March 28, 2024 The Newspaper Serving LGBT Los Angeles

Issa Rae’s “Fruit” Zooms in on One Man’s Sexuality

Ever since the release of “S-Town” earlier this year, the podcast world has been facing a minor crisis. After Brian Reed cracked open the case of a desperate, brilliant bisexual man living in deep red state territory, the podcast world, at last, had created its first literary-scale masterpiece, its “In Cold Blood.”  No one, clearly, was about to go back to boring old Fresh Air after that.

With the bar raised considerably, how would new podcasts with the same traditional, tired format, keep up with the new gold standard set by the groundbreaking “S-Town,” a show that zeroed in on one man’s life to create a larger-than-life story? Would listeners accept anything less than this ever again? Would podcasting ever be the same?

Short answer: No. But something else did happen alongside the release of “S-Town,” a quieter yet just as groundbreaking story that breaks the rules in much the same way that “S-Town” does, only using a new kind of fiction as its format.

“Fruit,” a podcast produced by Issa Rae – the creator of “Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl” along with “Insecure,” the HBO series that grew out of it – is a fictional story that borrows an episodic, confessional format to tell its story across two seasons. Like the recent Netflix show “13 Reasons Why,” “Fruit” operates through a suspenseful, play-by-play unfolding of events, with each episode ending on an emotional cliffhanger. Using the world of pro sports to explore the conflicts of perceived masculinity, race, and sexuality, “Fruit” takes on the story of X, a pro-football player on his way up in the world who struggles to understand and accept his queerness. As a black man in the hypercompetitive, and often hyper-homophobic, world of football, X isn’t that thrilled about acknowledging the part of him that wants to date, have sex, and explore deeper levels of intimacy with men. But he gives way to this part of himself, episode by episode, eventually running past the thousand obstacles that stand in the way of his embracing his identity, only to find by the end of Season 2 that accepting what you want is only half the battle. The rest is about trying, through heartbreak and resistance, to actually get what you want.

Listening to X tell his story in the first person, filling in the emotional details in monologue while we hear the actual, often stilted interactions with the people in his life in dialogue, is exhausting, thrilling, and addictive. With each episode spanning no longer than 20 minutes, “Fruit” is designed to tantalize, and it succeeds. The feeling that “Fruit” accesses, in its most skillful plays, is a kind of ecstatic anticipation similar to what a fan might feel at a game even though he’s standing on the sideline, passive. It doesn’t matter that it’s fiction, or that it’s about football, or that it’s at times absurdly dramatic: We’re fully in the game, cheering X on from the sidelines.

Related Posts

Long Beach Named One of the Best LGBTQ Cities

January 18, 2022

January 18, 2022

For the 10th year in a row Long Beach has been named one of the best cities in the nation...

WeHo Wins ‘Most Business-Friendly City Award’ from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation

November 30, 2021

November 30, 2021

The City of West Hollywood has been awarded the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation’s 2021 Most Business-Friendly City Award....

Jonathan Van Ness Offers His Services As A Life Coach

September 15, 2021

September 15, 2021

Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness who identifies as non-binary has teamed up with Skillshare to host a virtual class...

Drive N Drag Los Angeles

February 14, 2021

February 14, 2021

Drive N Drag will be coming to the Rose Bowl, Pasadena. Featuring RuPauls Drag Race Alumni favorite Aquaria, Asia O’Hara,...

WeHo Carnaval 2020 Cancelled

October 29, 2020

October 29, 2020

One of the year’s biggest events in West Hollywood, The Halloween Carnaval, has been cancelled.  The massive Halloween party has...

“The Mismatch Game” Hosted By Dennis Hensley Is Going To Zoom

September 23, 2020

September 23, 2020

With COVID restrictions affecting several businesses and theater spaces throughout the Los Angeles area many have had to make adjustments. ...

Date Night In Times Of COVID

August 23, 2020

August 23, 2020

As things to do in times of COVID-19 dwindle down to staying in your home and watching a specific streaming...

Longest Running Escape Room In LA Goes Virtual

August 5, 2020

August 5, 2020

Escape Room LA, in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles, is the longest running escape room in Los Angeles going...

USC One Archives to Host Screening of Film on Black Trans Woman to Honor Black History Month

February 1, 2020

February 1, 2020

Meet Mary Jones, a black transgender woman born in New York in 1803. Described as a “man-monster” in the press. ...

HRC to Honor Dan Levy, Janelle Monáe at Award Ceremony in DTLA

January 27, 2020

January 27, 2020

Award Season is upon us, and the LGBTQ+ Community is not immune. HRC announced today that actor Dan Levy will...

VIDEO: South Coast Chorale’s Tribute to Gay & Civil Rights Activist

January 24, 2020

January 24, 2020

67 years ago, openly gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin was arrested on a discriminatory, anti-gay “lewd conduct” charge for...

IN PHOTOS: WeHo Dodgeball at Sin City Classic LGBTQ+ Sports Festival

January 23, 2020

January 23, 2020

Hosted annually by The Greater Los Angeles Softball Association (GLASA), Sin City Classic brought together the United State’s finest athletes last weekend for three...

GUEST COLUMN: Queer Mindfulness Meditation

January 22, 2020

January 22, 2020

InsightLA is a non-profit meditation center offering practices of mindfulness and compassion that are both secular and Buddhist in origin. ...

LONG BEACH PRIDE Unveils New Logo, Drops “Lesbian & Gay” From Name

January 16, 2020

January 16, 2020

Formerly known as  the Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride, the new and improved Long Beach Pride – the organization...

LGBTQ+ Ally Taylor Swift to Receive GLAAD’s Vanguard Award

January 7, 2020

January 7, 2020

GLAAD announced Tuesday, Jan. 7 that Taylor Swift with receive the Vanguard Award at the 31st Annual GLAAD Media Awards. ...