Kim post 9

Kim Hambright

1. In the beginning, there were homosexuals. They were depicted rarely in the media, if at all, and never in a positive light. Along with the invention of television, came the mass production of homosexual stereotypes. Often seen as mentally ill or confused, homosexuals were something to be “fixed” and were often depicted as such in films and television. In the eyes of the Motion Picture Production Code, and a large portion of society around the 1940’s, all gay men were sissies, and all lesbians were masculine cross-dressers. In the typical depiction, gay men were not intimidating because they were destined to die depressed and alone; but lesbians however, were malicious, attempting to “turn” straight women, and therefore had to be killed. Though some recognized the unfair stereotypes being placed upon members of the gay community, entertainment, such as movie production (which was considered an extension of the beliefs of society) would not change its portrayal of gays until the stereotypes about gays off-screen were demolished.

A major advance in the gay rights movement took place during and immediately following the Stonewall riots. As gay and lesbian oppression was broadcast on the news, on television sets and radios all over the nation, viewers and listeners could not help but take notice of the unfair discrimination. Once the issue had been brought into the backyards of everyday Americans, it was significantly harder for the general population to sit back and watch the oppression of gays unfold on the silver screen. The portrayals of gay and lesbian people that had previously been acceptable, not given much thought, was now in danger of violating human rights. For some, the inaccurate depictions were narrow-minded hate crimes, prohibiting the expression of gays and lesbians as individuals with varied personalities and identities. As the commotion about the Stonewall riots had died down, so did the activism fighting for the accurate portrayal of gays and lesbians. The movement was still in action, and continues to be, however, the issue had left the living rooms of thousands of Americans, and therefore, became less of a “big deal.” As time went on, homosexual characters began to develop into real people, albeit slowly. With the ability for variation, more movies depicting homosexual individuals began popping up, and in most cases, improvements to the traditional character stereotypes were being made. Today, the issue continues: homosexuals still do not have equal and completely unbiased depictions in all media; however, the changes made since the thirties is drastic to say the least.

“Despite the setbacks and the opaque corporate minds, gays and lesbians will continue to find their way into the movies, on and behind the screen.” (Barrios, 365)

2. As history has progressed, so has the depiction of gay and lesbian individuals. In movies and in television shows, gays were first depicted only with the use of stereotypical stock characters. In one corner were the prissy, flamboyantly gay men wearing effeminate clothing and walking with a sway, and in the other corner were the masculine-looking, frequently cross-dressing lesbians. In the movie Calamity Jane (released in 1953) Doris Day plays the main character Jane, whose boyish looks at the beginning of the movie thoroughly identify with the main representation of lesbians at the time. When first introduced, the character of Jane is dressed head to toe in masculine Western garb, making no attempt to hide her fascination with the femininity of Katie Brown’s character, Allyn McLerie. Throughout the play, Day can be found staring at Brown in longing, fixed on her delicate appearance. At one point in the movie Jane sings a song entitled “Secret Love.” The ambiguous lyrics of the song, though most likely used to reveal her attraction to her female companion, can be interpreted as her longing for her male counterpart Wild Bill Hickok. Following the societal explanation for homosexuality, Katie Brown’s character “fixes” the rugged masculinity of Jane by dressing her up in gowns and pulling up her hair. This scene is representative of the idea that homosexuality could be treated. The idea was that if someone came along and led a lesbian in the right direction, she could return to being heterosexual. In a contrived Hollywood ending, Jane marries Wild Bill Hickok; because of her transformation he has found her to be attractive, and her renovation has come full circle. Ironically, the homosexual significance of this movie is often disregarded. Search engines such as the Internet Movie Data Base pay little to no attention to the lesbian undertones, only stating enough on the topic to describe Doris Day’s character as “amusingly butch.” For one of the groundbreaking gay films of its time, it is hard to believe how some of the more obvious gay nuances go undetected, or purposely ignored. It seems that the “hidden message” Adorno was speaking of in the article How to Look at TV was never uncovered for this film.

A film released in 1970, Boys in the Band, managed to break the traditional stereotypes of flamboyantly homosexual men. In the movie, a group of gay men are attending a party when a single heterosexual man shows up unexpectedly. Each of the men at the party respond in different ways, attributed to their varying personalities and identities. After figuring out he has entered a homosexual gathering, the straight man attempts to leave, but is however, unable to do so. Something unknown to the narrow-minded audience, his possible bisexuality, is keeping him there. Though the film is an excellent example of the breach of traditional gay portrayals, the film lacks social interaction. Gay men are depicted interacting among themselves mostly, as well as in the presence of a single man of questionable sexuality; but overall, the film does not depict their place in society. The purpose of this film is not simply “art for art’s sake” as Adorno claims that many consumerist and commercial companies produce, but rather a film whose purpose is to counter-act the cultural oppression of homosexuals. The meaning is clear: homosexuals are people, anyone has the potential to be a homosexual, and realizing one’s homosexuality will not lead to their ultimate demise.

In a more recent film adapted from the music of Jonathon Larson, the portrayal of gays and lesbians is much more open. The film RENT (released in 2005) surrounds the lives of the lives of seven bohemian New Yorkers dealing with problems from drug addiction to AIDS. The open depiction of several lesbian and gay relationships leaves nothing to the imagination, especially when the transgendered character of Angel takes off her wig to reveal herself as a man. The main message of the movie however, is not homosexuality. Instead, the film focuses on the idea of love, with songs such like “Seasons of Love” and “Goodbye Love.” The bluntness with which the issues of racism, sexism, homophobia, poverty and disease are handled completely defies the former stereotypes. Instead of being portrayed as evil, wicked, sick, or in need of an intervention, gay and bisexual people are portrayed as normal. Their relationships are depicted as loving and complicated, just as relationships are depicted between heterosexual people. In breaking the traditional stereotypes for homosexuals, RENT changes the meaning of lesbian and gay cinema, along with the meaning behind it. For this film in particular, the essential meaning of acceptance and love overshadows any negative homosexual stereotypes.

3. When dealing with the portrayal of homosexuals in the media and throughout culture, it is important to ask the question, “Is it worse to have negative portrayals of homosexuality in society, or is it worse to have none?” Keeping that question in mind, one is often exposed to images that project both positive and negative ideas of homosexuality. The two images below were taken from advertisements for the show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. The title of the show alone is enough to point out both positive and negative portrayals of gay men, but the images are a more pressing matter. The first image represents the five stars of the show as stereotypical effeminate men, sissies if you will. Their typically masculine poses are offset by their “fashionable” clothing and their lighthearted expressions. In a way, they seem to be almost mocking the traditional view of masculinity. To a conservative viewer, this may be seen as a threat, intruding on and attempting to change the way men are depicted; the viewer may be uncomfortable with this notion, and blame their uneasiness on the gay community. In a similar manner, the first image likens all gay men to be the same, they are of one stereotypical group (the sissies), with no other options represented. One starts to ask if this closed-minded view and portrayal of homosexuality is better or worse than having no immediate portrayal of homosexuality. The second image, depicting the same five men portrays homosexuality in a much more positive way. Aside from the caption at the bottom and without prior knowledge, one may never have even guessed that the image was of five gay men. They are represented as individuals, with their own unique styles and personalities. The image makes it harder to classify the men into any stereotypical group, as they are not demonstrating any openly gay traits.

Both of the advertisements for the Bravo favorite, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, are examples of culture industry products. As advertisements, the images are not examples of high art, nor are they extremely influential in the changes made in society; instead, the images are representations of society at the time. The first image, photographed and published at an earlier date, references the heavily clichéd ideal of a gay man, an accepted part of social construction only several years ago. The latter picture differs in the way that it attempts to abolish the stock character of a gay male, attempting to recapture the individuals as opposed to just focusing on their sexual identities.

The next image is an advertisement for Sketchers shoes. In the image, Christina Aguilera is depicted twice: once as a scantily dressed nurse, and a second time as a wounded athlete. The athlete’s eyes are carefully drawn to the figure of the nurse, exemplifying the use of lesbianism is advertisement. Like any other media image depicting a woman with limited clothing, the Sketchers ad is degrading to women; however, it is also degrading to lesbians. The image attempts to use the sexuality of the two Christinas to attract potential customers, and by doing so, portrays lesbians as nothing but objects of lust. The advertisement is a negative portrayal of lesbianism not only because of its sole mechanism is its sexuality, but also because of its narrow classification of lesbians. The two female figures are what society would consider “lipstick lesbians,” or highly feminine lesbians, ignoring all other personality and appearance options that the gay population has every right to.

The last image is an advertisement for Tylenol PM. A rather radical advertising campaign, the image depicts two men in bed together, with the captions “His backache is keeping him up.” and “His boyfriend’s backache is keeping him up.” Depicting not only an openly gay couple, the advertisement also depicts an interracial relationship. The image can be seen as groundbreaking, not only because of its visual depiction of a gay couple, but also because of the text at the bottom reading “Stop. Think.” Though the words are placed in front of a box of Tylenol PM medication and are part of the product’s slogan, the words can also be seen to have a double meaning. One could interpret the phrase as a demand, ordering the viewer to stop for a moment, and take a look at their homophobic prejudices. The phrase could be a more subtle way to get the viewer thinking about the ways in which homosexuals have been oppressed, and consequently get the reader interested in activism.

While all of the images shown are more of culture industry products than they are art, one can see how the impact they make is similar. Their widespread infiltration into society allows them to reach massive amounts of people, not only expressing what they already feel, but showing them what to think about homosexuals, and how to deal with them. Similar to the prefabricated stock of homosexual characters depicted in The Celluloid Closet, the images of homosexual men and women in the media are often stereotypical and trite. While the overused cliché character types, such as the sissy, the crazed dyke, and the lipstick lesbian, may be hurtful to the advancement of homosexual acceptance and the eradication of homophobia, they are evolving. As seen in the difference in advertisements for Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, America is slowly improving their depiction of homosexuals, and many would agree that negative or stagnant representation of gays and lesbians is better than none at all, so long as they are continuously improving.