Two amazingly depicted queer characters from the Netflix series “Arcane.” Screenshot courtesy of senior Anika Richard taken from Netflix.
The way that queer people are depicted in the media is at an all time high, and students at San Luis Obispo High School have their opinions. Everything from the rise of queer pop icons such as singer Chappell Roan and rapper Doechii, to the inclusion of gay characters in most movies being released, it is safe to say that LGBTQ+ people are getting the representation we deserve.
But some feel that with this surge of support comes with its fair share of misrepresentation and can do more damage than good.
When talking about depictions in movies, there is definitely forced representation, this lends itself to an overall weaker story plot and a missed opportunity to do something that would leave an impact.
There is also quite a bit of controversy about male directors directing lesbian-centered media, and it is a subject of much intrigue.
“They stereotype women into these pleasure roles rather than the actual relationship. Like teenage guys love to see girls kissing; it’s always either really good or it’s really bad, they just focus on two hot girls,” said senior Lina Arnold.
Many movies such as “Blue is the Warmest Colour” play into an objectifying role, making the lesbian relationship all about the physical aspects, instead of the intensity and emotional turmoil that comes with any relationship.
“It’s similar to females directing gay movies, both are a bit controversial and can easily end badly, but could also end up perfectly fine,” said freshman Edison McConnel.
The difference here is that the directors actually take the time to understand the intertwined complexities that queer people face, just like every other relationship.
“The media genuinely lacks a lot of happy depictions of queer couples because of their lack of normalization. While representation of hardships in forming and coming into acceptance of one’s feelings is important, it is equally important that we have a variety of representation,” said senior Mackenzie Temple.
Everyone has different views on this subject, and approaching it from different angles is a key point for getting overall representation.
“Queer representation in music has seen such massive growth in the past couple of years- with artists like Renee Rapp, Chappell Roan, Clairo, etc. we’ve seen such a wider acceptance and love within and outside of [with allies and more understanding] the community,” said Temple.
Being able to exist in a day and age where this kind of love is normalized is extremely lucky, and in the long run, we are suffering from success. Because of the huge amount of LGBTQ-centered media, it drowns out the misrepresentation in the long run. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t many more avenues to be explored within queer media, and in the future people are always looking forward to even more content for the LGBTQ community.
Sources: imdb.com, netflix.com