031 - Desert Hearts

Pull out your hat pins and loosen up because it's time for another installment of Cinema Very Gay! Desert Hearts (or, "Not Another Lesbian On This Ranch") is a seminal piece of lesbian cinema, and for many good reasons. The film was directed by Donna Deitch in 1986 and stars Helen Shaver as Vivian, a stuffy literature professor at Columbia who is in the process of divorcing her unseen husband. To expedite the process, she establishes residency in Reno by staying on a "ranch" run by Frances (Audra Lindley). As in any good lesbian period piece, a woman can't run into the wilderness without finding romantic entanglements, as Helen is unexpectedly seduced by the confident and carefree Cay, played by Patricia Charbonneau. Though there are some familiar beats to the script, the movie is touchingly directed and does an incredible job at showing the complexities of Helen and Cay's romance, as well as its impacts on those around them. Why does Frances care so much that Cay might find love? Is this the dustiest lesbian movie ever made? Is Kevin actually in love with Patricia Charbonneau? This and more on this week's episode! And then an entry in our miniseries on Criterion's LGBTQ+ shorts collection, but we aren't over the moon about this one. Jake and Kevin watched the short film Call Your Father (dir. Jordan Firstman, 2016), which follows a disastrous first date between men from different generations. There's not much reason for the date to have continued as long as it did, but there is a bit of sit-com humor to appreciate.