vincentibarrawrites

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Locating & Articulating Queer Black Sexuality through Black Creativity in The Watermelon Woman (1996)

In the film, The Watermelon Woman (1996), directed by Cheryl Dunye, the main character, Cheryl pursues making a documentary centered around identifying a black actress from the 1940s known for playing a racial stereotype known as a "The Watermelon Woman." In the scene where Cheryl first interacts with Diana at the video rental store, Cheryl's fellow lesbian friend, Tamara visually dissects Diana's physical features to Cheryl by saying, "Who's the cutie... She's got a nice bone structure if you're into white girls." Cheryl annoyingly questions why Tamara is always checking out girls as Tamara responds, "We're lesbians remember? We're into female to female attraction." This notion of invisible black queer sexuality is later built upon when Cheryl and Diana watch an old film together as Cheryl nervously expresses her attraction towards Diana, who confidently states, "Now that we know that we're attracted to each other, what do we do?" as she initiates kissing between them. In "Black (W)holes and the Geometry of Black Female Sexuality" by Evelynn Hammonds, the author suggests, "And this seems to me to be a critical place where the work of articulating black female sexualities must begin. Disavowing the designation of black female sexualities as inherently abnormal... we could begin the project of understanding how differently located black women engage in reclaiming the body and expressing desire"(Hammonds, 17). Race shapes the queer relationship between Cheryl and Diana in the film through Diana's ability to lead them through foreplay as a seemingly sexually liberated queer white woman, who doesn't understand or share the same experiences as being a black queer woman. This opposes Cheryl's characterization as a timid, "old fashion girl trying to keep up with the times" who is uninterested in "swinging" perhaps subconsciously because of her own inability to connect emotionally with black sexuality though the erasure or non-existence of it in her ancestry. This can also possibly identify Dunye's motivation as director and screenwriter of the film to propose a black queer character lacking sexual agency to an audience, who are possibly unaware of the invisibility of black women in Hollywood films appearing without sexuality or desire and adhering to their devotion to wait on the hand and foot of the white woman.

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Dance as Covert Queerness & Masculinity Intersecting Class and Same-sex Desire in And Then We Danced (2019)

In the film, And Then We Danced (2019), directed by Levan Akin, the main character, Mehrab, a Georgian dancer begins living a double life upon the arrival of a replacement dancer, Irakli. In the scene where Aleko instructs Mehrab and Irakli to perform the Kintouri duet together so that Mehrab may learn from someone better than him, they willingly perform their movements in synchrony with each other and they appear in emotional harmony as well. In "Dancing Marines and Pumping Gasoline: Coded Queerness in Depression-Era American Ballet" by Jennifer Campbell, the author illustrates, "The queerest aspect of this scene's choreography... is found in traditional ballet movement... taking on the traditional chivalrous role of the male dancer but for another man, not for a ballerina" (Campbell, 6). In Mehrab and Irakli's dance they display their hands out to each other, lock eyes with one another as their bodies closely occupy the space between them, and intermittently intertwine their outstretched arms with each other. Despite Aleko's later explanation that Georgian dance is "masculine", a space is created for these characters to engage in a sense of intimacy and synchrony that evokes perspiration and excitement without the inclusion of genitals. This allows for a reading of this choreography between two men to be suggestive through queer coding along with their form-fitting clothes they wear. Later in the film, Mehrab and Irakli engage in a playful but rough fight over sharing a cigarette late at night away from Mary, who Mehrab is questionably in a heterosexual relationship with. Their fight rapidly escalates into them simultaneously jerking each other off. Campbell notes, "Queered masculinity on the ballet stage in a way that made a "both/and" possible -- a ballet could lead a double life, hospitable to those drawn to chivalrous heterosexuality and male homoeroticism at the same time"(Campbell, 11). There is homo-duality in Mehrab and in the masculinity of the supporting characters. Unlike Mehrab's play fight with Irakli that leads to sex, he also engages in a very short altercation with his brother, Gela, after discovering he's lost his job due to his brother. Gela and Irakli also share a sense of homo-duality because they settle into heteronormativity to gain financial aid or potential prosperity through their marriage contracts with their respective spouses family's wealth or possibility there of which seems effeminate which intersects their masculinity with class like Mehrab's does with same-sex desire.

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Decolonializing Genre in Happy Together (1997)

In the film, Happy Together (1997), directed by Wong Kar-wai, the two central characters, Lai Yiu-Fai and Ho Po-Wing, an emotionally toxic gay couple from Hong Kong, China, are indefinitely displaced in Argentina after a failed road trip. Although, the film is centered around characters in a homosexual relationship, the genre that permeates the film is predominantly drama. In the scene where Fai returns to their room, Po-Wing probes for details about if Fai slept with another person while he was out, Fai retaliates, "What's it to you? Haven't you slept with other guys?" The next morning, Po-Wing continues to question Fai, who mockingly responds, "A lot. All right?" Po-Wing jealously brings into question others he suspects Fai of being with but Fai ends the conversation by saying, "I'm not like you." In "Reflecting on Decolonial Queer" by Pedro Paul Gomes Pereira, the author explains, "Decolonization is an operation that consists of detaching ourselves from Eurocentrism and, in the same movement with which we extricate ourselves from its logic and its apparatus, opening ourselves to others that have been covered over by the logic of coloniality: those other that have become lesser, abject and disqualified" (Gomes Pereira, 6). Because these characters are geographically displaced from Hong Kong, China to Argentina. Their values are not the same as those instituted and practiced in western ways of thinking. This allows for the disruption of how we normally think about coloniality and creates a new way to view these characters. Also, the characters do not solely exist for the sake of sex in the film. Because other genre elements are infused into the narrative, this allows for Fai and Po-Wing to have layers to their characters as they sought out to travel to the Iguaza Falls. Their dilemma of being stuck in Argentina and their need for money to live and to return to Hong Kong gives dimensions to their characterizations. Fai and Po-Wing are more than their sexualities and this is complicated by their seemingly co-dependence on each other. Their constant arguing, breaking up with each other and emotional instability is deeply human and relatable as they are portrayed as toxic by sleeping outside the relationship. Which is a very specific articulation and portrait of their intersectionality as gay characters lost in South America.

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Passing as the Male Swashbuckler & Complicating Masculinity through Gender Non-Conforming and Vulnerability in Our Flags Mean Death (2022)

In the television series, Our Flags Mean Death (2022), created by David Jenkins, the main character, Stede Bonnet, an aristocrat turned pirate leads a band of misfit swashbucklers when they encounter the infamous yet dispirited, Blackbeard. Passing is employed in the show through the characterization of Jim. In the second episode, when the ship crashes against land, Oluwande suggests they should "hit the beach" but "Jim" declines in their regular voice that reveals them as simply in disguise, "I have a wax nose and a fake beard... that'll kinda be like torture." This idea is built upon in episode 3, when they go to the Republic of Pirates, Jim pretends to be mute so they can conceal their real identity as Bonifacia Jimenez. In "Squee from the Margins: Fandom and Race" by Rukmini Pande, the author notes, "My theorizations draw on this notion of passing as well, as nonwhite fans have, as Thomas points out, often passed in and out of fandom spaces while being assumed white until proven otherwise"(Pande, 9). Jim's use of the beard, fake nose, and baggy, masculine clothes illustrates them as gender non-conforming as well as Jim's continued preference to be known by their shipmates as the male alias after they are outed. The characterization of Blackbeard complicates dominant notions of masculinity through genre and sexuality. In the final episode, Blackbeard has dropped their menacing, stereotypical persona as an antagonistic pirate associated with the swashbuckling genre to being a heartbroken, bed-ridden poet dressed in a colorful robe as they cry before Lucius. Pande explains, "This of course is in direct opposition to the sustained strand of theorization that sees these spaces as resistant and subversive in their exploration of queer identities, vis-à-vis the equally socially dominant notion of enforced heteronormativity"(Pande, 8). Ed's later characterization is oppositional to the overtly macho, mythical portrayal in Black Pete's tall tale where Blackbeard is ghost-like with pulsing red eyes and a fuming skull. Which is also unlike his depiction when they are introduced with long, flowing hair and dressed in seemingly out of place black leather clothes that perhaps separates them as different through queer coding. Ed's sexuality is also complicated through their relationship with Stede as they share a kiss in the penultimate episode after Stede has been teaching Ed to become an aristocrat and whose presence allows Ed to embrace the softer side of their personality.

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Depicting Teen LGBTQ+ and Authenticity as Sentimentality in Skam: Season 3 (2016)

In the third season of the Norwegian streaming television series, Skam (2016), created by Julie Andem, the main character, Isak, a second year student, struggles with accepting his homosexuality at his preparatory high school. The depiction of LGBTQ+ people and people of faith is portrayed with an adolescent rudeness or perhaps even naiveness but also with an openness that allows for discourse. In episode 4, when Isak questions Sana's religious beliefs, she responds by questioning his scientific perspective, "How do you explain homosexuality within natural selection? ...Homosexuality is not genetic, but rather a disease. Or a choice people make." She continues, "Instead of sitting here criticizing my religion, just respect that we have chosen different beliefs." In "The New Homonormativity: The Sexual Politics of Neoliberalism" by Lisa Duggan, the author describes Andrew Sullivan's poorly argued theory, "Homosexuality is an involuntary condition (created by both nature and nurture at a very young age) in a small fixed minority of the population" (Duggan, 184). Because Isak's characterization is heavily centered around his "whiteness" and his middle class existence, it doesn't allow for much intersectionality with race or religion. His identity is superficial as it is majorly comprised of being queer and liking 90s gangster rap such as N.W.A. When Isak is not being mislead by Even, his deceptive fling that he's periodically romantically involved with. He is fearful of being "outed" or being perceived as being gay by his friend group. In episode 4, Isak reluctantly and ashamedly comes out to his friend Eskild but puts him down in the process for possessing feminine-like qualities, Eskild responds, "I need to tell you one thing about those people who you don't want to be associated with... before you've dared to stand up for who you are... you should be fucking careful with talking and raising yourself above Gay Pride." This scene better depicts the authenticity that Skam more so than not sets out to achieve as Isak's fear of being perceived differently than his seemingly heterosexual appearance should he come out in totality makes him project his own possible homophobia onto his friend and roommate, Eskild. This further complicates his journey to accept himself and his sexuality, which is seemingly a bigger issue to himself than his friends and his family as seen later in the show where they still regard him with the same love and respect as before.

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Lesbian Intimacy and Desire Through the Female Gaze & Reclaiming The Male Gaze From Death in Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

In the film, Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), directed by Céline Sciamma, the protagonist, Marianne is summoned to secretly paint a portrait of a unwilling young woman, Héloïse, who is to be wed to a Milanese man conditional to his liking of the portrait. The relationship between Marianne and Héloïse illustrates their lesbian desire and intimacy through the use of the female gaze. When Marianne reveals the secretly commissioned portrait to Héloïse, she is met with criticism for betraying their hitherto veiled companionship as Marianne defends herself, "Your presence is made up of fleeting moments that may lack truth." Héloïse replies, "Not everything is fleeting. Some feeling are deep." However, as their intimacy grows, Marianne begins drawing a portrait of Héloïse for pleasure as she sleeps but Héloïse stirs awake and silently better positions herself to be drawn. Where Marianne is able to better capture Héloïse's presence and truth. In "'Doing it:' Representations of Lesbian Sex" (1993) by Jenny Kitzinger and Celia Kitzinger, the authors cite Barbara Smith, "The gaze is not male or masculine, there is no sharp distinction between object and subject because, being female and: lesbian, the participant observer can either inhabit the 'gap' or directly participate in the proceedings" (Kitzinger, 9). Opposed to the male gaze in film, which is a passive and a one-sided affair used to objectify women, the female gaze is active and consensual as it allows one to look back and allows equality in looking. Marianne's initial portrait of Héloïse is painted without consent or "life". Although, after Héloïse consents to being painted, the female gaze suggest love and intimacy as they almost share a kiss before suppressing their desires. Another scene depicts Marianne, Héloïse and a Sophie, a servant, discussing the tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice from "Metamorphoses" by Ovid, where Sophia questions Orpheus' selfish look at Eurydice that causes her death. In "'Don't Regret, Remember': Frictions of History and Gender in Céline Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire" by Paris Spies-Gans, the author notes, "the destructive male gaze... allegorizes their joint decision to choose memory and art over regret... it allows them to conclude that the ability to make that choice constitutes its own kind of freedom"(Spies-Gans, LA Review of Books). This reinforces the idea of the male gaze as death until Héloïse reclaims it during her final moment with Marianne, allowing herself freedom momentarily from heteropatriarchy.

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Seduced to Death and Intersecting Otherness in Interview with a Vampire (2022)

In the pilot episode, "In Throes of Increasing Wonder...", of the television series, Interview with a Vampire (2022), the main character, Louis de Pointe du Lac, recounts his origins in New Orleans, Louisiana in the early 1900s and his taboo relationship with a vampire, Lestat de Lioncourt. In the scene where Louis describes his initial encounter with Lestat, upon arriving at a Saloon to see a prostitute named Lily but discovers her already in conversation with the vampire, Louis notes his jealousy and anger towards him at the beginning of their encounter shifted to an uncanny sense of emasculation and admiration for Lestat. In "Tracking the Vampire" (1991) by Sue-Ellen Case, the author explains, "Popular lore tells us that if we look at the vampire without the proscriptions that expel her, our gaze will be hypnotically locked into hers and we will become her victims... Hers is an en-tranced look, and the fascination in it could be read as a response to lesbian desire" (Case, 10). Lestat's characterization aligns itself with queerness despite his outwardly appearance as an able-bodied, charming figure because his unnatural ability to seduce and persuade male characters, as well as his ability to communicate secretly through his hypnotic gaze defines him as an "other" through characteristics associated with homosexual monsters. Which include his selection of Louis as a sexual object which disrupts the heteronormative dynamic between Louis and Lily from potentially procreating and the perception of homosexuals as a threat to others and the community. Although, Louis is depicted early on as a seemingly affluent, locally respected African American pimp, his relationship with his brother, Paul, a citizen priest, illustrates the intersectionality of race and religion with "otherness" due to Paul's continuous criticism of Louis' profession. When Paul is preaching outside the saloon and disrupting Louis' business, Paul questions the "wickedness" his brother is involved in before proclaiming, "the Lord told me to come." Later, Louis explains, "My business and my raised religion were at odds... The latencies within me, I beat those back with a lie I told myself about myself." Case notes, "The queer... revels in the discourse of the loathsome, the outcast, the idiomatically-proscribed position of same-sex desire"(Case, 3). The dimensions of Louis' character as a self-aware wealthy black man in a white man's word, and his lack of commitment to the church considering his prostitution business categorize him as "other".

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Heteronormative Disruption, Choreographed Intimacy & Characterizing Monstrosity in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

In the film, Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, the titular character, Captain America, pursues a mysterious villain, The Winter Soldier, who he later discovers is his once brother-in-arms turned brainwashed soviet spy, Bucky Barnes. A queer reading of the film can be produced by examining Captain America's concentrated pursuit of another male character, The Winter Soldier, throughout the film and his apparent disinterest in heteronormative disruptions depicted in his relationship with Black Widow. As Captain America and Black Widow are on the run from Hydra agents, she instructs him to kiss her to shield their faces and conceal their identities. Later in the film, Black Widow asks if it was his first kiss since 1945. Captain America responds, “Believe it or not, it's kind of hard to find someone with shared life experience.” In "The Monster and the Homosexual" (1996) by Harry M. Benshoff, the author explains, "Since the demands of the classical Hollywood narrative system usually insist on a heterosexual romance within the stories they construct, the monster is traditionally figured as a force that attempts to block that romance. As such, many monster movies (and the source material on which they draw) might be understood as being "about" the eruption of some form of queer sexuality into the midst of a resolutely heterosexual milieu" (Benshoff, 118). There is a lack of sexual chemistry between Captain America and Black Widow because despite them sharing the physical act of kissing and Black Widow's presence presents heteronormative opportunities for Captain America to abandon his search for Bucky. He ultimately rejects her advances and requests her platonic friendship. Benshoff's theory of the Monster Queer can be applied to this film by exploring the characterization of The Winter Solider who is depicted as an "other" by possessing long hair, a bionic arm, using makeup and having a broken mind. Benshoff notes, "The male homosexual or queer is monstrous precisely because he embodies characteristics of the feminine, either in outward displays or in the selection of a sexual object choice traditionally reserved for women"(Benshoff, 120). The fight sequences between Captain America and The Winter Soldier can be read as queer because their passion to punch and kick can be read as a desire to penetrate as well as the unspoken consent to share bodily fluids such as sweat and blood while fighting.

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Resisting Domination and Inviting Empathy Through Identification in Pariah (2011)

In the film, Pariah (2011), directed by Dee Rees, the main character, Alike, struggles with gender expression around her friends and family members as she tip-toes around embracing her sexuality. The relationship between Alike and her mother, Audrey, demonstrates the intersectionality of race and religion because of Audrey's state of denial as she constantly denies Alike the space to express herself and dominates her daughter's ability to openly identify against her mother's religious beliefs. A scene early on depicts Alike coming home late from the strip club where she's confronted by her mother, a black, heterosexual blue collar woman who is suspecting of Alike's whereabouts. When Audrey persists that her and Alike should engage in mother-daughter bonding through shopping, Alike quickly dismisses this proposal and Audrey verbally retaliates, commanding her daughter to wash her face and wrap her hair. In "The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators" (1992) by bell hooks, the author describes, "Even in the worse circumstances of domination, the ability to manipulate one's gaze in the face of structures of domination the would contain it, opens up the possibility of agency" (hooks, 116). Although, early on in the film, Audrey is in denial about her daughter's sexuality. She actively takes steps to dominate Alike's expression, although fails, behind the disguise of her influence as a mother by rejecting her daughter's choices in masculine clothing and queer friendships. Later in the film, Alike has her first sexual experience with Bina, the daughter of one of Audrey's friends, who Audrey ironically forces Alike to spend time with in an attempt to steer her away from her queerness. hooks recounts a conversation with her sister regarding non-Hollywood, independent films, "They were, she suggested, more like 'what we knew life to be, the deeper side of life as well'"(hooks, 127). The depiction of queer intimacy in the film is restrained though the lingering exchanges of female gazes and skin that is secondary as it is cloaked in darkness and through images in which the editor cuts away from early, only leaving an emotional impression of intimacy opposed to images of naked female bodies widely associated with traditional Hollywood films targeted for men.

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Offline Sex and Infatuation in "Striking Vipers"

In the episode "Striking Vipers" from the Netflix series, "Black Mirror", the protagonist, Danny, played by Anthony Mackie, reunites with an old friend over an online fighting video game that allows them to explore their offline feelings towards each other. The episode can be defined as queer despite the lack of physical, offline sexual acts between Danny and and his old friend, Karl because of the scene early on in the episode where the two of them are playing video games so aggressively they begin grunting and moaning until one of the characters in the game defeats the other. They reach a crescendo in their grunting that can be read as them subtextual reaching a sexual climax initially brought on by their shared violence in the game. In the reading, Grinding Bodies: Racial and Affective Economies of Online Queer by Senthorun Raj, the author reflects on the possibilities that virtual spaces like Grindr create for queer men , "Grindr provides a space where sexuality becomes a creative 'procedure' or practice of 'freedom'... through which individuals are able to develop a new social and sexual relations" (Raj, 3). The sexual chemistry between the two characters is revisited in a latter scene where Karl shows up to Danny's birthday as a surprise and gifts him the latest edition of the video game they once gushed over in college. As these two characters are reintroduced into each other's lives, there is an awkwardness to their interactions as they dance in and out of each other's personal space with a hesitance that seems more familiar with that of past lovers catching up rather than two heterosexual friends. Later, Danny cuts off his online encounters with Karl, who develops offline withdrawals due to his infatuation with Danny. Raj explores the complexities of non-heterosexual intimate relations by suggesting, "These practices produce intense and differentiated personal affects that are not easily organized within a simple trajectory of romance and conjugal intimacy"(Raj, 4). This further complicates the way we think of romantic binaries because of their online, non-physical sexual encounters create such a mental euphoria for them that it has caused Danny to believe he is harming his heterosexual relationship with his wife, Theo. Danny expresses emotions of shame and regret while Karl expresses a sense of longing and addiction that is more associated with online pornography. Which may also purposely be a subtextual metaphor for "Striking Vipers".