captainunlikelyarcadecollec-blog

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Fake Hurts

Examples in the media where queer has been faked in onscreen representation – to unfortunate and misleading effect.

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Social Media full of ‘bogus’ images of Paris Pride March

https://observers.france24.com/en/20180704-social-media-full-misappropriated-images-after-paris-pride-march

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Akhavan says American execs originally passed on The Bisexual because they already had their token female or gay show. Things are changing, but it seems series about female (or non straight male) experience are still considered a niche market.

@Joypress on Twitter, on our friend Desiree Akhavan from Appropriate Behavior

https://twitter.com/Joypress/status/1064312348670750720

Desiree’s work could be seen as a more authentic example of the actual queer experience, for whatever it’s worth.

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Queerbaiting really needs to stop. Like it's clearly being done for sales: queer enough for shipping and fanfiction, but they can still stay out of trouble with anti-gay audiences. We deserve canon LGBT content and not this weird gaslighting marketing tactic.

@launasorenson Twitter

https://twitter.com/launasorensen/status/1004894392593866752

On Pinterest: Queerbaiting vs gay subtext in Hannibal: The difference

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/473722454528145360/

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“The Billionaire’s Fake Boyfriend” from Wattpad:

https://www.wattpad.com/198225659-the-billionaire%27s-fake-boyfriend-manxboy-12

“My Fake Gay Boyfriend”

https://www.wattpad.com/story/44190582-my-fake-gay-boyfriend

Pandering at best, hurtfully fake at worst?

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Sometimes fake can hurt when, however well intentioned, exclusively straight actors play gay/LGBT characters. A recent example would be Michael Douglas as Liberace and Matt Damon in Behind the Candelabra.

Other prominent examples:

https://www.ranker.com/list/straight-actors-who-have-played-gay/celebrity-lists

Sometimes it can almost be downright horrifying, such as when Chris Cooper plays this homophobic repressed nightmare of a character in American Beauty:

I mean, A for effort, zero points for execution (he ends up murdering Kevin Spacey for rejecting him), and has such wacky lines as “What is this, a goddamn gay pride parade?!”

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An example of when Fake can hurt a little is when productions go so completely over-the-top with gay stereotypes that it becomes mildly nauseating, usually through the use of straight actors doing an “impression” of gay people. For all it did to break barriers, Will & Grace was still an example of the worst gay pastiches imaginable, through the extremely irritating Jack. Star Eric McCormick was straight, and note he was the more “normal” or straight-acting of the two.

More mid-’90s movies played this up to great effect to woo a gay audience, that is straight actors in “queer face” putting on a flamboyant comedy routine to laugh at. Examples are Robin Williams in The Birdcage:

Cult classic Priscilla, Queen of the Desert with straight Guy Pearce, et al in drag:

Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes in “To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar”

Now, none of these are particularly “offensive” per se, indeed some are loving camp portrayals, but they still are essentially straight actors in a gay minstrel show playing dress up pointing out, “Isn’t all this so ridiculous?” It’s different when a straight actor is doing it.

Other times, there are token gay characters such as Kevin Keller in Riverdale who add nothing, or effete “nudge nudge, wink wink” characters who pay lip service to an audience but little else, such as Loki from Thor. Worse are when they add superheroes whose only power seems to be being fabulous, and the city’s token queer.

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Queerbaiting is when a show or film tries to get a queer audience to watch by playing up the supposed “subtext” of a relationship between two straight characters, but with zero payoff or representation ever intended. An example would be the ever-straight platonic partners Holmes & Watson in “Sherlock,” but it’s so obviously done with a “wink" towards their audience as kind of a manipulative veneer of progressivism, where none exists. Examples can be found all over tv:

Note that these are all variations on the “bromance,” that never quite go all the way, lest they lose their midwestern Christian audience. Another example is “women making out,” which seems to be done a lot as it is apparently something men enjoy watching, as well as appeasing LGBT in some way:

More about Betty/Veronica from Riverdale and the boys from Supernatural (above) as queer baiting:

http://affinitymagazine.us/2017/03/09/queerbaiting-in-the-media/

“Queerbaiting is extremely harmful because it perpetuates the vicious cycle of homophobia and fetishization that allows cishet teenagers to “ship” their usually white characters together, and gives writers a copout to including actual queer representation on their TV shows.”

One of the most overtly non-gay bromances on tv was between Sean and Christian in ‘00s kitschy FX hit “Nip/Tuck,” about brotherly hetero plastic surgeons. Created by Ryan Murphy, who really should know better, he proceeded to tease his audience for six seasons until finding other shows where he could talk about queer themes the way he really wanted to. I mean, just check this out! Sorry it’s in Spanish, but you get the idea:

Doesn’t get goofier than this:

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Sometimes, fake can hurt in oblique ways, such as straight actor Jared Leto playing a trans woman in Dallas Buyers Club- 

-or defamed Jeffrey Tambor playing Maura on Transparent. This Time article explains a bit:

http://time.com/12407/jared-leto-oscar-dallas-buyers-club-casting-trans-actors/

“Did the director even audition trans people? ...How many trans actors could become stars if given the chance?”

Other times, it can really hurt when trans people are played for laughs or as a punchline, such as in this really mean-spirited and outdated character from Ace Ventura, Lois Einhorn/Ray Finkle:

It’s mildly disturbing that he strips Lois nude in public and exposes her genitals, for a laugh. I mean, I know it’s a comedy and she’s supposed to be evil, but that scene would not fly at all today! The joke seems to be that she’s subhuman because she’s trans.

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The ultimate example of Queer-baiting: 1997′s Miramax “classic,” Chasing Amy! In it, a lesbian falls in love with a straight man, after he convinces her that can she can shift her orientation after meeting the right guy. The problem is, the guy is Ben Affleck, who not even straight women are attracted to! Director Kevin Smith earned the wrath of the queer community, for this “fake” portrayal that made a mockery of some important themes.

Even worse, Ben Affleck had a very poor reaction, as explained by Smith just last year:

https://www.nme.com/news/film/evan-rachel-wood-criticises-ben-afflecks-gay-kiss-comments-2113024

“A man kissing another man is the greatest acting challenge you can ever face.” -Ben Affleck

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Ugh. Family Guy constantly mocks trans people for laughs, to the point beyond offensive, into the disgusting. Fuck this show!

https://www.queerty.com/was-family-guys-trans-episode-horrifically-offensive-20100510

“It was a pretty remarkable bashing of trans people — one that went so far I can’t even defend it.”

I would literally rather have a discussion with a bigot, than a “comedy writer” who pretends to be progressive but pokes fun at the expense of a marginalized group. This goes too far.

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More straight actors portraying LGBT characters in mainstream films, but acting as hetero as possible, such as in the ever-mockable class favorite “Love Simon.” Though the dude from The Flash (Blu) apparently does identify as queer, the lead actor playing strapping young Simon, Nick Robinson, is straight. Beyond that the movie is a pretty white-washed or bland portrayal of LGBT life, feeling like something they would’ve made in 1998, and not even been edgy then.

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Dumbledore & Grindelwald

https://www.polygon.com/2018/7/22/17600592/crimes-of-grindelwald-trailer-dumbledore-grindelwald-relationship

JK Rowling declared loudly that Dumbledore was a proud gay man... yet never put any of this into the books to make it canon. Indeed, merely revealing this after the book had come out and it was not even subtext, Dumby’s relationship with fellow wizard Grindelwald didn’t even make it into the latest prequel movie, beyond “implied.” Rowling did this to earn brownie points with her audience, but never put her pen where her mouth is.

https://www.themarysue.com/harry-potter-and-the-history-of-queerbaiting/

“Added to all of that is Rowling’s unfortunate habit of queer baiting her audience.”

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Fake Hurts

Examples in the media where queer has been faked in onscreen representation – to unfortunate and misleading effect.

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“Will Modern Family’s Gay Couple Actually Get To Kiss?”

https://celebrity.nine.com.au/2014/12/09/06/09/modern-familys-gay-couple-will-actually-get-to-kiss

Is there a more neutered gay couple on television than Modern Family’s Cam and Mitch? They practically live in some “I Love Lucy” sexless sitcom version of a gay relationship!

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“Why is This Photo Deeply Offensive?”

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/why-is-this-photo-deeply-offensive_us_58ebb637e4b0ea028d568b80

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@riondylan Because most gay male characters are quickly coupled off when introduced and sexually neutered; because we rarely see "dating"

Phil Jimenez, artist

https://twitter.com/Philjimeneznyc/status/575300648352243714