Talking Point 7 Quotes of Dean: Gays and Queers

 


In the article Gays and Queers, Dean argues that there are two particular types of "gay cinema". There are many films and television shows that provide these two types of "film". However, just because there have been increases in these sorts of films like Bar Girls or television shows like The L Word, it doesn't mean that they are positive. "For example, media scholars, such as Larry Gross, maintain that, although there has been an increase in gay images, these images continue to reinforce, to a large extent, stereotypical representations of gays and lesbians as inferior or hyper-visible tokens who are reduced to their homo- sexuality," (Dean, pg. 10(3)). In addition, Dean quotes Suzzana Walters as saying, "either gays are assimilated into the filmic narrative and viewed as being just like straights, or they are just commodified ciphers without depth, who are ‘inserted into the film in order to exhibit a certain hipness but who are insignificant as anything other than signs of hipness, and, further, signs of hipness of the lead character’," (Dean, pg. 10(3)).

While watching Glee, I felt that these problems exist in how the queer and straight characters are represented in the show. The token queer, Kurt, is set up in the opening scene of the show as the stock gay character. He's in designer clothing, is witty, and is being bullied by the football team. Throughout the episode, including the Glee Club try-out, he performs as the effeminate male. The stereotypes are reinforced: he has good taste, is a natural performer, and is being bullied without consequence.

Rachel Berry, the over-achiever, reinforces the problems of raising a child by two gay parents. She is artistic, loves performance, and attempts to do the best at everything. In the Pilot episode, she talks about having the competitive edge and her fathers would help her achieve her goals in beating everyone. Although she is not queer, she is a performer, a bit silly, and also a trickster-a stock character used to highlight queerness.

Glee's intention, in my opinion, was a positive intention. The show attempts to give highlight the Glee Club, undo the stereotypes of a musical chorus group in high school. There are gay characters, multi-ethnic characters, and students from non-traditional homes. However, there are multiple avenues in which these positive intentions are given negative implications. One assumes that Kurt is to be the "regular gay" without analyzing the character development and plot. Throughout the show, Kurt is the victim of bullying. He's never just Kurt. He's always Kurt the gay kid and many of the stereotypes surrounding gay males is applied to Kurt. He has special qualities that give him meaning.

Dean states, "by isolating gay and lesbian characters from a larger gay community, these films either avoid depicting gay and lesbian subcultural life altogether, or render it as an inconsequential backdrop," (Dean, pg. 8). Kurt's life and other gay teens within Glee are not part of a greater "gay community" or even seek it out. Rather they are consistently being depicted as abnormal to the normal. While Glee may be hailed as progressive or pro-gay, the truth is that it still retelling the story of traditional, Americana roles.