Lesbian Space Princess

My bad for being so long getting out a review. Every year I think I can work during vacation and every year I am reminded I cannot. What’s the definition of insanity again?

I did manage to bang out a couple of hours to watch this film that I’d been wanting to see for a very long time. I caught the trailer last year but never got around to seeing it. I’m a sucker for a clever pun, and the bad guys’species?…nickname?…sexuality?…made me laugh. While watching the film I also laughed quite a bit, often in a “I Can’t Believe They Did That” kinda way.

This Australian animated film tells a rather traditional story of a kinda loser young person who finds her way and becomes a hero. Kiki and Saira live on the planet Clitopolis (“Famously Hard to Find”) and have been in love for weeks when Kiki tells Saira she’s boring and leaves. Saira’s mums, the reining royal couple, don’t even seem to notice when Saira hares off in a spaceship to save Kiki from bad guys who have kidnapped her, and oh by the way they want Saira’s royal Labrys as ransom. Adventures of the Coming of Age variety ensue.

The character development is well done according to the trope, with the addition of many, many lesbian jokes. On the surface Saira is the same as any number of downtrodden boy adventurers who have become the hero. This one begins as a princess, though, instead of some farmer’s son. Saira was voted most boring royal and is afraid of everything and Kiki is a hard partying bounty hunter. This fulfills some lesbian romance tropes for mismatched couples, and the mixture of the genres gives the story a touch of freshness.

There are a number of original songs (by Leela Varghese), a couple of them interactive, and most of them stating the obvious with a bright, indie sound. Puns abound in the story, some of them visual and some of those are ribald in the extreme. Kiki, for instance, when saying goodbye to the royal mums make a point of telling the royal pussy she will miss it. The Royal Pussy is not a cat. Later there is a minor bad guy who is equally ribald, with a weapon that will test your ability to take a joke.

Saira carries most of the burden of learning and growing, but there are other characters who experience some changes in their life. One begins as the most over the top misogynistic character I’ve seen since Xena: Warrior Princess. That character growth may seem obvious and well worn, but with the sometimes outrageous choices taken by the filmmakers you see pretty quickly not everything is going to follow the typical path. 

I was very taken by the retro feel of the animation. Everything is very colorful, primary even, and fluid. Legs, for instance, have no knees and bend like a willow. Kiki’s legs are covered in thick hair, which is a hilarious joke if you’re a lesbian. The whole effect of the animation put me very much in mind of some 1970s animated film as a free flowing color fest.

Voice work is well done, especially that of the bad guys. Their thick macho Aussie accent enhances both their menace and the humor of their deep belief that they are, in fact, menacing. Saira’s voice grows from a constant self loathing weepiness into a firm, fully mature woman. Kiki sounded similar to Cate Blanchett, which is also a huge nod to lesbian culture.

Knowledge of queer sexual politics, history and humor is a major prerequisite for enjoying this movie. Some of the funny, like Clitopolis being “Famously Hard to Find” (“Unless you know what you’re doing.”) will speak to a fairly wide audience. Some of it bashes hard on types of people like playgirl queer women, or posturing macho men. Other jokes are pretty well only accessible if you have a deeper knowledge of queer culture.

And that is one of two reasons I don’t fully recommend this movie. Its target audience is very narrow, and even within that target a viewer is often tested on how low they can go and still find humor. I laughed often, but then I am essentially a twelve year old boy in an old woman’s body. Even so, my eyebrows raised a couple of times and I may have uttered a George Takei “Oh, my!”. How low the humor goes, especially in bashing men, will turn off quite a few people as well and is my second hesitation in fully recommending it.

I enjoyed watching this and will probably watch it again because it’s pretty and very funny, even when it gets kinda gross. If you decide to take a walk on the wild side, don’t forget that I tried to warn you if it suddenly takes a hard turn into territory that’s a bit too challenging. I will not show it to my wife, who I know for certain would hate this film. If you think you can take it I think you will laugh and enjoy, just be warned.

Triggers: gross humor (dialogue and imagery), misogyny, sexual situations

Available On: YouTube, Sling TV, Google Play, Apple TV, The Roku Channel, Amazon Prime, Phio, Fandango at Home

LINKS:

• Lesbian Space Princess – Official Website
• Lesbian Space Princess – IMDB
• Lesbian Space Princess – Wikipedia

CFR: In Addition

Ok, first I must begin by saying: Cranky, NEVER APOLOGIZE! You rock and I adore you and I am so glad you are in my life and write your great reviews. 🙂

Now, LOLOL, I have not yet seen this movie, but I really want to. Which is kind of funny because when Cranky sent me the review she said this would probably not be something I would enjoy. Cranky is awesome in that she, as you can see from her review above, considered other audiences that might not like this movie due to the, how shall I say it, specialized humor. Now I am a Cisgender straight woman, and even though I have spent my life supporting all things LGBTQ+, I wondered if I should watch just to see if I could keep up. Part of me thought challenge accepted.

Now here is what I think is very fun.

When I got onto the Internet to find the links and the trailer that are posted above, I found that Lesbian Space Pirate is rated FRESH on Rotten Tomatoes! Whuh? Rotten Tomatoes reviews often target women movies harshly. I then saw that this movie won a Teddy award. Ok, granted Teddy awards are for queer media but that is still a strong indication that the movie is good. According the movie official website it has won other awards. Huh. So in other people who were not lesbians liked this too?

I watched the trailer. OMG I laughed and grinned and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Done. Challenge accepted. I am so going to watch the movie right after I post this review. Cranky, if I don’t understand a joke, I’m calling you!

Thanks.