For many queer millennials, the 2000 live-action How the Grinch Stole Christmas wasn’t just a holiday movie. It was a formative experience. And no, it wasn’t Jim Carrey’s green furball sparking feelings. It was Martha May Whovier, the glamorous, sequined, feathered, and oh-so-saucy socialite of Whoville, played to perfection by Christine Baranski.
Martha May sashayed onto the screen with a sense of style that made the Whos look like they raided the clearance bin at Macy’s. While everyone else wore frumpy Christmas sweaters, she strutted in form-fitting gowns, red velvet bustiers, and enough glitter to make Liberace jealous. Her sculpted hourglass figure, coy grin, and sultry drawl felt like they belonged more on the runway than in a family Christmas flick. For many, that combination of camp and couture was… enlightening.
For queer folk, Martha May’s self-assured glamour made her an early pin-up. She wasn’t just beautiful, she owned her beauty, teasing and commanding attention with every toss of her platinum updo. There’s something magnetic about a woman who knows exactly how to stop a snowball fight with just a smirk.
For gay boys and queer men, she was a feast of high camp. Her outfits were practically drag in their exaggerated silhouettes and unapologetic sparkle. Her delivery of every line dripped with melodrama and innuendo, yet she remained endearingly wholesome. Martha May walked the line between holiday hostess and diva extraordinaire, giving young viewers a template for camp sensibilities before they even knew what “camp” was.
And then there’s the narrative. Martha May is the romantic interest torn between the safe, conventional choice, Whoville’s bumbling mayor, and the misunderstood, dramatic outsider, the Grinch. Sound familiar? To LGBTQ+ audiences, that dynamic felt almost allegorical. She longed for the one who didn’t fit in, who challenged Whoville’s status quo, who lived on the fringes in a cave full of DIY couture. Who among us hasn’t been that Grinch at one point or another?
Even 20-plus years later, Martha May remains a holiday icon. Social media still lights up every December with memes and fan edits to her over-the-top wardrobe. Drag queens have recreated her looks. LGBTQ+ film lovers analyze her as a camp archetype. And for a generation, she remains proof that holiday movies can be a little bit naughty, even when they’re trying to be nice.
So this season, as you rewatch How the Grinch Stole Christmas, keep an eye on Martha May Whovier. She wasn’t just decorating her house with a cannon that shot Christmas lights, she was decorating our imaginations, planting little seeds of gay awakening that still sparkle today.
