NOOTS- November 2024

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Written by Juniper Nov 2, 2024

Friendly Reminders: 

  • Please Please Please fill out the use log, that data is really important for our grant applications and for helping us know what we need to be doing to fulfill the needs of our patrons. Reminder to log everything from questions about the public bathrooms on granville to new library cards! 
  • Please turn off the computer, all of the lights and close the blinds when you are closing for the evening 
  • The lights are located in the kitchen and over by the computers in the main malaspina space. Our lights are labeled bay 1, 2 and 3 respectively 
  • If you are alone on shift and need to step away for a second or need to leave before the next person shows up make sure you lock the front door and put up the ‘be right back’ sign 
  • Keep an eye on those new patron waivers and please let me know if we run out so that I can print more 

NOOTS: 

  • We have some grant duedates coming up so if you have the capacity and time to help with that we would really appreciate it
  • On October 25th the 5 year plan committee met for the first time. Over the next couple of months we will be putting together a plan for the next chapter in OOTS’ future we will probably be looking for input from you guys soon as to what our priorities should be as we evaluate our mission and vision statements and look forwards to how we can fulfil those goals 
  • We are doing impressive numbers in the new space with more foot traffic, library cards made and books checked out than we ever got at UBC so thank you everyone for helping us reach so many new folks! 
  • GWOOTS has expanded its programming to games occurring in the OOTS space on Sunday evenings at 6 pm 
  • We have had a lot of folks interested in volunteering with us which is fantastic. The next set of training sessions will probably be happening sometime in mid-January 
  • We have a fabulous photographer who has graciously dedicated some of her free time to taking some pictures in OOTS for our outward facing materials. If you are interested in being in some of those photos so we can model the library being used please DM me and I can connect you with Richa

Queer Creator Spotlight: Lana and Lilly Wachowski 

It’s no secret that history was made when acclaimed directors Lana and Lilly Wachowski came out as trans in the 2000s. At the time of their coming out their most notable work was The Matrix, a film with a notably film-broey fandom it can’t have been easy. Regardless the queer themes that the sisters have inserted into their work before and after their coming out can be seen by those who understand. 

Lana Wachowski was born in Chicagoo to a nurse/painter and businessman in 1965, two years later her sister Lilly came along. As teenagers they spent much of their free time playing Dungeons and Dragons with their friends, even writing a 350-page guide to their own role-playing game,High Adventure. Video games continue to be a beloved hobby for both and have been influential on their work. Both dropped out of college before graduation and began a house-painting business in Chicago. Their careers in the entertainment industry began in comics. Interestingly it is here that we find a link to a previous NOOTS spotlight. The sisters wrote several issues of Ectokid for Razorline, an inprint of Marvel Comics created by Clive Barker. They would also the comic series that sprung from Clive Barker’s Hellraiser and Nightbreed films respectively. Which are really hard to find by the way I’ve been looking for these things for ages. In any case they broke into writing films in the mid-90s. One of these early projects, a film called Assassins whose script was completely rewritten at the director’s command convinced them to become directors themselves to take control of their own scripts. One of their first scripts was for a film called Carnivore which was described as a “Corman-style” thriller wherein a bunch of cannibals eat the rich. For a while they even had George Romero (the man behind such classics as Night of the Living Dead (1968), Creepshow  (1982) and Martin (1977) in the director’s chair. I’m so mad this didn’t get made! It’s not too late Lana and Lilly Carnivore can still happen! 

 This led them to Bound (1996) my personal favorite of their films. Its a classic noir; organized crime, femme fatales, high stakes heists, but instead of the typical heterosexual couple at its center we have Violet (played by the breathtaking Jennifer Tilly), a mafia wife/sex worker who wants out and Corky (played by the effortlessly sexy Gina Gershon) an ex-con hired to fix up the apartment next door to Violet’s. The pair plot to steal a buckload of cash from Violet’s husband through an intricate heist playing the mafia for chumps. Its one of the most gorgeously shot and intricately plotted movies I’ve ever seen and worth a watch for anyone who hasn’t had the chance yet (hint, we have it at OOTS, hint). The performances from Tilly, Gershon and Joe Pantoliono (JOEY PANTS!) as Violet’s husband Caesar are truly sensational. The film is notable in its time for being one of the first mainstream films to showcase a lesbian relationship at its center, one that does not end in tragedy. From a genre perspective the film is doubly impressive for queering the Noir genre, which historically had not had much time for its female characters outside of their sex appeal. In a classic Noir Violet would probably not be much more than a honey pot and Corky would probably be a man. In a classic noir, the sex worker and the help would probably not be featured at the center of the story, particularly not one wherein they use their perceived insignificance to manipulate those who have power over them. Behind the scenes the film carefully researched and included the lesbian community in its production. From their first independent production the sisters showed their dedication to queer triumph in cinema. 

However it would be a film made several years later that would put these two on the pop culture map. The Matrix was released in 1999 and won four Academy Awards. It has also been preserved in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for its significance. The film has been incredibly influential in the action, science-fiction and more specifically cyberpunk subgenres. The first movie follows Neo (Keanu Reeves), a hacker living in what seems to be the normal world. It is revealed however that this world is in fact a cybernetic dream called the Matrix being run in his head and the rest of humanity by a supercomputer that is feeding on their bodies. Neo is given the choice whether to forget and keep dreaming or leave the Matrix and join the rebellion, a blue pill or a red pill. Spoilers! He leaves and becomes cyber-Jesus we all know the story. The film has been parodied, sequeled, analyzed and even co-opted by mens rights activists (which is hilarious given the actual intentions behind the film). After coming out the sisters spoke openly about the trans readings of the film. 

The pills, resembling hormones, reflecting the act of acknowledging that the body or the role you live in is not true to yourself and choosing to pursue your truth rather than slowly dying in the lie. Names are also important in the film with Neo asserting his chosen name over the name that the Matrix assigns to him, the film’s villain played by Hugo Weaving stubbornly deadnaming him in an attempt to bring him back under the Matrix’s control. The movies and their sequels are ultimately about the fight for freedom, not just in the world but in the mind arguing for the fluidity of reality. That there is no spoon in that the social constructs we grow up with are essentially made up and can be bent however we like. The sisters would go on to make two more films, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions both released in 2003. It was here that Lana Wachowski would make her first public appearance with the woman who would later become her second wife in 2009, Karin Winslow, who Lana met at a BDSM club where she worked as a dominatrix. 

Next the Wachowskis would write a screenplay adaptation Alan Moore and David Lloyd’s graphic novel V For Vendetta in a film that would come out in 2005 (which we also have). The film is a near-future dystopia following a masked vigilante called V opposing an oppressive regime. The film has since become iconic amongst anarchists. Notably the film has been praised for its depiction of the regime’s persecution of queer people as one of its many fascistic crimes. Their next big project, Speed Racer (2008) was also an adaptation, this time of a Japanese Manga and Anime titled Mach GoGoGo. The sisters had been long-time fans of the show and wanted to make a more family friendly movie that they could show to their nieces and nephews. The film was a critical flop though it has since developed an avid cult following. 

This is not one I’ve had the pleasure of seeing yet, but it has been described as resembling an anime translated directly to live-action which is a stylistic choice I can get behind. Just after the release of this film Lana would come out as trans and began dying her hair “Atomic Pink.” 

Their next big project was Cloud Atlas (2012) another book adaptation. To that date it was one of the most expensive independent films ever produced an a first attempt at a German blockbuster. This is another film I haven’t seen yet and another of there’s which has fallen into a bit of obscurity since its lackluster release. The film is a science fictions saga following a series of parallel plotlines which span thousands of years. According to the sisters, this was one of the hardest films to make and the one they hope to go down in history for. I can’t wait to watch it! During this early 2000s period they would also release films such as The Invasion (2006) and Ninja Assassin (2009). In 2012, during the press coverage of Cloud Atlas Lana made a speech opening up for the first time about her transition, being one of the first major directors to come out as trans. In that year she received the Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award,A couple years later in 2015 they would release their second original screenplay, Jupiter Ascending, in which an unassuming toilet scrubber (Mila Kunis) is swept up into a magical space opera, discovering that she is a space princess. This film was a box office and critical flop and has been largely forgotten by pop culture however there are still some who laud it as an unintentional camp classic. Honestly I would watch this thing just for the sets and costumes they’re so over the top and gorgeous in a weird way. 

In 2015 they would release another one of their most famous and lauded projects the first season of Sense 8 a show following 8 people around the world who discover that they are psychically and empathetically linked to one another. After two seasons the show was canceled by its host, Netflix. The fans lost it, they petitioned Netflix, carrying out social media campaigns and generally making a nuisance of themselves until Netflix released a two-hour finale in 2018. Sense 8 has been praised for its diversity both culturally and in sexual orientation featuring characters from all over the globe including India, Kenya and Mexico, including both trans and gay voices in the titular sense 8. Notably the production put in the work to film most of the international scenes on location. 

It was between the first and second seasons of Sense 8 that Lilly Wachowski also came out as trans though not entirely on her own terms. Like the period leading up to Lana’s coming out there were a lot of rumors going around about Lilly’s gender identity, both sisters having begun their transitions privately before coming out publicly. Everything came to a head in 2016 when a reporter showed up at Lilly’s door threatening to publish a story outing her to the public. The publication in question had already publicly outed a trans schoolteacher resulting in her suicide. Before the article could go out Lilly released a statement titled “SEX CHANGE SHOCKER—WACHOWSKI BROTHERS NOW SISTERS!!!” clearly commenting on the style of tabloid article she had been threatened with. The statement was a version of a previous statement she had written for just such a purpose which she said “was one part piss, one part vinegar and 12 parts gasoline.” It included a lot of context about the history of outings, trans rights, “not to mention a slightly sarcastic wrap-up that “revealed” my father had injected praying mantis blood into his paternal ball-sac before conceiving each of his children to produce a brood of super women, hellbent on female domination.” Absolutely iconic. The Wachowski sisters have historically preferred to keep their public and private lives separate, a boundary that was violated here and something that I find appalling. This is a larger problem with the entitlement we as the public feel to the lives of celebrities and the long horrifying history of public outing campaigns in the our community. It was Lilly’s business when she came out of the closet or if she wanted to at all. That choice was taken from her and that’s fucked, no way around it. 

Since Sense 8 the sisters have worked on individual projects up until today. Recently Lilly has been linked as producer to an up and coming animated adaptation of Andrew Joseph White’s YA post-apocolyptic trans horror novel Hell Followed With Us (which we do have in the collection, check it out it’s awesome). I really hope this project goes through it sounds fantastic! 

As influences the pair have listed everything from Roger Corman to anime, to Hong Kong based directors to philosophers like Ken Wilbur. They deal deliberately in their work with interconnectivity, consciousness and the transcendence of boundaries, gender being one of their more common themes. Looking back at the films we can see many repeating themes including that of rebellion in films like The Matrix and V for Vendetta and love in movies like Bound and Speed Racer. They are unafraid to challenge the boundaries of genre in their twists on the noir genre and expansive and atypical science-fiction epics like Cloud Atlas and Jupiter Descending. Whether their films are accepted by the critics or not the Wachowskis have undoubtedly committed completely to the style and aesthetics of their films be it late 90s cyberpunk, racing anime or weird space opera. 

As far as I’m concerned one of the worst things a movie can be is boring and the Wachowskis have never been guilty of that particular sin whether you like what they’ve done with their films or not. Over the course of their careers they have produced culture-defining films and box office duds alike. Yet even their most hated films have a dedicated cult following somewhere on the internet, not to mention the collective support of a show like Sense 8 whose fandom went as far as to get Netflix to take action a dream we can all strive for in the era of mass cancellation on the part of that particular platform. (Yes I’m still mad about Dead End: Paranormal Parks I’ll never forgive them for that) These movies push the boundaries of what is possible within genre fiction, opening the doors for new stories and more queer and trans voices in film. I don’t use the word inspiration lightly but these two have certainly earned that from me. I can’t wait to see what they do next!

The Gay Agenda: 

Queer Story Recommendation:  Did you ever write letters to Santa as a child? Noah writes letters to Mothman. It starts after the death of Lewis’s best friend, another trans boy who believed wholeheartedly that the Mothman was out there. In honor of his friend, Noah sets out to prove without a doubt that Mothman is real! Robin Gow’s 2023 middle-grade novel, Dear Mothman is one of my favorite books this year. The book was the Lamda award winner for 2024. Don’t let the target audience stop you either the book can easily be enjoyed by readers of all ages while being accessible to kids. It doesn’t condescend to its target audience but trusts them to understand and interpret Noah’s story, his growing obsession, his grief and finally his joy in making new friends and moving forward. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more seen in a book. I felt like my inner child was being retroactively healed by this shy, neurodivergent trans kid just starting to figure out who he wants to be. It brought me to tears at several points, in a good way. If you have a kiddo in your life or just want to experience a fantastic read this is a book to seek out. Robin Gow is a nonbinary poet, author, educator and witch. Fae has written many more books and poetry that can be found here at their website. I know I’ll be checking some of these out soon! https://robingow.com/

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