Giving thanks: The Lavender Tube on Colman Domingo's star turn, Ronan Farrow's investigative journalism and more

  • Monday November 25, 2024
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Colman Domingo in 'The Madness' (photo: Netflix)
Colman Domingo in 'The Madness' (photo: Netflix)

As the holidays approach, one small but uplifting thing we are giving thanks for is gay actors giving us great TV. Colman Domingo checks all the boxes for us.

Colman Domingo in 'The Madness' (photo: Netflix)  

Domingo was the featured guest on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Nov. 19 and he was delightful. Gorgeously dressed as always, he talked about filming in his (and our) native Philly, playing Michael Jackson's dad Joe Jackson in the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic, "Michael" scheduled for release in April 2025 and about meeting Janet Jackson. And, the pièce de resistance, he showed off his dance moves, including moonwalking, which were, unsurprisingly, fabulous.

Domingo talked about being the object of screaming teen fans thanks to his role on "Euphoria."


He also talked about turning 55 on Thanksgiving — How is he 55? — and about gratitude (which made us tear up). The most fun part of the interview was him telling Jimmy how he was a warm up dancer for bar mitzvahs which included a bar mitvah where the hired talent was Taylor Dane and how he danced to her, in gay heaven.


While filming his new Netflix series "The Madness," Domingo knocked on the door of his childhood home, but no, they did not let him in. Another production Domingo worked on recently is "Sing Sing."


Based on the real-life Rehabilitation Through the Arts program at Sing Sing maximum security prison, the film centers on a group of incarcerated men involved in the creation of theatrical stage shows through the program. Domingo starred with many real-life formerly incarcerated alumni of the program like Clarence "Divine Eye" Maclin and Jon-Adrian "JJ" Velazquez. Domingo said everyone was paid the same amount for the film and he agreed to that immediately.


"The Madness" is an original Netflix conspiracy thriller series in which Domingo stars as a media pundit who must clear his name after he accidentally stumbles upon a murder in the Pocono woods and becomes the main suspect because he is Black and the victim a white supremacist. Anyone who has ever been to the Poconos knows it's not especially welcoming to Black people.

Domingo's character, Muncie Daniels, a media pundit, must reconnect with his estranged family, and his lost ideals, to survive the entanglement he's been trapped in, With Marsha Stephanie Blake, Gabrielle Graham and John Ortiz. The series premieres Nov. 28, with eight episodes.


Artist, genius and more
Ken Burns is a PBS staple whose incredible historical series we've been watching for decades. His "Civil War" is absolutely iconic. Burns's latest is "Leonardo da Vinci," putatively the greatest artist in history. Da Vinci was also a scientist, philosopher, mathematician and polymath. He was an amazing man and his accomplishments were incredible. Burns brings all that to life.

As is well-known and much detailed, da Vinci had close relationships with men, including his apprentice Giacomo Caprotti, nicknamed "Salaì." Da Vinci called Salaì his "beloved" and left him personal belongings in his will. Salaì lived with Da Vinci for nearly 20 years. Many claim Salai was the model for some of da Vinci's most famous works.

Burns spoke about the documentary on "CBS Sunday Morning."


Both episodes of "Leonardo da Vinci" are available to stream on www.pbs.org


Surveilled
Ronan Farrow is more than just a pretty gay face: he is an amazing investigative reporter who has done incredible work in recent years. In the new HBO Original documentary "Surveilled," Farrow uncovers the multi-billion-dollar spyware industry in a real-world horror story.

Farrow investigates the increasing use of cyber technology to spy on people, often unbeknownst to us. The documentary raises crucial questions about freedom, privacy and how this technology can be used to disrupt and quell lawful dissent in democracies.

During his investigation into serial rapist Harvey Weinstein for The New Yorker magazine, Farrow himself was the subject of covert surveillance. Surveillance has always been about intimidation. Think back to the classic Gene Hackman film, "The Conversation."

"It is emotionally devastating and intrusive and it makes you feel unsafe," Farrow told the Guardian, but the new commercial spyware tools are, as laid out in his documentary, "a whole other game, a whole other level of sophistication."

Farrow travels the globe to tell this story and it is incalculably chilling. You do not want to miss this investigation—although you will never look at your phone the same way, we guarantee it. www.docnyc.net


Sea to see
"Our Oceans" is a new documentary from Netflix narrated captivatingly by Barack Obama. Netflix says, "The world will never be the same once you've seen it from below," and while that's a bit hyperbolic, this is an extraordinary series at times just breathtaking in the scenes it captures.

Emmy-winning wildlife filmmaker James Honeyborne has provided an incredible visual feast as well as a compelling adventure series. Uncovering mesmerizing stories of five majestic oceans, each episode delves into the unique characters of the creatures within these ecosystems, from playful and cunning to resilient and mysterious.

Five episodes. Beautiful. Disturbing. Mesmerizing. Streaming on Netflix. You don't want to miss it.


Meta menace
We saw a segment on the Nov. 24 episode of "60 Minutes" that we almost wish we hadn't seen about Mark Zuckerberg's Meta and other tech giants like Microsoft, Google, Apple and Intel and how they are being courted by the Kenyan government to help end the country's massive unemployment. Officials have promoted Kenya as a "Silicon Savannah," tech savvy and digitally connected.

Kenyan President William Ruto has offered financial incentives on top of already lax labor laws to attract the tech companies and the result has been, as "60 Minutes" detailed, exploitative and abusive.

Kenyan civil rights activist Nerima Wako-Ojiwa said workers' desperation, in a country with high unemployment, led to a culture of exploitation with unfair wages and no job security in the budding world of working to set up AI.

"It's terrible to see just how many American companies are just doing wrong here," Wako-Ojiwa said. "And it's something that they wouldn't do at home, so why do it here?"

Watch the entire thing—it's grim and will make you rethink Zuckerberg as the benign alternative to Elon Musk. www.cbsnews.com

Resilience
Finally, as we stare down the daily Trump nominations of the worst people in America to run the new administration, not to mention Rep. Nancy Mace's scurrilous and obsessive transphobic assault on incoming Delaware Democrat Sarah McBride, the first out trans woman elected to Congress, many of us may be wondering what to give thanks for this Thanksgiving.

We're battling a brutal and aggressive cancer and the night before writing this column had to call 911 for a terrifying medical emergency. We survived it and we want to remind you that our community is filled with survivors. Queer and trans people are models of resilience.

You want something to give thanks for? Give thanks for all our ancestors on whose shoulders we stand and whose stories propel us forward. Be grateful for the fact you woke up this morning and that every day you have the opportunity to create change, for yourself, for others, for the planet.

So yes, give thanks. Gratitude is essential to living your best life. Never forget that. And for the good, the bad and the ugly, you know you really must stay tuned. Happy Thanksgiving.

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