LGBTQ Portrayalin theMedia

By Maureen & Kenny

1900s – 1920s: Silent Films

• Very few openly queer characters

• 1895: The Dickinson Experimental Sound Film

• Origin of “The Sissy” archetype

• Several openly gay directors

• 1920s saw films pushing more boundaries

1930s: Hays Code

• Morocco (1930): woman dressed in tuxedo kisses another woman

• Hays Code passed in 1930, after strong pressure from religious conservative groups– Set strict regulations for

film content– Filmmakers found ways

to creatively circumvent these regulations

1930s – 1950s: Avoiding the Hays Code

• Openly gay & lesbian characters weren’t erased, but were made into villains

• Gay themes were coded in scripts (but queer audiences could figure it out)– Red River: guns as phallic

symbols– Ben-Hur: “body servant”– Rebel Without A Cause: Plato– Gentlemen Prefer Blondes:

gym scene with Jane Russell

1960s: Where’s The Progress?

• Viewed as a decade of liberalism & liberation, but movie industry hadn’t quite caught up

• Gay & lesbian characters were depressed, guilty, unstable, suicidal (or eventually died)– Advise and Consent:

blackmail– The Sergeant: guilt,

unrequited love, suicide

1970s: Queer Positivity• The Boys in the Band

(1970)– Gay men were happy– Sense of belonging &

community– “If we could just learn

not to hate ourselves…”

• Cabaret (1972)– Sally fails to seduce

Brian, thinks he’s gay– They try being a couple

later, it’s weird– They wind up having sex

with the same guy

1980s: Moving Forward & Backwards at the Same Time

• Queer characters were portrayed as villains again– Cruising: serial killer

murdering gay men, portrayal of gay men as sex-crazed

– Night Shift: gay stereotypes & prison rape paranoia

• But progress was also made– Making Love: positive, stable

gay male relationship– Victor Victoria: increased gay

& trans* visibility– The World According to Garp:

John Lithgow as transwoman– Before Stonewall

1990s: And Here We Go…

• Significant increase in queer visibility– Philadelphia: AIDS crisis– The Adventures of

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: trans* visibility

– Boys Don’t Cry: real-life story about a trans man

• Presence of LGBTQ characters on TV– Both Ellen DeGeneres

and her sitcom character coming out

2000s

• Queer As Folk: first hour-long drama about LGBT people (gay & lesbian)– First gay sex scene on TV– Portrayed “real” gay

issues

• The L Word: lives of lesbian, bisexual, trans* people

• Logo launched in 2005– Mainly gay programming– Criticized for “watering

down the gay”, heteronormativity, gay male focus

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