Nimona and the LGBT Experience

So Nimona finally came out on Netflix. For those of you who don't know, Nimon was a graphic novel drawn and written by cartoonist ND Stevenson that was originally published in 2015. On June 30th, 2023, that graphic novel was adapted to the big screen and earned it's own Netflix original. And I've never read it. I plan to. But I haven't. So here is my full review of Nimona the Netflix original.

Image Credit: ND Stevenson

I went into this movie with high expectations and I wasn't disappointed. Nimona follows the story of Ballistar Blackhearts disaster of a knighting ceremony and the chaos that ensues after whereupon he's found by the wild, gremlin-like shapeshifter named Nimona. While Ballistar is dead set on proving his innocence, Nimona is ready to follow her new villainous boss in destroying the Institute that perpetuates this ongoing odea of normal and good.

Throughout the whole movie, their is a clear dichotomy of what is good and normal and what is wrong and different. While Ballistar fought to fit into world and be a good knight, Nimona is used to the ostracization that comes with being different. She's used to being hated and has sunk so deep into it that she's become spiteful and hateful. She embraces the idea of being evil even if she clearly isn't -- there's a part of her that she can't get rid of, a childish part that's still innocent and caring. Because what she really wants is to be accepted and it's easier to embrace rejection than it is to hope for acceptance.

Now, this has a striking resemblance to the LGBTQIA+ experience and I'm sure it's not by mistake. Ballistar's love interest is a man and the cast of the sunning animated movie includes the likes of Eugene Lee Yang and RuPaul: both of whom are well known in the community. But it isn't just the cast and the blatant representation in characters. It's the plot itself. The feeling of constant rejection and fear of being called different, of being hated, or being rejected for something you can't change. Knowing that it's easier to choose anger than to hope for acceptance is something plenty of LGBT kids know well. Nimona does a fantastic job of internalizing that fear into something vicious and painful. It feels real and relatable -- not just her anger but her sadness and the hatred she feels for herself.

(Now, I want to be clear in saying there is no possible way for me to speak to every members experiences so, instead, I can only speak from what I've experienced so please take what I'm sayign with that understanding.)

Image Credit: Netflix

But this isn't all doom, gloom, and pain. Nimona is a Netflix original now, meant for a wider audience than a graphic novel could ever reach. The cast is full of people who know the pain that being different can bring. But movies like Nimona show that people aren't alone anymore and that the long burning hatred is starting to dull. This isn't a singular experience for this community either. Plenty of people know the pain of feeling other and different and Nimona crosses that boundary to reach out to any anyone that just felt different.

The movies is stunning and not just because of the colorful art, relatable and funny characters, or the outgoing plot. There's a lot at work here and a lot to be said. But for now, I'll leave it at: you need to watch Nimona on Netflix.