[Pride 2021] Lesbophobia is the True Horror in Lucky McKee's "Sick Girl"

Back in 2005, horror legend Mick Garris created an anthology series for Showtime called Masters of Horror. Each episode featured an hour long horror film from some of horror’s most iconic, including Dario Argento, John Carpenter, Larry Cohen, Don Coscarelli, Joe Dante, Mick Garris, Stuart Gordon, Tobe Hooper, John Landis, William Malone, John McNaughton, Takashi Miike and *checks notes* Lucky McKee.

At the time of the series’ launch, McKee had only released the short film version of what would become All Cheerleaders Die, his masterpiece May, and his second feature The Woods, released around the same time as this episode. To call Lucky McKee a “Master of Horror” at this point in his career may have seemed presumptuous, but his episode “Sick Girl” more than proved that Lucky McKee is and has always been a master of his craft.

“Sick Girl” is emblematic of what one would expect from a Lucky McKee project. Frequent collaborator Angela Bettis stars as Ida Teeter, a young, awkward, queer, entomologist who keeps a collection of bugs in her home as the closest thing she has to a companion. Her interest has isolated her further than her own queerness, and she longs for human connection. Ida develops a crush on a literal manic pixie dream girl named Misty (Erin Brown). No, seriously Misty is manic, obsessed with pixies, and is Ida’s dream girl. After finally approaching her, the two begin a whirlwind romance that results in the same outcome as most stereotypical lesbian love stories--moving in together almost immediately.

Things appear to be going swimmingly for the new couple, until a mysterious bug is shipped to Ida’s house, escapes its cage, and infects Misty. Suddenly, Ida’s love becomes irritable, lashes out, and it is revealed that the insect bite is slowly causing her to transition into a monstrous humanoid bug creature. And yet, Misty’s slow descent into insectdom is the least horrifying thing about “Sick Girl.” After all, we already know that Ida lives and dies to love insects. If anything, Misty is becoming an even more perfect partner for her once they get through the pesky growing pains.

There’s something refreshing about Ida and Misty, and they truly seem to be meant for one another. Misty’s penchant for communicating with her face mostly obscured by her long hair fits with Ida’s loneliness rooted in her obsession with insects. The duo are misunderstood by everyone in their lives, but against all odds, they found each other. They are unafraid to show moments of passion and affection, but nothing about it feels male gaze-y or exploitative. They’re two weird girls in love, and we as the audience fall in love with them.

Lucky McKee’s brand of humor understandably doesn’t work for everyone—because it’s a brand of absurdity laced with bleakness. In direct contrast of the giant bug transition and awkward exploration of a new relationship is Ida’s landlady Lana (Marcia Bennett) a queer hating busybody that greatly resents Ida’s queerness, and her granddaughter’s adoration of her.

As Misty transforms into a bug and Ida does her best to make sense of what’s going on, Lana does everything in her power to make their lives more uncomfortable. She ridicules them every chance she gets, shames them for their queerness, and even implies that they are perverts who will harm her granddaughter. Given the progress we’ve made (despite having so much further to go) in 2021, it’s hard for the general populous to remember how bad things were for the LGBTQ+ community in the mid 00s.

As the quest for marriage equality looked to become a reality, states began passing laws banning gay marriage with an aggressive force. The “It Gets Better” project was still five years away, the “gay panic defense” was still a legal form to justify murdering gay people, “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” was still in place for military officers, being transgender was still classified as a mental illness, and national hate crime laws offered no protections for the LGBTQ+ community. LGBTQ+ people were still legally allowed to be denied housing, employment, and public accommodations, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. The 2000s were also a time where despite the popularity of shows like Will & Grace and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, American popular media was still happily and openly homophobic, presenting it as “commentary.”

Lana catches Misty and Ida kissing one day, and decides to kick them out of the building. These two women have done nothing wrong and have hurt no one, but their mere existence is enough to warrant her desire to exterminate them. Her granddaughter sees the kiss and jokes “can I have a kiss too?” Throwing Misty into laughter (because it is an adorable request) and throwing Lana into a fit of rage. Ida does her best to calm the situation noting “I know you probably don’t approve of us, but it is our right…” only to be cut off with Lana hitting her with “Are you saying it’s your right to pollute the mind of my little granddaughter?” Ida is caught off guard and Lana even goes as far as to suggest that Ida was looking at her like “a little piece of meat,” knowing that her granddaughter thinks Ida is the coolest adult in the world. It’s a horrific moment, because Lana’s bigotry is not just realistic, it’s completely legally protected.

“I want you out in seven days.”

Ida is devastated by Lana’s words, not just because of the pending eviction, but because of the horrific accusations made about whether or not Ida and Misty are fit to be around young children. Lana’s mindset is unfortunately shared by a lot of people, to the point where there is evidence that LGBTQ+ teachers try to remain as invisible as possible in their schools so as to not draw attention to themselves. Some avoid promotion to school leadership roles fearing that the status will necessitate greater personal scrutiny by school stakeholders. Even today, out teachers frequently note that they have to deal with homophobic parents that view them as either “corrupting” or “dangerous” to their children.

As Misty’s bug transformation gets stronger and stronger, it is revealed that the mysterious bug responsible for her repulsive appearance was sent to Ida by Misty’s father, an entomologist and former professor of Ida. As it turns out, Misty has long since had a crush on Ida, and her father hoped that if Ida were to become infected by the bug, it would make her hideous and her daughter would no longer have feelings for her. His lesbophobia toward his own daughter and the object of her affection is ultimately what caused Misty’s transformation, and the subsequent deaths of Lana and Ida’s research partner. Every single negative outcome in “Sick Girl” is preventable, if only people could learn not to hold so much hate in their hearts. The likelihood that a queer person is going to get bit by a bug and turn into a giant bug monster is slim to none (a girl can dream) but the horrors of LGBTQ+ bigotry is all too real, even now.

Earlier this year, my transgender wife and I packed up our things and left our friends, family, and lives in the Midwest to move to California in the hopes of living somewhere more affirming. The last straw inspiring us to move was an act of vandalism where stickers were tacked to the street pole outside of our home saying “homos molest children” and “gay pride is pedophile pride.” LGBTQ+ hatred made our home and neighborhood feel unsafe, and our only option was to leave. Despite the progress we’ve made as a society, anti-gay hate crimes are on the rise, and it took a fucking pandemic to slow it down.

Lucky McKee has never been one to shy away from featuring lesbian characters in his projects, but “Sick Girl” is his best at tackling head on how for queer people, simply existing is its own brand of horror. The end of the episode shows Ida and Misty fully impregnated with bug spawn, still in love, and still living their best lives. The lesbophobic landlady is dead, their residency is safe, and they have each other.  “Sick Girl” shows that one of the most beautiful things about queer love is that it may not look “normal” to some people, but that difference in appearance doesn’t invalidate its validity or power.

Evil bug infections can’t hold a candle to bigotry, and Ida and Misty have managed to overcome both.

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