What tv shows and movies have I been recommending during the pandemic?

Like the rest of the country, and much of the world, my family has been watching a lot more screens over the past year. Here are two kid-friendly shows & movies that stood out for me! 

Netflix: The Prom. 

Rating: A Lovely Movie! 

Fabulous Queer-Positive Musical With a Racially Diverse Cast, Plus Who Knew That Keegan Michael Key And Kerry Williams Could Sing*??

• Summary: A feel-good musical that has not only a racially diverse cast but also a terrific pro-queer storyline.  
• Appropriate for ages: I had absolutely no problem showing it to my 9-year old, and I would definitely consider it for even younger kids.
• There are a few moments that I chose to explain to my kids:
• In the song "Breathe," we hear the words "People suck in Indiana." It's worth explaining to younger kids that this character is having a hard time and being treated very badly, but that in general we don't judge folks from where they come from. At the same time, there are a lot of anti-queer laws in Indiana that give people permission to act the way they are acting in the movie, and so it makes sense that our heroine is experiencing a lot of homophobia. 
• In the song "We Look To You," Keegan Michael Key's character complains that his pay is "emasculating." Eye roll.
• James Corden's character has some self-loathing around his own appearance and sexual orientation, and uses some derogatory terms about himself. I don't remember all of them, but at one point he says, "Who cares if you're a big old girl? Just go out on that floor and twirl!" It's definitely worth reminding kids that while JC's character feels bad about being fat and feminine, there is actually NOTHING wrong with either of those things. The problems are society's fatphobia and misogyny. 

*I know, Jingle Jangle as well. But before THAT. 

Netflix: Finding Ohana. 

Rating: A Lovely Movie!

Indiana Jones meets The Goonies but MINUS the racism and sexism...! Whoa - if we watch this cool new movie instead of the old ones, did the 80s even really happen? 

Finding Ohana is AWESOME. It's set in Hawaii with a largely native Hawaiian and/or native American cast and, just as importantly, two BIPOC women at the helm. My kids found this totally thrilling. (And I am clearly not the only person who saw that they were drawing inspiration from these two movies - Ke Huy Quan is in ALL THREE OF THEM!)

• I haven't yet gotten to watch the whole thing but as far as I saw, and as far as I could tell from my white lens, it seemed culturally appropriate, respectful, and also not promoting of toxic masculinity. 
• Like most of the media in this world, it has no queer folks, and I didn't catch any disabled folks either (unless I missed something).

As always, folks, if I missed something important, please let me know in the comments or through a message!