Although Latter Days presents manifold homosexual characters, all of them are highly stereotyped.
C. Jay Cox’s movie Latter Days tells the story of Aaron, a Mormon, who moves to Los Angeles as a missionary and falls in love with party boy Christian. As Aaron’s family discovers their affection for each other, Aaron is excommunicated. After a failed suicide attempt, his religious parents send him to a treatment facility in order to cure their son of his homosexuality. Only when Aaron conclusively turns away from his conventions in favor of his sexuality, the two lovers can finally reunite. Underlying the romantic love story of the film, however, is the stereotypical portrayal of homosexuality in America. According to Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s
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documentary The Celluloid Closet, homosexuality has been depicted in American cinema ever since its very beginning in 1895. Nevertheless, the portrayal of gay characters in film has crucially changed in the course of the 19th century, presenting manifold stereotypes of LGTB characters on screen. Initially, homosexual characters were shown as “sissies”, something in-between men and women (00:08:08-00:08:30). Later, they were depicted as victims, being treated unfairly and having depressions. The fact that from the 1950’s on queer characters often died at the end of a movie emphasized the anomaly and the social denial of being sexually attracted to the same sex. Another frequent stereotype of gays and lesbians that occurred in the 1980’s is the image of them as being mentally ill. The last portrayal of queers introduced by The Celluloid Closet implies that homosexuals are villains, posing a threat to straight people. In Latter Days, all of these stereotypes can be applied to one of its gay characters and their social environment. Therefore, this essay will argue that the representation of its various homosexual characters in Latter Days is highly stereotypical. First of all, queer characters in C. Jay Cox’s movie are portrayed as “sissies” (The Celluloid Closet 00:08:00-00:08:30). This stereotype suggests that homosexual men show a behavior that is “culturally defined as feminine” (Kolehmainen 230). More explicitly, it claims that homosexuals are not as manly as straight men. In Latter Days, the stereotype of the “sissy” is mainly represented by Christian. He wears close-fitting shirts throughout the movie and very often he is shown in hot pants, a garment typically worn by women. At one time, Christian even wakes up after a long night, accidentally wearing the bra of his roommate (00:06:17-00:06:32). All of these female clothes make him appear to be a “sissy”. That is to say, he is seen as ridiculous and effeminate. In terms of his behavior, one may contemplate the scene where Christian faints because he sees blood (00:25:20-00:28:11). Apparently, this does not coincide with the socially accepted image of a strong, fearless, heterosexual man and therefore, again presents Christian as feminine. Another crucial scene is when he suddenly wishes to “have a little talk” with his lover and “sleep with him” instead of “having sex” (00:46:09-00:47:17). Once more, this behavior is culturally defined as being typical for women (Kohleand par.1) and labels Christian as being unmanly. However, other gay men in the movie behave like typical “sissies” as well. Christian’s African American colleague, for instance, utters some sentences typically labeled as queer, such as referring to Madonna as being his god, which is a stereotypical cliché about homosexuals (Lipp par. 2). Thus, the gay characters in Latter Days are depicted as noticeably effeminate and therefore fulfill the stereotype of being a “sissy”. In addition, Latter Days claims that homosexuals are victims. As mentioned in The Celluloid Closet, another stereotypical portrayal of queer characters in Hollywood films assumes that homosexuals were treated unfairly and that they were sad and confused about their sexuality. Accordingly, in the 1950’s, movies created the impression that for homosexuals, “at the end of the road, there would be suicide” (00:53:55-00:54:02), as being excluded from society and fearing homophobia will sooner or later become unsupportable for them. This stereotype is mostly embodied by Aaron, the Mormon. Nevertheless, Christian is portrayed as being depressed as well in the course of the film. After their separation both characters appear lugubrious. Aaron expresses his feelings by sitting alone in his room, whereas Christians stays up long and writes somber poems. Further, Aaron tries to kill himself towards the end of the movie, as he does not see another way to escape his misery (01:21:14-01:21:25). This certainly identifies him as being a stereotypically suicidal, homosexual character. Moreover, The Celluloid Closet assumes that the pattern for most Hollywood films in the 1960’s was that “people of questionable sexuality will die” at the end (00:58:45-00:58:51). This image is represented by two other gay characters in Latter Days who are terminally ill. Firstly, Christian’s co-worker declares that he suffers from HIV secondly, the man to whom Christian delivers food has AIDS. Thus, both of them seem to be condemned to die sooner or later. Therefore, all things considered, Latter Days presents several of its homosexual characters stereotypically as being depressive, suicidal or doomed to die. Not only depicts Latter Days homosexuality as something that will end in misery, but also does the movie confirm the stereotype that being sexually attracted to people of the same gender is a mental illness which can be cured.
Hence, homosexuality is not regarded as a way of life but rather as a momentary confusion, which will come to an end. Again, this stereotype is first and foremost represented by Aaron and his family. His mother begs him to “put this horrible mistake” behind, she begs him not to think that he is homosexual and that maybe Aaron can be forgiven (01:19:20-01:20:33). Thus, she suggests that the affection between Aaron and Christian was just a single incident that will never happen again. That is to say, she thinks that homosexuality is a temporary illness that can be overcome. Therefore, his parents send Aaron to the Dyer Treatment Facility in the hope that the hospitalization will free him from his homosexual desires. Again, this scene presents the idea of homosexuality as a mental illness. His parents believe that sitting in a bath tube full of ice or being exposed to electroshocks will release Aaron from his transitory disease of having homoerotic feelings (01:31:10-01:32:06). Moreover, the African American working at the restaurant tells his friends that his ex-lover had to do a shock therapy as well (00:08:45-00:08:59). This scene implies that other people share the opinion that homosexuality is just temporary and can be cured, as Aaron is not the only one who has to undergo a therapy. Regarding these elements, it can be said that Latter Days draws a highly stereotypical image of homosexuality as a mental illness that can be
overcome. Furthermore, homosexual characters in Latter Days fulfill the stereotype of being abnormal and thus a danger for normal, straight people. As The Celluloid Closet suggests, the audience in the 1980’s sometimes got “uncomfortable with what [they] saw on the screen” (01:13:50-01:13:56). As depictions of gay people broke “conventional rules of what it meant to be male” (Campbell 43), homosexuals were seen as villains and as a threat to what was considered as being normal. In Latter Days, Aarons father considers homosexuality to be disagreeable and blames his son of his “abnormal and abominable state” (01:12:18-01:24), implying that his sexual desires are not normal. Similarly, Aarons mother tells him that she is ashamed to be seen with him and that people stare at her at the supermarket (01:19:20-01:20:33). Again, this behavior reinforces the stereotypical image of homosexuality as being aberrant. The claim that gay men are stereotyped as villains is further supported by Cambelle, who argues that some depictions of LGTB characters in movies even “speak to a primal fear of gay individuals” (42). This fear is expressed in the scene where Christian unconsciously convinces a straight guy to sleep with him and implicitly tells the audience that this did not happen for the first time (00:01:17-00:03:13). This incident can be interpreted as an attempt to portray homosexuals as a danger for straight people. It suggests that gay men are trying to bring normal people over to their side, which is depicted as undesirable. Similarly, Aaron’s father accuses Christian of having won Aaron towards his “hogwash alternative lifestyle” (01:12:20-01:13:05), another utterance, which suggests that homosexuality is not normal and that Christian, here presented as the villain, is responsible for Aarons change. Thus, Latter Days stereotypes homosexuality as being something abnormal and threatening for straight people. In conclusion, it has become clear that Latter Day depicts highly stereotypical characters. Christian is not only portrayed as sissy, but also as a villain, trying to bring straight guys to his side. Likewise, Aaron incorporates the stereotypes of homosexual men as being depressed, suicidal, abnormal and mentally ill. Significantly, other minor gay characters in Latter Days represent gay stereotypes as well regarding their utterances, behavior and health. Thus, although the C. Jay Cox’s movie closes with a happy end, it becomes clear that its depiction of homosexuality is not free of prejudices and social conventions. On the reason that stereotypical images of gay and lesbian characters in movies certainly shape “heterosexual audiences’ perceptions” about homosexuality (Campbell 44), it is essential to turn away from these stereotypes in future films and to introduce a new, positive portrayal of LGTB characters to the world. As Tom Hanks argues in The Celluloid Closet, all of us make choices about whom we love, and no matter which gender one prefers, “love is spelled with the same four letters“ (01:31:29-01:31:59).
The entire movie is littered with anxiety. The movie makes you anxious as to what may happen next. This primary example is the scene where Skeeter ask Aibileen to tell her personal stories for the book Skeeter is writing. This rose a very serious anxiety in both women. Skeeter also found other maids to also share their personal stories. This scenario caused extreme anxiety because in that day and time if you were to publish or talk about what the maids have to endure, you could be prosecuted or maybe even killed.
(Hartzler 16). But, as Aaron grows up, he starts to do what his parents wished he never would: question them. He questions his family, his friends, his school, his church, even himself, in search of the difference between right and wrong. The rules that he used to think were so commonplace now seem absurd, and he wants to experience the world for himself and make his own decisions. The more that he tries to get out on his own, the more his parents tighten their grip, and the more that Aaron feels strangled.
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‘Our interest in the parallels between the adaptation inter-texts is further enhanced by consideration of their marked differences in textual form,’
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The family unit has always been a treasured and revered dynamic on television and in movies. Dating all the way back to I Love Lucy, storylines focused on the relationship between man and woman. Ozzie and Harriet introduced us to the quintessential American family—father in a suit, mother in pearls, and two exceptional children. It wasn’t until the 1970s that gay characters and lifestyles began to emerge. In 1973, An American Family, a PBS series featured one of the family’s sons revealing his homosexuality. In 1977, the television show Soap costarred Billy Crystal as an openly gay man. In the 1980s, it became trendy to feature gay and lesbian characters in ensemble casts. If you watch reruns, you can always find the token gay, that is, the really flaming homo or the butch lesbian gym teacher. The motion picture Mannequin, starring Andrew McCarthy and Kim Catrall, featured Meshach Taylor as Hollywood, an eccentric, finger-snapping homosexual. Many stereotypes such as these continued until the early nineties.
middle of paper ... ... Works Cited Adam Sharpiro, Megan Schultz, Christina Roush, Cassandra Schofar, Emily Shilling, Tawnia Simpson, Natalie Sampiller. Portrayal of Homosexuality in Media. 26 March 2014 http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/tcom103fall2004/gp16.pdf>. Huegel, Kelly.