WK14: FAKE HURTS
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WK14: FAKE HURTS
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Queer Baiting...just, why?
In this video by queer YouTubers, Rowan Ellis and Calum McSwiggan, they watch scenes from TV and movies that are heavily queer-baiting their audience and labelling it as representation.  The piece of media that they touch on the most is the TV show âTeen Wolfâ.  On multiple occasions, both within the show and in promotional content for the show they heavily allude to one of the characters being queer but never having him actually end up being queer. Â
This video is chocked full of examples of audiences being told thereâs representation in what theyâre watching, but it really being the most bare minimum example that possibly isnât even actually queer, it just may read as queer subtext to a queer audience. Â If only queer audiences can recognize something as queer, it is doing nothing to help our community because straight audiences are unable to recognize the queer coding. Â
For example, they discuss the blink-and-youâll-miss-it piece of ârepresentationâ in the live action âBeauty and the Beastâ with LeFou doing a waltz with another man.  I could get into it again like I do in almost every post, but Iâll leave this one  with just this sentence, if Disney actually wanted queer representation, they wouldâve cast a queer actor, not Josh Gad. Â
Has anyone been keeping track of the brownie points all these productions have gotten for including some fake queer representation?
In a similar vein, this video from pansexual youtuber Tee Noir talks about a lot of what we discussed last week in regards to âApropriate Behaviorâ.  Itâs more of a bonus but I HIGHLY suggest giving it a watch.  She discusses the male gaze and how both that and performative bisexuality in all forms of media are extremely harmful to all facets of the queer community, even those who donât identify as bisexual. Â
âThe L Wordâ was NOT equipt to deal with the T word.
If youâve seen the Netflix documentary âDisclosureâ, Iâm sure youâll be familiar with what Iâm talking about.  Max Sweeney was the first trans-man series regular character on TV.  Sounds great right? Eh, not so much.  Daniela Sea, who played Max, at the time identified as a cis woman.  Now they identify as nonbinary, so that isnât necessarily where the issues lie. Â
Maxâs storyline, while revolutionary for TV at the time, was riddled with harmful stereotypes and misinformation. Â Maxâs life was portrayed as a living nightmare, with his female friends ostracizing him, his personality change to manic and aggressive after starting testosterone, and his concieving of a child and his being abandoned by his cheating boyfriend. Â For actual trans men watching the show, this was a horrific depiction of how their lives could go, leading to fear and apprehension towards living their authentic lives. Â This was the first time they were ever seeing themselves represented on TV, and THIS is how it was going?Â
This depiction of trans life led to a lot of stigma from the cis audiences who saw Maxâs storyline. Â It only added to people believing that trans peopleâs lives are all sad stories of hardship, that trans men are aggressive because of their testosterone, and that theyâll face a life of shame because of who they are. Â
Luckily, in the revival of âThe L Wordâ, they attempted to right the wrongs done to the community by Max, by including two ACTUAL trans men in the cast and ensuring that their characters werenât going to face the same struggles of misgendering and disgust that almost was par for the course with Max. Â
On a lighter note...
Am I the only person on earth who was shocked that Darren Criss ISNâT gay? I thought my whole life (until earlier this year) that he was some of the only accurate representation on âGleeâ.  Heâs played multiple queer roles since âGleeâ, too, that I thought there was no way heâs straight.  This also goes for Eric Stonestreet who played Cameron on âModern Familyâ.  These straight men had me bamboozled beyond reason, and going forward, I, and Iâm sure many others, would like them to stop the playing of queer characters and leave that to actual queer people, as youâve definitely heard me say a million times before.
The Costume-ification of Trans People
Now, I canât tell you if âcostume-ificationâ is a real word, but I do know that it perfectly sums up how in our current world, transness is seen as a costume because of how it is shown in movies and television. Â
Weâve all seen the countless examples out there of cis people playing trans roles.  Currently, there are more examples of that than there are of actual trans people playing trans roles.  The fact that all we see (aside from the few real examples like âPoseâ, which I will never shut up about) of trans ârepresentationâ in media is cis people in a costume will never be right to me. Â
The lives of trans people are incredibly complex and nuanced, and thereâs no way a cis person can know the intricacies of being trans well enough to portray it accurately on screen. Â When productions go through the trouble of telling queer stories, especially trans stories, yet donât put in the extra little bit of effort into casting real trans people, you can immediately tell that they are just telling this story in order to gain brownie points, not to truly aid the community and break the stigma around it. Â In films like âDallas Buyers Clubâ and âThree Generationsâ and so many more (itâs getting ridiculous at this point), transness is a commodity. Â The actors playing these trans roles get awards and so much praise from the straight side of Hollywood, but the fact that these actors arenât actually trans effectively damages the image of trans people, denying their validity in the real world, and subconsciously making those who may not be as versed on the subject believe transness can be taken on and off. Seeing these cis actors outside of their trans roles just emphasizes the idea that transness is a costume in and of itself. Â

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WK7: QUEER WOMEN POWER UP
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Queer Women Power Up
In the wise words of world famous drag queens Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova, âGay girls are sort of the superior race because thereâs nothing more punk rock and anti-patriarchy than [saying] âNot only do I not need no man, I like, DONâT need NO man.ââ
Being a queer woman opens up all sorts of avenues for us within our own broader queer community.  Outside of that, though, we still face a lot of stigma from the straight world.  Itâs generally okay that we are queer, but we are still expected to present femininely to the world.  If we present masc or butch we are seen as less than.  In an article for the New York Times, journalist Kerry Manders states, âThereâs a prevalent assumption that weâre all fat, frumpy fashion disasters â our baseball caps and baggy pants suggest to others that we donât care about self-presentation. But itâs not that weâre careless; itâs that unlike, say, the gay white men who have been given all too much credit for influencing contemporary visual culture, weâre simply not out to appease the male gaze. We disregard and reject the confines of a sexualized and commodified femininity.â Â
In my own experience as a woman loving women, I have always felt drawn to masculine appearances and fashions, but also loved more feminine looks, mixing baggy pants and shirts with my long hair and love for makeup.  This sentement is echoed in that NYT article as well stating, âThe codes have been tweaked and refined over the years, younger butches continue to take them in new and varied directions: They may experiment with their personas from day to day, switching fluidly between masculine and feminine presentation...Not every butch has short hair, can change a tire, desires a femme. Some butches are bottoms. Some butches are bi. Some butches are boys.â
Queer women representation in film is fairly new to the mainstream.  ESPECIALLY queer women in queer roles.  With the rise of real queer women playing queer characters, we are in unprecedented times where the stories being told are true to the lives of the women playing the roles.  Experiences and storylines in film are becoming just as valid and realistic as if it were documentary.  Long-silenced voices are finally being raised up and put on a stage for the masses to experience with sites like Netflix and HBO starting to ensure queer womenâs stories are being told by the women who live them with shows like âThe Umbrella Academyâ, âTrinketsâ, âEuphoriaâ, and âRatchedâ.
FREEHELD (2015)
We all know Elliot Page, Canadaâs Trans Sweetheart, by now.  Whether we know him for his role in âJunoâ (2007) or in Netflixâs âUmbrella Academyâ (2019-) or something else somewhere in between, heâs been a hugely vocal member of the LGBTQ+ community since his first coming out in 2014. Â
âFreeheldâ is the true story of Laurel Hester and Stacie Andree. Â Hester (played by Julianne Moore) is diagnosed with terminal cancer and her and Andree (Elliot Page) have to fight to have Hesterâs pension benefits passed on to Andree as her domestic partner. Â
Page, who also acted as a producer on the film, has stated that his own being in the closet was detrimental to the filmâs progress and his own characterâs development.  Itâs stated that it took six years for the film to be made because it was so imperative that Page come to terms with their own sexuality first.  They stated, âIt felt wildly inappropriate to be playing this character as a closeted personâ. Â
POSE
Ryan Murphyâs âPoseâ is one of, if not the best example of actual LGBTQ+ actors playing LGBTQ+ roles.  Every character from Elektra to Dr. Judy to Pray Tell and so on is played by an actor who actually is trans or lesbian or gay and can lend real-world experience to the role they play. Â
It is far too common in Hollywood today to have a straight, cisgender man play a trans woman (i.e. Eddie Redmayne in âThe Danish Girlâ) or a straight woman playing a lesbian (i.e. Cate Blanchette in âCarolâ).  This, though is getting better with the massive acclaim Pose recieved and how it brought the conversation about people within marginalized communities should be allowed to tell their own stories on-screen into the mainstream.  No longer was it just a few queer actors who dared to challenge the way things were spearheading that discussion, but instead people and audiences of all backgrounds accepting these true-to-life casting decisions across the board. Â
I leave you this impeccable scene from âPoseâ, season 2, episode 9. Â Dominique Jackson, who plays Elektra Abundance, has real-life connections to her character. Â She left home at 18 when her family didnât accept her as transgender. Â She experienced homelessness and worked as a sex worker for a time in order to survive. Â She then found her way into the ballroom scene in 1993. Â She has eventually reconnected with her mother, who still constantly refers to her using male pronouns, as noted in an Out Magazine article from March of this year. Â Having actors with real experience in the subject matter they are covering brings with it an authenticity that cannot be replicated even with the most thorough of research.
QUEEN & SLIM (2019)
âQueen & Slimâ is a "stylish, provocative, and powerfulâ story which âtells a gripping fugitive story steeped in timely, thoughtful subtextâ, as stated by the Rotten Tomatoes Critic Consensus. Â Written by black, masc lesbian, writer, actor, and producer, Lena Waithe. Â According to her interview with NPR, Waithe states this about her debut feature film:Â "The movie is sort of a result of every conversation that I've ever had with every black person I've ever met. Â And also, it's an observation too, on our community: who we are, how beautiful we are, how complex we can be and how we are resilient. And sometimes we'll do whatever we have to do to survive.â Â
Waithe was named OutMagazineâs Out100: Artist of the Year in 2017 and made history as the first Black woman to win an Emmy in the category of Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series in the same year.  In terms of writing characters that reflect people that reflect herself, Waithe states, âI know how many women I see out in the world who are very much like myself. We exist. To me, the visibility of it was what was going to be so important and so exciting.â Â
In terms of Queen & Slim, it is a poignant view at our world, especially in the wake of the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and the countless other names being broadcast during the current Black Lives Matter movement. Â Lena Waithe called upon real world examples, like the dashcam footage of the Sandra Bland arrest, while writing the story. Â Seeing situations like the one presented in this film and seeing the representation of black, queer artists is extremely compelling, especially in the world and political climate we live in now.

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WK 4: ESSENCE OF THE MUSICAL
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Rocketman
While âRocketmanâ (2019) can be considered a biopic, it has all the classic elements of a musical. Â It trusts the audience enough to use moments of suspended reality to further the story. Â It leans into the fantastical air that Elton John has in real life and camps it up with Taron Egertonâs performance. Â The musical numbers almost always include some sort of fantasy aspect, from a full dancing ensemble to the entire audience floating off the ground of the Troubador to Elton looking at his younger self at the bottom of his pool. Â
A playlist featuring Full Company, Idina Menzel, Sydney Lucas, and others
Just in case you want to embrace your inner musical theatre nerd, hereâs a playlist I found dedicated to queer On and Off-Broadway songs!
Essence of the Musical
A musical, no matter its subject matter, is always inherently queer. Â The act of breaking into song when the point couldâve easily been made in probably less words and time without it is inherently off-beat. Â
Kids all over the country are accosted for being in Musical Theatre programs, even in the most liberal cities.  In my high school, I had a friend who was formerly a football player but left that behind to join our theatre program.  He always got made fun of by his former teammates for âswitching sidesâ.  Luckily, he was able to brush them off and is now pursuing acting in college and is a phenomenal performer.  This exact situation was also presented to the world in High School Musical where Troy tried his best to hide his involvement and love for theatre from his athlete friends and teammates for fear of them thinking less of him.  In many places, theatre is seen as âgayâ or a more feminine extra curricular activity in comparison to athletics.  For straight people, specifically straight men, participating in theatre, especially during the difficult years of high school, shows a certain comfortability with themselves despite social pressures of toxic masculinity and heteronormativity. Â
In an essay posted to HowlRound by Ezra Brain titled, âTowards a Queer Reclamationâ, the writer points out that while yes, there are a good few queer-centric plays, there are far too many barriers preventing them from being seen.  They suggest that in order to make queer stories more accessible, queer stories must be made into genres of theatre that are the most popular, musicals being one of them.  They state, âQueer artists should reclaim these genres as their own not just because queer art can exist in any genre, but because more popular genres are, by definition, more accessible to audiences. Through this reclamation, we can move from queer plays existing as a marginalized genre to a true mainstream theatrical culture.â  This is why queer representation in musical films is so important as well.  Film in our world today is so accessible, with a seemingly endless number of streaming platforms.  Musical films generally have a more family-centric audience, so that is just another way for younger queer kids to see themselves represented in the media they consume and for our world to be cultivated for those kids, so they donât have to go through the same struggles most of us did. Â
In terms of âHedwig and the Angry Inchâ, John Cameron Mitchell talks about how different it was for him at the time to be openly gay in the 2001 Chicago Tribune article, âChallenging Hollywood's identity crisisâ. He states that in American culture the actor and the role they play are seen as synonymous, whereas in other places theyâre wholly separate in the audienceâs eyes.  Hearing this made me examine my own views of queer actors and their roles.  I first thought of Kristen Stewart and how I grew up obsessed with the Twilight films, but now Iâm surprised when I see her in a heteronormative, non-outwardly-queer role.  I know I was never outwardly taught to think of an actorâs personal life in synchronicity with the characters they play, but itâs definitely something I have to learn to challenge and correct.
In the same article, Mitchell also discusses the power of drag.  He states, âPut on the super hero costume. It's like why does a crowd part for a nun? They don't really know the nun, but they have the power of God or something. And the same for a drag queen.â  Drag at its core is a major âf--- youâ to all the systems that rule our world.  At itâs most basic level, itâs a feminine gay man embracing his femininity and dressing up in extravagant garments and performing musical numbers to get paid.  Itâs a Trump supporterâs worst nightmare, and thatâs precisely why we need more of it.
RENT
âRentâ is a musical which premiered on Broadway in 1996 that embraces our differences in a post-AIDS crisis world. Â The show has characters of different genders, sexualities, and backgrounds all trying to make ends meet and navigate the struggles of life. Â
Two of the main characters are HIV+ (Roger and Mimi) and two have AIDS (Collins and Angel). Â This show puts characters both straight and queer together in a way that shows HIV/AIDS is not just a queer issue. Â Roger and Mimi are both straight but got sick due to their drug addictions. Â Rogerâs still reeling from his girlfriendâs suicide after they found out they were HIV+. Â Mimi is a sex worker who is still currently battling her substance abuse while being sick. Â Collins is a professor with dreams of moving to Santa Fe and opening a restaurant where the struggles he faces in New York wonât matter anymore. Â Angel is a performer and it is highly contested whether she is a drag queen, transgender woman, or genderfluid, but she is most often referred to with female pronouns. Â
For me, Rent has always been a staple in my life as a lover of musical theatre.  The songs spoke to be even before I could fully understand the depth of the story and what it means for breaking the stigma around HIV/AIDS and queer people as a whole.  For many people I can assume this was their first look into queer people of color especially being portrayed as more than their sexuality or gender expression.  I donât think thereâs a single person who DOESNâT know âSeasons of Loveâ, at this point.  Even in âHedwig and the Angry Inchâ, Rent is heavily referenced, with Yitzhak wearing a Rent t-shirt and trying to leave the band to join the show. Â

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âNot My Fatherâs Sonâ Audience Response
Here are some comments that were left on YouTube for âNot My Fatherâs Sonâ. Â Itâs a song that allows people to open up and feel comfortable putting their deepest pain out for all of the internet to see in hopes theyâll find others with similar stories or may be able to help someone in the same situation they were in. Â
A few years before the world would get to know Billy Porter as the major standout he has become from shows like Pose and American Horror Story, he starred in a soon to be revolutionary show called âKinky Bootsâ which opened on Broadway in 2013. Â
Written by icons Harvey Fierstein and Cyndi Lauper, the story of âKinky Bootsâ follows Charlie (Stark Sands) who is dealing with the run down shoe factory his father left to him when he passed away.  He forms an unlikely partnership with a drag queen named Lola (Billy Porter) and they come up with the idea of producing a line of high-heeled boots that will be comfortable enough for men to perform in.  As their business partnership and subsequent friendship bloom, we learn the two have similarly complicated relationships with their fathers.  Lola was raised to become a boxer, but was disowned when she showed up to the match in drag.  The show as a whole examines what it means to become your own person and create your own legacy, despite the paths people, like parents, may have set up for you. Â
There are countless stories of queer people being outcast from their families, and not all of them end like Lolaâs does. Â In the song provided, one originally sung by Lola with only a couple lines by Charlie, we hear her coming to terms and openly accepting that she isnât the son her father wished she was and had pushed her to be. Â Itâs a teaching moment for her to be showing Charlie, who is still at war with himself over his fatherâs expectations for him to continue to run the family business. Â
Iâve loved this song for years and Iâm so glad I get to share it here! Â For me, itâs one of those songs that gives you the chills and makes you want to scream the lyrics at the same time.