Vidshow Discussion Post: Be Gay, Do Crimes

[cosmic_llin]

 Welcome to the discussion post for the Be Gay, Do Crimes vidshow, curated by Cleo!

(This is a new thing we’re trying - we love talking about the vidshows at the con itself, but we think there’s scope for further discussion here on Dreamwidth, where folks who weren’t able to attend the con can get involved too. Anyone who’s interested is welcome to watch the show and join in! We’ll be running these posts roughly once a month, initially featuring shows from VidUKon 2019.)

This show is available to stream on our site in its entirety - scroll down this page and click on the show title to see the vids alongside their descriptions.

Comments

[cosmic_llin]

I absolutely adored this vidshow!

First of all I loved the quotes chosen to describe each vid, they really emphasise the (already pretty clear) narrative of the show and place the vids in a wider context of conversations about queerness, crime and capitalism. Plus, I love the clear line of inspiration from VidUKon 2017's Work, Work, Work show by fray-adjacent and condnsdmlk - it's so exciting to me that not only are there vidshows at VidUKon that can tackle complex themes in nuanced ways, the vidshows are also in conversation with each other, building on each other. It makes me so excited about vidshows as an art form in their own right!

Opening with Crazy, Classic, Life was such a smart move, especially with that opening monologue - "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". The vid really sets out the direction of the show and explores ways that queerness (and other marginalised identities) and crime/criminalisation interact.

Every vid in this show is so strong, though - Cleo's done a really good job of presenting several different angles on her theme while still steadily building an overall argument about what "crime" means and who the "criminals" are. The lyric "if the truth has been forbidden then we're breaking all the rules" in the final vid hits SO hard - it applies to every vid in the show in some way, and that moment feels like all the different threads coming together.

[morgandawn]

I like the framing of the vid show - opening with Janelle Monáe's song set to Pose ( a vid which has persuaded me to give Pose a try) and then ending with a vid of her music vids reminding us that her - and our voices - are weapons.

PS. The password for "Love God Herself" is missing

[aurumcalendula]

I believe the password is Festividz!

[cosmic_llin]

YES, that's such a good point! Weapon has so much impact after all those other vids. (Not that it doesn't on its own!)

[aurumcalendula]

I adore this vidshow! I'd list my favorites, but I think that would end up being just about the entire show.

[cosmic_llin]

Right?! When I was writing my comment I wanted to highlight a few particular standouts and I was scrolling through the list and there was nothing that WASN'T one. And there isn't a single vid that doesn't contribute something valuable to the show's argument.

[soupytwist]

There were so many excellent vidshows this year, as always, but I THINK this one might be my favourite? Cleo did such a great job at making it really tightly on-theme: all of these are so very explicitly about queerness and the ways that queer politics means radicalism on different axes, in different ways.

...and also hot people doing crime, sure. :D

Plus it has some CRACKING vids! Believer is just one of my favourite vids in a while (and did I rec it for the show Cleo? I think I did? if so I am super proud of... myself, lol) but there really isn't a vid here that's anything other than superlative. I love that it goes from hilarious (Happy Working Song) to cute queer rule-breaking love (4Ever), to constructed reality (Seven Nation Army) and heartbreaking (Our Version of Events, which I definitely cannot watch it without crying).