First of all, let me emphasize–my health is good. This has been an intense year in so many ways, and one of them was going through the process a lot of us have been through, where the screening mammogram is followed up by a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound, which is followed up by a biopsy. There were two main saving graces during those hurry-up-and-wait weeks. One, I was writing a poem every day about the process. Two, I was distracting myself with Heated Rivalry (which I’ve already written about some, here.) O.k., more than two saving graces: I also have an amazing husband and very good friends.
The results of my biopsy are that I have LCIS/classic (still called “carcinoma” BUT IS NOT CANCER). Because of that (it does put me in a higher risk of developing cancer) and my family history (mother and grandmother had breast cancer), I’ll be following up at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Breast Clinic. The results were a relief and I’m very happy to be in good hands at Carbone.
The beautiful men in my poem are two of the stars of Heated Rivalry, François Arnaud & Hudson Williams. (Also in my cartoon–I edited a screen cap & I very much hope THAT DIDN’T MEAN I USED AI BECAUSE AS HUDSON WILLIAMS SAYS IN THIS VIDEO, FUCK AI.)
Why were they doing that? Well, Novartis has an awareness campaign called Your Attention Please, about getting screened for breast cancer. The site features clever videos with lots of images of how we typically view women’s breasts, including lots of cheerleaders’ chests, then cuts to black with this box:
The first video features Wanda Sykes at the end, and was shown (I’m guessing) on Super Bowl Sunday. The second one is the same idea, same black box, but features women on the red carpet because it was shown during the Oscars. It features Hailee Steinfeld at the end.
At one of the many, many pre-Oscars parties, Hudson Williams and François Arnaud took their turn in a photo booth sponsored by Novartis, People magazine, and The Motion Picture and Television Fund (MPTF).
I appreciate that those two busy guys lent themselves (albeit briefly) to the campaign, and I also appreciate that they’ve been using their Instagram feeds to promote miscellaneous good books.
I suppose I am sharing this poem to do my small part to say do all the screening you can. I have been doing my yearly mammos for a lot of years, and I will happily do more and even MRIs as part of my ongoing care.
I suppose I am also sharing this poem to be a little more public about what I’ve been going through.
And also to let my friends know LISTEN JUST BECAUSE I NO LONGER TALK ABOUT HEATED RIVALRY ALL THE TIME DOESN’T MEAN I’M DONE.
Oh, and also, I haven’t yet scheduled my next colonoscopy and I need to. I wonder if there’s a photo booth somewhere for beautiful people to grab other body parts, those more germane to colonoscopy. . . . JUST TO RAISE AWARENESS OF COURSE.
Listen I don’t think I have a Heated Rivalryproblem. I just have a Heated Rivalry thing.
It’s not like I spent hundreds of dollars on jerseys for fictional hockey teams this morning when the official merchandise store reopened after being sold out for months (just one hundred + 12.64 on one t-shirt, 2 magnets, and some blue socks with bananas).
It’s not like I’ve bought all Rachel Reid’s books in hard copy and digital (only digital so far).
It’s not like I’ve ordered multiple copies of the official double-vinyl soundtrack and book with annotated scripts and color picture inserts (only one copy of each).
Did I buy a pewter loon for my charm necklace? Yes, I did.
Did I have quinoa pudding for breakfast because that’s one of the super-healthy things Eric Bennett eats in Common Goal, book four in the Game Changer series? Yes.
Did I start eating (and really enjoying) farro because it’s one of the things Shane Hollander eats in his (possibly-disordered) diet in The Long Game? Yes.
Did I buy Laufey’s new album because of the music video featuring Hudson Williams? Sure.
Did I buy a PWHL Ottawa Chargers Pride shirt because [SPOILER ALERT] the Ottawa team in the Game Changers books plays an important role? Yes.
Some arm candy I made with the first letter of lines in a scene in Heated Rivalry which I have taken to mean ASK FOR WHAT YOU WANT.
But listen. I have not and will not buy a Peloton machine or subscription even though Hudson Williams’s commercial is pretty watchable.
I am not switching back to Verizon based on Connor Storrie’s butt’s ad.
I have not put the release dates for the soundtrack and script books on my calendar.
I did not even TRY to buy Red Sox tickets for Heated Rivalry night at Fenway later this summer.
I mean, sure. I have reheated (rewatched) all the episodes and re-reid (reread) all the books so many times I have completely lost track. And I have been spending entirely too much time on Threads (which I’ve seen referred to as the Heated Rivalry group chat many, many times).
I started a blog post draft a few weeks ago trying to explain to myself why the show seemed to have such a hold on me, and why it annoys me that some people in the fandom think I’m too old at 60 to be so into it (seriously—I don’t want to DATE any of them—and if I met the young stars or that wily genius Jacob Tierney the first words out of my mouth would be “You shouldn’t be smoking.”)
This on Threads was one of those “I feel seen” moments:
I might go back and try to figure out more about WHY I love it so much, but it’s mainly this:
Jacob Tierney, who adapted and directed the series, has said in multiple interviews and venues he wanted to bring forth queer joy. And horniness. The horniness is important because there is too much puritanical bullshit going on. And the queer joy is important because part of being 60 is remembering when we learned about AIDS and how awful Ronald Fucking Reagan was about AIDS and how we lost pretty much a generation. I try very hard to be a good LGBTQ ally (always happy to learn more), and I don’t know if my own joy is an acceptable offering, but here it is: this show has brought me SO MUCH JOY.
This post is at least partly about my extremely high comfort level with announcing what brings me joy. And I’m fishing a little—is there ANYONE I know in real life who wants to hang out and TALK about this show? Should I push for a Heated Rivalry Trivia Night?
Also in the meantime, all this has made me think about other loadbearing hyperfixations I’ve had over the years, a surprising number of which are Canadian, the first of which, chronologically, was Jesus of Montreal.
Denys Arcand’s 1989 movie hit me hard and stayed with me.
Denys Arcand’s 1989 movie hit me hard and stayed with me. It was so clever and layered and really provocative. I was an English professor for a bunch of years, and when I taught Religion in Literature or the Bible and Literature, I sometimes showed it, and I was so excited by Adele Reinhartz’s very scholarly and wonderful Jesus of Hollywood I am pretty sure I wrote her a fan email. I used to watch it yearly for Holy Week, and I once even tried to structure some out-of-church-but-kind-of-like-church discussions of the movie. (Those didn’t catch on.)
Boy did I feel smug when I taught I Shot Andy Warhol (not for the religion or Bible classes) and recognized Lothaire Bluteau.And thus begins the interconnectedness of my hyperfixations. One of Bluteau’s more recent credits is Canadian Sniper, which I watched because of a Heated Rivalry’s François Arnaud.
Arnaud was asked in an interview which of his works he might want people to seek out and he said The Winter House with Lili Taylor (who played Valerie Solanas in I Shot Andy Warhol, which was directed by Mary Harron, who also directed Alias, Grace, which starred Paul Gross). The Winter House was fantastic.
Between Jesus of Montreal and Heated Rivalry, there were the PAUL GROSS years, which began, I think, with Slings and Arrows. I live in a theater town (Spring Green, Wisconsin, home of American Players Theater–you should come visit!) and at some point so many of my theater friends were raving about Slings and Arrows I had to watch. It is a show that is wonderful for so many reasons, but Paul Gross as Geoffrey was a nearly transcendent spectacle. I haven’t done a rewatch recently, but I will soon because Jacob Tierney is in one of the seasons and I don’t remember him at all from it.
O, Paul Gross. Jesus of Montreal might be the first chronologically of my Canadian loves , and Heated Rivalry might be first for intensity (and adjacent merch purchases), but in terms of persistence, I will just say I spent YEARS hunting down PG’s obscure movies (of inconsistent levels of awesomeness). You lay down your hand of Passchendaele, Gunless, Hyena Road, Wilby Wonderful, and Eastwick and I will win this round by countering with H2O, Murder Most Likely, Cold Comfort, and Getting Married in Buffalo Jump.
When my son was a little guy, we watched sooooo many episodes of Due South. My husband and I still say “Understood” in a very Benton voice.
I am waiting for him to make some sort of public utterance about Heated Rivalry, maybe mentioning that he made a curling movie (Men With Brooms, which I LOVE) instead of a hockey movie because they couldn’t afford the crowds and didn’t have the technology our favorite show’s creators now have. I don’t think everyone in Canadian film and entertainment knows each other except they kind of do.
I’m not the only one thinking about him in reference to Heated Rivalry. Someone brought him up just today on Threads. And there’s this, from The Beaverton where they talk about why the show took off and how they love not knowing who the actors were and then giggle about Paul Gross somehow showing up:
[I absolutely HATE fancasting or I would mention there’s a villain role in the Game Changer books he’d be perfect for.]
In addition to all the Paul Gross tentacles, Slings & Arrows also gave me Sarah Polley (I love her book. I watch her movies. I would talk to her about our shared history with scoliosis if I met her. Also she was also in a movie with Jacob Tierney) and Luke Kirby (so amazing in the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Take This Waltz, with Michelle Williams AND DIRECTED BY SARAH POLLEY). I know other people knew Rachel McAdams from other things, but this was my first exposure. I also had never seen Kids in the Hall but loved Mark McKinney as the beleaguered/clueless managing director of the theaters in Slings and Arrows.
The Beaverton folks are making fun of him, but one must admit he’s aged well.
Liz Duff (pop culture aficionado, podcaster, big on the Tik Tok but I follow her on Threads) is suggesting/pleading for people channel their Heated Rivalry fan energy into watching other Canadian television shows that aren’t getting as much attention (i.e. every other Canadian television show).
This seems like a fantastic idea. I am loving Letterkenny and North of North is moving up my to-be-watched list very quickly. But those shows have to fit in between my ongoing reheatings of Heated Rivalry. I will not tinker with the joy it brings me, not when my life has been really life-ing at me lately and this stupid world is just [gestures everywhere].
I probably do need to write some more about his show because I realize there are so many characters and actors I haven’t mentioned at all. So many moments. So much beauty. So much joy.
So much joy.
Drop me a comment if you think I should follow up on any of the above or something else I haven’t even thought of or any of these:
Canadian, Sniper is a movie I would recommend with about 40 caveats,
Heated Rivalry is helping me heal my lifelong Francophobia,
Rewatching and rereading are perfectly valid methods of emotional regulation,
All the reasons women love MM fiction & film,
The Heated Rivalry cookbook idea I have (including cocktails), which I actually hope someone else just does so I can buy it.
marniere 