I Saw The TV Glow, follows two teenagers Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) and Owen (Justice Smith) who bond over their favorite television show The Pink Opaque, about two teen girls who have a psychic connection that they must use to defeat the evil Mr.
Melancholy. As they become more entranced with the series, Maddy and Owen’s reality begins to blur with the show’s plot.From director Jane Schoenbrun, the film delves into the ways people—queer people in particular—can relate to a piece of art, when it tells you things about yourself that you may have not even known yet.
Through that lens, I Saw The TV Glow is inspiring many within the LGBTQ+ community to reminisce about pieces of media that jump-started their “gay awakenings,” even if they didn’t know it at the time.Inspired by the television show-within-a-film The Pink Opaque, here are 10 TV series from the ’90s that saw many of us before we even could recognize it. Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.Schoenbrun’s stated inspiration for The Pink Opaque in TV Glow was the seminal Buffy The Vampire Slayer—their favorite show which they pay tribute to in fun odds and ends in the film.
The supernatural drama series Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her group of friends as Buffy learns how to be a vampire slayer in real time, fighting monsters right on the Hellmouth.