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Stonewall Film Analysis

Decent Essays

On the 27th of June 2016, the Stonewall inn was recognised as the first national monument in honour of the Stonewall Riots that took place on the 28th of June 1969. These riots are often recalled as the start of various liberation movements in the LGBTQ+ (abbreviation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning) community. With these changes in gay rights and acceptance of sexualities and genders outside the heterosexual and cisgender binary, popular culture has opened up for queer narratives in films, TV shows and other visual media. Films like Brokeback Mountain (2005), Carol (2015) and The Danish Girl (2016) all tell stories about LGBTQ+ people in various walks of life, creating role models for queer youth to relate to. But not every director in Hollywood creating a film of queer …show more content…

From the moment the film was announced critics and members in the LGBTQ+ community have voiced their aversion ever since the first trailer was released. Most of the criticism was focused on the misrepresentation of historical key figures that were typical for the riots. In what way does Roland Emmerich in his film Stonewall (2015) represent the historical LGBTQ+ community and key figures of the famous Stonewall riots in 1969? In this essay I will first provide a brief history of the Stonewall Riots, its key characters and how the event has influenced the visibility of the LGBTQ+ community ever since, then I will explain the plot and key characters of Roland Emmerich’s Stonewall (2015) and compare and contrasts those to the actual Stonewall history, and lastly I will present the criticism Emmerich’s film has sparked and counter arguments Emmerich has made. By exploring these factors I will come to an answer to the earlier stated research question in the

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