813: Lez-ssentials Sense8

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Welcome back to Lez Hang Out, the podcast that is forever in its Wachowski era. 

This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) talk about the 2015 Netflix series Sense8 for this Lez-ssentials episode, a recurring segment on the essential movies and TV shows in the lesbian canon. 

Sense8 is an incredibly queer show that we honestly cannot believe first premiered a whole entire decade ago. It truly ranks up there next to Orphan Black for us as one of the most impressive shows ever to exist on television. Although we really wish it had gotten more seasons, what we did get was an absolute masterpiece. Sense8 was nominated for GLAAD media awards in 2016, 2018 and 2019 for its queer representation and if you did not get a chance to watch it back then, we really cannot recommend enough that you watch it right now. Like for real, why are you reading this? Go watch Sense8 first and then listen to the episode, because this is full of spoilers from here on. 

As you might recall from our episodes on The Matrix and Bound, we are big fans of the Wachowski sisters’ work. Sense8 is no exception. In fact, Lana Wachowski has said that much of Nomi’s storyline was autobiographical in nature. In terms of lesbian couples in media, it doesn’t get much more top tier than Nomi and Amanita. Honestly, they might still be at the top even now. We love that Amanita is so ride or die for Nomi; and in context of it being 2015 at the time, the scenes where she defends Nomi against her terfy friends hit even harder.

But, as much as we are all in on Nomi and Amanita, they are not the only queer rep in this show. In fact, we’d argue that every single person in the cluster is queer simply by nature of being a sense8. By having this diverse group of people all across the globe suddenly psychically linked, the Wachowskis make a statement about the nature of sexuality, the value of shared experiences in relation to developing empathy, and what it means to be a “we” in all senses of the word. 

At the end of the episode, stick around to hear our original song based on Sense8, titled “Sum of Our Parts”, written by Leigh Holmes Foster and produced by Ellie Brigida. Join us on Patreon at bit.ly/lezpatreon for instant access to mp3 downloads of all our original songs or find us on Bandcamp to purchase songs individually. 

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Find your fav tol and smol hosts Ellie & Leigh at @elliebrigida and @lshfoster respectively.