Image from Eater.

Why I Want to Revisit This Brilliant Episode of “Master Of None”

How the show’s Emmy-nominated “Thanksgiving” episode gave me closure.

Angel Powell
Aug 24, 2017 · 4 min read

While Pride Month passed in June, we should take the time to celebrate ourselves and our representation all the time. Among many things, that means talking about LGBTQ+ TV, and we can’t do that without talking about the Master of None episode “Thanksgiving.” The episode features character Denise coming out as a college kid, based on Lena’s Waithe’s real-life coming out story. Even better, the episode spawned two Emmy nominations, including “Outstanding Writing in A Comedy Series” and “Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series” for Angela Bassett’s portrayal as Denise’s mom.

It’s not hard to see why the episode was nominated; it was an incredible story for many people, including myself, and the episode wasn’t just about coming out for me, but about connection.

In 2006, I came out to my family. I was 13 and it was six weeks before Thanksgiving, so the decision to click “play” on this Master of None episode wasn’t just watching part of a show I liked; this was a very personal reminder, one I feared would be traumatic. I was somewhat correct: At times I either had to pause or fast-forward to keep from getting uncomfortable, especially during the scene in the diner; that’s the moment Denise actually says the word “gay.” I would have killed to be as calm as Denise appeared to be, but I wasn’t; I was, in fact, having a very anger-fueled panic attack. I too had a version of Denise’s mom, Catherine, in my head, saying, “I just don’t things to be harder for you…it’s already hard enough being a black woman.”

You see, I had that same idea, though there were some additional layers besides just being a black woman; I’m disabled, I have cerebral palsy, and I use a power chair. For me, my train of thought was, “If I come out, aren’t I just making my life harder?” I didn’t want to open myself to being mocked about my disability and sexuality. At 13, before I discovered ableism, I knew the world thought less of disabled people, particularly in the love and relationship department, so in my head, there was a sense that I’d never be taken seriously, and I thought, did it actually matter if I came out at all? (Spoiler: HELL YES!)

My mom acted a bit differently, though. She said okay, and I thought it was over. But in the days that followed, she acted more like Catherine did; she caught an attitude, and she identified any gay character on TV as “confused.” I’m not the first gay person in my family, so I was massively perplexed by her behavior, but to quote teenage Denise, “Your kids are like your trophies, and me being gay is like tarnishing her trophy.” It didn’t matter how many other family members were gay. She gave birth to me; I was her child, her disabled child whom the world already treated unfairly. Maybe, like Catherine and my own pre-coming out concerns, she was upset at the thought of life being more difficult for me beyond that of accessibility.

It could be any number of things, but to this day she still can’t refer to me as gay in a sentence without slurring all the words together, and because of that, I don’t know if any of our holidays will be like that of Denise’s family’s flash-forward Thanksgiving in 2017. I guess time will tell.

Before I came out, I’d only ever seen people come out on TV; sometimes it was cool and sometimes not. However, they were white and thus not me, but I still thought it’d be like TV. Hint: It wasn’t. Lena told a long-overdue story of a black person coming out and what can sometimes happen afterwards. That’s not art imitating life; it’s life influencing art and hoping for a connection to be made. For me now as an adult, the episode allowed my 13-year-old self some closure and reinforced the idea that who I am, how I identify, and what I experience because of the two are valid.

You’re reading an article from The Queue, an entertainment blog that does what it wants. To read more about why The Queue was started, click here. Oh, and subscribe to The Queue’s weekly-ish newsletter here. (Check your spam box for the confirmation link!)

Follow Angel on Twitter for more takes. And obviously, give this publication a follow.

The Queue

)

Angel Powell

Written by

Writer. Nicest when I’m sleep or you’ve bribed me with raspberry sorbet

The Queue

The Queue

An entertainment blog that does what it wants.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade