Gay Ex Machina

Deus ex machina is a literary term which refers to a story that cannot be resolved without external influence. Literally translated, it means "god out of the machine." For the Ancient Greeks during the golden age of drama, deus ex machina meant that a god was wheeled onto stage using a precursor to the modern crane.

In the '90s and the early '00s, it was common to encounter what I call celebrity ex machina. If you've ever seen I Heart Huckabees (2004), Zombieland (2009), Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (2004) or Mallrats (1995), you might know what I'm talking about. A particular favorite of mine is when actor Will Smith appears to Ben Affleck's character in Jersey Girl (2004) to give us a new take on the Fresh Prince lyric, "Parents just don't understand."

While we can still see celebrity ex machina popping up here and there, I see a new variation on this theme gaining strength. I call this gay ex machina. Let's take the 2009 film He's Just Not That Into You as an example. Conor (Kevin Connolly), despite the title of the film, is clearly into Anna (Scarlett Johannson), but he's incapable of seeing that he's been friendzoned until a pair of gay men divinely educate him on the subtle art of eye contact. Similarly, it's made very clear that Drew Barrymore's character Mary is incapable of making any life decision without the consultation of her gay entourage of co-workers.

Why have gay people become humanity's cinematic guiding light? The answer should be clear. Your ordinary average film is going to center around the romantic relationship between a heterosexual male and a heterosexual female. They become so bogged down in their desire for one another that they can no longer move forward. It takes individuals on the outside to bring order to the chaos of heterosexual feelings, and this is where gay people come in. Gay-straight is thus emerging as a more important paradigm than celebrity-ordinary or immortal-mortal.

What are the implications of this cinematic move? Gay populations, though marginalized and seen as the most significant "other" to the norm, are now understood as valuable to every human life. Though this reduces gay people to relationship aids and plot aids, this paradigm shift remains significant. Perhaps this is hope speaking, perhaps it's an honest-to-God prophecy, but I think that this trend signifies a strong possibility that equal rights are forthcoming for people of all sexual preferences.

Fainting Goats

Harry

Harry is described on ThinkGeek as "thick tendrils of organization." Basically through this disorderly mass of wires you can hang and store a variety of objects that might not find themselves at home in or on ordinary storage devices. There's no need to worry about poking yourself or scratching your toys because Harry has no sharp edges.

Buy Harry here.

Free Willy Recut

Dark Horse Presents: The Guild Comic

In 2007, Felicia Day created The Guild because she was spending too much time on MMORPGs as a result of the free time the WGA strike created for her. As a result of this web series, Joss Whedon was inspired to create the smash hit Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog in 2008. After three seasons of The Guild, the series has inspired a three-issue comic mini-series published by Dark Horse Comics coming to stores starting on March 24, 2010.

Here's a sneak preview of the covers:

The Guild #1 - Gary Nord Cover (Left) and Georges Jeanty Cover (Right)

The Guild #2 - Kristian Donaldson Cover (Left) and Matthew Stawicki Cover (Right)

The Guild #3 - Jim Rugg Cover (Left) and Juan Ferreyra Cover (Right)

If you're unfamiliar with The Guild, check it out here. Upcoming episodes will premiere first on X-Box, MSN and Zune.

If you haven't seen Dr. Horrible yet, check it out on Netflix streaming or purchase it at the official Dr. Horrible website. Back in the day the video was free on both the official site and on Hulu, but as Bob Dylan says, "Times, they are a-changin.'"

Justin Kirk

Actor Justin Kirk. You probably recognize him as Andy Botwin on Showtime's Weeds. I would attribute a good chunk of the show's success to Kirk's irresponsible, scheming comedy. The only thing that really eclipses Kirk on this show is Mary Louise Parker's impossible beauty.

Olivia Wilde

Actress Olivia Wilde. You may recognize her as Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley from FOX's House. I found her interesting when she played Alex Kelly, Marissa's temporary lesbian lover on FOX's The O.C., but it wasn't until the season five episode of House titled "Last Resort" that I fell forever in love with Wilde. In this episode, Thirteen and House were held hostage by a patient with a gun, and every treatment, no matter how horrible, needed to be tested on Thirteen before the patient would allow it to be performed on him. Insanity! And beauty.