Not liking the gay=black analogy so much
23/09/09 09:35 Filed in: Culture
Ruminations
I had a spontaneous response to a recent film
article that asked "Is the token homosexual
character the new token black character?" and
then didn't seem to me to follow up on the
question:
http://thebigpicturemagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=176:dearly-departed-a-theory-on-queer-stereotypes-in-film&catid=31:features&Itemid=59
Hi Christine,
I believe your analogy about queer characters being the new black is a bit underdeveloped here. I find this analogy often specious in general (there were what I thought many cogent critiques of the Advocate's "queer is the new black" cover trying to say civil rights struggles have shifted). What you seem to be saying is 1) popular heroic queer characters die in films; 2) token black characters die in horror films; 3) women who breach social convention die in films. I agree in general with all these points (if not with all the filmic examples you use).
However, I think it's critical to compare HOW and WHY these characters die, and here's where I would like more detail supporting the analogy before I can assess it. In examples 1) and 3) from above you seem to be saying that there is a disciplining aspect to the films - positive gay and (straight?) female characters die in their films so that a repressive dominant ideology can be upheld in the narrative. The upturn they represent is temporary.
In the case of black characters in horror films, I think their function in the narrative is different. These characters, as you also note, are tokens, and not protagonists (in contrast to the films you mention in your "queer" and "female" categories). I also struggle to find the same disciplining intensity in horror films where the black characters die, though perhaps the (comparatively more understated) message is that black characters are being disciplined for simply existing. I think often we don't even know these characters well enough for them to be disciplined for their ideas and beliefs - those parts of their character don't generally exist!
I also think that film genre is a critical part of your analysis to consider in more depth - victim tropes in horror films is a complex world unto itself.
It may be that these topics I mention wanting more detail about here are just bubbling under your essay, and you chose not to include them, and for me the essay would have more weight if you mentioned the importance of some of these details, especially since the majority of the films you analyze here have white protagonists rather than tokens who die. Your leading question "Is the token homosexual character the new token black character?" seems to be dropped, though the race bomb sting stays in the air for me. I'm left with the impression that the racial narrative is tokenized in your article as well, and perhaps it would have been better left unmentioned given the role it is relegated to in your analysis.
http://thebigpicturemagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=176:dearly-departed-a-theory-on-queer-stereotypes-in-film&catid=31:features&Itemid=59
Hi Christine,
I believe your analogy about queer characters being the new black is a bit underdeveloped here. I find this analogy often specious in general (there were what I thought many cogent critiques of the Advocate's "queer is the new black" cover trying to say civil rights struggles have shifted). What you seem to be saying is 1) popular heroic queer characters die in films; 2) token black characters die in horror films; 3) women who breach social convention die in films. I agree in general with all these points (if not with all the filmic examples you use).
However, I think it's critical to compare HOW and WHY these characters die, and here's where I would like more detail supporting the analogy before I can assess it. In examples 1) and 3) from above you seem to be saying that there is a disciplining aspect to the films - positive gay and (straight?) female characters die in their films so that a repressive dominant ideology can be upheld in the narrative. The upturn they represent is temporary.
In the case of black characters in horror films, I think their function in the narrative is different. These characters, as you also note, are tokens, and not protagonists (in contrast to the films you mention in your "queer" and "female" categories). I also struggle to find the same disciplining intensity in horror films where the black characters die, though perhaps the (comparatively more understated) message is that black characters are being disciplined for simply existing. I think often we don't even know these characters well enough for them to be disciplined for their ideas and beliefs - those parts of their character don't generally exist!
I also think that film genre is a critical part of your analysis to consider in more depth - victim tropes in horror films is a complex world unto itself.
It may be that these topics I mention wanting more detail about here are just bubbling under your essay, and you chose not to include them, and for me the essay would have more weight if you mentioned the importance of some of these details, especially since the majority of the films you analyze here have white protagonists rather than tokens who die. Your leading question "Is the token homosexual character the new token black character?" seems to be dropped, though the race bomb sting stays in the air for me. I'm left with the impression that the racial narrative is tokenized in your article as well, and perhaps it would have been better left unmentioned given the role it is relegated to in your analysis.