Bonus! Which witches are actually queer?

You put in the work! WERK!

Thank you for being a champion of proper research and a source of many well researched fascinating stories!

would love to learn more about German gay film history!

I would love to see some German, Queer film history. Would you start with "Anders als die Andern? "

If non demi-curious semi-binary is real it could be Erivo and Grande just having fun with public scrutiny. Working together clearly made them more than friends, and our culture acts like "more than friends" has to mean lovers. Two people can share a deep bond of love and not be lovers. Soul sisters if you need a label.

ANY gay history is exciting to learn! To Germany, and beyond!

Adding my voice to the chorus of people who want to know more about gay German films! I know almost nothing about the subject, what tiny scraps of info I have come from this one video, which I'm linking in case it's of any use to you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=638ggjOwcnI&t=1326s

Would love to see a side project on German gay film history!

Hi Matt: I'd LOVE to see your take on early German gay cinema!

One reason I use Firefox is that they have several extensions that block AI in Google. I mean Google keeps asking me if I REALLY, TRULY don't want AI and I keep telling it no, I don't want it, thank you very much.

Ich bin Ausländer und spreche nicht gut Deutsch Ich bin Ausländer und spreche nicht gut Deutsch Bitte langsam, bitte langsam Bitte sprechen Sie ganz langsam Ich bin Ausländer und spreche nicht gut Deutsch That's pretty much all I remember from grade 10 German class. That song, the cute guy who sat a row over from me, and that's it. Speaking of Wicked, I literally just got back from taking my five year old niece from seeing the second half of what she calls “The Witch Movie”. Her review is that she liked it, but there were some parts that were too scary, and not enough that was funny. She also said the ending was sad. My review is similar in many aspects. First of all, there was a lot more darkness in this second half then in the first film. I also use those descriptors intentionally, because while the first film did work as a self-contained film, with a beginning, middle and end, the second one really only functions as an extension of the first. In terms of the darkness, here you really do get to see the rot that runs underneath all of Oz. That rot is that the entire society is built on lies and gaslighting, of fake heros, victims and villains, in which real harm results. Each of the characters are twisted by these lies and gaslighting, and by the end, each main character has lost something that is most dear to them. It also makes a point of saying that lies begat lies by their very nature, and the relationships that are built on them, even with the best of intentions, will always bring destruction upon those who enter into them. It’s a very important theme, and one that resonates with today’s world in self-evident ways. I guess it kinda ties in perfectly to what you're also talking about in this bonus video Matt. Lies, mistruths and Al disinformation, it all hurts us, twists us, makes us question our reality, and lessens what we leaves as our legacy. As for the returning cast, Cynthia Erivo, is once again fantastic playing the increasingly disillusioned freedom fighter. I do like that she grapples several times over the film with the idea that if she is so hated by those she is trying to enlighten and protect, then who exactly is she fighting for at the end of the day. When no one will listen to you, aren’t you eventually just screaming the truth into the wind? They really let her play into this frustration, to the point that she is effectively seduced into giving up her fight, only to see one more lie that she just can’t turn away from. I can't think of much that's more pertinent to today, or to the subject of your video. As the Svengali of those lies, Jeff Goldblum as the wizard is given much more to do in this instalment, and he rises to the occasion, playing this pathetic little man who is given way too much power, and is also responsible for the only shading of humor that runs through this 2 hours (like the Niece said, this instalment definitely lacks the lightness and humor of the first). For me though, Ariana Grande was the MVP of the first film, and she absolutely continues to be here. She also goes through her own path of disillusionment, having gotten everything she always wanted, but realizing that it’s cost her the only thing in her life that had any worth. I appreciate that this instalment, as was the true in the musical, makes her really face the effect of having not climbed onto that broom with her friend in act one, and that at the end of the film while you might think that she is the character who came out the most on top, you also know that she will be forever reckoning the hardest with what she was forced to give up. Ariana plays that complexity beautifully, in a character which could have so easily just been artifice. My niece was right that the ending is sad, but it needs to be so, because that’s what happens when you give up your home, or your name, or your best friend. When you lose the something that means everything, that’s going to be sad, but being sad is the not the death of happiness, and losing the most important things doesn’t mean you’ve lost everything. That’s the ultimate message of the film, and while that may have gone over my Niece’s head, but I’m hoping that it won’t be lost on other movie goers. My final thoughts? As I said at the beginning, this instalment doesn’t feel like a complete “experience” on its own, which does cut down on it's effectiveness. But... the themes are incredibly rich, the performances are awesome, and the songs, while they don’t have the epic pop they did in the first film, still serve the story here incredibly well. So, because they made it, I think what’s possible in terms of movie musicals has been changed… for good.

Thanks for speaking up for doing the research. I'd be interested in that side-project about German gay film history!

Loved the German, you should do more of it. Also do more on queer German films. Happy Thanksgiving. Also Hazbin Hotel season two just ended and it's possibly the best queer show of this year. It was amazing and Angel Dust is still hands down the best queer character to show up on 📺 television bar none

As someone who just earned his Ph.D. last year (Computer Science, Nova Southeastern University), I both appreciate and understand the need to conduct proper research and to distinguish between real citations and garbage citations.

In addition to being an “old school” researcher, you’re an old school teacher! That’s really refreshing in this day and age, Matt. 👍🏼

i hate living in this AI slop world where you have to clarify the literal basics of research and source verification. very excited for oz video next week tho!