“This scrapbook helped me deal with a lot of troubles and pains related to family, being bullied and religious oppression. From the ages of 12 to 17, in the 90’s, an infatuation occurred. Any famous actor could have been the lead star in this fantasy, but it ended up being Drew Barrymore.
One day in 1992, a new video store in a tiny store complex in Brentwood, Long Island opened and a 12-year-old me walked in. On the the New Release wall, the VHS of her film Poison Ivy was featured. I was struck by the image of her on the cover––but this wasn’t the first time: a few years later I recalled a twin moment when I was a 4-year-old with my father at a video store.
It was 1984. I wandered away from my father and came across a large promo set-up for Firestarter. Drew is featured on the poster as the little girl Charlie McGee. When I looked at her expression: in little me, a cord was struck. I remember feeling something along the lines of - "Yes…..right, me too.” Though I knew nothing about the movie, I knew the blazing fire behind her had something to do with her as she, with a fierceness, stared back at me.
This reaction was similar to when I saw the cover of Poison Ivy, in 1992. On the box cover in my hands, Drew wore a tight red mini-skirt, a fire red trench-coat over a white blouse blazed. Her stance and don’t-fuck-with-me expression woke me; I swiftly turned the video case around and stared at the inset image of Drew pulling at a necklace Sarah Gilbert wore. I just had to watch it.
And so began my gay-boy crush.“ - Rafael Santiago.
