Tom Paul Martin’s fantastic Where Are All The Gay Superheroes? explores that continually prodding question. It is an important short film that should open up a multitude of conversations.
After saving the world once again, superheroes Sterling and Meridian take a rare moment to be alone from prying eyes. The two rekindle a past longing and wipe away old tensions as they battle something more than the normal supervillain.
It’s no secret that LGBTQIA+ representation has been well underseen (to put it kindly) since the boom of superhero TV and film hit our screens, so in truth, it was only a matter of time before we started to see films in the form of Tom Paul Martin’s Where Are All of the Gay Superheroes? It’s a valid question, to be fair, and while we know the reality is money and how having a character keep it straight or at least not out in the open with regards to their sexuality is the one that brings in those viewers or the box office then, why risk the wrath of people who do not want to see it? Hell, we have enough of a struggle with female-dominated shows and features than going that one (inevitable) step forward in representation in the genre. This is even before we talk about the role model side of things; let’s focus on the terrific Where Are All of the Gay Superheroes? from Tom Paul Martin.
What Tom Paul Martin has done with Where Are All of the Gay Superheroes? is very smart. Instead of just having a film with Gay superheroes in it, he has them broach the subject, discuss it and show us the attraction and love these two men have for one another. This romantic element creates this humanising look at people we consider all-powerful. To see them be vulnerable is fantastic and necessary, it gives us an extra reason to care for these characters and with Sterling and Meridian, we feel the power of that vulnerability.
Having the characters talk about the topic head-on in a heart-to-heart moment allows that dialogue to be swung rightfully open. Directly mentioning what was brought up beforehand. It’s a fascinating and compelling scene as Sterling battles with it all, releasing these pent-up thoughts. As the name says, to help relieve the emotional tension, he doesn’t want to be happy; he wants to be gay. He wants to be who he is privately at all times. It’s the power in the writing that enables the performances from Rory Fleck-Byrne (Sterling) and Imran Adams (Meridian) to flourish as well as here. You are all in on them.
You want to see them together but also want to see them both still as superheroes and stronger as a team, but Sterling’s seeing how open the human race can be to such a thing stunts that opportunity. Imran Adams (Meridian) and Rory Fleck-Byrne (Sterling) have the feel of two actors who have been playing these characters for a long time. You feel the pain within both of them, and they do provide some startlingly good performances here.
Where Are All of the Gay Superheroes? The film’s impactful message should resonate widely. We should care about this and goodness, with an ending scene like we get. You actively want to see not only how we got to this point in the two’s relationship (or lack thereof) but also what happens next. Not only does the film leave us talking, but it also has us wanting more of this world. It’s not a film you should miss out on viewing.
Support Us
I am but a small website in this big wide world. As much as I would love to make this website a big and wonderful entity. That would bring in more costs. So, for now, all I hope is to make Upcoming On Screen self-sufficient. Well, enough to make any website fees less of a worry for me in the future. You can support the website below…
Patreon
You can support us in a variety of ways (other than that wonderful word of mouth) and those lovely follows. If you are so inclined to help us out then you can support us via Patreon, find our link here! We don’t want to ask you much, so for now, we have limited our tiers to £1.50 and £3.50. These will, of course, grow the more we plan to do here at Upcoming On Screen.
Thanks for reading; every view helps us out more than you would think (we have fragile egos). Until next time.
Social Media
You can also support us via Twitter and Facebook Instagram and Blue Sky! by giving us a follow and a like. Every single one helps!
