Red, White & Royal Blue - The Orchestrated Closet

I've always known the Closet to be supremely and only one's own.

Mar 16, 2024

Two Persons of Power

One is the son of the president of the United States of America while the other, a prince of England. Alex had always disliked Prince Henry since his royal snub of him at the Climate Conference in Melbourne. Due to a fortuitous emergency, an agent pushes them both into a janitor's closet where they patch things up. They eventually make amends.

By asking help from MI6, Prince Henry obtains Alex's private number and henceforth started their months-long text communication and friendship. They mostly make fun of each other off of the headlines about them, in international news as well as magazines. And while the world, through these world institutions, interpret the gossip and affairs from only their narrow perspectives, Alex and Henry in actuality laugh about their performances in public, their portrayals to the world.

During the first son's New Year Bash, the prince, envious of the flirtatious women surrounding Alex, abruptly leaves the gathering. Alex follows him. Under a snowy old tree, while Alex inquires what had bothered him, or whether he did something wrong, Henry lunges toward him for a kiss. A few months thereafter during a presidential event, Alex confidently invites him to his room where he professes “to do some very bad things to you.” Therein begins their romance.

We note that these two persons, of elite families, situated at the highest of social classes, are ever surrounded by servants and attendants, organizers, reporters and assistants. They belong to people who have molded the status quo. The status quo dictates that bisexual or gay identities are forbidden. There was a moment during the Polo scene where Alex smiles upon seeing the Prince and he keeps his demeanor austere and stoic to avoid detection.

In some respect, though infinitely far in degrees, I am in the same boat. I would have done the same. True, I don't have a hundreds of dollars of net worth or a centuries-old castle, but I do share the same situation wherein I, born in a fairly well-to-do family, am expected to act and perform straightness. The obvious differences of course, lie in the geopolitics and the proximal aid. You see, being the Westerners that they are, fueled by independence and entitlement and modernity of thought, they will do what their hearts and minds and conscience dictate. The people around them that are of the same spirit— the servants, the aids, the security— will do everything in their power to cooperate so as to uphold the great institutions they serve.

The Closet Is Amorphous

In queer language, ‘Closet’ is used “for LGBT people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior. This metaphor is associated and sometimes combined with coming out, the act of revealing one's sexuality or gender to others, to create the phrase "coming out of the closet".“

And how what does the closet look like? It’s is hard and rigid, it’s height and width defined, relatively small to congest things inside. It is an image we need to dismantle. Because the great lesson in Queer Studies is that nothing is ever binary.

Red, White & Royal Blue demonstrates that the closet has no definite form; it can expand and shrink when need be. It can be transparent, dismissed and resurrected. And while each queer person has the individual gift of being given a closet in this wretched world, our first ever line of defense, this space we have made for ourselves, we can, in fact, share it with a partner or partners.

The conversation below was after a point of discovery. Prince Henry, again hiding in the closet :D

Zahra: “And who knows about this?”
Alex: “Literally no one but you. And the secret service.”
Henry: “And Percy.”
Alex: “Right. And Nora.”
Henry: “Oh. And I told my sister.”
Alex: “Aw. I didn’t know that.”
Henry: “Yeah. She was really happy for us.”
Alex: “Oh. I can’t wait to see her again!”
Zahra: “Okay! Shut up! Okay?! The both of you!”

The Scene With Nora

After the New Year’s Bash, Prince Henry avoids Alex. Alex seeks advice from campaign data analyst, Nora, who already guessed of the Prince’s identity. “Princes aren’t allowed to be gay,” says she as Alex said that he’s always seen with different women in magazines. “I mean, you’ve been wanting him to dick you down forever” she professes to Alex during the confession. She enumerates why Alex is who she guesses he is.

An interesting thing was when Nora asked, “How many guys have you been with?” and abrupt “Whoa” coming from a co-worker (an extra actress) is heard. She comes in with an expression of what-did-I-just-hear?! and leaves. And she’s never seen again. Nora still sits relaxed and Alex, just looked mildly surprised. The same pattern is expected from all the discoveries— with FBI Agent Amy, with campaign manager Zahra, and of course, Alex’s coming out to his parents. The scope of the closet expands and downsizes until it is completely obliterated.

Small Town, Queer Life

This is a Rom Com, of course. Alex and Henry’s love, judging just by the trailer, is assured success. An assurance of success even with the world’s discovery of their love. This is something that may never happen to me, or to any person with queer lives in small towns. Here, the closet will always stand firm as a means of protection. The ancient hate and discrimination towards the rainbow community persist. It is unlikely to change holistically in my lifetime. The fact though, that I am writing this, means there is some degree of change.

Red, White, and Royal Blue is a film about idealism and looking to the future, and cherishing our present achievement. I’m happy that there has been a change of tone with queer/gay films, allowing us with mainstream movies that don’t end tragically. I’m happy that it was done so casually, that we have a cringe, corny, and cute queer film. I’m happy that the film provides us with philosophical thoughts during the intimate times of the lovers, envisioning some alternate universe had they had no fame, leading "normal lives.”

Superb acting for the young actors, both smolderingly hot. Go watch it!

Thank you for reading.