MISTREATMENT. ERASURE. REWORKED. TIMES FILM AND TV MADE THE LGBT COMMUNITY THE BUTT OF THE JOKES AND HOW THEY COULD BE REWRITTEN.
Media and attitudes. Two things we engage with on a daily basis. One attribute the two shares are being ever-changing, their formula cannot seem to stay the same for more than a decade at a time and there’s always something new to dissect when you reflect back to them. This is evident when considering what the LGBT have faced throughout their “representations” in visual media. Any presence of queer and trans people in TV and film from before the 2010s appears to be built from a blueprint of misinformation, insensitivity and just plain bad taste. Dissecting previous examples of media that uphold this with today’s societal attitudes always calls for conversations that are difficult and uncomfortable, yet interesting and needed. The latter part comes in with a consideration of how certain shows and storylines that are classified as “distasteful” in today’s eyes could be rewritten to convey how we perceive and react to these topics now.
1. Sex and The City
No one should be surprised at this show’s appearance on this list. This late 90s “trendy” tv series somehow managed to be a smash hit upon release despite centring around four women who happen to be some of the most shallow and vapid characters to ever grace a screen. On top of that, it was laced with detrimental and antagonistic representations of minority groups in between the insipid dialogue about sex and fashion. The writers went after every label in the, then much smaller, LGBT community-mostly bisexuals and trans people (because those two groups don’t have enough to deal with). Whether it was the constantly complaining Carrie treating her boyfriend’s bisexuality (that’s right, they actually showed a man who was bisexual) as if it were a planted inconvenience in her life or Samantha shouting vulgar transphobic insults at some trans women, the show attacked the queer community from all angles.
2. Priscilla Queen of the Dessert
A contribution to queer cinema that attacks members of the LGBT community? It happens. This campy musical directed by Stephan Elliot may provide whimsical drag costumes and a gay anthem soundtrack yet the writing appears to be more damaging than progressive. One figure of the main trio, a trans woman called Bernadette, is relentlessly dealing with transphobia from secondary characters who appear for one scene and her two companions. She’s called slurs, is criticised for her appearance and above all is constantly deadnamed (the last time we see her she is referred to by her deadname as executed as the last laugh at her expense). The narrative can be perceived as nothing more than a presentation on the inner problems of discrimination within the LGBT community. As well as that, the film hits us with a sickeningly stereotypical portrayal of Asian women. An engineer’s wife speaking in broken English to make Western audiences laugh before engaging in an outrageous show act that derives from the experience of Vietnamese sex workers during the Vietnam war. I don’t think the renditions of disco classics with five-foot-tall wigs is enough to make up for this.
3. Friends
Similar to Sex and the City, everyone should have been expecting this smash-hit sitcom to feature on this list. As witty and comforting as the show is, it’s painfully straight/heteronormative. In between storylines and jokes built from problems only straight couples would make theatrics over are poor handlings of the LGBT community. The first is Chandler’s offence at the simple misinterpretation of his sexuality on a co-worker’s part. For some reason, someone thinking Chandler is gay needs to be an episode’s subplot and joke supplier. His friends spend two and a half minutes feeding into the theatrics of it all by implying he has a “quality” (the stereotype of the gay persona) as a laugh track intervals every painfully straight line. This makes sense because someone thinking you’re attracted to the same sex when you’re actually not is the utmost comical drama. In the later seasons, the unofficial main character Rachel offers a textbook tourist experience story (bisexual/queer lingo meaning when a straight person “tries out” being intimate with the same sex for the fun and opportunity to bring it up as a wild story). She shares with her friends how she and a roommate in college got drunk and made out, much to the pleasure of Joey who wastes no time in sharing how happy the image has made him. The handling of this experience on both Rachel and Joey’s part is a testimony to how the slightest implication of bisexuality and girl on girl intimacy has to be some scandalous joke dependant on the shock factor. If the disintegration of it isn’t enough of a kick in the teeth, there also lies the presence of the male gaze which further reduces bisexuality in women to something that’s only for straight men to enjoy.
4. She’s The Man
This one may be difficult to explain and understand. This 2006 teen comedy follows the story of an aspiring “soccer” player who has the brilliant idea of dressing up as her twin brother to go to an athletic boarding school for the sport since the girls’ team at her old school has been cut. As you can imagine, problems arise when she falls short of fulfilling the image of a guy around her new hypermasculine class and roommates. This film is nowhere near as straight-up problematic and wrong as previous mentions on this list, however, it’s just a little disheartening to watch as a queer kid. One prominent example of this is a scene in which Viola as Sebastian is listening to her roommate played by Channing Tatum (it doesn’t get any more macho masculine than that) talk about how he’s struggling to get any girls. As Sebastian is actually a straight girl posing as a guy, she breaks character to let slip that Channing’s character is hot, something that causes him to look at what he thinks is another guy in shock. Viola rushes to cover up her slip up with some conventional man talk, which is just about successful, however, the scene is left with an awkward atmosphere. The problem here is the simple yet hidden gay erasure of the scenario. The punchline is dependant on eliminating the possibility that “Sebastian” who Tatum’s character is talking to is gay and the question of “Sebastian”’s sexuality never arises in the film. The joke is loosely implying that a man (queer or not) can’t ever compliment another man’s appearance because if he does, it is actually a girl in male drag. As Viola can’t seem to fully and consistently keep up the straight manly man act, she could have made the entire running time of her time at this school a lot easier has she pretended to just be gay or at least effeminate. Rather than including gay men or at least men who don’t commit to masculine conventions, the film decides to scratch out the idea of MLM identities and channel the awkwardness through the idea that a woman can’t be good at being a man.
All it takes to fix these failing representations of LGBT+ identities is a simple rendition using changing and finally accepting attitudes towards them. Sex and the City already made some progress with having a man be the bisexual presence. However, instead of treating his queerness as a problem in Carrie’s life, have it be a step into the real world for her. The writers should get rid of dialogue that perpetuates the harmful stigma that exists around bisexual men, such as “they all end up with men” since this illustrates how bisexuality in men is invalidated as they are secretly gay. This detrimental stereotype should be replaced with scenes involving Carrie’s new boyfriend openly discussing his sexuality and challenging Carrie on any damaging views she has; stating clearly how his sexuality is real and valid regardless of what she may think. Priscilla Queen of the Dessert could do with some clear allyship between queer people and trans people rather than the former tearing the latter apart for laughs. Bernadette’s story should align with those of her gay companions in some regards; a strong point she could use as an eye-opener to combat their blatant transphobia. This would construct scenes of discussion and understanding that would convey progress and growth between the two communities. Friends should have either left Rachel’s “experimentation” story out completely or had Joey absent from the scene in which it is mentioned. Progress would be made if the show were to have any indication of queer acts between women exist proceed without a man being there to dictate and derive sexual gratification from the scenario. It wouldn’t have killed She’s The Man to include any questioning of “Sebastian”’s sexual orientation as Viola couldn’t stop herself drooling over all the shirtless athletes. As unlikely as it sounds considering the time and character tropes, scenes involving “Sebastian” being asked if he’s gay or bi in a way that does not make fun of the possibility but rather shows that the other students won’t actually make a huge deal about a queer guy being anywhere close to them would have made the film slightly interesting. Queer and trans people being used in forms of media as a punchline or entity to criticise has worn beyond thin by now. The characters and stories don’t even have to be only about the identities involved, just have them exist in media as normal and everyday people and situations, like what happens in real life.