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Just finished summerland and I’m crying in a good way. It will surprise you and it’s not even a little bit about homophobia nor racism. It’s a warm movie. It’s so refreshing to watch a movie that has the main characters as queer women and the conflict in the movie isn’t about homophobia.

Aww, I’m glad it made you feel that way, anon! I was going to say that I didn’t think it was entirely free from homophobia, but tbh, that really had nothing to do with the main conflict, so agreed. 

I think what I like about the movie so much is how much it’s for us. So often, media featuring marginalized characters has them suffering for the benefit of other people, so THEY can watch and, you know, Learn and Sympathize, and like, I understand the intention, but aside from being unsure it even works, it just means it’s for someone else. But this was entirely for us, the way they met and it jumped ahead, knowing we’d understand, the conflict as it came up, it didn’t need to be delved into detail, and then of course the ending was so much more for us than the people who need to be explained to again how bad it was for historical gays. There can be conflict and angst and tension without giving us a full dose of in your face bigotry.

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Summerland saw “we deserve a soft epilogue my dear. we are good people, and we have been through so much” somewhere on the internet and said “what if? instead of them kissing at the handkerchief scene, we leave it kinda suspenseful. And we cast 3 new actors to play them after 30 years….. What do you mean why? IT’S THE EPILOGUE….. It is so NOT the same as an happy ending.”

Hahah, that IS a loophole! Just do it for everything, like, oh, you thought they’d separated? One of them had died? Nah, see, they’re totally happy, have been for the last few decades.

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we been asking for a trope-filled, well-acted, lots-of-heart, happy ending same sex romantic drama for years. And Summerland delievered. (I would say Carol kinda did too, but the stakes seemed higher on this one, and this is a more diverse cast so, this wins)

I mean, are we asking for just one? 😛 Though yes, this does tick a lot of those checkboxes that maybe others didn’t, especially that incredibly, unequivocally happy ending. 

But I wouldn’t necessarily compare it to other movies, especially as a competition. One could also say that Carol and The Handmaiden (the other movie that tends to be mentioned in the same list) focus much more on the actual couple (aside from being considered technically better films) but surely we deserve OODLES more now that Hollywood’s finally actually starting to make them. It’s kind of funny how last year had seemed like such a banner year for historical f/f and then pretty much all of it was bad-end, though of course one of those was the very well received Portrait. Not every movie has to appeal to everyone, but the point is to have enough that everyone gets at least one. Or preferably more than one.

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Lol I’m so shocked that you watched Summerland. Booasaur watched a MOVIE??? In this economy??? It’s more likely than you think!

Haha, I did! I did see a movie! 

I actually wasn’t going to! I download all these when they come out as a matter of course, but I’d been curious about the ending on this one. I can’t find the post now but it was something someone said here that seemed to imply the ending wasn’t as bad as we’d imagined, and then very recently reviews were coming out that were talking about this treacly twist, and the reviewers didn’t actually seem too happy about it but that actually means good news for us so my interest was piqued. 

I skipped straight to the ending, and honestly, didn’t understand what exactly was happening because Frank seemed a pretty white kid so I wasn’t putting everything together but it all seemed so sweet and happy, I had to go back and watch to see how they got there. And I’m glad I did!

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Watched Summerland, thought it was a cute movie. Not nearly long enough imo and I know people flocked to it for the Vera x Alice but I actually would’ve loved more Frank & Alice. They were super cute!

Yeah, I feel like they could have fit so much more in! Honestly, I would have been fine staying in this world for a lot longer, knowing the guarantee of that happy ending was coming. 

Aww, more Frank and Alice? There was so much of them! But I can get wanting more, Frank was so sweet and just kept on breaking through Alice’s barriers. I actually really appreciated how much of the movie happened before she knew he was Vera’s son, although, obviously, that’s deliberate to literally be part of the whole story and happy ending, but you know, sometimes stories miss really simple tricks. 

I WOULD have not minded some more scenes after Vera arrived, aside from sending the plane off, a bit more with the three of them. Even if it wasn’t anything super serious, like the inevitably awkward setting him down and explaining…so much. Or, omg, if in front of Frank Vera holds up THAT record and is like, oh, you still have this? Frank and Alice would have both thrown themselves into the ocean over that. 

ALSO, I wouldn’t have minded more of Frank and Vera. Honestly, more of every permutation, please.

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Oh so the publisher – 23 times – scene was not how they first met? Was that explained to the audience because I just watched it and I could only see glimpses of their past? Or did I miss it?

No, I think that’s how she tracked her down after, but the first time they met was what we saw that first flashback, at the concert. The 23 times would have been after they already had broken up and it wasn’t referenced at any other time, no. The timeline would have been:

Meeting at the concert -> other little flashbacks like in the car, by the lake, on the bed, and so on -> breaking up -> the 23 times search -> Vera sending Frank to Alice -> Vera going to Frank and Alice -> decades of happiness -> Vera finally telling Alice she looked for her in 23 different shops