May December, the latest from celebrated filmmaker Todd Haynes, hit Netflix last week, it was basically a gay holiday.Back in the ’90s, the out filmmaker was one of the leading voices in the New Queer Cinema movement, and basically every time he releases a new film—from glam-rock saga Velvet Goldmine to sapphic romance Carol—it’s an event.The fact that this one happened to promise a showdown, of sorts, between high-caliber actresses Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman, plus a showcase for the breathtakingly hunky Charles Melton, brought our excitement to a fever pitch.Of course, on the surface, there’s not much that’s textually “queer” about May December and its story of an actress (Portman) observing the life of Gracie (Moore), a woman she’ll be playing in her next film role—a woman who, years earlier, went to prison for her relationship with a minor and then had his baby, a la real-life tabloid subject Mary Kay Letourneau.But gay viewers were pretty immediately drawn to one character in particular: Gracie’s son Georgie, from her marriage prior to the scandal.
Clearly still hurting from his mom’s actions, he’s something of a “chaos agent” in just a few short but memorable scenes—and while it’s not plainly stated that Georgie is queer, he does reference giving his friend a h*nd j*b, so…In any event, Georgie is played by out actor Cory Michael Smith, perhaps best known for playing Edward Nygma, a.k.a.