Diamond Bookshelf 32 The LGBTQ+ Issue | Page 12

forth is certainly inspired by Conor McGregor – the pejorative phrasing and boasting especially . Here , with Bellyi , we find out it ’ s a cover for his own internalized shame at hiding who he is . It is NOT a positive , it ’ s toxic . And with Mayne , the inspiration falls to boxing , as we ’ ve taken inspiration from the story of Emile Griffith , an LGBT boxer who did in fact kill his bigoted opponent in the ring in the 60s . The book A MAN ’ S WORLD and his quote within … ‘ I kill a man , and most forgive me … I love a man , and many say this makes me an evil person .’ ... was a major , and now obvious , inspiration for KILL A MAN .

PKJ : In my mind the characters aren ’ t based too closely on any specific fighter , but they definitely have character traits that you commonly see in the fight game . James Bellyi has a showman ’ s sensibility that could easily be compared to Conor McGregor , and a flashy kickboxing fighting style I compare to Stephen “ Wonderboy ” Thompson in the script . His dad , DJ Bellyi , has a loudmouth , bigoted a-hole sensibility that I ’ ve seen once or twice in pre-fight hype interviews , but is also not based on a specific person . The owner of the “ EFC ” in KILL A MAN could be compared to Dana White because of his status in the organization but is ( hopefully ) more unpleasant in our story than Dana is in real life .
Masculinity is often centered around aggression . What were you trying to accomplish by setting KILL A MAN in the MMA world ? SO : The world of MMA takes the actions and performances of masculinity and sets a nuclear fire under them .
way I act and talk , is something done truly for myself , or for the expectations of society . My own struggle with my identity as bisexual , as Jewish , as a man , is woven into this story , and my desire to HAVE the simple answers that narrative can provide . I recall CREED again , where in the final fight Adonis admits he ’ s fighting not so much to win , but to prove he ’ s not a mistake . As a queer man in the modern world , that ’ s something I wrestled with for a long time , and thankfully overcame years ago , but that struggle is in every action our lead takes in these pages .
PKJ : Although I can ’ t directly relate to the queer struggle at the heart of the story , I can certainly relate to feeling like you have to hide who you are , of showing the world the version of yourself you need it to see while struggling with who you really are . I understand the worlds of MMA , of show business and performance , of the pressure you feel every time you put yourself out there , especially in a live setting , the crushing defeat you feel when you fail , and the motivation that sets in afterwards . This is as personal a story for me as any I ’ ve told .
Are any of the characters based off certain figures in the MMA world ? SO : One of the reasons I conceived this story with PKJ is the need for as much authenticity as possible , and while I am a big MMA fan , my own PERSONAL experience lies more in investing James Bellyi and Xavier Mayne with the truest queer experiences and voices we can provide . So , Phillip ’ s answer may be more in depth here when he comes around , BUT I ’ ll say the swagger James Bellyi puts
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