What’s your essential piece of queer pop culture?

To celebrate Pride Month, The A.V. Club staff is recommending our favorite queer projects

By Saloni Gajjar, Drew Gillis, Matt Schimkowitz, Emma Keates, Tim Lowery, Jen Lennon, Jacob Oller, Cindy White | June 25, 2024 | 12:00pm

TV Features Queer

What’s your essential piece of queer pop culture?

Clockwise from bottom left: Liza Minelli in Liza With A Z; Julien Baker album cover; Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das in Fire; Dan Levy and Noah Reid in Schitt’s Creek Photo: IMDB; Julien Baker; Getty Images; PopTV

Everyone has an early or favorite memory of experiencing a queer project that felt transformative. It’s the TV show, album, film, or book you can’t stop recommending to people because it continues to dazzle you today. So in honor of Pride Month, we’re asking a simple, evocative AVQ&A: What’s your essential piece of queer pop culture?

Fire (1996)

FIRE - OFFICIAL TRAILER (1996)

Deepa Mehta’s groundbreaking film Fire was unlike any other Indian movie in the ’90s—and it’s still unlike any today. Well, technically it’s an Indo-Canadian endeavor and occurs in English, but the cast is full of Hindi movie icons like Shabana Azmi, Nandita Das, Vinay Pathak, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, and Jaaved Jaffrey. The movie’s legacy endures because of its excellent filmmaking, performances, and grit in storytelling. This progressive film was a game-changer because it was the first one in Bollywood to depict an erotic, sweet lesbian romance. Sisters-in-law Sita (Das) and Radha (Azmi) are each married to men who cannot keep them happy or satisfied. They find a new lease on life in each other and strive for their love in a taboo society. Their effervescent chemistry and tender dialogue make it an unforgettable movie. It was met with protests and anger upon its release, but Fire overcame it all and will go down as a timeless piece of queer pop culture. [Saloni Gajjar]

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