Red, White, and Royal Blue

Earlier this year a book adaptation of Red, White, and Royal Blue hit Prime video. It had a good internet reception which is really what my only metric is for these streaming movies. This movie also caused me to start a nice little research project called Why Does Hollywood Hate Lesbians? But that is a different discussion. Having some gay rep in the mainstream is always a good idea. So now that I’ve gotten around to watching it, let's get into the review for Red, White and Royal Blue.

I haven’t read the book and therefore can not speak to the accuracy of the adaptation however it is the tone of a classic rom com. So many rom coms center around falling in love with a prince and we even have a very clear enemies to lovers storyline going. I am loving all of the classic rom com tropes amidst our enemies to lovers storyline. We even have a moment where they fall on top of each other and a little reconciliation moment. You can literally watch them fall in love along the course of a perfectly laid out rom com plot. I can see why this book and now movie are popular. When people ask for LGBTQ representation what we don’t want is stories that are centered around our queerness. We just want to be a part of the stories that everyone else gets. The rom coms, the fantasy, the adventure. We just want to be in those spaces as we are.

The funny thing is that unless you are well versed in rom com tropes those things don’t even come off as romantic. Until our president's son meets up with his old friend Miguel. The sexual tension in that scene is so palpable. And then in the following sequence of him communicating with the Prince their messages definitely feel less friendly and more flirty.

Guys this might be my new favorite rom com, it's so well done. The moment the boys had at the new years party on the dance floor was so perfectly framed. A seriously good shot.

I love that the conflict of these boys not being able to be true to themselves because their both very high profile public figures isn’t even introduced until 33 minutes into the movie. Act 1 is completely finished before this idea is even introduced and that is perfect. The tension is perfectly built up between these two and their chemistry is off the charts. And the actors they cast look so damn cute together. I totally clocked our little act 3 twist pretty early…they get together and of course the general public finds out putting literally their entire families future’s in jeopardy. The scene where Alex tells his mom is so sweet. Everyone watching needed that to be an acceptance scene and it was.

I am officially in love with this movie. It is a perfectly executed romantic comedy. It's sweet, it's funny, the tropes are so very well written. The chemistry between the leads is impeccable and I really really loved the story. I mean it's no secret that my favorite love stories are super gay but that's really because when they're written well and with care and intention they really are the best stories. Willow and Tara from Buffy, Azeriphel and Crowley from Good Omens have relationships that are truly incredibly well crafted and if I had been able to see these relationships growing up maybe it wouldn’t have taken me so long to realize that I’m bisexual. These stories are important and when they are treated like they are important we get some beautiful stories.