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Christ is a magical girl: Queer popular culture and Paradise Lost
- Source: Queer Studies in Media & Popular Culture, Volume 9, Issue 2, Jun 2024, p. 135 - 150
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- 08 Jul 2023
- 27 Oct 2023
- 05 Jul 2024
Abstract
In Queer Milton, Volume 10 (2014) of Early Modern Culture, and the subsequent Palgrave collection, queer studies and gender studies scholars argue that intersections of knowledge and power trouble cultural assumptions about sex and gender and, in fact, make a strong case for queering readings of Milton’s poem. Building on this critical thread, we trace the queer pop culture adaptation of Paradise Lost. A narrative of queer desire develops, we argue, culminating in contemporary examples such as Lil Nas X’s video for ‘Montero (Call Me By Your Name)’, and the Netflix shows Lucifer and Sandman. While these examples focus on Satan as the embodiment of queer identification, the centre of our analysis shifts this queer identification to Christ. 2013’s animated movie My Little Pony: Equestria Girls uses Paradise Lost as queer source material for a story about forgiveness and love.