Tracey Ullman: State of The Union
If you haven’t already been watching, check out Tracey Ullman’s new series on Showtime, now in reruns. It concluded last week and it’s even better, if that’s imaginable, than her previous works. Her characters have always been insightful and fascinating, but in this thematic context, the series takes on a new brilliance, because there’s never been a better time to lampoon our very vulnerable America. This country is a mess! With the faux stoicism of our entire media and the lubricious nature of our news commentators, maybe we need a “foreigner” to show us a truly fresh take on the crazy nature of our national existence. Tracey does this very well, not just because she’s a supreme satirist, but also because she’s lived here for awhile. She has done her homework in her new home. And she has done it well.
I can appreciate her research in a very personal way, because I empathize on a regional basis. I’ve been in Atlanta for almost five years and my observations continue to be an amazing curiosity for this Boston-bred yankee. My last blog was about my incredulity at being expected to answer to a closeted boss, who then answered to straight people, all the while working for what is supposed to be a gay entity. That bizarre situation would never happen in a major northern city. In the months that have passed since that blog, I’ve encountered native southerners who often respond with a glazed over tolerance towards such hypocrisy. But luckily, I’ve also encountered some key players who “get film” and get the importance of gay people being in charge of gay events, especially gay money-making events. So it looks like things may change for the better on that front sooner than later. I’ll keep y’all posted.
Still, in the slow progress I’ve made with my verbal rants, I wondered if I should just borrow some of Tracey’s wigs and put on a little show of my own. So that’s what I did (sans the wigs, I style my own real hair). My Atlanta debut at Blake’s On The Park last week went really well. I had been happily retired from performing. I was done with it. But when Blake’s all-GLBT music series called Southern Exposure asked me to make a comeback, I admired the sentiment of Bruce Well’s project so much that I had to accept his offer. I had created and co-produced an all-gay showcase for SXSW in 2001, the proudest accomplishment of my life. I love that Bruce is doing this on an ongoing basis. So, much like Al Pacino in The Godfather 3, I have been “pulled back in again.” Now what was that urban myth about the gay mafia really all about…?