LGBT persons have become extremely visible in media in the past few years. These appearances began in the 1990s and have grown exponentially since then. LGBT roles are becoming less and less controversial and are even appearing on prime time television sitcoms like Modern Family. However, these roles cause some upheaval because many think LGBT roles should be played by LGBT people. Also, some regard LGBT persons as misrepresented and stereotyped in many of these roles. This essay will explore the points about LGBT representation in media I introduced above.
Many creators and writers are straight white cisgender men, and this affects how LGBT people are represented in the media. Without input from the group being represented, it is hard to give an accurate portrayal of an LGBT person due to a level of privilege white cisgender men enjoy that LGBT do not. LGBT people of color are also misrepresented and underrepresented. A majority of gay characters in television and in movies are white men. They are also usually very fit and affluent. This reinforces a stereotype that gay people mostly fit, wealthy, and into fashion.
Straight actors sometimes play LGBT roles. Two examples of this are Jared Leto’s performance as Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club and Sean Penn’s performance as Harvey Milk in Milk. There is a possible problem with straight actors playing these roles, such as not being able to truly portray a LGBT person due to their heterosexual privilege. In my opinion a great actor would overcome the barriers and live up to the role. Both these performances were considered exemplary, and Dustin Lance Black, a prominent LGBT screenwriter who wrote the script for Milk, had say in the casting process. LGBT actors to a lesser extent have pla...
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...d slash fiction, where two male characters who are close are rewritten to have a love interest in each other. Even in fan fiction though, many types of characters are left out. People of color are still underrepresented, as are disabled people.
As stated above, many people have problems with how LGBT people are represented in the media, straight actors playing LGBT roles, and LGBT fan fiction. LGBT portrayal in media that is void of stereotypes is absolutely vital to creating a society without prejudices. However, I think it’s dangerous to limit actors roles to their sexuality. Actors like Sean Penn, Jared Leto, and James Franco are passionate about their LGBT roles and portray them well just like Neil Patrick Harris portrays straight Barney in How I Met Your Mother with excellence. We should strive for an open world with opportunities across the board for everyone.
I reached many other people since last week, some of them did not show much interest in doing the interview when they heard it was about homosexual representation analysis; the other people were unable to do the interview because the lack of time or other reasons. Anyway, diverse interviewees were picked to convey a considerably fair research for the attitudes toward the homosexual representation in the show Glee. These three chosen interview subjects not only vary in race (Both my boss and my roommate are Asian-American and my friend’s sister Lily is Caucasian) but also in gender (My boss is male and the other two are female). Because the main focus of the show Glee is about daily life of a group of high school students who attend their school glee club, the audience’s age range is unavoidably narrow. Despite the fact
You can see immediately why Hollywood took this film to their heart. Hey, it's about ISSUES! But in typical Hollywood fashion, they can't resist the temptation to dumb the issue down to make it easier to sell. It's a difficult thing sometimes, criticising a film like 'Philadelphia' as it leaves the critic open to accusations of homophobia themselves, but 'Philadelphia' patronises the homosexual community so much, it's like an instruction video for schoolkids "Listen kids - gays are people too, you know?".
The films “The Birds” and “Psycho” do not portray your typical family and clearly have some dysfunctionalism going on. Throughout the film In “The Birds” Mitch continually refers to his own mother as “darling” and “dear” – clearly this is a sign of an enmeshed dysfunctional relationship between mother and son. Mitch and his mother Lydia’s relationship has more of a husband and wife's role; for example, when Mitch and Lydia wash dishes, their conversation is like husband and wife. There are three relationships with Mitch that are disrupted by Melanie’s arrival in Bodega Bay; Lydia, Annie, and Cathy. The first attack comes to Cathy’s birthday party, which Melanie attends. While Cathy welcomes Melanie she seems to subconsciously harboring the fear that her brother’s affections will be replaced by Melanie. The other attack comes after Melanie leaves the lovebirds for Cathy; the seagull’s attack is a warning shot that Melanie ignores. When the birds attack the schoolchildren, it's after Melanie has arrived at the school to pick up Mitch's sister. Another warning shot arrives as another gull slams itself into Annie’s front door when Melanie invades Annie’s territory by choosing to board with her for the night. During another attack, Annie is killed, leaving Melanie to take her place. Mitch's mother Lydia, a woman portrayed as cold to anyone not in her immediate family, and especially cold to other women who might have an interest in her son. The bird attacks are just a metaphor for Melanie's "invasion" of the peaceful world of Mitch & his family, a world that seems peaceful on the surface but in fact has all these repressed feelings and anxieties bubbling underneath. Every scene in the film is about Melanie's "invasion" of M...
Kidd, Dustin. 2014. “Not that There’s Anything Wrong with That: Sexuality Perspectives.” Pp. 129-163 in Pop Culture Freaks: Identity, Mass Media, and Society. Boulder: Westview Press.
“What’s ruining television today are those big productions – It’s the fairies who are going to ruin show business.” For some, this quote from The Jack Paar Show may seem unsettling. In the midst of a Supreme Court that has recently extended even more rights to a community so harshly oppressed, it is shocking to think that just fifty years ago, thoughts like this represented the majority opinion. The evolution of homosexuality in television has seen tremendous leaps and countless obstacles; yet what has emerged in the wake of it all is a form of media that has drastically impacted discourse surrounding gay men. This analysis aims to discuss the show Glee, as well as the key aspects of homosexuality that are portrayed. It will examine the characters
On television, I watched characters such as Marco del Rossi and Paige Michalchuk on the Canadian teen-drama Degrassi. These were the first positive experiences I had of what gay culture was like. Of what I saw, I did not feel like I fit into that lifestyle/group. On the other hand, the movie The Matthew Shepard Story shared the violent side of homosexuality’s history in the retelling of Matthew Shepard’s murder.
Although we have taken monumental strides in the past fifty years towards racial equality and diversity, it is still commonly argued that popular culture lacks some sort of racial representation. In the United States, the people who live here are vastly diverse when it comes to race and culture, yet in the media people of color get marginalized and stereotyped everyday in film, music, and etc.
The topic of homosexuality elicits many reactions. It is forever played upon in pop culture for it's shock value if nothing else. Some demonize it, holding things like religion as proving, "alternative lifestyles," to be wrong. Some have erotisied homosexuality as in many of Anne Rice's vampire novels. Some laugh at homosexuality or people who are homosexual, calling it, "weird". Some react violently, as in the case of Matthew Shepard. And yet others have gradually turned towards acceptance shown (debatably) in such movies as, " To Wong-Fu Love Julie Newmar" and " In and Out".
However there have been a variety of critiques regarding the media’s portrayal of same-sex couples and gay marriage. People who go solely off the media’s depiction of gay and lesbians could have a skewed view of what they are actually like. This could be detrimental for youth who are developing their ideas of what homosexuals are actually like and this is their only source of information on it. This leads to stereotyping different types of gay people. Also for young people, the media depiction of gay people has led to the idea that this is “cool” and treat their homosexual friends differently.
Many television shows have transgender characters portrayed offensively, which clearly demonstrates a widespread problem. Transgender characters are being portrayed as “victims”, cast as killers, and working as sex workers. The first thing that writers in the media think of when using a transgender character is prostitution. This is the immediate preconception because in reality sometimes the only job a trans person can get is in sex work. As we saw in Screaming Queens, the transgender community was forced into prostitution among many other degrading consequences of being trans. This idea has stuck and is more likely to be portrayed in media when it comes to assigning roles for transgender characters.
population, especially youth and teenage audiences, have come to accept these types of relationships. There are numerous gay people in TV shows, such as Cameron and Mitchell Pritchett from the comedy show Modern Family and Will Truman from the most successful sitcom promoting a lead gay character, Will & Grace. TV shows past and present have had a huge influence in how society, and in many cases the youth of society, perceive homosexuality. Children/teenage minds are related to sponges; they see something and soak in all they see. The rise of gay roles in movies and TV has helped make them more welcome in society. We welcome them into our homes weeknights and go spend money on their movies, yet they still don 't deserve to be married. True, many Christian families will see this and change the channel, but when children and teenagers watch celebrities on these television shows, they begin to idolize them and see them as regulars, despite their sexual preference. If our government allows same sex marriages, it makes the youth see that these people are just like them and are in no way harm to their lives. Much of the gay community feels they aren’t bothering others by getting married to each other. Why get offended? Is it your life? Not a single gay marriage does harm to
As the years have passed, homosexuality has become a very controversial topic. The fact that day by day they fight for equality just to be happy, I think it is an injustice that many people refuse to give them the rights they deserve.
The 1990s saw surge of gay characters in both television and movies. From Ellen Degeneres and her character Ellen Morgan coming out under much scrutiny on the TV show ‘Ellen,’ to Julia Roberts and Rupert Everett comedically playing off each other in the motion picture ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding.’ Sure, gays and lesbians have been around forever, especially in Hollywood. But never has there been a time to be more out. With the popularity of shows like Will and Grace, which feature leading gay characters, as well as Dawson’s Creek and it’s supporting character of teenager Jack McPhee, we are slowly seeing gay and lesbian characters creeping into the mainstream media.
I think this topic is very controversial because in the U.S. Most homosexual people especially males, get discriminated because of what they feel: having attractiveness to their same sex. Most people in the U.S. are str8 and most people think that being gay or lesbian is wrong and it is not right to show it off and be proud of it.
Media portrayal of the LGBT community is varying. It may be very positive and a “good” portrayal or negative and instead focuses on the stereotypical aspects of the LGBT community. One definition of a good LGBT television portrayal is one that depicts an LGBT character without over glaringly obviousness of their sexual orientation, or without adding many LGBT stereotypes that are all too often added.