SBG 97: Thunder Force

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Every queer person has that one childhood friendship that was just a little too intense to be platonic. This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) talk about the 2021 Netflix superhero comedy Thunder Force. This movie stars Melissa McCarthy as Lydia and Octavia Spencer as Emily being so incredibly gay together that even Emily’s grandmother ships them.

Lydia and Emily have the best meet-cute. Little Lydia saves the day by knocking out Emily’s bullies and then they bond on the swings. Later on Emily literally makes them rainbow friendship bracelets. This is the type of romantic soulmate level backstory that we wish actual lesbian films would have. Of course, Emily and Lydia end up having an overly intense friend breakup. Then we jump forward in time.

Even after 20 years have passed, Lydia has nothing but love for Emily and has been pining after her all this time. She hasn’t even seen Emily for 2 decades and Lydia is still fully secure in the fact that they are best friends.

Thunder Force was massively underappreciated and only got a 21% on Rotten Tomatoes, because whenever there are two female leads in a superhero movie there tends to be a disappointing lack of support. However, this movie is 100% worth the watch for Melissa McCarthy’s humor and the most adorable love story between Emily and Lydia. We’re just going to pretend that they get married with the cake topper Emily’s grandma made and they went on to be a family with Emily’s daughter Tracy.

Several of the other characters in this movie were super queer too, like Tracy,  the Shane wannabe, Laser, the flamboyant guy who kills all his boyfriends after he gets bored with them, The King, and the obvious lesbian, Allie. Throughout the movie it’s like a running joke that Lydia and Emily are gay together. It’s treated like a joke the entire time by everyone except Lydia’s grandma who knows lesbian soulmates when she sees them and eagerly awaits their wedding.

We know one thing for sure, Thunder Force Should’ve Been Gay.

Follow along on Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay at the end of every episode. Leigh Holmes Foster (@lshfoster) and Ellie Brigida (@elliebrigida). You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and follow along on Instagram (@lezhangoutpod).