You know, you really do learn something new every day. Or perhaps I should say, "you can." 'Frinstance, I learned the other day what FUJOSHI is. I had never heard of it before. It's a Japanese thing. It's this thing wherein women (females, humans born without scrotums, etc.) really dig stories about dudes getting it on. Falling in love, etc. Leave it to the Japanese to give it a name and make it a thing, right? They also call it "Yaoi" and/or "BL" which stands for "Boy Love" which makes me wonder why the Japanese would call it Boy Love or BL in English. Like, is that for Japanese people who speak English or Japanese people who live in English speaking countries other than Japan? So many questions! But I'm getting ahead of myself.
You may ask yourself: "Where does that highway go to?" And you also might ask yourself: "How and why did Chris Reidy find out about Japanese BL? Was he watching Japanese gay porn again? Do they have Japanese gay porn? Is Japanese gay porn part of Fujoshi? Are Japanese women who are into Fujoshi watching Japanese gay porn? Don't they pixelate the naughty bits in Japanese gay porn? And so on...?"
You may ask yourself: "Where does that highway go to?" And you also might ask yourself: "How and why did Chris Reidy find out about Japanese BL? Was he watching Japanese gay porn again? Do they have Japanese gay porn? Is Japanese gay porn part of Fujoshi? Are Japanese women who are into Fujoshi watching Japanese gay porn? Don't they pixelate the naughty bits in Japanese gay porn? And so on...?"
Yes, they decidedly do have Japanese gay porn and any quick search will show you that they don't pixelate it anymore. Now as to whether or not there are Japanese women watching it; I think we can assume that's a yes; but is it part of Fujoshi? Probably not. My take is that it is more about women digging stories that are about men falling in love and perhaps having R or NC-17 rated interpersonal, naked shenanigans (INS).
But let me back up a bit. So, I'm looking at my phone or Facebook or whatever a few weeks back and I see an ad in my feed:
But let me back up a bit. So, I'm looking at my phone or Facebook or whatever a few weeks back and I see an ad in my feed:
It caught my attention for a split second, as it was clearly two men. In tuxedos, for whatever reason. It put me in mind of Dynasty and I thought: "Oh, another Queer as Folk type dealie-oh. That's nice. Whatevs..." and I didn't think about it again. I didn't have any sort of driving desire to see it; particularly since I don't have HBO Max. So, I forgot about it. But, then slowly, I kept being reminded of it via references permeating the zeitgeist. It kept being mentioned on talk shows I kept hearing "heated rivalry" and "hockey" and "Russia"; so, I investigated. And as I looked into it, it suddenly went from a successful cable limited TV series to GLOBAL PHENOMENON overnight. I wondered: "A gay hockey love story? Just exactly who is watching this?" HAL 9000 broke down the demogs for me. So, primarily WOMEN and GAY MEN but it seems to have broken through some pink glass wall and STRAIGHT MEN (or at least BI-CURIOUS (or perhaps Bi-Curious-Curious) are watching it too. This is how I found out about FUJOSHI.
And then, of course, I couldn't help but think about my own GAY LOVE STORY SET IN THE WORLD OF ATHLETICS.
That being my original screenplay (for those of you not following along at home):
HEARTFIGHT
And then, of course, I couldn't help but think about my own GAY LOVE STORY SET IN THE WORLD OF ATHLETICS.
That being my original screenplay (for those of you not following along at home):
HEARTFIGHT
Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking: "Oh, Chris thinks someone has ripped him off again, bless his little heart." And I'm not thinking that. The book Heated Rivalry, on which the HBO show is based was published in 2019, well before I penned and published HEARTFIGHT. I do, however, wonder why a straight woman gets to get the greenlight on a story about gay men. Apparently she's a huge hockey fan and wrote these gay hockey tales to combat the rampant homophobia in that sport. I mean it's great and all and LOVE IS LOVE AND LOVE WINS; but I get the sneaking suspicion that if a straight man penned a novel about, say, a lesbian love story set in the world of ladies golf there might be--if not a hue and cry--then at least some intense grousing.
And also, however, I do kind of can't help but wonder if someone saw the HUGE potential in a love story between two men in the macho world of sports. Just saying. Way back in August of 2022, when I first got the very first inklings of what was to become HEARTFIGHT the screenplay, I predicted that women would love a story like this. And apparently, I was right. It all started as a gay riff on a remake of Road House, the Patrick Swayze movie:
And also, however, I do kind of can't help but wonder if someone saw the HUGE potential in a love story between two men in the macho world of sports. Just saying. Way back in August of 2022, when I first got the very first inklings of what was to become HEARTFIGHT the screenplay, I predicted that women would love a story like this. And apparently, I was right. It all started as a gay riff on a remake of Road House, the Patrick Swayze movie:
My story began with a blog entitled: Road House Re-Make Blues. I reimagined that movie's plot as a gay love story and loved it so much, I went through a real time series of blogs as I wrote the screenplay that would become HEARTFIGHT. And I published it. It's available as a Kindle E-book, a softcover and a hardcover. Let's take a look!
When HEARTFIGHT was finished it was really long for a movie script. I suggested that it might make a great deluxe limited TV show. I may have even mentioned HBO. Let me see if I can find that quote pull...
My understanding is, that what people are responding to with Heated Rivalry, is not so much the hockey; but the love story. I haven't seen the show, but I'm hearing that the intensity of the romance and the great chemistry between the two men is what is driving people crazy.
With HEARTFIGHT that was of prime importance to me: that being the LOVE between the two men. The INS was windfall and the sport I chose doesn't exist. I made it up, because I didn't want to have to be super accurate about a sport; say, like hockey; it has a puck, a goal, and men without teeth on ice skates. That's all I know. So I invented a whole new sport for my lovesick dudes to play around in. Another windfall, story-wise. Literally. They practice martial arts whilst floating in a skydiving chamber.
So, if any SHOWBIZ EXECS out there are reading this: the rights to HEARTFIGHT are available. And the script is literally already written. Just lying there. Just sayin' People are already jonesing for more Heated Rivalry. And MACHO SPORTS GAY LOVE STORIES seem to be trending up, don't they? And I say: sky's the limit.
Please find some links below in regards to the genesis of HEARTFIGHT.
With HEARTFIGHT that was of prime importance to me: that being the LOVE between the two men. The INS was windfall and the sport I chose doesn't exist. I made it up, because I didn't want to have to be super accurate about a sport; say, like hockey; it has a puck, a goal, and men without teeth on ice skates. That's all I know. So I invented a whole new sport for my lovesick dudes to play around in. Another windfall, story-wise. Literally. They practice martial arts whilst floating in a skydiving chamber.
So, if any SHOWBIZ EXECS out there are reading this: the rights to HEARTFIGHT are available. And the script is literally already written. Just lying there. Just sayin' People are already jonesing for more Heated Rivalry. And MACHO SPORTS GAY LOVE STORIES seem to be trending up, don't they? And I say: sky's the limit.
Please find some links below in regards to the genesis of HEARTFIGHT.
Oh, and HEARTFIGHT has a Japanese character and I "cast" this eye-candy:
Maybe it's a sign!
CFR 1/11/26
CFR 1/11/26