Apparently “Twonka” is now a phrase people are using, and it has nothing to do with Tonka Trucks.
That’s what happens when you’re offline for a few hours. You log off, go for a walk and then suddenly “twink Willy Wonka” is part of the cultural zeitgeist. It’s a wild world we live in, and that’s why Xtra puts together “The Buzz” every week to make sure you’re up on “Twonka,” or whatever else is happening in queer culture.
This week, we’re wading back into the shitshow that is Netflix’s handling of transphobia, celebrating basketball wives winning championships and looking forward to an Oscars season where we’re all talking about Titane.
Here’s what you missed in queer and trans pop culture this week.
→Leave it to Bowen Yang to bring a much-needed spark of joy to the queer pop culture landscape amidst what has been a week. The newly-promoted main cast member had not one, but two deliciously queer features on this week’s Rami Malek-hosted edition of Saturday Night Live. First, an appearance as “Daddy Long Legs” in a school science fair sketch that really leaned into the daddy of it all.
I know what my Halloween costume is going to be.
And next, Yang turned up as an “proud gay Ooompa Loompa” to discuss the leaked images of Timothée Chalamet’s Willy Wonka, where the actor’s look as been dubbed “Twonka” (as in, the aforementioned “twink Wonka”). But the bit took a delightful turn when Yang’s Oompa Loompa was accidentally outed on live TV.
He just wanted to share a statement on the workers’ demands for better conditions in the factory, and now he has so much to explain to family back in Loompaland.
Saturday Night Live can be hit or miss, but Yang’s voice has become a much-needed balm in this treacherous world. From his turn as the popstar iceberg that sank the Titanic last season, to this week’s double-dose of camp specificity, Yang is bringing the millennial queer voice to this decades-old institution, and the world is better for it.
→Speaking of “Twonka,” I don’t see it, but apparently a lot of Twitter does. You do you, Chalamet stans.
→The Dave Chappelle shitshow at Netflix continues. After suspending several workers who spoke out internally and externally about the streamers’ choice to air a super transphobic comedy special from Chappelle, Netflix really doubled down on the “yikes” this week and straight up fired the organizer of a planned walk-out of trans employees.
It’s like the company has never heard of optics or changing the narrative or any of the PR-speak they spout on Succession (which is back this week on HBO). Instead, the higher-ups at the streaming giant seem to have chosen the “how can we seem like even bigger assholes” route.
Anyways, Netflix workers will be walking out on Oct. 20. I get that we all love Squid Game or whatever, but now is the time to support the very real people who are facing very real harm.
→And in case you need to hear it again, queer comedian Hannah Gadsby called out Netflix and executive Ted Sarandos’ use of her as proof the company is queer-inclusive.
“You didn’t pay me nearly enough to deal with the real world consequences of the hate speech dog whistling you refuse to acknowledge,” she wrote on Instagram. “Fuck you and your amoral algorithm cult… I do shits with more backbone than you. That’s just a joke! I definitely didn’t cross a line because you just told the world there isn’t one.”
→The Chicago Sky are WNBA champions, which means three more openly queer players have championship rings. Among them are basketball wives Allie Quigley and Courtney Vandersloot, who proved that it is possible to live out your teenage dream of scoring on a pass from your wife in a championship game.
→The patron saint of trans ska, Skatune Network, has released a Halloween album of spooky ska covers, including the Hex Girls’ song from Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost, which was a queer awakening for me personally.
→Lance Bass and husband Michael Turchin are proud papas to twins Violet and Alexander, and the former boy band member says he’s already “covered in ick.”
→Daniel Craig apparently loves going to gay bars. “One of the reasons: because I don’t get into fights in gay bars that often,” he said on a podcast appearance last week.
The actor, who’s been married to “lesbian icon who’s married to a man” Rachel Weisz for a decade, said that gay bars are more “chill” than other venues.
But his comments prompted a lot of discussion about who can claim space in queer spaces.
→RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star Bimini Bon Boulash was profiled in The Sunday Times and spoke candidly about gender, transness and being non-binary.
“Trans people aren’t a threat to you… I want people to see others as human and be accepting of each other,” they said.
→Gay marching band hive rise up! The University of Maryland’s marching band covered “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” and it’s perfect.
→British diver Tom Daley has a new book out where he talks about the experience of being a gay father.
→If you’re looking to check out a film unlike anything you’ve ever seen, Cannes stand-out Titane is now showing across North America. The gender-bending body horror film was selected as France’s official entry for the International Feature Film Academy Award, so we may be hearing a lot more about it in the coming months.
Why you can trust Xtra
