The 2000s Made Me Gay: Essays on Pop Culture – Grace Perry
My initial reaction to “The 2000s Made Me Gay” was that it wasn’t as funny as the title would suggest.
Not dissimilar from Hanif Abdurraqib’s phenomenal “A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance,” Grace Perry infuses personal experience with an analytical critique of the pop culture that helped shape her views of queerness and sexuality. Like Abdurraqib’s essays, Perry’s are rooted in historical fact and current cultural observation, but overall, the collection lacked the urgency of “A Little Devil.”
While Perry provides commentary on the benefits and detriments of the subjects in the context of shaping public perception of LGBTQIA+ people during the aughts, most of the essays felt like a Vulture-esque recap of plots and characters.
There was only one essay, “The Gospel According to Mean Girls,” that struck the perfect start-to-finish balance of personal experiences and source material recap with post-adult analysis.
Perry discusses how the combination of Catholic high school education (ex., homosexuality is like alcoholism and people can resist the urge), the lesbian vilification plot of Mean Girls (Janis was perceived as gay and therefore not to be trusted) and the media swirl around Lindsay Lohan’s relationship with Samantha Ronson (ex., Perez Hilton’s vitriolic nickname “LezLo”), led to internalized homophobia that took years to unravel.
It’s full of smart, biting commentary on education and media that feel incredibly relevant today with “Don’t Say Gay” bills and sensitivity around public “outings” and mental health.
While none of the other essays matched the brilliance of that one, there were still elements of each essay I did enjoy — even as an elder Millennial that was a tad too old to appreciate Disney channel original movies, Glee and Gossip Girl — because of three recurring themes: homophobia (internalized and external), developing a sexual identity and learning how to be gay through observation.
A few things I particularly enjoyed:
Her exploration of how pop culture not only helps change minds and builds allies, but it can make you into a specific type of queer person.
The love for MTV’s “Road Rules,” and one of my first same-sex crushes, Shane (“Real-World Gays and Real World Gays).
A balanced critique of J.K. Rowling’s post-publication outing of Albus Dumbledore and her subsequent TERF biases (“Harry Potter and the Half-Assed Gay Character”).
The legacy of Ellen DeGeneres’ coming out paired with the stages of being in the closet (“Be the PR Team You Wish to See in the World”).
Disney’s half-assed attempts at gay inclusion even though they are perceived as “woke” (“Disney Channel Presents: Sapphic Overtones”).
On the downside, each of the essays is too long and could’ve used a strong editor. It was far more autobiographical than I expected it to be, and while that wasn’t a bad thing, it made the collection feel repetitive since she was only covering a 10-year period.
Also, I was particularly disturbed by her continued use of “sexual preference” in discussing sexual identity. Personally, I find that language to imply sexuality is a choice — and, yes, some of the pop culture she highlights took that stance — but this was used at least five different times and not only in context. It felt like an antiquated view amongst Perry’s more progressive beliefs.
Finally, Perry narrates the audiobook and her delivery is as bland as mayonnaise. It’s why my initial perception was the collection wasn’t funny. However, when I would read the eBook I saw the sarcastic undertones in her delivery and found the essays to be more entertaining.
Had I read the full collection versus a hybrid read/listen would my overall perception be more positive? Possibly, but this really is a niche read best suited for queer individuals that were teens throughout the aughts.
Rating (story): 3/5 stars
Rating (narration): 2/5 stars
Formats: Hybrid read/listen: audiobook (library loan); eBook (personal library)
Dates read: June 13 – June 16, 2022
Multi-tasking: Encouraged, since each chapter is a tad on the long end. Although Perry’s narration won’t keep you super engaged.
