WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.540 Have you ever wondered what happens to a high 00:00:03.540 --> 00:00:06.400 school romance when it's just forced to survive 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:08.900 the transition into, you know, really messy, 00:00:09.240 --> 00:00:11.320 unpredictable adulthood? Right, because usually 00:00:11.320 --> 00:00:13.759 in media, we just get that dramatic kiss at the 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:16.339 prom. Exactly, the crevice roll. And you were 00:00:16.339 --> 00:00:17.960 just left to assume that, well, everything works 00:00:17.960 --> 00:00:20.039 out totally fine. Which is almost never the case. 00:00:20.199 --> 00:00:23.539 No, definitely not. But today, we're tracking 00:00:23.539 --> 00:00:26.559 a story that absolutely refused to let the cameras 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:29.300 stop rolling. graduation. Yeah, it's quite the 00:00:29.300 --> 00:00:31.579 journey. It really is. We are doing a deep dive 00:00:31.579 --> 00:00:35.600 into something like summer. It's a 2011 young 00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:39.560 adult LGBT romance novel by author J. Bell. A 00:00:39.560 --> 00:00:41.840 very pivotal book for a lot of people. For sure. 00:00:42.200 --> 00:00:44.640 And our mission today is to pull from our sources. 00:00:44.859 --> 00:00:46.840 Specifically, we're looking at detailed Wikipedia 00:00:46.840 --> 00:00:49.420 data surrounding the book's plot, its reception, 00:00:49.500 --> 00:00:52.719 and the various adaptations to explore how this, 00:00:52.719 --> 00:00:54.960 well, seemingly straightforward teen romance 00:00:54.960 --> 00:00:57.840 evolved into this sweeping decade -spanning narrative. 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:00.820 Decades, plural almost. Right. It spawned an 00:01:00.820 --> 00:01:03.579 award -nominated franchise, a crowd funded film 00:01:03.579 --> 00:01:07.120 and even a completely modified school edition. 00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:09.780 And to really appreciate the journey of the story 00:01:09.780 --> 00:01:12.180 you have to like... place yourself back in the 00:01:12.180 --> 00:01:14.799 cultural landscape of 2011. Yeah, totally different 00:01:14.799 --> 00:01:18.239 world. It really was. This was before the massive 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:21.459 mainstream boom of queer young adult literature 00:01:21.459 --> 00:01:23.439 that you see today. Right, like we didn't have 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:26.260 global television phenomenons. Exactly. No heart 00:01:26.260 --> 00:01:29.219 stopper. No red, white, and royal blue dominating 00:01:29.219 --> 00:01:32.239 the cultural conversation. So a self -published 00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:36.500 novel tackling these themes with such raw honesty 00:01:36.500 --> 00:01:39.400 was really a pioneering blueprint. It kind of 00:01:39.400 --> 00:01:42.859 set the stage. And what makes this novel so unique 00:01:42.859 --> 00:01:44.859 within its genre isn't just the fact that it 00:01:44.859 --> 00:01:47.079 features a love triangle. I mean, those are everywhere. 00:01:47.140 --> 00:01:49.719 Yeah, definitely. It's the highly ambitious structure. 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:52.200 The author tracks these major themes of self 00:01:52.200 --> 00:01:54.780 -acceptance, the whole coming out process, personal 00:01:54.780 --> 00:01:57.579 fulfillment. And he does it by forcing you to 00:01:57.579 --> 00:02:01.120 watch these characters navigate three very distinct 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:04.219 eras of their lives. OK, let's unpack this. Because 00:02:04.219 --> 00:02:06.060 if you want to understand this book's massive 00:02:06.060 --> 00:02:08.580 appeal, you really have to look at how the narrative 00:02:08.580 --> 00:02:11.900 forces us to act. ask, what happens when the 00:02:11.900 --> 00:02:14.580 safe haven of adult independence is just totally 00:02:14.580 --> 00:02:17.840 invaded by the unresolved trauma of your teenage 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:20.039 years? Oh, that's a great way to put it. Right. 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:22.300 The story just refuses to freeze its characters 00:02:22.300 --> 00:02:24.520 in time. So if you look at the inception of this 00:02:24.520 --> 00:02:26.919 relationship, we were in Houston, Texas. And 00:02:26.919 --> 00:02:31.620 the year is 1996. Yes, 1996. We meet our main 00:02:31.620 --> 00:02:34.479 character, 17 -year -old Benjamin Bentley, who 00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:38.139 usually just goes by Ben. And notably, for 1996 00:02:38.139 --> 00:02:41.680 Texas, Ben is already openly gay to his friends 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:44.039 and family. Which is huge for that time and place. 00:02:44.219 --> 00:02:46.439 Huge. Of course, he falls for his classmate, 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:49.080 Tim Wyman. But Tim is in a profoundly different 00:02:49.080 --> 00:02:51.580 place psychologically. So clearly. Tim is entirely 00:02:51.580 --> 00:02:55.219 closeted. In fact, he is actively using a girlfriend 00:02:55.219 --> 00:02:58.740 as what we might call a heterosexual shield. 00:02:58.840 --> 00:03:00.759 Which is such a heavy concept. Let's break that 00:03:00.759 --> 00:03:02.599 down for a second because it's not just about 00:03:02.599 --> 00:03:06.780 lying. Right. No, it's much deeper. Tim uses 00:03:06.780 --> 00:03:10.039 this girlfriend as a heterosexual shield, meaning 00:03:10.039 --> 00:03:13.560 he is projecting this false image of safety to 00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:16.020 the conservative Texas environment around him. 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:19.560 Trying to blend in. Exactly. He's quietly deflecting 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:21.939 the immense social cost of being gay in the mid 00:03:21.939 --> 00:03:26.580 -90s. He is terrified. Wow. Yeah. And Ben steps 00:03:26.580 --> 00:03:29.360 into this dynamic and gradually helps Tim accept 00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:31.860 his repressed identity. He actually convinces 00:03:31.860 --> 00:03:34.180 Tim to drop the shield, break up with the girlfriend, 00:03:34.300 --> 00:03:36.900 and they start dating in secret. Which, like, 00:03:37.419 --> 00:03:39.039 feels like the ultimate victory for the reader, 00:03:39.219 --> 00:03:40.819 right? You think, okay, they figured it out. 00:03:40.919 --> 00:03:42.860 You'd hope so. But then the harsh reality of 00:03:42.860 --> 00:03:44.900 their environment just crashes in. They're nearly 00:03:44.900 --> 00:03:46.879 caught by the police while having sex in a public 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:49.330 park. Yeah, and it's not just a scare. No, it's 00:03:49.330 --> 00:03:51.550 not. That near arrest fundamentally shatters 00:03:51.550 --> 00:03:53.669 everything. The romance completely falls apart. 00:03:54.110 --> 00:03:56.629 The trauma is just way too much for Tim to handle. 00:03:57.050 --> 00:03:59.110 And these two teenagers end up going their separate 00:03:59.110 --> 00:04:01.349 ways. And this is where the narrative makes... 00:04:01.150 --> 00:04:03.689 a really brilliant pivot. Instead of resolving 00:04:03.689 --> 00:04:06.169 the teenage angst right then and there, we jump 00:04:06.169 --> 00:04:09.469 forward three years to 1999. All right, skipping 00:04:09.469 --> 00:04:12.689 ahead. Yep. Ben is now a freshman in college, 00:04:12.870 --> 00:04:15.430 having relocated to Chicago, so the high school 00:04:15.430 --> 00:04:18.269 era is definitively over. He got out. He did. 00:04:18.709 --> 00:04:20.689 And it's here, while flying back home for the 00:04:20.689 --> 00:04:22.889 holidays, that Ben meets a flight attendant named 00:04:22.889 --> 00:04:25.800 Jace Holden. Jace is such a breath of fresh air 00:04:25.800 --> 00:04:27.939 for Ben at this point. Oh, absolutely. I mean, 00:04:27.980 --> 00:04:30.779 this isn't just a brief holiday fling. They fall 00:04:30.779 --> 00:04:34.120 doubly in love, and they make that massive, terrifying 00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:36.620 adult decision to actually move in together. 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:39.399 That's a huge step. It is. You really get the 00:04:39.399 --> 00:04:41.079 sense that Ben has finally found his footing. 00:04:41.319 --> 00:04:44.740 He's stable. But then Ben transfers to a new 00:04:44.740 --> 00:04:48.220 school in Austin, Texas. That Austin. Yeah. And 00:04:48.220 --> 00:04:50.199 you can probably guess who happens to be a student 00:04:50.199 --> 00:04:53.779 there. Let me guess. Tim. It's Tim. But you have 00:04:53.779 --> 00:04:55.939 to realize this is a very different Tim than 00:04:55.939 --> 00:04:58.740 the, you know, terrified teenager from Houston. 00:04:59.899 --> 00:05:03.259 Tim has now fully embraced his sexuality. He 00:05:03.259 --> 00:05:05.519 is out of the closet. Good for him, finally. 00:05:05.939 --> 00:05:08.300 Well, yes. But he immediately starts actively 00:05:08.300 --> 00:05:10.300 meddling in Ben's life trying to win him back. 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:13.000 Oh, wow. Yeah, he really does. And the tactics 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:15.720 he uses are alarming, to say the least. Yeah, 00:05:15.720 --> 00:05:19.259 they are. It culminates in Tim actually deceiving 00:05:19.259 --> 00:05:22.069 Ben. tricking him into believing that Jace is 00:05:22.069 --> 00:05:24.490 cheating on him. It's just so messed up. It's 00:05:24.490 --> 00:05:27.490 a highly calculated manipulation, though Ben 00:05:27.490 --> 00:05:29.870 eventually discovers the deception, completely 00:05:29.870 --> 00:05:32.850 dumps Tim, and goes back to Jace. And I have 00:05:32.850 --> 00:05:35.610 to pause here because this completely flips the 00:05:35.610 --> 00:05:37.329 script on what you'd expect from this kind of 00:05:37.329 --> 00:05:39.949 story. How so? Well, you might be thinking this 00:05:39.949 --> 00:05:43.149 sounds like a standard rom -com, you know, returning 00:05:43.149 --> 00:05:46.259 lover trope. The first love returning is usually 00:05:46.259 --> 00:05:49.620 framed as this incredibly romantic, sweet moment. 00:05:49.779 --> 00:05:52.000 Right, like the notebook or something. Exactly. 00:05:52.199 --> 00:05:54.000 It's the one who got away coming back to claim 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:58.319 their destiny. But here, Tim is actively toxic. 00:05:58.420 --> 00:06:00.519 Yeah, he really is. It's like a Trojan horse. 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:04.000 He uses his newly found self -acceptance as a 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:06.920 weapon to infiltrate and try to destroy Ben's 00:06:06.920 --> 00:06:08.879 healthy adult relationship. This Trojan horse 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:10.959 analogy is exactly right. And what makes it so 00:06:10.959 --> 00:06:12.800 devastating is that Ben actually helped build 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:16.029 the horse. That's true. Yeah, Ben helped Tim 00:06:16.029 --> 00:06:18.029 come out of the closet in high school only to 00:06:18.029 --> 00:06:20.189 have Tim use that newfound confidence against 00:06:20.189 --> 00:06:23.449 him years later. The narrative just refuses to 00:06:23.449 --> 00:06:25.790 make it easy or wholesome for the reader. Not 00:06:25.790 --> 00:06:27.589 at all. You might be rooting for the original 00:06:27.589 --> 00:06:30.029 pairing because you remember their innocent beginnings, 00:06:30.629 --> 00:06:33.810 but Tim's actions are genuinely destructive. 00:06:34.069 --> 00:06:36.850 Exactly. And that destruction bleeds right into 00:06:36.850 --> 00:06:39.949 the third major era of their lives. So we jump 00:06:39.949 --> 00:06:43.069 again starting around 2003. Another big time 00:06:43.069 --> 00:06:47.259 jump. Yep. Ben is now a college graduate. He's 00:06:47.259 --> 00:06:49.819 piecing together a real adult life, working part 00:06:49.819 --> 00:06:53.259 -time as a speech therapist, and also acting 00:06:53.259 --> 00:06:55.319 at a local dinner theater. Sounds like a nice 00:06:55.319 --> 00:06:58.079 life. It is. And his relationship with Jace is 00:06:58.079 --> 00:07:00.040 rock solid. They get married. They buy a house 00:07:00.040 --> 00:07:02.300 together. They're... doing the whole domestic 00:07:02.300 --> 00:07:04.959 thing entirely removed from the chaos of their 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:07.779 early 20s. And once again, Tim reappears. Of 00:07:07.779 --> 00:07:09.800 course he does. But this time, the power dynamic 00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:13.100 is completely flipped. Tim visits Ben after a 00:07:13.100 --> 00:07:15.000 theater performance and he isn't there to manipulate. 00:07:15.160 --> 00:07:18.100 No, he's a mess. He's desperate. Tim needs help 00:07:18.100 --> 00:07:21.100 escaping a highly dysfunctional, abusive relationship 00:07:21.100 --> 00:07:23.660 with a younger college student named Ryan, who 00:07:23.660 --> 00:07:26.079 is severely struggling with alcohol and drug 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:28.959 addiction. And if you look closely. Tim is essentially 00:07:28.959 --> 00:07:31.899 trapped in the exact same savior dynamic that 00:07:31.899 --> 00:07:33.819 Ben was trapped in with him back in high school. 00:07:33.959 --> 00:07:36.220 Oh, that's a brilliant parallel. Yeah, Tim is 00:07:36.220 --> 00:07:39.040 trying to save a broken guy who just isn't ready 00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:42.740 to be saved. So Ben, because he has this deep 00:07:42.740 --> 00:07:45.600 -seated history with Tim, tries to help. Naturally. 00:07:45.699 --> 00:07:48.220 He helps Tim get out of that abusive situation, 00:07:48.600 --> 00:07:51.199 and they attempt to navigate something really 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:54.139 tricky. A purely platonic friendship. Which is 00:07:54.139 --> 00:07:56.860 almost impossible. Exactly. If you've ever tried 00:07:56.860 --> 00:07:58.860 to navigate a friendship with an ex who carries 00:07:58.860 --> 00:08:01.459 that much historical baggage, you know exactly 00:08:01.459 --> 00:08:03.819 why Ben's attempt to keep Tim in his life was 00:08:03.819 --> 00:08:06.420 totally doomed. Yeah, it never works. Ben eventually 00:08:06.420 --> 00:08:09.199 realizes it's just not possible. The history 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:12.560 is simply too heavy. So Ben makes the incredibly 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:15.579 difficult, mature decision to cut Tim out of 00:08:15.579 --> 00:08:18.660 his life entirely, seemingly for good. It genuinely 00:08:18.660 --> 00:08:21.019 seems like the book is setting you up for a story 00:08:21.019 --> 00:08:24.180 about outgrowing your past and choosing stability 00:08:24.180 --> 00:08:27.680 over passion. It really does. But then we hit 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:31.060 the tragic final act and the mechanism of the 00:08:31.060 --> 00:08:33.639 tragedy is entirely out of left field, which 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:36.039 is honestly what makes it so realistic. Yeah, 00:08:36.059 --> 00:08:38.649 it's hard to read. Sometime later, Jace's health 00:08:38.649 --> 00:08:41.610 rapidly deteriorates. He suffers a brain hemorrhage, 00:08:41.909 --> 00:08:44.289 and he ultimately dies from a brain aneurysm. 00:08:44.649 --> 00:08:46.950 It's just devastating. And you have to understand 00:08:46.950 --> 00:08:49.730 why Jace's death completely unravels Ben. It 00:08:49.730 --> 00:08:52.970 breaks him. Jace wasn't just a husband. Jace 00:08:52.970 --> 00:08:55.509 represented the adult stability that Estada's 00:08:55.509 --> 00:08:58.629 entire life to escape the chaos that Tim introduced. 00:08:58.789 --> 00:09:01.350 That's so true. With Jace gone, Ben's anchor 00:09:01.350 --> 00:09:04.240 is gone. He spirals into a deep depression, to 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:06.059 the point where he even contemplates suicide. 00:09:06.139 --> 00:09:08.980 It gets extremely dark. It does. And this is 00:09:08.980 --> 00:09:10.679 where a side character steps into the spotlight 00:09:10.679 --> 00:09:12.799 and changes the entire trajectory of the narrative. 00:09:13.220 --> 00:09:16.860 Ben's best friend, Allison Cross. Ah. Yeah. She 00:09:16.860 --> 00:09:20.000 sees Ben literally dying of grief, and she makes 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:23.860 a drastic move. She turns to Tim for help. She 00:09:23.860 --> 00:09:27.259 brings a newly reformed, matured Tim back into 00:09:27.259 --> 00:09:30.039 the picture. And this specific intervention is 00:09:30.039 --> 00:09:32.940 what saves Ben's life, leading them to finally 00:09:32.940 --> 00:09:36.320 rekindle their teenage romance. It is a massive 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:38.669 emotional roller coaster. To say the least. But 00:09:38.669 --> 00:09:40.549 as you look at the architecture of the story, 00:09:40.789 --> 00:09:42.350 you start to realize that this roller coaster 00:09:42.350 --> 00:09:45.350 only functions because of the complex psychological 00:09:45.350 --> 00:09:47.850 drivers of these four main characters. Right. 00:09:47.950 --> 00:09:50.509 If we break them down, you really see the push 00:09:50.509 --> 00:09:52.649 and full of identity happening on the page. Let's 00:09:52.649 --> 00:09:54.610 do that, because the character dynamics are what 00:09:54.610 --> 00:09:56.669 make this so much more than just a soapy romance. 00:09:57.230 --> 00:09:59.730 You have Ben Bentley as the anchor. Yes. His 00:09:59.730 --> 00:10:02.450 journey isn't the cliche, you know, discovering 00:10:02.450 --> 00:10:05.269 his sexuality plot line that you saw so often 00:10:05.269 --> 00:10:08.350 in early 2000s media. His journey is much more 00:10:08.350 --> 00:10:10.789 about searching for stability in a chaotic world. 00:10:10.990 --> 00:10:13.490 Precisely. And in direct opposition to that desire 00:10:13.490 --> 00:10:15.690 for stability, you have Tim Wyman. The agent 00:10:15.690 --> 00:10:19.269 of chaos. Yes. Tim is the ultimate catalyst for 00:10:19.269 --> 00:10:21.470 conflict in this narrative. What's fascinating 00:10:21.470 --> 00:10:24.110 here is how Tim's inability to accept himself 00:10:24.110 --> 00:10:27.070 in part one causes a ripple effect of trauma 00:10:27.070 --> 00:10:29.830 that lasts an entire decade. A whole decade of 00:10:29.830 --> 00:10:32.429 fallout. Right. His internalized homophobia doesn't 00:10:32.429 --> 00:10:35.190 just hurt him in high school. It manifests practically 00:10:35.190 --> 00:10:38.549 as a destructive force that damages Ben, temporarily 00:10:38.549 --> 00:10:41.470 ruins Ben's relationship with Jace, and even 00:10:41.470 --> 00:10:44.230 traps Tim himself in abusive cycles with Ryan 00:10:44.230 --> 00:10:47.330 later on. Hurt people hurt people is a painfully 00:10:47.330 --> 00:10:50.200 accurate depiction of trauma. It really is. And 00:10:50.200 --> 00:10:52.360 then you have Jace Holden, who operates as the 00:10:52.360 --> 00:10:55.240 safe harbor. He is the sharpest possible contrast 00:10:55.240 --> 00:10:58.120 to the absolute chaos that Tim brings. Jace offers 00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:00.460 the adult consistency Ben is desperately craving. 00:11:00.779 --> 00:11:03.419 Exactly. And finally, there's Alison Cross, the 00:11:03.419 --> 00:11:05.960 best friend. She serves as the ultimate moral 00:11:05.960 --> 00:11:08.539 compass or like the voice of conscience for the 00:11:08.539 --> 00:11:10.179 entire cast throughout the decade. She holds 00:11:10.179 --> 00:11:12.690 it all together. So. What does this all mean 00:11:12.690 --> 00:11:15.070 for the romance genre itself? Because honestly, 00:11:15.590 --> 00:11:17.450 looking at how this plot mechanically functions, 00:11:17.909 --> 00:11:19.690 you could argue that Allison is actually the 00:11:19.690 --> 00:11:22.529 unsung hero of the entire book. Oh, absolutely. 00:11:22.690 --> 00:11:24.889 Think about it. Without Allison intervening after 00:11:24.889 --> 00:11:28.659 Jace's death, Ben's story ends in tragedy. the 00:11:28.659 --> 00:11:31.659 romance dies. So I have to ask you, does this 00:11:31.659 --> 00:11:34.580 mean that the central romance is actually entirely 00:11:34.580 --> 00:11:36.700 dependent on the platonic friendship surrounding 00:11:36.700 --> 00:11:39.620 it? Yes, I think so, and that is a crucial subversion 00:11:39.620 --> 00:11:42.340 of the genre. How so? Well, the narrative strongly 00:11:42.340 --> 00:11:44.720 suggests that romantic love cannot survive in 00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:47.870 a vacuum. Ben and Tim's relationship repeatedly 00:11:47.870 --> 00:11:49.929 fails when they are isolated from community. 00:11:50.110 --> 00:11:52.610 Oh, wow. Yeah. It's only when they are supported 00:11:52.610 --> 00:11:55.649 and frankly forced into accountability by a platonic 00:11:55.649 --> 00:11:58.269 friend like Allison that they can actually find 00:11:58.269 --> 00:12:01.009 a healthy resolution. It elevates the importance 00:12:01.009 --> 00:12:03.730 of the best friend trope. She's not just a sidekick. 00:12:04.049 --> 00:12:06.529 Exactly. She isn't there for comic relief. She 00:12:06.529 --> 00:12:09.370 is a literal lifesaver. It's so intense. And 00:12:09.370 --> 00:12:12.110 this intensely emotional character study clearly 00:12:12.110 --> 00:12:14.629 struck a massive chord with readers. That really 00:12:14.629 --> 00:12:16.580 resonated. Because the story didn't just stay 00:12:16.580 --> 00:12:19.879 quietly on the page. It completely broke out 00:12:19.879 --> 00:12:22.919 of the literary world and proved how hungry audiences 00:12:22.919 --> 00:12:25.080 were for this kind of narrative. It certainly 00:12:25.080 --> 00:12:27.840 did. Critically, the book gained significant 00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:31.379 recognition right away. Right. In 2012, it was 00:12:31.379 --> 00:12:34.240 named a finalist in the 24th Lambda Literary 00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:37.600 Awards under the category of Gay Romance, but 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:41.100 its reach went far beyond literary circles. By 00:12:41.100 --> 00:12:44.539 2017, the novel was adapted into a feature film. 00:12:44.759 --> 00:12:47.179 Yeah, the film was produced by Blue Serif Productions. 00:12:47.179 --> 00:12:49.840 It was directed by David Berry and the screenplay 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:52.159 was written by producer Carlos Pedraza. A great 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:54.340 team. And it's worth noting for film buffs out 00:12:54.340 --> 00:12:56.679 there, both of those men had previously worked 00:12:56.679 --> 00:13:00.110 together on another LGBTQ a plus film called 00:13:00.110 --> 00:13:02.990 Judas Kiss back in 2011. Which was also a big 00:13:02.990 --> 00:13:05.509 deal. Yeah. For this adaptation, they brought 00:13:05.509 --> 00:13:08.289 in Grant Davis to play Ben, Devis Santos to play 00:13:08.289 --> 00:13:10.909 Tim, and Ben Barr to play Jace. The movie finally 00:13:10.909 --> 00:13:13.789 released on February 25, 2017. Oh, I'm sure. 00:13:14.090 --> 00:13:15.990 You have to remember, independent queer cinema 00:13:15.990 --> 00:13:19.029 funding in 2017 was notoriously difficult to 00:13:19.029 --> 00:13:21.710 secure. It was still seen as a niche market by 00:13:21.710 --> 00:13:24.600 major studios. Right, too risky for them. Exactly. 00:13:25.220 --> 00:13:27.700 Carlos Pedraza faced major difficulties securing 00:13:27.700 --> 00:13:30.019 the traditional financial backing required to 00:13:30.019 --> 00:13:32.340 get a feature film off the ground. Here's where 00:13:32.340 --> 00:13:35.419 it gets really interesting. Because when the 00:13:35.419 --> 00:13:38.120 traditional funding wasn't there, the fandom 00:13:38.120 --> 00:13:41.139 stepped up in a way that actually, like, physically 00:13:41.139 --> 00:13:44.100 altered the production. They really did. According 00:13:44.100 --> 00:13:46.899 to Pedraza's projections, fans of the book series 00:13:46.899 --> 00:13:50.539 contributed 20 to 30 percent of the film's entire 00:13:50.539 --> 00:13:53.820 budget. through crowdfunding sites. That is massive 00:13:53.820 --> 00:13:55.960 for an indie film. It's not just a drop in the 00:13:55.960 --> 00:13:58.679 bucket. That massive show of grassroots support 00:13:58.679 --> 00:14:01.279 proved there was a built -in audience. It totally 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:03.820 de -risked the project, which is what actually 00:14:03.820 --> 00:14:06.100 turned around and attracted the conventional 00:14:06.100 --> 00:14:08.659 investors to cover the rest of the budget. It's 00:14:08.659 --> 00:14:11.440 a testament to the community. It is. And when 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:13.679 you look at the mechanics of how this crowdfunding 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:16.700 worked, it's almost like a modern digital version 00:14:16.700 --> 00:14:19.159 of Renaissance Arts patronage. Oh, I like that 00:14:19.159 --> 00:14:21.610 comparison. You know, the concept. Back in the 00:14:21.610 --> 00:14:23.649 Renaissance, a wealthy merchant would fund a 00:14:23.649 --> 00:14:26.409 painting for a church, and in exchange, the artist 00:14:26.409 --> 00:14:29.289 would paint the merchant's face into the background 00:14:29.289 --> 00:14:32.610 crowd. Well here, fans who donated over $100 00:14:32.610 --> 00:14:35.649 didn't just get a polite thank you email, they 00:14:35.649 --> 00:14:38.269 got pictures of themselves and their romantic 00:14:38.269 --> 00:14:41.490 partners placed directly into the film's final 00:14:41.490 --> 00:14:45.610 credits. It is wonderfully meta. Isn't it? When 00:14:45.610 --> 00:14:47.789 you think about it, you have a story that is 00:14:47.789 --> 00:14:50.759 fundamentally about fighting for the right to 00:14:50.759 --> 00:14:53.919 exist openly in a romantic relationship. And 00:14:53.919 --> 00:14:56.320 that fictional story was literally brought into 00:14:56.320 --> 00:14:59.039 the physical world by real life couples pooling 00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:01.820 their own money and displaying their own authentic 00:15:01.820 --> 00:15:04.460 love on screen in the credits to make it happen. 00:15:04.460 --> 00:15:06.980 It's beautiful. It completely collapses the distance 00:15:06.980 --> 00:15:09.220 between the art and the audience. I love that 00:15:09.220 --> 00:15:12.879 visual. Real love funding fictional love. But 00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:14.759 the evolution of this story didn't stop at the 00:15:14.759 --> 00:15:17.500 movie theater. No, it took another turn. Right. 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:20.080 Because while the film adaptation expanded the 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:23.320 audience to cinema fans, the author, J. Bell, 00:15:23.879 --> 00:15:25.679 realized there was still a massive demographic 00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:28.080 that was missing out on the story entirely. Which 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:31.379 is ironic, really. Super ironic. It was the exact 00:15:31.379 --> 00:15:33.679 demographic that the characters belonged to in 00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:36.299 part one, actual teenagers in middle and high 00:15:36.299 --> 00:15:39.600 schools. And this is a persistent hurdle in young 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:42.200 adult literature, especially queer literature. 00:15:42.320 --> 00:15:46.639 Gatekeeping. Yes. So in August 2017, just months 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:49.759 after the film's release, Bell took a very unusual 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:52.539 step for an established author. He published 00:15:52.539 --> 00:15:55.220 a second edition of the novel, specifically marketed 00:15:55.220 --> 00:15:58.080 as a school edition. Right. He went back into 00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:01.200 the text and made significant revisions. Bell 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:03.840 removed the explicit descriptions of sexual acts 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:06.700 between the main characters. He had to, unfortunately. 00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:08.960 Yeah. And he also made additional changes to 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:11.059 alter the pacing of the story to better suit 00:16:11.059 --> 00:16:14.049 a younger reading level. On his blog, he explained 00:16:14.049 --> 00:16:16.610 the mechanics of the decision very clearly. What 00:16:16.610 --> 00:16:19.029 did he say? He wrote, quote, I really want to 00:16:19.029 --> 00:16:20.970 get somewhere into schools and into the hands 00:16:20.970 --> 00:16:23.570 of young people, but the explicit content has 00:16:23.570 --> 00:16:25.850 always made that difficult. If we connect this 00:16:25.850 --> 00:16:28.629 to the bigger picture, we see a fascinating tension 00:16:28.629 --> 00:16:32.070 between artistic intent and educational pragmatism. 00:16:32.210 --> 00:16:34.320 Yeah, that's a good way to frame it. An author's 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:37.720 original vision often includes raw, unfiltered 00:16:37.720 --> 00:16:40.340 elements, in this case, the explicit physical 00:16:40.340 --> 00:16:43.440 mechanics of these romantic relationships. But 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:46.539 those very elements trigger institutional blockades. 00:16:46.779 --> 00:16:48.019 Right, because you're dealing with gatekeepers. 00:16:48.100 --> 00:16:50.620 Exactly. The school boards, the district administrators, 00:16:50.779 --> 00:16:55.080 and the librarians who might personally love 00:16:55.080 --> 00:16:58.269 the book. but are hesitant to stock it because 00:16:58.269 --> 00:17:00.769 explicit sexual scenes in high school libraries 00:17:00.769 --> 00:17:04.269 often invite intense pushback or outright bans. 00:17:04.710 --> 00:17:06.730 Precisely. So Bell essentially makes a strategic 00:17:06.730 --> 00:17:09.869 compromise. He self -censors the explicit content 00:17:09.869 --> 00:17:12.329 to ensure that the underlying crucial message 00:17:12.329 --> 00:17:14.730 of the book, the message of self -acceptance, 00:17:15.109 --> 00:17:17.049 the harsh reality of the coming out process, 00:17:17.069 --> 00:17:19.730 and the danger of internalized homophobia can 00:17:19.730 --> 00:17:22.410 actually bypass those institutional barriers. 00:17:22.529 --> 00:17:24.430 He knew what was most important. He fundamentally 00:17:24.430 --> 00:17:26.640 altered his own art to ensure it reached the 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:29.099 young readers who arguably needed that specific 00:17:29.099 --> 00:17:31.720 message the most. It's an incredible journey. 00:17:32.039 --> 00:17:33.299 When you step back and just look at the whole 00:17:33.299 --> 00:17:35.799 picture, something like Summer started as a 2011 00:17:35.799 --> 00:17:39.119 self -published novel about a very messy decade 00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:41.630 spanning romance in Houston. It earned critical 00:17:41.630 --> 00:17:44.829 acclaim. It mobilized a fiercely dedicated fandom 00:17:44.829 --> 00:17:48.410 to literally fund an independent movie. And ultimately, 00:17:48.509 --> 00:17:50.609 it morphed into a school -friendly educational 00:17:50.609 --> 00:17:53.470 tool to help teenagers navigate their own identities. 00:17:53.869 --> 00:17:55.829 It's pretty rare for a single piece of media 00:17:55.829 --> 00:17:58.369 to do all of that. It really is. And for you 00:17:58.369 --> 00:18:00.630 listening right now, whether you are an avid 00:18:00.630 --> 00:18:03.630 reader, a film buff, or just someone fascinated 00:18:03.630 --> 00:18:06.599 by how stories evolve in the real world, This 00:18:06.599 --> 00:18:09.319 book is a perfect case study. It absolutely is. 00:18:09.380 --> 00:18:11.319 It shows how the relationship between a creator 00:18:11.319 --> 00:18:14.119 and their audience doesn't just influence the 00:18:14.119 --> 00:18:16.920 reception of the media. It can physically shape 00:18:16.920 --> 00:18:19.740 and reshape the media itself over time. It certainly 00:18:19.740 --> 00:18:21.920 does. And it leaves you with a fascinating question 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:24.019 to chew on, especially as we see more and more 00:18:24.019 --> 00:18:26.660 media evolving after its initial release. Oh, 00:18:26.700 --> 00:18:28.539 yeah. What's that? We've talked about how this 00:18:28.539 --> 00:18:31.680 book was adapted and sanitized. But think about 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:34.450 this. In an era where fan fiction, director's 00:18:34.450 --> 00:18:36.809 cuts, and digital updates allow stories to be 00:18:36.809 --> 00:18:39.130 endlessly patched and modified, almost like video 00:18:39.130 --> 00:18:42.509 games, is the idea of a single definitive canon 00:18:42.509 --> 00:18:46.109 text completely dead. When an author can just 00:18:46.109 --> 00:18:48.529 upload a new version of their universe tomorrow, 00:18:49.049 --> 00:18:51.650 how do we ever decide which version of the truth 00:18:51.650 --> 00:18:54.630 we're actually supposed to remember? That is 00:18:54.630 --> 00:18:57.150 a wild thought. If the text is always shifting, 00:18:57.470 --> 00:18:59.269 maybe the only permanent thing is how the story 00:18:59.269 --> 00:19:01.589 makes you feel. That might just be it. Food for 00:19:01.589 --> 00:19:03.400 thought. Well, thank you so much for joining 00:19:03.400 --> 00:19:05.319 us on this deep dive, and we'll catch you next 00:19:05.319 --> 00:19:05.500 time.