My adopted mother invited me to see a play with her in Tempe on Saturday night. She informed me that the play, Milk Milk Lemonade, was about a gay boy on a chicken farm who dreams of becoming famous while dealing with his terminally ill, heterosexist grandmother. The queer culture here in Phoenix is virtually nonexistent, so, as you can imagine, I jumped on the opportunity. Plus, I love plays (I am queer after all). I encourage those who are not triggered by domestic violence or rape to watch it on their own to get their own opinion. I thought parts of the play were absolutely hilarious, but I’m not so supportive with some of the messages promoted.

The protagonist is a young boy named Emery. He’s feminine, adorable, and loves to perform. He dreams of competing at a talent show in hopes of becoming famous. As an audience member, you get to see other members of the cast perform, including Linda the chicken and Emery’s beloved doll. You never get to see him perform though which made me sad since I was rooting for him. 

Emery lives down the street from self-loathing Elliot, and the two boys have a hesitant relationship. They’re young, elementary student boys who plays house as if they were a miserable, married couple. The elaborate seen drags on with potentially sexist undertones: the two boys imitating the hypermasculine and hyperfeminine bounds of the gender binary. This scene, Linda, and the genderbending narrator make up most of the humor in the play.

Emery and Elliot obviously have sex. There are no sex scenes per se, but they play house, shut the barn doors, and come out in their underwear with plush packies hanging out. You know what’s going on. I could not stop laughing throughout the play, especially over the narrator who is now my latest crush (call me?), but as the relationship between Emery and Elliot builds, it became harder and harder for me to laugh. 

You see, Elliot and Emery like each other but not publicly given the political climate. Elliot bullies Emery to over-compensate for his feelings. As an audience member, you see Elliot physically harm Emery and then say it’s not his fault. He’s an interesting character. He has a hard time sharing his feelings, so, what I gathered at least, they manifest in his leg forcing him to walk with a limp. The feelings in his leg talk and influence Elliot throughout the story. Anyway, you see Elliot coerce Emery into sexual situations, playing, and sticking around in general. Emery repeatedly states that he does not want to do various things. This list goes from playing house to having sex, and Elliot’s response to this display of non-consent is to yell, whine, and physically shove Emery into the barn where he’s raped. Emery, of course, displays no discomforts after having been blatantly raped whereas Elliot feels guilty for having taken part in a gay activity. No amount of emotional hardship changes the fact that this is blatant rape.

[Spoiler alert] The two boys end up together in the end furthering the notions that gay success is focused so much on relationships that abusive relationships are more tolerable than being single and, say, on that talent show that Emery never shuts up about but never actually goes to. [end spoiler alert]

Milk Milk Lemonade is a comedy that knows and aspires to be campy which is one of its redeeming qualities. On the other hand, the homonormative set of values that are promoted are not funny by any means but rather a display of the lack of validating queer media currently available to the public consciousness.

1. citylifeinstills liked this
2. homosocialnature reblogged this from iragray
3. turtwig liked this
4. iragray posted this