Prejudice In The Celluloid Closet

The representation of the LGBT community in the film industry has long been a topic of much debate. In her article, “It Ain’t Easy Being Bisexual on TV,” Amy Zimmerman addresses this topic with specific interest on bisexual representation. By appealing to the logic of her audience, using an informal tone, and referring to relatable content, Zimmerman constructs an argument which persuades readers of The Daily Beast that the film industry is unfairly and inaccurately representing bisexuals. However, her argument holds little influence over those who are not movie fans or The Daily Beast readers.

Hitchcock’s constant desire to represent homosexual individuals, in any fashion, shows more that he was interested in exploring the inner workings of this taboo topic as opposed to the thought that, because of how these characters were represented, he hated the entire community. As Hitchcock was one who did not steer away from ideas

Harris’s interest was the representational dialogic of racial difference within film and the real/representation dialect of cultural, gender, and sexual identity (Harris, 51). But the new images of black masculinity are problematic and limited. This was an operation of sorts, of “recoding masculinity from established, now historic, Hollywood codings of black men and black masculinity visualizes a more ambiguous, more discursive image, producing the meanings of an intricately constructed masculinity, more complexly dimensional than the submissive, docile Tom, or the morally corrupt, conniving, sexually threatening drug dealer” (Harris, 52). But these aggressive and politically charged black masculinities, now turned into these difficult ideological metaphors- they construct themselves from the existing “pop cultural and filmic representations of masculinity” (Harris, 52). Basically, Harris stated that black masculinity turned into a “fixed” culturally familiar/consumable construct; masculinity became reinforcement of singular, monologic meanings, only within different popular images. According to Robyn Weigman’s Feminism, The Boyz, and Other Matters Regarding the Male, Newsweek asserts, “Hollywood fades to black.” The primary images

Throughout the 1950’s, the United States belonged to the Leave It To Beaver era. Families were structured around a strong, hard working father and a wonderful homemaker mother. Children were brought up with solid ideologies on what society expects from them and were warned about living a different and dangerous life. Only one-year separates Tennessee William’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room from there publishing dates during this decade of unwavering beliefs. These texts were seen as extremely controversial during their time due to their themes of homosexuality. Sexual orientation was an awkward topic during such a “to the book” time period and these texts pushed the limits, making them remarkable and memorable works. Both Tennessee Williams and James Baldwin explore the panic men experience while trying to comprehend what sexual orientation they belong to and highlight the masculine gay man. These texts also examine the woman’s role in the mist of it all.

In 2013, Latinos accounted for only 4.9% of the roles in the top 100 films of the year. From the beginning, Hollywood had always been dominated by white men and women. However, as time progressed there was a very slight change in cultural and ethnic diversity. Though it is more likely now than ever to find a Latino or Latina in a Hollywood film, their roles are often small, stereotypical, and almost entirely unimportant. As if it wasn’t hard enough to get any role in any Hollywood film regardless of ethnicity, Latinos have to endure playing a harshly demeaning role. Latino men are often cast as comedic relief and play gardeners, janitors, or thugs. Latino women are often cast as maids or mistresses. Aside from this, when women are cast as mistresses they are often submissive to their white male partners, meaning that not only are these roles ethnically demeaning, but also sexist. Along with Latino female sexualisation, though, Latino men are also heavily sexualized. Both Latino women and men have to deal with the exploitation of their culture for stereotypical roles in a movie. However, these are only some of the vicious patterns that attribute to the everlasting ethnic misrepresentation in the biggest part of mass media, Hollywood.

In several cases, the desire to kill the queer self also occurs when it seems impossible to move forward without fully accepting and presenting oneself as queer. When this idea is seen on television it is presented in both the interpersonal and introspective forms. For example, the characters that attempt suicide, such as the eight queer women characters between 2001 and 2016, are illustrating the introspective act of assassinating the queer self by killing themselves. In contrast the interpersonal aspect derives from the idea of identity as zero-sum and therefore the queer characters who do not cover present a threat to the stability and validity of gay characters on screen. This paper will specifically investigate how the interpersonal side of "assassinating the queer selves" plays out on screen as a way to reinforce the importance of

“The Haunting of Emile Griffith” by Bob Herbert, presents Emile Griffith as an average individual, briefly describes the Paret v.s. Griffith fight in vivid imagery, and tackles society’s twisted view of homosexuality. Considering the article was printed approximately 40 years after the big fight, tensions have calmed down and people can analyze the surrounding circumstances with logic and rationality rather than emotion. Ultimately, the texts main purpose is to emphasize society’s distorted view of homosexuality and to present Griffith as a victim through the use of tone, diction, and credibility.

Television and film is a huge part of American culture. As the “face” of America changes, it is expected for our media to reflect it. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Since the beginning of film, minorities have been misrepresented and underrepresented. While there has been a significant increase in minority actors since the beginning of film, there is still a huge underrepresentation present in American television and film. Our media needs to reflect out diverse country. This topic is always important and relevant because race, gender, and sexuality, in general, have been issues throughout the growth of television and film. Even today, minorities are subject to

The film industry’s portrayal of African American people consists of countless stereotypes and inaccuracies. These depictions lead to an innumerable amount of misrepresentations about the African American community. As the latest wave of black films begins to dawn, the clearer the images become of a collective people. Using my personal experiences as a mixed woman of color, as well as including my academic strengths and goals, and points of view regarding various black films, the content of this paper will examine the representation and stereotypes that can be seen in African American Hollywood.

The homosexual community is one of the most misunderstood and degraded cultures in today’s society. Homosexuals are usually the brunt of much of the misunderstanding and, as a result, have most of the unban legends and denigrating jokes that are found in modern tradition centered on themselves. Two legends stand out above many others; the myth of “Gerbiling”, which describe a supposed cruel and exotic practice of gay men, and “The Gay Roommate”, in which a gay man sexually assaults his heterosexual roommate in a college dorm. Both of these legends exemplify the fact that, through misunderstanding or fearing a culture, you can create horrible monsters out of average men.

The background of homosexuality in the 1940’s and 50’s was harsh, but people started to be opened toward the rights. There were criticisms toward homosexuality in the early days of Milk. Gay men carried the labels of mentally ill or

The Celluloid Closet explores representation in film and its enormous effect on American culture. Although the film was originally released in 1995, many of the same issues around queer representation in media still remain over twenty years later. Gay characters are often the sidekick in stories revolving around heterosexual heroes, and queer stereotypes like “The Sissy” still persistent nearly 80 years after the character first appeared; and although queer erasure is not a prevalent as it was in the 1950s and 1960s, with entire plots being changed to hide queer elements, queer stories are still hijacked in subtler ways. Notably, queer characters are still regularly played by straight actors. Furthermore, these straight actors often win prestigious

Prejudice means prejudgement. It is a psychologically and sociologically unjustifiable, usually negative attitude towards a group and its members, and is based off of the physical characteristics of an individual rather than what a person actually believes or does. These prejudices turn into discrimination when the beliefs against a certain group are acted upon. Types of prejudice found in modern society include those related to sex, gender, race, nationality, ethnicity, class, religion, disability and language (McLeod, 2008). Racism is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior(Oxford Dictionary, 2016).

I chose to write this project on the movie Grease. Growing up, this was my favorite movie. I chose to write about this movie because I haven't watched it since I was a child, and wanted to look back and reflect if there was anything I hadn’t picked up when I was younger watching this movie. The movie was made in 1978 by director Randal Kleiser, and was based on high school teens in the 50’s. Since it was based in the 50’s and most of us grew up watching this famous movie, I thought that there had to be social norms and stereotypes written and performed throughout the whole movie. The movie stars the famous actor John Travolta, who was a very young and upcoming actor in the 70’s. Since this was created in the late 70’s, there was a big push for equal rights of gays and lesbians going on in the real world at this time. I thought this movie would be a great example of gender, and other social political conflicts to help shape younger kids in the way “we are supposed to be”.

One of the most iconic movies from the 80’s is Top Gun. From the thrilling flight scenes to Tom Cruise 's winning smile, the movie was, and remains, a hit. Maverick, played by Tom Cruise, is sent to an elite naval flight school with his best friend Goose. Both men must undergo training in an extremely competitive environment. to become the best pilots in the academy. They face many challenges and loss along the way. Throughout the movie Top Gun, the hyper-masculine environment of flight school allows for there to be a much more fluid relationship between homosexuality and homosociality. Unlike in everyday occurrences, where romantic exchanges between men are considered gay, the exchanges between the characters in the movie are often considered completely normal. Though not every scene in the movie portrays this accepting, modern perception of homosocial relations. The movie often contradicts itself by also displaying hypermasculine scenes. This contradiction illustrates how there 's not only multiple perceptions of masculine behavior but also a conflict in society about the proper way for men to act while together.