: An Analysis of The Way He Looks Lately the popularity of LGBT films has grown. Several years ago a character would not be explicitly labeled as gay, there would be clues and dialect that would hint at the sexuality of the character. Now there are entire sections of genres that are LGTB based. But, even with the advancement of the community there is still more that needs to be done. Gay men have been represented in LGBT movies with certain characteristics that do not accurately portray the full LGBT community by its lack of diversity concerning race, age, and personality. The Way He Looks follows LGBT film norms in that the cast is young and the main character questions his sexuality, but it progresses beyond having a predominantly white …show more content…
While usually the characters in the movie are already out and generally open about their sexuality, there tends to be a character who is still questioning or has only recently realized his sexual orientation. In the film Bedrooms and Hallways the leading role falls for a supporting character who is supposedly straight. Throughout the movie the supporting character opens up more and more. It is eventually revealed that he recently broke up with his girlfriend and now is considering guys to fulfill his sexual desire. Priest is another movie that follows this rule. The leading role in Priest contemplated his sexuality for multiple years, but recently came to a conclusion that he is gay. Another movie that follows this rule is Gayby. The leading protagonist in the movie Gayby falls for a guy who said he was looking for a gift for his son. The leading character, scared of falling for a straight guy, tries to forget about the guy. But, the guy returns to the shop and reveals that he recently got a divorce because he realized he was …show more content…
Leonardo is shown to be gay when he smells his best friends, Gabriel, jacket. Gabriel is revealed as gay later in the movie when he gives Leonardo a surprise kiss, before leaving him at a party. The next rule of the LGBT genre is that there tends to be a majority white cast. White washing has been a big problem when it comes to the film industry, but LGBT films makes a habit of excluding almost all non-white actors from the cast including even background actors. Every base movie that I selected has little to no characters of color. Even looking for background actors who are of color or non-European is a challenge. Priest is the only movie that has an actor of color, and he has a very small part. The Way He Looks goes completely against the rule of casting majority white actors. The cast of The Way He Looks is entirely Brazilian. Also, the cast had an African-Brazilian actress who had a speaking role. This movie does not follow typical Gay films when it comes to this
I disagree with Nicolas Barquin's statement that the "evolution [of Latino portrayal in films] as being [improved] is pseudo-hypocrisy because as ideologies and views on race have advanced, representation through the film medium has remained consistent in the discrimination of Latin@s in film. " Although it is true that the Anglo producer's depictions of Latinos have for the most part remained discriminatory, Latino portrayals have given the American audience more realistic portrayals to work with. Film depictions have come a long way since the early days of using white men to play Latino roles. As the years went by, and a greater understanding of Latino culture emerged, film representations of assimilation became a lot more realistic. The cultural gap between Julio Desnoyers and today?s portrayals of Latinos such as New York Undercover?s Agent Torrez is extremely wide.
However, Anderson's argument lacks an important element, the presence of the female gaze, where these occurs the subjection of the new performances of masculinity. Along with this shift across the construction of masculinity, it is inherent that it affects the realisation of male objectification and the female gaze. Verily, the argument could extend to suggest that unless the prevalent heterosexual masculinity associates itself beyond the stereotypical gender roles, the female appropriation of the gaze is impossible. Employing Baird's close study on Hollywood A-List actor Michael Fassbender (Braid, n.d.), she reveals his realisation of masculinity being exemplary to this ‘shift'. Baird goes on to document Fassbender's claims of his acceptance of femininity, and even as far as to credit it as crucial to the masculine construction. Fassbender's movie roles were also examined, disclosing that his choices of roles allow him the position of erotic objectification by the female. Through his portrayal as Connor, the sexual fascination of a teenage girl in "Fish Tank" (2009), he is conscious of the director's deliberate decision for his sexual character when needing him to be partially naked, or have his jeans hanging low when appearing in a scene at breakfast in a house full of
Smith, Jeff, and Chloe Beighley. "Normalizing Male Dominance: Gender Representation in 2012 Films." Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy. N.p., 12 Feb. 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.
...ent from the silent era of film, overt racism of ethnic minorities was blatantly apparent within the film medium. However, presently this overt racism however has shifted into a more subtle segregation of casting and racial politics within the film medium. It seems that both the problem and the solution lies in the Eurocentric domination within the Hollywood film industry – and it seems that it still remains challenged to this day.
The Disney princess movies, for instance, are still very popular among children, and usually depict a princess who is apparently caring, domestic and helpless, and a prince who is strong, intrepid and a rescuer, which enforce extreme concepts of femininity and masculinity during childhood. Other movies still demonstrate “traditional” couples made up of a man, who is usually the head of household and the bread-winner, as well more aggressive than the woman, who is responsible for child rearing and house chores, and tends to be exceedingly feminine. Although this depiction has changed over time, it is still very present in society nowadays. Also, it is quite difficult to find films with a bigger gender fluidity, or with a homosexual couple as the main characters. When that happens, it is immediately categorized as “LGBTQ”, because it apparently needs to be segregated from the rest.
...l end up being gay if their twin is gay as well. The facts presented are very helpful to the film’s overall intent.
The first people introduced are a couple, Agustin and Marcelo, that has been well established in Chicago, Illinois. Marcelo explained his struggle of being both gay and staying catholic because as a kid he prayed to god for a miracle to change him to be “normal”. Marcelo has accepted himself and continues to practice the religion even though Catholicism prohibits being gay. Another man named David described being teased in his school career for kissing another boy in the third grade because of his sexuality. He moved to New York City to get away from his childhood and to finally be happy in a place where he isn’t judged. This homophobia from young kids instigates violence in school that is learned from parents and from the community of others. The last person introduced in the film was a man who transitioned to be a woman that was rejected by her family and had to move out of her home for coming home with hair extensions. This form of violence caused Gabriela to abuse drugs and alcohol to deal with the pain of rejection. These three examples show how people have overcome the cultural normality, but have experienced all sorts of different
For the purpose of this study, I will critically examine the representation of homosexuality in Hollywood cinema. I will specifically analyse films from the early 90’s to mid 2000’s from ‘Philadelphia’ to ‘Brokeback Mountain’. This dissertation will argue that over the space of 12 years homosexuality has become an acceptable part of cinema. I will look at early Hollywood’s representation of homosexuality depicting how aesthetically so much has changed. The current paper will predominantly focus on the two films ‘Philadelphia’ and ‘Brokeback Mountain’, by critically analysing the aesthetic differences between each film as well as their overall importance to gay culture.
‘Lad flicks’ or ‘lad movies’ is a type of film genre that emerged in the late 1990s. They are defined as a “‘hybrid of “buddy movies”, romantic comedies and “chick flicks”, which centre on the trials and tribulations of a young man as he grows up to become a ‘real man’. ‘Lad flicks’ respond in part to the much-debated ‘crisis in masculinity’” (Benjamin A. Brabon 116). This genre of film explored what it meant to be a ‘real man’ in the twentieth century and in order to do so, they would have to grow up and leave their juvenile ways behind to enter the heterosexual world. Gender relations in ‘lad flicks’ portray masculinity as a troubled, anxious cultural category hiding behind a humorous façade and also rely greatly on a knowing gaze and irony. The two ‘lad flicks’ that will be analyzed are The 40-Year-Old Virgin (Judd Apatow 2005) and Role Models (David Wain 2008).
The video starts of by using biographical criticism. The narrator states, “From the guy who made Batman comics cool again and the guy who’ll probably make Batman movies suck again.” The narrator starts of by introducing the directors of the film. He criticizes the directors based on their past work. Another form of criticism used is Jungian & Myth criticism. The narrator states, “...With mutant Persian goat men...” The goat shown in the video will be part of mythology in this case. The type of criticism that appeared the most was Gender Studies and Queer Theory. The narrator states, “Full of homoerotic undertones like men wearing thongs, men getting speared with phallic objects, men holding hands, men holding men tenderly from behind…” All of the scenes appear to demonstrate homosexuality or implying homosexuality. “Homosexual behavior has always existed, and was accepted throughout the ancient world; Greek kings and Roman emperors all engaged in it” (Lehrman). Homosexuality has always been around. The film “300” is an example how long it has been around. People usually feel uncomfortable around homosexual people but the way the film is organized makes it hard to catch it. It would require more
The 1990s saw surge of gay characters in both television and movies. From Ellen Degeneres and her character Ellen Morgan coming out under much scrutiny on the TV show ‘Ellen,’ to Julia Roberts and Rupert Everett comedically playing off each other in the motion picture ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding.’ Sure, gays and lesbians have been around forever, especially in Hollywood. But never has there been a time to be more out. With the popularity of shows like Will and Grace, which feature leading gay characters, as well as Dawson’s Creek and it’s supporting character of teenager Jack McPhee, we are slowly seeing gay and lesbian characters creeping into the mainstream media.
Indeed the film shows several sexual gay scenes that a lot of people might flinch about, but it does open a new level of understanding that these affections of kissing, hugging and sex are not just shared unilaterally among straight people, but rather these are universal forms of affection and loving that are equally celebrated in gay
...Brokeback Mountain” is allowed to defy the societal term we know as homosexuality, in regards to masculinity.
Homosexual minorities creatively adjusted and adopted certain practices to fight against discrimination, subsequently the film grants a clear representation of such events. The movie highlights a community where large numbers of homosexual men migrate daily, but the locals in the area are not thrilled with the new influx of gay men, so many locals
Adam Sharpiro, Megan Schultz, Christina Roush, Cassandra Schofar, Emily Shilling, Tawnia Simpson, Natalie Sampiller. Portrayal of Homosexuality in Media. 26 March 2014 .