Pride Month

Happy Pride Month! Much like with plenty of other significant past events, we are also celebrating Pride Month this June. Indeed. We commemorated International Women’s Day (check out the article here), Labor Day (here) and even Valentine’s Day before. But this particular celebration is special.

First and foremost, this is not about any particular day. Yup. It’s about Pride Month and the month of celebrating acceptance for the LGBTQ community. June also marks the anniversary of the Stonewall riots, and we want to acknowledge that as well.

But the team of IndieGala would also like to express support to the LGBTQ community in the best way that we can. Trough video games and movie representation of the LGBTQ community. And not just any representation. But a positive representation that shines a light on the diverse, eclectic and fabulous community all over the world.

Pride Month And Video Games

Granted we don’t really have that many LGBTQ-themed video games in our IndieGala’s vault but we do have some that we’d love to share with you. And one of our best-sellers is Pride Run. Developed by Steam Factory, Hard Ton, IV Productions and published by Green Man Loaded, Pride Run is a true gem. It’s also a casual strategy game that celebrates all things Pride, LGBTQ+ and inclusiveness. The game has you leading Parades in key cities all around the world, encapsulating the fun, color, excitement and inclusive nature of all Pride Parades.

Be loud, be proud and spread the message of love!

*Disclaimer: Pride Run is a celebration of Pride events and the LGBTQ community in general. The game is presented in a satirical way which includes the visualization of adult toys. In addition, there is the occasional use of adult words plus the occasional portrayal of topless females.

Pride Run is available for purchase here.

As mentioned, all adult themes are portrayed in a satirical way and not used in any meaningful context. There are no sexual acts of violence in this game. But if Pride Run isn’t up your alley, we do have adult video games with LGBTQ themes. Games like Another Love Story Between My Trainee and I (available here) and A Love Story Between My Boss and I (available here).

But What are some of the Steam users saying about Pride Run?

*KittyFromHell says: Fun! It makes you dance.

*While BeatleNumber9 adds: Pride Run is a game I think you’ll like whether you’re LGBT+ or not.

  • Pride Month

Pride Month And Movies

As I mentioned earlier, we intend to celebrate Pride Month with both video games and with movies. And for that purpose, I’ve selected an eclectic and fun list of (old and new) movies. All of them have LGBTQ themes in them, and most of them deal with the hardships that the LGBTQ community has had to deal with over the decades. Marginalization, stigma, shame, prejudice and sometimes violence. So… Let’s begin… Here are some of our picks.

Call Me By Your Name

Call Me by Your Name is in its essence a coming-of-age romance movie. But at the same time, it chronicles the relationship between a 17-year-old, Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet) and Oliver (Armie Hammer). A 24-year-old graduate-student assistant to Elio’s father (Michael Stuhlbarg). Set in the early ’80s in Italy, the movie is gorgeous, stylish and enchanting. Of course, the fantastic Italian scenery helps a lot with that, but the movie is filled with great performances too. First and foremost from the young Timothée Chalamet and then from Armie Hammer. But yeah. Call Me By Your Name is a wonderful movie that deserves to be on this list. Oh and the fans of the movie might get a sequel soon, but nothing is confirmed so far.

Fun fact: Timothée Chalamet learned to speak Italian and play the classical piano pieces used in the film.

Milk

How incredible is Sean Penn in the role of Harvey Milk? Seriously, the man deserved his second Oscar for best leading actor. And yes. Much like the title suggests, the movie is about Harvey Milk. Furthermore about the life, LGBT activism and subsequent assassination of Harvey Milk in the ’70s. But the Gus Van Sant movie is a lot more than just a movie with great performances. It contains a long list of top-notch actors and one hell of a script that also won the Oscar. Josh Brolin is also incredible in Milk, but the list goes on. Emile Hirsch, James Franco, Diego Luna, Alison Pill and are fabulous as well. It’s a must-watch.

Fun fact: Thousands of people agreed to take part in the film as extras for free.

Carol

Speaking of great performances… Carol has an abundance of them as well. Even though it’s not a biopic, the movie has a stellar cast nonetheless. And one hell of a director behind the camera (Todd Haynes), who much like Gus Van Sant is also openly gay. But Carol is a tale of a forbidden love story between an older woman and a young aspiring female photographer. And yes, the wonderful and talented Cate Blanchett stars in the titular role. I believe I devoted an entire article about miss Blanchett just last year (which you can check out again here). And as you can probably tell, I can’t wait to see her in the Borderlands adaptation. Rooney Mara and Sarah Paulson are also in the cast, but this is a visually beautiful movie too. Despite the acting heavy-weights in it, it’s visually stunning.

Fun fact: Both Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara wore wigs throughout filming.

But I’m a Cheerleader

The last two movies on this list are from the ’90s and yes. One of my favorites too. Especially But I’m A Cheerleader. The movie looks like a cross between John Walters and Wes Anderson’s project, and it’s incredible. But the fantastic Natasha Lyonne is the 17-year-old Megan here. A shy cheerleader that’s sent to a residential inpatient conversion therapy camp to cure her lesbianism. But once she’s there she’ll meet several closeted and marginalized people like herself. Which will only inspire her to rebel against the rules and societal norms.

And yes. To come out of the closet. However, there’s plenty of other great actors that fill the rest of the cast. Melanie Lynskey, Eddie Cibrian, Clea DuVall, Cathy Moriarty, Katrina Phillips are in it. Not to mention, RuPaul, who’s fabulous as ever, but in the most surprising role ever. Oh, and in a very small part, Michelle Williams is there too. This is a fantastic movie nonetheless, and I highly recommend it.

Fun fact: Cathy Moriarty asks a character if she wants to be a “raging bull-dyke.” Moriarty received an Oscar nomination for her role in Raging Bull (1980).

The Birdcage

And finally, the oldest movie on this list. But probably the most fun of them all. Well, what do you expect when you have Robin Williams and Nathan Lane in the lead roles. Seriously, I can’t tell you enough how much I LOVE this movie. It’s one of those movies that I can watch over and over again and I won’t get bored of it. Ever. But Robin and Nathan are an old gay couple who must pretend that they’re husband and wife (don’t ask) in order to impress their future conservative in-laws.

But if you think the cast (which consists of Dan Futterman, Gene Hackman, Hank Azaria and Diane Weist) is great… You should check out the crew. Mike Nichols is behind the camera, while his long-time writing partner Elaine May wrote the script. Oh, and the 3 times Oscar winner Emmanuel Lubezki is on DP duty, which is awesome. This is one hell of a funny movie that touches on serious subjects. You’re gonna love it, and you’re going to laugh until your jaw hurts.

Fun fact: In the movie, Calista Flockhart’s character Barbara is “not even 19”. Flockhart was actually 30 at the time of the filming. Dan Futterman’s character Val is supposed to be 20, but in reality, he was actually 27 when the film was being shot.

What Are Your Movie Picks For Pride Month?

Let us know in the comment below. We’d love to know all about them. Is it Moonlight? How about Blue Is The Warmest Color? How about videogame representation? Tell us all about them.

Chatter with us