Episode 1 - Is Cats queer?
What and why the hell is the 1998 Cats movie, and is it as gay as everyone says?
We look at how Cats was adapted from T.S. Eliot’s poems and pieced together into a narrative. We talk about the symbolism of cats and the influence of 80s glam culture bringing us leotards and yak hair wigs. We also explore relationships models and sexuality within the Jellicle community and their erasure in the 2019 “litter box edition” movie. With the help of the Internet, we talk about queerness within the beloved Cats fanfiction community and the prominence of Tuggoffelees stories.
Finally we examine a background character that doesn’t get much exposure: Tumblebrutus and his relationship with Pouncival and Mistoffelees.
Episode corrections: T.S. Eliot wrote Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats in 1939 and not in the 1920s like we mentioned in the episode!