12 Gays of Christmas
By Tina Wargo
Grey Gardens
This documentary is a gay cult hit. Seriously, it is almost universally adored by anyone and everyone who has had the pleasure of watching the Edies, Big and Little, exist.
In this complicated, hilarious, heartbreaking, overestimating, real-life masterpiece, we follow Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edie Bouvier Beale. The movie takes place in the aftermath of their formerly lavish Long Island mansion having been condemned due to health and safety concerns. Once socialites, these cousins of Jackie O. devolved into a life within the confines of the slowly dilapidating home.
Though the concrete details of their story are fascinating AF, the relationship between these women is the reason to keep watching — and then watch over and over and over again. Because most likely, you’ll undoubtedly miss something in the nuanced insanity that is their shared existence. No matter how many times you see the film or how close attention you pay, you’ll still find new nuggets of wisdom, sadness, beauty and absurdity in their interactions. Trying to parse out how it’s possible that this seemingly INCREDIBLY tumultuous relationship has endured in the manner it has for so many years and struggling to understand if the women are happy and why they don’t just leave if they’re not will leave you reeling.
And every single time you catch yourself being sucked too far into the narrative they either create or defend, the hilarity and humanity of these ladies brings you back to reality. Which, despite how many times you watch, you’ll still have a hard time believing it actually is.