"The Cat and the Moon": An almost canonical gay couple and a gay-subtext romance on the Mean Streets of New York

The Cat and the Moon (2019) was advertised as a "coming of age" movie with Alex Wolff (left) playing an updated Holden Caulfield.  So I  went in expecting depression, drugs, suicide, heterosexual machinations, and rampant homophobia. I found lots of drugs, suicidal ideations, insanity, and heterosexual romance, but no homophobia, and so many gay subtexts that I couldn't keep track of who was in love with whom.  

New Guy (Alex Wolff) moves to New York City while his mom is in rehab, stays with his dad's old buddy (Mike Epps, who reputedly belongs to one of these cocks).  He gets involved in a lot stuff.  This review will only cover the gay subtext scenes.

Scene 1: New Guy's first day in school.  Boyfriend (Giulian Yao Gioello, left), hot for the new guy, befriends him and shows him around.

Scene 2: In algebra class, two stoner buds are playing a game involving fluttering their hands together. 

Scene 3:  New Guy is in the restroom, trying to get high with a bong made of a toilet paper roll, when the stoner buds come in, bickering like an old married couple and talking like "he got into my motherfuckin' grill, yo."  

One stands at the urinal; the other doesn't have to go, so he just stands nearby to get a peek at his bud's penis.

They introduce themselves as Seamus and Russell (Skyler Gisondo, Tommy Nelson).  I'll call them Gay Guy and Straight Friend.  They invite New Guy to a party Friday night.

"Wait -- will your girlfriend be there?"  Gay Guy asks.  

"Yes."

"Fuck!  You never pay attention to me when she's around."  To New Guy: "His balls just evaporate when she's around." That must make sex difficult.

Scene 4; The party was cancelled, so Gay Guy and Boyfriend (from Scene 1) invite New Guy to a club .  Straight Friend and his Girlfriend will also be there.  So when they go out, it's Straight Friend-Girlfriend and Gay Guy-Boyfriend?  

On the way, Gay Guy and Straight Friend argue and break up.  The Girlfriend tells New Guy not to worry: they break up all the time, but get back together again. "Honestly, I think they just secretly want to fuck each other."  Ok, so it's not a subtext.

Left: New Guy Alex Wolff's penis

They end up partying on the roof. Gay Guy and Straight Friend kiss.  Wait, I thought you had other partners.

Later, while the guys are dealing with an overdose, New Guy and The Girlfriend bond.

More after the break

Gemstones Episode 4.5, Continued: Kelvin crashes, the Monkey fumes, and we find out who is bigger, Adam Devine or Joey Stefano

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The "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" boys grow up: Gay subtexts and penises of Zayne, Elijah, and Steele. With bonus Dad bulge

 

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015-19) starred Rachel Bloom as Rebecca Bunch, a driven attorney (with degrees from Harvard and Yale both) who drops everything and moves to West Covina, California to track down Josh, the boy she met at summer camp 15 years ago (Vincent Rodriguez III, who would go on to play everyone's favorite family-friendly gay guy).  

As she tries to steal him away from his current girlfriend, then gives up and dates other guys, Rebecca becomes immersed in the lives of his friends and associates, including the gay White Josh (David Hull), who dates her newly-out bisexual boss.  And there are musical numbers that reveal the characters' inner state, such as "Fit Hot Guys Have Problems, Too."

We liked it so much that we went through the series twice.

Paula Proctor (Donna Lynne Chaplin), Rebecca's confidant and partner-in-crime in the devious schemes to land Josh, is a nuclear family mom with a troubled marriage to Scott (Steven Munroe, below) and two kids who dislike her.

1. Brendan is a budding juvenile delinquent who is obsessed with knives and swords ("What did I say about the katana on the table) and sells marijuana, with customers including Josh's girlfriend Valencia and Dad Scott. His heterosexual identity is not established until Season 3, when he mentions that Rebecca has "nice boobs." When his father tells him to be respectful, he changes it to "beautiful breasts."

In Seasons 1 and 3, Brendan was played by 16-20 year old Zayne Emory, who has 27 credits listed on the IMDB, including episodes of Modern Family, Shameless, Supergirl, and a lot of teencoms.  

He played JC Spink, Adam's bully-turned-friend on 29 episodes of The Goldbergs (2015-22).  JC has a gay-subtext buddy-bond with Brian (Zach Callison).

Most recently Zayne appeared on 10 episodes of The Rookie (2018-24) as Henry, son of main character John Nolan (Nathan Fillion).  He has a girlfriend.

Zayne seems to be heterosexual in real life, but at least he's given us a nude selfie.

2. In Season 2, Brendan was played by 17-year old Elijah Nelson, who has 38 acting credits on the IMDB, including episodes of The Thunderman, Bizaardvark, American Housewife, 911 Lone Star, and SWAT. 

Most recently he has played himself in 91 episodes of Shiloh and Bros (2020-25).  Brothers Elijah, Micah, Judah, and Josiah. and their sister Shiloh, post humorous videos like "Dress to Impress in Real Life" and "If Among Us Had No Chats."

More after the break

Has "Phineas and Ferb" gotten more gay-friendly since 2007? With bonus Adam Devine butt and Malcolm McDowell dick

I watched a few episodes of the Disney Channel's Phineas and Ferb when it first aired in 2007-2009, but was turned off by Mechanics Today vibe and the incessant heteronormativity.

The premise: 10-year old stepbrothers Phineas and Ferb (Vince Martella, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, top photo) spend their summer vacation creating technological marvels like time machines and space ships, thereby impressing their male friends and girlfriends (each has a heterosexual crush).  Their older sister Candace tries to tattle (either she's worried about their safety or she's just evil), but by the time Mom gets there, the elaborate devices have reverted into harmless toys; Mom therefore suspects that her daughter is suffering from a psychosis.  

Candace has a heterosexual crush, too: Jeremy, played by Disney teen Mitchel Musso, who has mental health issues.    

Meanwhile, their pet platypus, Perry (Dee Bradley Baker), has adventures as a super-spy.  Under the orders of Major Francis Monogram and his dimwitted assistant, he thwarts the plans of the evil Dr. Doofenschmirtz.  Most involve wacky evil-scientist inventions, making Doof and Perry sort of mirror images of Phineas and Ferb. 

In four seasons, there were no gay characters, although TV Tropes notes some Ho-Yah (queer codes used as jokes) shipping Doof/Perry and the bully Buford and his victim Baljeet.   

Showrunner Dan Povenmire said that there were some LGBT persons in the universe, but "it's nobody's business" who they are.  Got it, heterosexual romance gets infinite space, but gay people must be invisible.  Can't have kids finding out that they exist.  

In June 2025, ten years after the last Phineas and Ferb, a new season dropped.  Gay characters have appeared on Craig of the Creek, Duck Tales, Big City Greens, The Hollow, The Bravest Knight, Jellystone, Kippa and the Age of the Wonderbeasts, Kid Cosmic, The Ghost and Molly McGee, and many others.  Surely Phineas and Ferb can have a gay friend without traumatizing kids for life.

Especially since voice actors Vincent Martella (Phineas) and Maulik Pacholy (Baljeet) are gay.

I reviewed two 2025 episodes.

"Sleepover":  The main five kids and Candace and her friends are having two separate sleepovers in the same house on the same night.

The kids' sleepover activities: a scary movie in a geodesic dome with a popcorn floor.

Candace wants to bust her brothers, but her friends sing about the things they could do instead: play truth or dare, wear monster masks, and so on.

More after the break