"Celluloid Closet" - Emily Sheedy

 I found this documentary to be very interesting. Especially the part where they talked about the history of villainizing LGBTQ people. This part of history really can do damage to young LGBTQ people because then they see themselves as the villain. They see themselves as something that is bad. The film touched on this very well. I didn't know that throughout history writers would try to create LGBTQ storylines that just never made the cut because of restrictions. I kind of thought that this topic was so taboo back then that they wouldn't have even tried to make it into films. 

Another point in the film that I wanted to touch on was that LGBTQ people are many times killed off in movies. This goes back in history for decades and it's something that still happens in movies today. Like the documentary stated this shows an audience that LGBTQ people are expendable when they aren't. I think films and shows nowadays that kill off these characters are presenting this an audience that knows LGBTQ aren't expendable. I thought overall this documentary did a great job showing the history of LGBTQ representation. 

Comments

  1. Breanna BumpFebruary 10, 2021 at 9:13 AM

    Emily,

    You touched on a lot of topics that I wrote in my notes but not in my blog post. I also thought it was very disappointing that LGBTQ+ characters got killed off in movies either by suicide or murder. Although they are finally getting representation screen it was in such a negative way. I'm sure a lot of people thought, "will that happen to me?" because it happened so often in films. Movies often have a big impact on young viewers and it is really upsetting to think about how those films made people feel and think about themselves.

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  2. Emily SheedyFebruary 11, 2021 at 6:06 PM

    Follow-Up Post:
    After our discussion during Thursdays class I started really thinking. I was very interested in hearing everyones thoughts on how LGBTQ acceptance and visibility has changed throughout the years. A part that has stuck with me all day is how different people interpret "the younger generation is more accepting." This is true, we live in a society that is a lot more open about these topics right now, but in the past two decades it hasn't always been like that. I feel like social media has a played a huge role in how open we are now. Social media hasn't always been there throughout the younger generations lives though. I remember being in middle school and early high school and hearing many slurs about LGBTQ people. It was a time were people were still saying "thats so gay" and other things. I think TV and movies started a conversation about this community but social media is what really pushed for more openness, visibility and acceptance.

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