I recently joked on Twitter that we should just start sending romance novels by queer authors and writers of color to Ryan Murphy (creator of Glee, Pose, and Hollywood), because Netflix would basically give him anything.
But maybe it wasnt a joke.
On May 19, Sweet Magnolias premiered on Netflix. The first season is a delightful introduction to the town of Serenity and the three friends at the storys center: Maddie, an almost-divorced mother of three; Dana Sue, the owner and head chef of the best restaurant in town; and Helen, who seems to be everyones lawyer for everything. The three have been friends for a long time, and have decided to go in together on a new venture. They also have to deal with their own personal issues, which can either be exacerbated or improved by the help of those around them.
Sweet Magnolias is based on a series of the same name by romance author Sherryl Woods, who is the prolific author of well over 100 romances. I havent read the series, but from reading the descriptions of the first five books it seems the Netflix series has done more than just diversify the cast. Theyve made some of the storylines more contemporary, including making one of the leads an actual fat woman who isnt ashamed of her size. (At least not yet; but the series might be ongoing.)
Theres another series adapted from romance that premiered on Netflix last year; you might have heard of it. Virgin River tells the story of a woman looking to start a new life as a nurse practitioner in a small town that has a lot of secrets. The show is adapted from a series by Robyn Carr, a similarly prolific author. (Just as a side-note, since weve now got the beginning and end of the alphabet, I wouldnt be surprised if some Debbie Macomber series was next.)
As actual stories, these two dont have much in common beyond their small-town setting. But as properties, they have similar elements:
This may not mean a lot, but theyre pretty devastating points for a queer reader of color who would love to see some of her favorite properties by authors of color and queer authors adapted for the small screen. Its particularly interesting when you look at the original material that Netflix has acquired over the past few years, or even the YA properties. Original romcoms like Always Be My Maybe, which was written and produced by Asian Americans and the talk of Twitter throughout its release weekend. The movie adaptation of YA favorite To All The Boys Ive Loved Before and its sequel were hugely successful. And yet we cant even get a 90-minute adaptation of a contemporary adult romance. There are so many romances that were practically written for the screen, and Netflix could be churning out five or six a year if they played their cards right.
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Rafe and Xeni would be so easy to film, location-wise. And I would watch them on repeat.
Ive written before about series that it would be just as easy for Netflix to adapt, with low overhead requirements. Something like Alisha Rais Forbidden Hearts series, which is set in a town the size of Serenity. There might only be three books, but limited series are great for Netflix.
Or could you imagine something based on all of the connected Christina C. Jones series?
The Dance Off series.
Baldwin Village.
The Uptown Collection.
And if were talking small towns with personalities, the town of Henry Adams, in Beverly Jenkinss Blessings series, is the obvious next choice. It has all the same elements of the other two series, without the need to be creative with casting.
Theres obviously a bigger discussion about what and whose stories get adapted for any kind of film, whether its for streaming or cinematic release. We know that its not because there arent books worthy of adaptation, and we know its not because authors dont want their movies made. Its about what doors we are actually being brought through, and who is advocating for us.
Romance has two advocates within the film industry at the moment: Bea and Leah Koch from The Ripped Bodice, who have a partnership with Sony; and Frolic Media, who just signed a partnership with CBS. The latter have made some missteps on their site, but cover a diverse enough amount of content that I would hope they will be advocating for works by marginalized people. Bea and Leah have already shown with their work onsite at The Ripped Bodice and projects like their Diversity Report and the Ripped Bodice Awards for Excellence in Romantic Fiction that they are willing to do the work and use their privilege for the good of others. And we can only hope that after having proven herself with Bridgerton, Shonda Rhimes will give us something reminiscent of Thursday Nightsjust with more functional romantic relationships. With major production companies and budgets working to help authors of color tell their stories on film, we could have stories told with the same care and quality as original stories currently told by Netflix.
Imagine what Deadly Sexy could have been if the creators hadnt had to fundraise on Indiegogo.
And obviously, we have more to see when it comes to Netflix and Romance. Shonda Rhimess Bridgerton series is going to be pretty amazing, even though the same issue with castingcolorbending a very very white series by a white authorisnt helping anyone out in the long run. And Lyssa Kay Adamss Bromance series has been optioned forsomething. (I dont know if its a series or feature-length projects.) Which is quite impressive considering shes only going two books out in an ongoing series. The Bromance Book Club will lend itself well to the screen, thats a given.
But if they make Thea a redhead, I will riot.
The rest is here:
On Netflix, Adaptations, and Redheads - Book Riot
- Hang onto your hats--More Redheads RFL Shopping 🙂 - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Why I Relay -- from Daaneth Kivioq - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Two Upcoming Events! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- We had fun AND ... - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Why I Relay -- from Edith Halderman & Envy Watts - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Toga! Toga! We had fun and raised 5k for RFL! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- "Duel of the DJ's" --THIS Sunday, April 19 at 1pm - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Dressing for Relay Events... Lag in Style! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- "Duel of the DJ's" -- TODAY Sun, April 19 at 1pm - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Relay Shopping Made Easy! Our Very Own Store! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- We have a winner! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Not to Miss! Frogg & Jaycatt Saturday at 1pm SLT - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Thank You Frogg, Jaycatt, Lomgren and Luskwood! GO RELAY! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Upcoming Events in Redhead-land - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- In Memory of ... Lachlan Campbell - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- More Goodies in Our RFL Store - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The BIG Blowout Event! 12-3pm SLT Tomorrow! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- ONE WORLD, ONE HOPE! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- We miss you Fimi! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Redheads Know How To Partay!!! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- We had a BALL! And the SILENT AUCTION continues... - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- RenFaire! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Rocking With Yahshvah Shinja - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- WOW! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- What a weekend that was! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- 2010 Blog! - April 4th, 2010 [April 4th, 2010]
- Brian Scalabrine - The World's Greatest - Video - March 29th, 2012 [March 29th, 2012]
- Red strength hint in caution notice - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Emma Roberts turns heads at Coachella - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Cartoon of the Day: Chelsea's battered bus leaves Terry behind and heads for Munich after rolling over Barcelona - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Kaskade Heads Out On 'Freaks Of Nature' Tour, Gives Us Full-Body Chills (VIDEO) - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Red shirts divided over Prem meet - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Snobby Mr. Douchey - Ep: 6 - Video - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Ep. 3 MALLSCAPADE: Squaresville (A new free web show about growing up bored in the suburbs) - Video - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- My Sisters: Problematic to Practically Perfect - Ep: 2 - Video - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Backstage Girls- Episode 2: Bobby Brown's Every Little Step - Video - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Red Heads for Red Heads with Cornelia Frances for The Orangutan Project - Video - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- More Theatre of Life: Gay Witchcraft - Video - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Asian Red Head - Video - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Red Devils baseball team wins play-in game vs. North Sevier, heads to 2A tourney - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- Ask Nick: Is something wrong with Gonzalez? - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- Red Bluff Lady Spartans blast Lassen 13-0 - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- Camelot heads 2,000 Guineas field - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- Tech baseball heads to College Station for final time - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- Joe Stortini heads list of local all-state basketball players - May 5th, 2012 [May 5th, 2012]
- 'White Rabbit, Red Rabbit' review: never the same - May 7th, 2012 [May 7th, 2012]
- Red sea of Clippers fans lifts team to win - May 7th, 2012 [May 7th, 2012]
- Reynolds and Hammel carry Orioles past Red Sox 8-2 - May 7th, 2012 [May 7th, 2012]
- Gillard, Abbott promote Red Cross - May 7th, 2012 [May 7th, 2012]
- The Duchess of Cambridge turns heads with glamorous cream dress - May 10th, 2012 [May 10th, 2012]
- Royals 4, Red Sox 3: Two out of three is bad - May 10th, 2012 [May 10th, 2012]
- The power of a sign - May 10th, 2012 [May 10th, 2012]
- Met Ball 2012 Red Carpet: Stars Shine In Metallic Frocks - May 10th, 2012 [May 10th, 2012]
- Morning Mail: Red Sox fan wears bag on head, starts social media storm - May 13th, 2012 [May 13th, 2012]
- 'Food Truck Wars' heads for Monmouth Park - May 13th, 2012 [May 13th, 2012]
- Obama to talk mortgages in Reno, Romney heads to North Carolina, plus more to watch for this weekend in politics - May 13th, 2012 [May 13th, 2012]
- Losing heads while salmon fishing - May 13th, 2012 [May 13th, 2012]
- West Ottawa boys track & field wins stunning relay at OK Red meet - May 13th, 2012 [May 13th, 2012]
- Sexy Redheads - Video - May 13th, 2012 [May 13th, 2012]
- Red Sox Look to Build Momentum Against Mariners: Fan Preview - May 16th, 2012 [May 16th, 2012]
- Red-cockaded woodpecker gets care and protection in Alabama (with video and gallery) - May 16th, 2012 [May 16th, 2012]
- Beckett takes Red Sox from Fenway to Bushwood - May 16th, 2012 [May 16th, 2012]
- Greek uncertainty leaves US stocks in red - May 16th, 2012 [May 16th, 2012]
- Greece Heads Toward New Elections - May 16th, 2012 [May 16th, 2012]
- On Soccer: Red Bulls rise to top of Eastern Conference with help from trio of young American defenders - May 16th, 2012 [May 16th, 2012]
- Frankel heads Lockinge confirmations - May 16th, 2012 [May 16th, 2012]
- Kevin Spacey heads to South Africa for movie project premiere - May 16th, 2012 [May 16th, 2012]
- Red Poppy brings new voices to art scene - May 16th, 2012 [May 16th, 2012]
- Gold Heads Into The Red In 2012 - May 17th, 2012 [May 17th, 2012]
- Betty White heads to Washington to see the animals - May 17th, 2012 [May 17th, 2012]
- Outdoors: Losing your heads against fishing rules - May 17th, 2012 [May 17th, 2012]
- Betty White heads to nation's capital to see National Zoo, indulge passion for animal watching - May 17th, 2012 [May 17th, 2012]
- Canadian wave heads to Cannes Film Festival - May 17th, 2012 [May 17th, 2012]
- Pippa Middleton Wears Sexy Red Dress at Scottish Wedding - May 20th, 2012 [May 20th, 2012]
- Touchdowns for a cure - May 20th, 2012 [May 20th, 2012]
- TSX heads higher; Facebook shares rise after delayed start of trading - May 20th, 2012 [May 20th, 2012]
- Woman heads to Uganda to bring cheer to children - May 20th, 2012 [May 20th, 2012]
- World Premiere of Disney•Pixar’s “Brave” Heads to Hollywood for Grand Opening of the Dolby Theatre - May 20th, 2012 [May 20th, 2012]
- Toronto stock market heads higher amid cautious buying at end of bruising week - May 20th, 2012 [May 20th, 2012]
- Red Bluff brings home 11th section title; McColpin throws shutout vs. Wolves - May 20th, 2012 [May 20th, 2012]