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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How these LGBTQ+ icons are reclaiming the American flag
It's 2025, and the American flag, iconic, fluttering, politicized, has become a battleground. For many LGBTQ+ Americans, it marks danger. For some, it marks defiance. And for the creators of Reclaim the Flag, a new short-form documentary, it's a canvas of conflicted meanings, ripped from the grip of reactionaries and rethreaded by the very communities some seek to erase. Keep up with the latest in + news and politics. Premiering in July and now streaming online, Reclaim the Flag is a 27-minute documentary produced by designer Alexis Bittar and Oscar-winning filmmaker Bruce Cohen. Bittar also directed. The film features a cross-section of LGBTQ+ cultural figures, including Lena Waithe, George Takei, Karine Jean-Pierre, Symone, Cheyenne Jackson, Marc Jacobs, Raquel Willis, and Jim Parsons. Their reflections span grief, rage, pride, and reclamation. A flag that doesn't feel safe One of the voices viewers hear is Harper Steele, the Emmy-nominated screenwriter and co-star of Will & Harper, the 2024 road trip documentary featuring her and best friend Will Ferrell. In that film, Steele said, 'I love this country so much. I just don't know if it loves me back.' In Reclaim the Flag, she returns to that idea with even greater urgency. Related: 'Will & Harper' is a revolutionary documentary about the power of empathy, acceptance, and allyship 'I am an endless, to the point of boring, [person] who can talk about what the symbol of the flag is supposed to mean, contrasting it with how it has been co-opted,' she said in an interview with The Advocate. 'It hits me pretty deeply.' Steele recently drove across the country from Atlanta to Los Angeles, her fourth time doing so since filming Will & Harper, and said the flag is no longer an abstraction but a constant in her daily life. 'Wouldn't it be nice if you were in trouble, if you were running from something, if you were afraid and you looked at a house that had an American flag and said, great, I'm safe?' she asked. 'And that is not the case.' Still, she finds herself drawn to the flag as an object. 'Mainly, the flags I collect are flags I find in thrift stores,' she said. 'They have to be cloth, they have to be sewn, they have to be older. I have, I don't know, 10 of these things because I love the colors so much just from an aesthetic point of view.' Fighting for a symbol, not fleeing it For Bittar, that tension, between love of country and fear of it, is what sparked the project in the first place. 'I was genuinely looking at where I could move with my kids,' he recalled thinking after President Donald Trump took office the second time. 'And then it hit me: I'm not letting them take my country. I'm staying and fighting for it.' He picked up the phone and called Cohen. 'I think he thought it might have been a longer pitch,' Bittar said. 'He got about as far as 'reclaim the flag,' and I was like, I'm in,' Cohen remembered. 'I want to do everything I can to help.' He and his husband, too, had already felt the discomfort Steele described. 'We had put up a flag on our barn because we felt that it was ours too,' Cohen said. 'But we knew that 90 to 100 percent of everyone driving by just assumed we were MAGA.' Related: 21 words the queer community has and hasn't reclaimed What began as a planned 15-minute short grew into something more expansive. 'We got such extraordinary leaders in all these different areas and from all the different corners of the huge task that is the LGBT community,' Cohen said. 'We got more than 15 minutes of super compelling, provocative, entertaining, disturbing, thought-provoking material.' Symbols stripped and repurposed Matt Bernstein, the 26-year-old creator and host of the A Bit Fruity podcast, is one of those voices. 'There is just less of a feeling of patriotism on the young American left,' he told The Advocate. 'So much of that just comes from disenfranchisement within a crumbling democracy, where people don't feel like they have a say.' For Bernstein, the flag doesn't represent unity. It means systems of power. 'What does the American flag continue to stand for on a global stage?' he asked. 'I think it is, among other things, the rising tide of fascism. I think it's the aiding and abetting of genocide. I think it is, on a somewhat more comical level, like, stupidity within government.' And yet, he's not done with it. 'All flags are Pride flags for something, right?' he said. 'According to the government right now, we're allowed to be proud to feel American, whatever the f**k that means right now, but we're not allowed to feel proud of being gay or trans.' Deep patriotism and deep critique MSNBC's The Weekend coanchor Jonathan Capehart, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, was nearly moved to tears during filming. 'I held that flag and it was emotional,' he told The Advocate. 'A gut punch.' He recalled a moment during Trump's first term when he was in Amsterdam for a speech. 'I looked over, and [my guide's] lock screen was the Statue of Liberty. To see that, in the middle of what we were going through during 'Trump One,' told me that the world still viewed us as a beacon of hope.' Even now, he holds onto that belief. 'There is enough goodwill around the world for the American people,' Capehart said. 'And maybe even more so, there is enough goodwill around the world for the symbol of America.' Related: Reclaiming the Mosaic: Dr. Tyler TerMeer on the weight of intersectional leadership Capehart, echoing James Baldwin, explained the deeper philosophical framework behind his vision of patriotism. 'I love this country so much, I have the right to criticize her relentlessly,' he said. 'What could be more patriotic than holding the mirror up to the nation and pointing out where the nation is falling down on keeping its promise to all of its people… as written down in its founding documents?' Contested symbols in a contested nation Capehart pointed to the current administration's theatrical embrace of the flag as performative and unsettling. In June, Trump installed two 88-foot flag poles with the American flags on the White House campus. 'The beauty of the White House before those sort of car dealership–size flags were put in the North and South Lawn,' he said, 'was the American flag, it's still there, flew atop the White House. And that was all you needed.' The stakes are higher than ever. As the Trump administration floods government buildings with massive flag displays while banning LGBTQ+ flags from public institutions, the contradictions are impossible to ignore. Steele called out the hypocrisy. 'That is not built into our Constitution or the Declaration of Independence,' she said. 'It's quite the opposite.' She drew a line between today's flag politics and old Westerns. 'If you look at the movie Stagecoach, everything about this movie speaks to what it means to be an American in the right way—what it means to be forgiving, what it means to be allowing… live and let live,' she said. 'And for some reason, the church town people in this tiny Western are now running our country.' 'I don't mean Donald Trump, because Donald Trump is just a pawn,' she added. 'It's a larger group of people, Christian nationalists, who are now canceling people left and right. They are the uber cancellers of culture right now.' Related: How a cross-country road trip brought Will Ferrell closer to his trans bestie Harper Steele Steele sees the crackdown on trans rights as part of a broader authoritarian movement. 'This assault on trans people is just an assault on otherness,' she said. 'Which is happening to a greater extent with Black and brown people in this country and obviously with immigrants.' She continued: 'The queer community better [pay attention]. There was just an article in The New York Times by Andrew Sullivan suggesting that trans people need to cool it a little bit. And I don't think they're understanding that this is not a war that's going to end at getting rid of trans people.' Back in upstate New York, Steele flew both the trans flag and the American flag from her porch. 'The flags need to be next to each other,' she said. 'If you have a queer flag out in front of your house, I think it's important to say, 'And I'm an American and I vote.' That to me is an important way to reclaim that flag.' Watch below. - YouTube This article originally appeared on Advocate: How these LGBTQ+ icons are reclaiming the American flag RELATED Harper Steele: Trans people can't be sacrificed in political debate Will Ferrell wanted to support his transgender friend after she came out, so they made a movie How a cross-country road trip brought Will Ferrell closer to his trans bestie Harper Steele
Newsweek
01-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
EXCLUSIVE: Ebs Burnough and Michael Imperioli Discuss Exciting New Jack Kerouac Documentary
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Entertainment gossip and news from Newsweek's network of contributors 'The road' is a long-travelled concept. The protagonist – and often, antagonist – in many movies, including Little Miss Sunshine, Nomadland, and most recently Will & Harper, is that stretch of asphalt taking us from one destination to the next, which has been home to ruminations, dreams, and fears for generations. While it has belonged to many for centuries, perhaps the father of road tales is the often-referred-to "king of the beats", Jack Kerouac. He revolutionized what the highway could mean to people when he released his novel 'On the Road' in 1957, capturing the hearts of outcasts who, until then, had often felt misunderstood. Of those hearts, you'll find Academy Award-nominated actors like Josh Brolin and Matt Dillon, who appear in Kerouac's Road: The Beat of a Nation, a reflective documentary that made quiet waves through the Tribeca Film Festival following its premiere in June. Throughout, Brolin reminisces about still owning the copy he received at 19 years old, despite trepidation to re-read it in case the magic that changed his life no longer lingers between the pages. In one intimate moment, he shares that "all the things [he] was thinking [became] real," through Kerouac's novel. Josh Brolin in Kerouac's Road: The Beat of a Nation. Josh Brolin in Kerouac's Road: The Beat of a Nation. Courtesy of KEROAUC'S ROAD: THE BEAT OF A NATION Kerouac's unique patter, captured in his candid documentation, made people feel seen, but one person who couldn't quite penetrate the text in youth was Ebs Burnough. "I remember the first time I read it. I was probably 16," Burnough shares with me ahead of the film's Tribeca premiere. But there is a clear shift now. He is energized and excited, ready for people to see how he and his team of creatives have brought Kerouac's great tale into the 21st Century. "It was kind of required reading, at the time," he says, "and I didn't connect with the book." Burnough deliberates his initial disconnect coming from his sexuality, and not yet being out, but perhaps the core of the conversation comes from his reflection on race. "As a Black American, when I read it, it didn't feel like something I had access to," he says. Despite this initial disconnect, Burnough boldly thrusts himself into the director's chair and sets out on the road to dissect the words Kerouac wrote all those years ago. Who the road belongs to, and who has access to it, is a conversation that runs through Kerouac's Road: The Beat of a Nation, a film that is both romantic and pragmatic about who can afford to be romantic about it. "Reading the book almost 30 years later, older, more competent in myself, I felt one of the reasons I had to make the film was that I wanted to reclaim the road for all of those people who might not have had the same access that Jack had," says Burnough. He does this by not only capturing the tales of people closest to Kerouac, like Natalie Merchant and Joyce Johnson, and celebrities moved by the writer's text in adolescence, but also through three stories of real-life road-goers all travelling the landscape of the United States for different reasons. Amir Staten in Kerouac's Road: The Beat of a Nation. Amir Staten in Kerouac's Road: The Beat of a Nation. Courtesy of KEROAUC'S ROAD: THE BEAT OF A NATION We meet Amir, who is becoming. He is on his way out of the home and onto college. Next are Tenaj and Tino, a couple who could not be more opposite, who find a calm amidst their chaos on long and winding journeys. Then, we have Diana, who embarks on a meaningful mission to connect with her estranged father after many decades. Through these three stories, Burnough reclaims the road for the people who, in the time of Kerouac, might not have had the same privilege. The carefully curated cast was woven together by two-time Emmy-winner Carmen Cuba, casting director behind Stranger Things, Just Mercy, The Florida Project, who came onto the project to source these stories. "Her team were out on blogs looking for anybody that seemed like they might be on the road," Burnough says. "We watched hundreds of videos of people, and we saw some really interesting stories. We did one-on-one Zooms, and it was important for me to start narrowing down how those stories would connect to the book and to Jack. It just started to evolve that [Amir, Tenaj and Tino, and Diana] were a beginning, middle, and an end." All at different phases of life, their stories showcase the intergenerational connection to Kerouac's ideology. Diana Langley in Kerouac's Road: The Beat of a Nation. Diana Langley in Kerouac's Road: The Beat of a Nation. Courtesy of KEROAUC'S ROAD: THE BEAT OF A NATION The voice of Emmy-winning Michael Imperioli narrates their voyages. When we sit down to discuss the documentary, he remembers the first person who shared a copy of 'On the Road' with him, saying, "I just devoured it. It was unlike anything I had read, and immediately I started reading lots of his other books, and just really connected." He cites Kerouac's "compassion for people, humanity and openness to the human condition" as the reason behind his lifelong love affair, which has ultimately led him to agree to narrate the words of Kerouac in this documentary. When his manager offered him a look at the film, which was already complete before Imperioli signed on, his interest piqued. "The book was written in the '50s, and very much rooted in that time," Imperioli says. "To see people today, in this very isolated world where people spend more time communicating through devices and public forums like social media, connecting through a very different form of engaging in society, was very moving to me. I thought. 'Wow, to be able to reflect the spirit of that book in today's very different world was quite an achievement.'" This dialogue about the evolution of the road and what it means now is a theme in Burnough's film. At one point, Matt Dillon boldly states that Kerouac's America doesn't exist anymore, and Burnough wrestles with whether or not that might be a good thing. Naturally, the world has evolved through time, but also through circumstance. Reflecting on how the pandemic has redefined what home and community might mean to people, Burnough says, "I think Tenaj says it so beautifully when she says, 'Home is where you park it.'" "We're all in search of that, not just in a physical way, but in an emotional and intellectual way. We're all searching for where we feel safe. Where do we feel comfortable? Where within ourselves and with our people do we find that peace? That 'home'." Matt Dillon in Kerouac's Road: The Beat of a Nation. Matt Dillon in Kerouac's Road: The Beat of a Nation. Courtesy of KEROAUC'S ROAD: THE BEAT OF A NATION "I think Jack Kerouac was always in search of that," Burnough continues. "He moved so many times. He bought his mother so many different homes, and as soon as he got somewhere, it never lived up to what he wanted it to be. So he'd move again, but I think he was always in search of home, and I think for him, oddly, the one place where home was, was actually with his mother." Through this, Burnough introduces a universality to the book he once found inaccessible. "The funny thing for me when I first started this was I loved the concept of the intricacy of our road system in America," he says. "No matter whether you're black or white, or gay or straight, or red, or green, or Democrat or Republican, we're bumping into one another on the road, and it's one of the things that gives us our humanity." Imperioli echoes Burnough's sentiment, "I always saw the road as the ultimate metaphor for life. The journey you're on as a human being, the openness to experience and appreciating other people for who they are." "Regardless of differences in age or ethnicity or color or nationality," he continues, "there's a certain respect that [Kerouac] had for fellow human beings." Kerouac's Road: The Beat of a Nation is now off down its own road as it meets a wider audience from August 1, when it hits theaters. I ask Imperioli what his wish for the film is, and he says, "I hope people read [Kerouac's] books and get inspired and tell their own stories." As Kerouac did through his short but impactful career, perhaps Kerouac's Road: The Beat of a Nation will breed a new generation who, as he wrote are "the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars..." Kerouac's Road: The Beat of a Nation Release Date Kerouac's Road: The Beat of a Nation hits theaters August 1, 2025.
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
New 'Spaceballs' film announced in epic video with Mel Brooks: Watch here
A new "Spaceballs" film is coming, with Mel Brooks slated to return in his iconic role as Yogurt, Amazon MGM Studios announced on Thursday. While details about the film's plot and cast are being kept under wraps, it is being described as "A Non-Prequel Non-Reboot Sequel Part Two but with Reboot Elements Franchise Expansion Film." Josh Greenbaum, known for directing "Will & Harper," "Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar," and more, is slated to direct. It opens with onscreen text in the iconic " Star Wars"-style crawl, which reads, "Thirty-eight years ago, there was only one 'Star Wars' trilogy. But since then, there have been… a prequel trilogy, a sequel trilogy, a sequel to the prequel, a prequel to the sequel, countless TV spinoffs, a movie spinoff of the TV spinoff, which is both a prequel and a sequel...." The crawl continues, noting the release of two "Dune" films, seven "Jurassic Park" films, multiple past and upcoming "Avatar" films, and more, adding, "But in 38 years, there has only ever been one… 'SPACEBALLS'… Until now…." Brooks, also the director of the original 1987 "Spaceballs" film, then appears onscreen, saying, "After 40 years, we asked, 'What do the fans want?' But instead, we're making this movie." The video cuts to an image of Lord Dark Helmet with text that reads, "The Schwartz Awakens in 2027." "May the Schwartz be with you," Brooks adds. The legendary filmmaker also took to X and shared the announcement in a post, writing, "I told you we'd be back." "Spaceballs" premiered nearly four decades ago. Set in a distant galaxy, the cult-classic space opera film, co-written by Brooks, parodies the "Star Wars" trilogy and other popular sci-fi franchises including "Star Trek," "2001: A Space Odyssey" and more. According to a synopsis for the film, it follows a star-pilot for hire and his sidekick, who must come to the rescue of a princess and save Planet Druidia from the clutches of the evil Spaceballs. Brooks starred in the film alongside John Candy, Rick Moranis, Joan Rivers, Daphne Zuniga and more. The new "Spaceballs" film will be produced by Imagine Entertainment's Brian Grazer and Jeb Brody, Josh Gad and Josh Greenbaum. Kevin Salter, Adam Merims, Benji Samit and Dan Hernandez will also executive produce. The new film will arrive in 2027.
Newsweek
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
Mel Brooks Returns to Fan-Favorite 'Spaceballs' Role
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Entertainment gossip and news from Newsweek's network of contributors At 98 years old, the Schwartz is still with Mel Brooks. According to Variety, the beloved filmmaker is returning to reprise the role of Yogurt, the wise alien sage who was able to not only teach Bill Pullman's Lone Starr about the ways of the Schwartz in "Spaceballs", but was also able to peddle some premium "Spaceballs" merchandise. Read More: 'Violent Night 2' Brings Back David Harbour as Blood-Soaked Santa Claus Brooks is returning to play Yogurt for "Spaceballs 2", though this time he'll just be in front of the camera. "Will & Harper" director Josh Greenbaum is directing the sequel, with a script from Benji Samit, Dan Hernandez, and Josh Gad. Mel Brooks as Yogurt in "Spaceballs". Mel Brooks as Yogurt in "Spaceballs". Amazon MGM Any kind of story details are being kept tightly under wraps, but an early logline for "Spaceballs 2" playfully calls it "A Non-Prequel Non-Reboot Sequel Part Two but with Reboot Elements Franchise Expansion Film." There is no firm release date for "Spaceballs 2" yet, but it is set to bow sometime in 2027. What is 'Spaceballs'? "Spaceballs" is a sci-fi parody largely poking fun at "Star Wars", with a few jokes here and there aimed at other spacefaring properties like "Alien" and "Star Trek". Directed by Mel Brooks, 1987's "Spaceballs" starred Bill Pullman as the hero Lone Starr, John Candy as his sidekick Barf, Daphne Zuniga as Princess Vespa, Rick Moranis as the villain Lord Dark Helmet, and Brooks as both President Skroob and Yogurt. As opposed to "The Force," in the universe of "Spaceballs", heroes and villains like Lone Starr and Dark Helmet use a power called "The Schwartz". Who Else Is Returning for 'Spaceballs 2'? One of the most surprising names attached to the "Spaceballs" sequel is that of Rick Moranis. Deadline confirms that Moranis is coming out of a long hiatus to reprise the role of Dark Helmet for "Spaceballs 2". Dark Helmet is the villain of the first "Spaceballs" and a clear send-up of the iconic "Star Wars" bad guy, Darth Vader. Bill Pullman is also returning to reprise the role of Lone Starr. Josh Gad and Keke Palmer will also star in the sequel, but details on their parts have yet to be revealed. Is There a Trailer for 'Spaceballs 2'? While there is no full trailer for "Spaceballs 2", there is a hilarious teaser for the film that is a send up of the famous "Star Wars" opening crawl. First teaser for 'SPACEBALLS 2' In theaters in 2027. — DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) June 12, 2025 More Movies: Orlando Bloom Will Return to 'Lord of the Rings' With One Condition The Controversial 2025 Snow White Remake is Coming to Disney+ for Streaming
Axios
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
Harper Steele takes center stage at SF Pride
Harper Steele isn't new to Pride parades, but this year's will feel a bit different when she takes on the role of celebrity grand marshal for what she calls "the mother of Pride parades." The big picture: The Los Angeles-based trans comedy writer and producer will anchor San Francisco's celebration of LGBTQ+ resilience amid an uptick in anti-trans incidents across the country. Steele's "visibility and vulnerability are a powerful reminder that queer people can and must be celebrated in every context," SF Pride executive director Suzanne Ford said in a statement on Steele's involvement. State of play: Steele's connection to the Bay Area runs deep. Since first hitch hiking to San Francisco in her 20s, she has often returned to see friends and spend time with record collections at Amoeba and Rasputin. Places like San Francisco are "beacons" for many LGBTQ+ people, she told Axios. "My own journey, much of that was true." Flashback: Steele grew up in Iowa City with "a skewed understanding of what it meant to be trans," as if it was "something psychologically deviant," she said. "I stuck to that for a while." After navigating gender dysphoria for decades, she transitioned at age 59 and started coming out to friends in 2021. "With a lot of trans people, that all-in moment happens three or four times, and then you retreat, advance, retreat," she said. "But at age 59, I didn't like the idea of getting older and not being authentic to myself." Between the lines: Steele became more widely known after " Will & Harper," a 2024 documentary that followed her and longtime friend Will Ferrell on a road trip across America. The film was Ferrell's idea, and it took her a while to agree. "I was thinking about anti-trans bills passing across the country, and then I thought, 'Well, there's some use I can get out of this very popular actor... maybe more people will see this.'" What they're saying:"I do think there's an environment where trans children can grow up in today's world... with less shame and guilt or no shame or guilt, which is the way we should all be allowed to grow," said Steele, who is now working on a memoir. Though she acknowledged it's "very idealistic thinking," she remains "hopeful we can change hearts and minds for those young people."
