an underwear pic,but it was too revealing for a G-rated blog.

See also: Spartacus: From Tony Curtis cruising Olivier to "House of Ashur," with gladiators, gay guys, gore, and a lot of penises

David and Ricky Nelson: Teen Idols Show Off on the Flying Trapeze

Sons of bandleader Ozzie Nelson and his wife Harriet, David Nelson (born 1936) and his kid brother Ricky Nelson (born 1940)  began their careers playing "themselves" on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, first on radio (1950-52) and then on tv (1952-1966).  They shared equally in their parents' fame.

But then one day in 1957, Ricky sang the Fats Domino hit "I'm Walkin'" on the show, and suddenly he was a superstar, arguably the first teen idol of the Boomer generation, selling millions of records, performing at sold-out concerts, interviewed in every teen magazine.

David. . .wasn't.

The brothers had always been very close, and it hurt Ricky -- and his parents -- to see David left behind.  But how could he help?

David was much more muscular than Ricky, an accomplished acrobat (and apparently much more gifted in the beneath-the-belt department).  If his voice wouldn't bring fame, maybe his biceps and bulge would.

Ricky and Ozzie used their connections to get him a starring role in The Big Circus (1959), as Tommy Gordon, a teenage trapeze artist with murderous intent.  Not only did he get to play against type, he spent most of the movie in a tight, revealing leotard.

David showed so much talent that Del and Babs Graham, "The Flying Viennas" who performed the movie's stunts, asked him to join their troupe.  He agreed, and Ricky, sensing an opportunity for fraternal togetherness, joined as well.  Soon they were performing as "The Flying Nelsons," with Ricky as the "flier" and David as the "catcher" (not the gay meaning).  Dad had a circus big top installed next to the studio for them to practice in.

Is it just me, or is there something decidedly homoerotic about the sight of Ricky hurling through the air and landing in David's muscular arms?

Ricky didn't really like hurling through the air, so after the brothers performed on a 1960 episode of Ozzie and Harriet, he dropped out.  But David starred as a trapeze artist in The Big Show (1961), doing all of his own stunts, and performed on The Hollywood Palace (1966) and several Circus of the Stars tv specials (1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982).  It was a lifelong passion, all due to brotherly love.

See also: Ricky Nelson; and 1970s trapeze artist and Playgirl model Jim Cavaretta;

Big Mouth Season 3: Hormone Monsters Become Gay Positive

I've seen Season 3 of Big Mouth, and I'm happy to report that it's become much more LGBTQ-inclusive. And inclusive of everybody else. Among the supporting cast members are a kid in a wheelchair and a kid with autism.

Big Mouth is about a group of middle schoolers negotiating puberty, guided/ egged on by their hormone monsters: Maurice for most of the boys and Connie for most of the girls, although Nick gets Connie as well, leading him to question whether he is too feminine.

I thought that the hormone monsters were just personifications of the pubescents' interior state, but evidently they have an external reality.  There's a whole Human Management bureaucracy, with procedural manuals, meetings, and office parties.

While the monsters push for wild sexual excess, the kids are mostly worried about holding hands and "does he like me or like like me?"  Not that there isn't raunch:

When Jessi tries to get her first orgasm, we learn an awful lot about the vagina. Way more than I wanted to know.

The third season moves away from "I'm going through changes" to explore some of the issues of contemporary teenagers:  Attention-Deficit Disorder, cell phone addiction, nude selfies, sexual harassment,  "hot or not" lists.  The "Queer Eye" Fab Five show up to give Coach Steve a makeover.

There are three characters of gay interest:

1. Andrew Glouberman, whose extra-big penis causes him anxiety and consternation (yes, we see it).

2. Matthew, the swishy gay kid, has been previously consigned to making snarky comments.  Now he gets a boyfriend.

"You're going to put it in him!"  Maurice exclaims.  But for middle schoolers, just holding hands is enough.

3. Jay, who doesn't seem to have a hormone monster even though he masturbates a thousand times a day, kissed Matthew at the end of Season 2. This season he comes out as bisexual, which upsets his friends; they don't mind bisexual girls, but the thought of a guy finding them attractive is creepy.

But Jay doesn't actually date anyone other than pillows and couch cushions; most of his plots involve dealing with his negligent parents and abusive older brothers.

Maybe in Season 4.

See also: Big Mouth: The Hormone Monster Strikes Again