I said in a group text to a pair of dear friends that I was very much enjoying this and that there was more to come. I have to know. Do we see something on the screen? I can't get my hopes up again. There is a flood of reassurances that could be interpreted as mostly screaming. One of my friends said, "This is a meal, and the other is a famine." Our Flag Means Death is a workplace comedy that centers on the romance between two historical pirates, Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard, and Stede Bonnet. The 10 episodes were released in two installments on March 24. It was a low-impact release, with little fanfare or marketing, and through sheer queer willpower and word of mouth, it became the most in-demand streaming show. Not only was it streamed more than other shows like Peacemaker, but it also took the previous in-demand show, Book of Boba Fett, off the list. It is currently holding off Moon Knight for the fourth week in a row. This weird little period romance is more in demand than any other movie or TV show. That is wild. It is so weird. From the side characters to the main men themselves, there is no part of this absurdist alternative history that isn't queer. One of the friends pointed out that Our Flag Means Death had already taken a stance on how important historical authenticity is when it decided to put Samson Kayo in Crocs after the second episode. The showrunner said in an interview that they are not doing real life because they have a Polynesian-Jewish man playing Blackbeard. You're not doing real life once you do that. I knew that it was weird. I was told by many people that it was Gay gay, not just TV gay, but I've been burned by genre television too many times to count. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was sort of gay, but Buffy/Faith never left. Supernatural wasshameless queerbaiting, and Black Sails wasrustratingly coy about the main character's queerness. Without explicit on-screen representation of gay people in intimate, loving relationships, all I had was subtext. I had to read about queerness in these shows. I love subtext. I love re-imagination and interpretation of characters and worlds.
I'm tired. I want to see queerness on screen in a way that doesn't need interpretation. I don't want to have to worry about my identity being the butt of a joke or a topic of derision because I want to see myself on screen.
I watched Our Flag Means Death. It was more than I anticipated. There were multiple on-screen queer relationships, but there was also a trans nonbinary person who explained to their crew that they were just Jim, and whose pronouns are respected regardless of their gender. Our Flag Means Death didn't lose a single joke, even when Blackbeard's first mate tried to slut shame a member of his crew. This show didn't miss a beat.
I had been expecting something to change and I had watched it all the time. At the end of the show, I would still have scraps and subtext, but I would not admit that the leading men had feelings for each other. Longing glances and almost-admissions. At the end of the show, Blackbeard and Bonnet kiss, confess their feelings, and then make plans to be together. It gets fucked up, of course, but that moment was real. I felt my shoulders relax as I watched that moment on-screen.
It was true. They had feelings for each other. They were in love. They kissed. I hadn't imagined all that, but Waititi has the ability to look like a Disney prince. They kissed. They were Kissed. Nobody was going to be able to take this away from me, or say that their queerness was all in my head, or that I was seeing things that weren't there. I watched Our Flag Means Death a second time because I was tired and ready to be happy again. It was even better than the first time. I knew that what I was seeing was a love story. I was not watching a rug pull or a hook being baited. I was watching two men fall in love on screen, and it was so much more emotional for me the second time around, because all that queerness and subtext was done for the sake of building up to that kiss.
It took knowing that this show was gay for me to enjoy it. It wasn't good the first time, but I was ready to be disappointed, even though people had reassured me that a show or book was pretty queer. I was going to be told at the end of the show that it was all in my head. When I watched Our Flag Means Death for the second time, it was with the knowledge that it was a show for me, where my perspective was important and considered part of the writing, acting, and direction. There were so many points in this show where queerness could have been used as a joke and instead it was turned into a celebration.
Many television shows don't mention people like me. Many pieces of media don't touch on queerness or transness. I'm not asking for everything to be queer. It's not a risk to watch because it's a comedy and it's joyful and weird. I'm going to be grateful for Our Flag Means Death forever, because it's revolutionary to see real, explicit queer joy on screen, without reservations, without hate, and without strings attached.
I suggest you watch Our Flag Means Death twice. Once to know that what you are seeing is real, the second time to understand how well it is built up. If you're reading this, you're a traitor.
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