But Black, Caribbean, Latinx families - we’re not often seen. In any other film, those details could be taken for granted. That Jenny’s mother had a big 1970s Afro, just like the kind my mother had, in her photo on the ofrenda. That dinner had arroz con leche for dessert and plátanos maduros piled high on the plate. I loved that they got the details of this very caribeña Christmas right. That they had their big family dinner on Nochebuena. And listen, I just love when Black people speak Spanish on screen, which is pretty much the most superficial sentence I could ever write - but even within Latinx stories, representation as an Afro-Latina is a desert and when that happens, damn you will drink the effing sand. I’m a Black Puerto Rican who’s spent almost every Christmas of my life in the city. What’s most sublime is that it is a New York I recognize. Believe it or not, a Christmas Wedding does in fact happen in New York. I LOVE A QUEER AFRO-LATINA IN NEW YORK GETTING A GAY CHRISTMAS LOVE STORY!!!Īnd yes the all caps are necessary, because when have you ever in your life, and I truly do mean ever, seen a gay Christmas love story with a woman of color lead? Considering there are currently less queer Christmas movies than you can count on one single hand and just last year Hallmark tried to ban lesbian kisses from their supremely straight Christmas network altogether, the answer is you haven’t.Ī New York Christmas Wedding delivers on its promise of its title. Big (did I mention that Chris Noth has a starring role as Jenny’s priest? He also served as an executive producer on the film for his friend Otoja Abit, the director and writer). Despite probably better instincts, I love Sex and the City and Mr. When I first saw the trailer, I literally hand over my mouth squealed and stomped my feet. Except instead of some far-off Snow White Christmas Village, it’s an queer Afro-Latina looking for love in a very not whitewashed New York. Alternative timelines have been set and we’re set-up for the kind of “magic of Christmas” love stories that take over Lifetime, Hallmark, and now even Netflix and Hulu this time of year. Jenny goes to bed that night next to David, but when she wakes up - she’s engaged to a grown up Gabrielle (Adriana DeMeo) back in Queens on Christmas Eve. “If you look around, if you really look, you will see endless possibilities.” “You shouldn’t underestimate the power of love around Christmas,” promises Azrael. A twist of Christmas fate brings Jenny together with her guardian angel - excuse me, her guardian gayngel - Azrael (Cooper Koch), tall, willowy, full of graceful strides and just a hint of flamboyance, topped off with perfect messy curls on his head. Jenny’s going through a lot of major changes and something about her life with David doesn’t quite fit. Jenny, now a mess of tears, writes a very dramatic teenage letter to the girl she hasn’t quite yet worked up the courage to say that she’s obviously madly in love with, and storms off to the mailbox.Ī grown up Jenny (played by Nia Fairweather) now lives in Manhattan and is engaged to her fiancé, David. And once you realize that Gabby is equally busy at home making out with Vinny, the fight between the two “best friends” could be predicted right away as well. If you’ve ever been a teenage girl who was madly in love with her best friend - which, if you’re reading this review on this website, the odds are pretty high that you know exactly what I’m talking about - it’s easy to recognize Jenny’s nervous energy immediately. In Christmas of 1999, in Queens, a teenage Jennifer Ortiz is busy baking cookies and prepping eggnog for her best friend Gabrielle Vernaci. That was, until I saw the trailer for Netflix’s A New York Christmas Wedding. I have never listened to a single note of Mariah Carey nor dusted off my Christmas movie collection out of the streaming queue until the turkey has been stuffed, then stuffed into my belly and the last slice of pecan pie has been served cold with annual Day After Thanksgiving coffee. I’m a firm believer that, among us who are obsessed with All Things Christmas, there are only two camps of people: 1) there’s “Christmas Begins The Day After Halloween” people, and 2) there’s “Christmas Begins The Day After Thanksgiving” people. The following review contains light spoilers for A New York Christmas Wedding, now streaming on Netflix.
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