"Black Monday": Downlow financier, closeted Congressman, and a photocopied dick in the homophobic 1980s

  

  Link to the NSFW review

Black Monday, October 17, 1987, is named after a stock market crash that resulted in a drop of 22.6% in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and $500 billion in losses in the U.S., 1.7 trillion dollars worldwide.  I didn't hear anything about it at the time: in West Hollywood we didn't concern ourselves with such trivial matters as finances.  But apparently in the straight world, it was a big deal.  

I still find the world of finance immensely boring, but I happened to notice that an episode of the 2019-22 Black Monday tv series showed Andrew Rannells having sex with a guy -- the scene I used as an illustration for my Gideon-Keefe fan fiction -- so I checked out Episode 2.4, "Fore."

Scene 1: Bosses Dawn, a middle aged black woman, and Blair (Andrew Rannells) , a swishy white man, show horndogs Wayne and Yassir(Horatio Sanz, Yassir X) a photocopy of an enormous penis. They've received an anonymous sexual harassment complaint.  Blair yells at them: "The women in the office don't want to look at that, and neither do I."  

And this is a bad time: Congress is about to pass deregulation, so we'll be getting generational wealth. You'll be able to set up your kids' kids' kids If Amerasavings gets wwind of this,.... Ugh, economics and politics.  Let's get some zombies up in here.

The guys protest that it wasn't them, but they are punished by being placed in the "Rubber Room" for a month, and they have to apologize to every woman in the office.  Then Blair leaves --- he has to go play golf with Congressman Roger  (Tuc Watkins, Andrew's real-life boyfriend) to ensure that he will vote for deregulation.  Dawn can't come, because she's not a white man. Wait -- he calls her "babe."  Are they romantic partners, too?

Scene 2:  The horndogs figure that they've been framed, targeted by "some lying bitch" for being the last old-school "women should enjoy getting their butts grabbed" horndogs in the office. Their plan: find out who issued the bogus complaint, apologize, and then "get revenge." 

Scene 3: Blair goes back to his apartment -- still under construction -- and starts making out with his boyfriend -- Congressman Roger!  

Meanwhile, a lady bursts into the office to yell at the "home-wrecking harlot" who's destroying their marriage.  She wasn't expecting a middle aged black lady: "Blair" sounds more like a young, giggly blond, like the girl from Facts of Life.   

"This is a mixup from the tits up," Dawn assures her.  Blair is a man.  He goes golfing with Congressman Roger to push for his deregulation vote.  A downlow romance!  Neither of the wives know!

"But they golf all the time, in Palm Springs, San Francisco, Fire Island,,," Gay meccas, har-har.

"Standard business trips." A perfect example of heteronormativity: gay men cannot exist, so everything must have a heterosexual explanation.

The Wife, Corky, insists: "Blair and my husband are having sex...with other women, and using each other as alibis."  Come on, no one is that stupid!

Dawn calls Blair to prove that he is playing golf -- just as he is about to.... The wives will be driving out to the country club to meet them on the golf course.  "um...what hole are you in?"  Har-har.

Uh-oh, Blair knows nothing about golf, and it's too late to learn!

Scene 4: The horndogs try to play "good cop/bad cop" while interrogating the women. Except Yassir thinks they're supposed to both be bad cops, because "all cops are bad."

Scene 5: On the way to the country club, Wife Corky complains that Congressman Roger has betrayed her with a "nancy."  Dawn insists that Blair isn't gay, but Wife  Corky meant "a Nancy Reagan," who stole future President Reagan away from his first wife, Jane Wyman. Har-har.

She does happen to be the daughter of a Jerry Falwell-like homophobic televangelist.  He sells a special cologne that can "spray the gay away."

More after the break

At the country club, people keep gushing over Dawn and telling her how talented she is.  She tells the only other African-American at the club, a waiter (Jamar Malachi Neighbors), that they all look alike to white people, so when one appears in their space and isn't a servant, they assume that she's a famous actress. 

Meanwhile, Blair struggles ludicrously to take the proper "swinging pole" from the "quiver."  He is put out of his misery when Dawn accidentally hits him with her golf cart.

Scene 6:  After a visit to the infirmary, the four sit down to lunch.  Wife  Corky confesses that she had the ridiculous idea that the guys were "out chasing fillies together."  She lists some of the events that they went together.  Wait -- he didn't take Blair to the Tony Awards -- he went with another guy!  Congressman Roger is cheating on the guy he's cheating on his wife with!

Scene 7: Cut to the horndogs arguing.  Yassir doesn't think that they should be showing the penis photo to the women.  Wayne thinks that it's necessary for the interrogations.  "But they know what a penis looks like."

They gather the women for a group interrogation, but everyone starts talking about last night's episode of Dallas, including Yassir. Historical reference, har-har.

Scene 8: Roiling with jealousy over the Congressman Roger's infidelity, Blair starts to out him, but Dawn "accidentally" throws her drink on him, as an excuse to get him alone: "I've never seen anyone so visibly hurt!"  He's about to out the guy who will be voting on deregulation in a few hours.  Their jobs depend on his vote!  So Dawn knows that her husband is gay, and helps him keep his affairs secret.

"But how could he cheat on me?"

"He's a man, dummy!  Men cheat."  When Congressman Roger comes in, she snarls "Fix this!"

Congressman Roger claims that "those other guys meant nothing."  To prove it, he demonstrates that he carries Blair's penis photo in his wallet.  Penis photo mystery solved!   But he hadn't realized that Blair wanted a monogamous relationship.  He promises to be faithful, and not have sex with anyone else except his wife "for maintenance" and an occasional secretary "to keep up appearances."

Wife Corky walks in on them kissing.  Dawn tries to put a heterosexual spin on it, but she is relieved.  Her husband wouldn't leave her for another man -- it would destroy his career.  Their marriage is safe! 

Later, Blair apologizes for not telling Dawn about the affair, and potentially jeopardizing the deregulation vote.  She's happy that he found someone, but insists that they be more careful to avoid jeopardizing their careers. 

Scene 9: Yassir reveals that he's the one who made the anonymous complaint, because he's sick of Wayne treating women so badly.  Finding the penis photo in the photocopier was the last straw. "Times are changing.  We just had a girl vice president candidate. Of course, she got smoked, because duh! But still..."

But Wayne insists that it's not his penis.  To prove it, he drops his pants and shows his own to every woman in the office, and the viewers.  At that moment, Dawn and Blair appear.  He asks "Can I get a ride?" and stomps out.

On TV, Congress has just voted for deregulation.  Everyone cheers.

Uh-oh, another news report.  The Florida branch of Amerisavings and Loan was hit by a deadly shooting.  The police think that it was a money-laundering operation for the cocaine trade, and a deal went wrong. The stock has been frozen after a deep decline.  There's a montage of flashback scenes.  I'm not sure what's happening, but I think they're in trouble.  The end.

Beefcake: The guys are nude.  Some penises.

Gay characters: Apparently Blair went through a long, painful coming-out process during Season 1 -- understandable, since this is the homophobic 1980s.  This is his first gay relationship.  Also, he's got an estranged wife off-camera; Dawn is just an ally.  

Diversity: The showrunners specified that they wanted a diverse cast: we already have plenty of financial dramas featuring straight white guys.  So most of the main characters are black, gay, or Muslim. 

Historical References: Everything from Dallas to Nancy Reagan.  I particularly liked a scene where a group of woman all want a photo with Dawn and look around expectantly, as if expecting a smartphone.  But of course, cell phones didn't exist, and no one had a big, bulky camera in their pocket.

F*k the Sadness: The last scene, with a gruesome mass shooting, killed the mood.

My Grade: B+

Various dicks, real and mimeographed on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends