Brigette Lundy-Paine on gender revolution of I Saw the TV Glow: ‘It’s eggs cracking after eggs cracking – it’s kind of a miracle’

We know, we know, we say this all the time, but we really mean it this time: you simply must watch I Saw the TV Glow, possibly the best queer-themed horror film of all time (A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 used to be our ironic favourite…) and definitely a watershed moment for gender-diversity on screen.

Think the mystery of Stranger Things meets the wicked humour of Bodies Bodies Bodies, mixed with the teen angst of My So-Called Life and the existential terror of David Lynch and you’re part way there.

The film stars Brigette Lundy-Pain as Maddy and Justice Smith as Owen: two moody teens who become obsessed with The Pink Opaque, a horror show in the vein of Buffy or Goosebumps. Like, really obsessed. If you re-watch the same old content over and over, prepare to be triggered: their preoccupation with The Pink Opaque continues into adulthood, leading them to wildly different places, and alarmingly different understandings of who they are.

“I’d absolutely be on board for a Pink Opaque spin-off” – Brigette Lundy-Pain

The film makes a powerful case for radical self-acceptance, and has led to multiple viewer breakthroughs, or ‘egg cracks’ around identity, for this writer included.

“I think this film is going to be passed around, like so much of queer media,” said Brigette, who is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, in an interview with Attitude this month. “It’s going be the token of welcoming from one generation to the next. ‘Oh, you’re having these feelings? It’s time for you to watch I Saw the TV Glow.’”

Here, Brigette gives us the inside story on Jane Schoenbrun’s latest movie (their last, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, about a chronically online teenager overtaken by a virtual horror game, is also worth a watch), reflects on the power of LGBTQ horror fandom and makes a compelling case for the queer credentials of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Hear them out!

Were I Saw the TV Glow‘s queer themes immediately apparent to you on reading the script?

I immediately knew what the central metaphor was of the film, partly because I’d met Jane. Jane and I had spoken about the themes of it, and also our experiences, and the types of stories we wanted to tell. But also, just because something in it really resonates with me. I understood what burying himself alive meant, because I’ve felt in my own life, I was burying myself alive.

I Saw the TV Glow makes an all the more powerful statement about queer acceptance through its subtlety. Can you describe in your own words the film’s subtle approach to queerness, and particularly gender-diversity?

The film follows two teenagers’ relationship to a TV show. If you look at it from the lens that the TV show represents this total strength and freedom, these central mythic truths – I think Maddy and Owen represent two lost souls who are trying to get back to their central myths. What Maddie discovers, and comes back to try to help Owen understand, is you have to destroy yourself to discover this freedom in yourself. Because everything you’ve been taught is a lie. All these things you remember are lies. The only thing that’s really true is, you are this heroic figure who is meant to battle monsters and save the world, basically. Whatever that world is to you.

Have you heard from any viewers who say I Saw the TV Glow has helped them come to terms with an LGBTQ identity?

I’ve heard from so many people who have found words for their queerness after watching the film. Confidence in their identity. I know Jane has as well. I think everyone who’s worked on the film has. If you read through Letterboxd, it’s eggs cracking after eggs cracking. I think it’s kind of a miracle.

Is there a particular TV show or film – or, if you can be even more specific, a character, storyline, or scene – that most helped you accept yourself growing up?

There’s so much. I’ve been pretty drenched in media. When I’m thinking of an immediate response, it’s Emily the Strange. A character in a graphic novel series, and she has straight black bangs and black hair. She lives by herself with her four cats in this, like, dank, dirty laboratory, where she’s trying to get to the root of seeing. It’s just stories of her and her cats that are very poetic. One of the books is called Seeing is Deceiving. It’s literally just about her turning a bench upside down and understanding it as a wicked tree. She was an early obsession of mine.

Would you be on-board for a Pink Opaque spin-off series?

I would absolutely be on board for a Pink Opaque spin-off series. Yeah. Whatever’s next, I’m in.

Do you think there’s more I Saw the TV Glow story to tell, whether a TV show or more movies?

I do. I know for Jane this is the second film in their Screen Trilogy. Which is We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, I Saw the TV Glow and they have actually just turned what was originally a TV series into a book, which is their debut novel. It’s called Public Access Afterworld. So that’s coming very soon. That’s like, the third instalment. I don’t know what’s next in the film world of it.

Have you noticed theres an active community of LGBTQ horror-film lovers out there?

Absolutely. The crossover, it’s a Venn diagram like this [puts a circled hand over a circled hand]. There’s a slither on the outside of each one! Horror is a genre that speaks to the root of queerness, to feelings of dissonance, of terror, and physical angst. One of my favourite movies of all time is the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre. I definitely, and I know a lot of people do, consider it a queer film, because you watch and you just… Tobe Hopper, he made it in response to the Vietnam War. But I think it also speaks to our understanding of all the lies we’re being told as a cis, straight society. When I watch that film I just want to crawl out of my skin. I literally can’t sit still while I’m watching it. I run all around the room. That’s how I feel when I’m in a business meeting, or like, a straight environment!

Do you anticipate I Saw the TV Glow becoming a word-of-mouth cult classic – something LGBTQ viewers recommend to each other?

I do. I think this film is going to be passed around, like so much of queer media. I think it’s gonna be the token of welcoming from one generation to the next. ‘Oh, you’re having these feelings? It’s time for you to watch I Saw the TV Glow.

I Saw the TV Glow is available to buy on digital from Monday 30 September.

The post Brigette Lundy-Paine on gender revolution of I Saw the TV Glow: ‘It’s eggs cracking after eggs cracking – it’s kind of a miracle’ appeared first on Attitude.