My new video: "Stereotypes, and How Gays are Portrayed in Films."

[kyledouglas521]

Hi Everyone,

I'm not sure how okay with the rules this is, but I wanted to ask you guys to take a look at my video about the issue of stereotypes in the LGBT community, as well as the negative way in which the gay community is portrayed in the mass media, specifically in the film industry. It may not be fantastic quality, but I feel my points are still valid. Let me know what you think!

Thank you

[Mr. Not So Lonely]

You have made several good points.
However what are the solutions to the problem with the media, not individuals behavior, the Media?

[Genersis]

Man wish i could pull up the courage to make a video like this.....it just probably wouldn't be about a LGBT topic.
Well not straight away anyway.:redface:

Great video.mile:
Unfortunatly, the chances of anyone in the media seeing this is......well its possible.

And i think most gays are portrayed in the ways described in your video is because the media think its what we want to see.
They think we what to see them being as seterotypically gay as possible. With lots and LOTS of sex. Because if you're going to put a gay guy in, you may aswell try and make him as outrageous as possible, right?:mad:
I guess they think they can pull veiwers in with controversey, especialy if they can get a mention in the news media.

And also, i guess the media might think all that gay sex will pull in more gay veiwers. Which is a very disgusting assumption to make.:mad:
Though i guess some exculsively "Straight" shows get watched for the high sex content too.

Meh, genersis's points not too great. Me give up now.:redface:

[kyledouglas521]

You have made several good points.
However what are the solutions to the problem with the media, not individuals behavior, the Media?

Well there's no easy answer to that. As I stated in the video, writers need to start creating characters who simply happen to be in a gay relationship, rather than those whose only character trait seems to be their homosexuality. What we are doing right now is creating a divide between straight and gay men and women. By creating this character whose homosexuality is not a conflict, or the cause of a conflict, but rather a small aspect of themselves, that character is allowed to be seen as just another person in the story, rather than "the gay character".

However, the problem is how to convince writers, who are seeking to make a profit, that this is the right thing to do. Unfortunately I don't have an answer for you. I'd say the first step would be to spread the message that the way in which the media is portraying homosexuality is not okay, and that something needs to be fixed. Only once there is a large group of people fighting for the cause, can something actually be done about it, especially with something as large as the film industry.

[princealbertofb]

What you are driving at is similar to what black people have obtained in being just part of the storyline but not characterised as African Americans. Although you might find that part of what makes characters interesting is their fights with injustice, their particular traits that have made them the way they are, so it's a fine line.... but basically you think that gays are still too stereotypical, right? It could also be that the more integrated gays of society have not made that big an impression on the public mind about being 'integrated'. Integrated gays and gay couples aren't necessarily great drama material... are they? Those traits that are stereotyped are both our asset and the rod with which we are beaten... so how can we make our assets stand out more as assets and less as tools to be chastised with?

[Sil]

I did agree with a lot of your video - I was very tired of gay stereotypes on British TV, and it seemed unless you were flamboyant and spouting innuendo every two seconds you didn't stand a chance. Gay comedy especially was guilty of this, the punchline would inevitably be something about dicks, or fisting, or some other 'in' activities that perpetuated stereotypes.

BUT - I think in Films especially that things are getting better; 'Little Miss Sunshine' had a great gay almost-central character who was coming out of a bad relationship, and it felt much more in touch with my experience of the lifestyle, of being a normal guy who IS gay, rather than a gay man.

I think society is more comfortable when their gays are obvious when there's no bones about it. I don't know why this is, but it seems people can't really deal with ambiguity - you're either one thing or another.

I still believe things are getting better by the day, and I'm happy to see more gay films making the mainstream like Brokeback Mountain (yeah I know it's old) , and that people will watch them.

[kyledouglas521]

BUT - I think in Films especially that things are getting better; 'Little Miss Sunshine' had a great gay almost-central character who was coming out of a bad relationship, and it felt much more in touch with my experience of the lifestyle, of being a normal guy who IS gay, rather than a gay man.

This is an excellent example, and we need to see more of this! Things are certainly improving, but they are far from where they need to be.

[TimmyThink]

I agree with on the issues gay characters in film an the fact that they’re gay not being the focus of there characters, this could really help with the normalizing of homosexuality through media channels.

I brought this up once before http://gayspeak.com/sci-fi/14563-cancell...lture.html

Also I would like to bring up the B’s an T’s in LGBT, you think gays and lesbians have a lack of positive representation in the media, Bi and Trans people have much less if any at all.

[kyledouglas521]

Also I would like to bring up the B’s an T’s in LGBT, you think gays and lesbians have a lack of positive representation in the media, Bi and Trans people have much less if any at all.

Agreed. However, this creates a predicament for writers. In order for the writer to include a character, and make it clear to the viewer/reader that they were a bisexual, rather than a homosexual, the character would need to be at least somewhat sex driven, and would need to have relations or at least show attraction to both a man and a woman. The writer could simply include a "This is [character], he/she is bisexual.", but this just turns the character into a token bisexual, as if that trait were just kind of thrown in for no reason. It's just very difficult for a writer to incorporate bisexuality into a storyline.

I totally agree with you on the need for transgender representation though.