Black Monday, October 17, 1987, is named after a stock market crash that resulted in a drop of 22.6% in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and $500 billion in losses in the U.S., 1.7 trillion dollars worldwide. I didn't hear anything about it at the time: in West Hollywood we didn't concern ourselves with such trivial matters as finances. But apparently in the straight world, it was a big deal.
I still find the world of finance immensely boring, but I happened to notice that an episode of the 2019-22 Black Monday tv series showed Andrew Rannells having sex with a guy -- the scene I used as an illustration for my Gideon-Keefe fan fiction -- so I checked out Episode 2.4, "Fore."
Scene 1: Bosses Dawn, a middle aged black woman, and Blair (Andrew Rannells) , a swishy white man, show horndogs Wayne and Yassir(Horatio Sanz, Yassir X) a photocopy of an enormous penis. They've received an anonymous sexual harassment complaint. Blair yells at them: "The women in the office don't want to look at that, and neither do I."
And this is a bad time: Congress is about to pass deregulation, so we'll be getting generational wealth. You'll be able to set up your kids' kids' kids If Amerasavings gets wwind of this,.... Ugh, economics and politics. Let's get some zombies up in here.
The guys protest that it wasn't them, but they are punished by being placed in the "Rubber Room" for a month, and they have to apologize to every woman in the office. Then Blair leaves --- he has to go play golf with Congressman Roger (Tuc Watkins, Andrew's real-life boyfriend) to ensure that he will vote for deregulation. Dawn can't come, because she's not a white man. Wait -- he calls her "babe." Are they romantic partners, too?
Scene 2: The horndogs figure that they've been framed, targeted by "some lying bitch" for being the last old-school "women should enjoy getting their butts grabbed" horndogs in the office. Their plan: find out who issued the bogus complaint, apologize, and then "get revenge."
Scene 3: Blair goes back to his apartment -- still under construction -- and starts making out with his boyfriend -- Congressman Roger!
Meanwhile, a lady bursts into the office to yell at the "home-wrecking harlot" who's destroying their marriage. She wasn't expecting a middle aged black lady: "Blair" sounds more like a young, giggly blond, like the girl from Facts of Life.
"This is a mixup from the tits up," Dawn assures her. Blair is a man. He goes golfing with Congressman Roger to push for his deregulation vote. A downlow romance! Neither of the wives know!
"But they golf all the time, in Palm Springs, San Francisco, Fire Island,,," Gay meccas, har-har.
"Standard business trips." A perfect example of heteronormativity: gay men cannot exist, so everything must have a heterosexual explanation.
The Wife, Corky, insists: "Blair and my husband are having sex...with other women, and using each other as alibis." Come on, no one is that stupid!
Dawn calls Blair to prove that he is playing golf -- just as he is about to.... The wives will be driving out to the country club to meet them on the golf course. "um...what hole are you in?" Har-har.
Uh-oh, Blair knows nothing about golf, and it's too late to learn!
Scene 4: The horndogs try to play "good cop/bad cop" while interrogating the women. Except Yassir thinks they're supposed to both be bad cops, because "all cops are bad."
Scene 5: On the way to the country club, Wife Corky complains that Congressman Roger has betrayed her with a "nancy." Dawn insists that Blair isn't gay, but Wife Corky meant "a Nancy Reagan," who stole future President Reagan away from his first wife, Jane Wyman. Har-har.
She does happen to be the daughter of a Jerry Falwell-like homophobic televangelist. He sells a special cologne that can "spray the gay away."
More after the break
