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‘Lesbian Space Princess’ Review: A Quest for Queer Self-Love Expands the Realm of What Animation Typically Represents
Princess Saira embarks on an intergalactic mission to save her ex from sexist aliens in a world that resembles some of Cartoon Network’s edgier shows.
Behind this idiosyncratic and intermittently amusing vision are Australian co-writer-directors Emma Hough Hobbs and Leela Varghese, who tonally seem to take a page from some of Cartoon Network’s edgier shows (“Adventure Time,” “Rick and Morty”), while thematically aligning more closely with “Steven Universe” — with the addition of explicit sexual references. That Saira’s turmoil has no relation to her sexual orientation, because she lives in a future and a reality where “coming out” just doesn’t exist, and instead it’s her fractured bond with her mothers and her inability to forge healthy romantic partnerships that she struggles with, might be the most radical aspect of “Lesbian Space Princess.” The intention, for the most part (because the Straight White Maliens are there), is to imagine what queer narratives can become when not tied to how they fit into heteronormative systems. “Lesbian Space Princess” plays like an unabashedly free-spirited work unafraid to revel in its silliness, likely because as absurd as the jokes can be (early on, a disembodied, dancing genitalia steals the show), they likely made the directors laugh, and might not exist out in the world if they hadn’t given into their creative impulses.
Or read this on Variety