The Celluloid Closet - Breanna Bump

 The Celluloid Closet is a documentary on how homosexuality was shown in films throughout history. It began appearing in films as a joke, or something to laugh about which is awful to think about. This documentary was a huge eye opener for me because I didn't know much about the history of homosexuality in films. It was interesting to see it progress throughout the years from absolute negativity to a more welcoming (but still sometimes negative) atmosphere on screen. 

A statement made by someone in an interview (I can't remember who exactly said it sadly) said, "I'd rather have negative than nothing." This person was referring to homosexuals being in films. They began to talk about how there was no one to relate to or look up to on screen that was also homosexual. This person discussed how the LGBTQ+ community had to translate on screen stories into their own life. They were unable to watch characters that represented themselves go through life and find love on screen. Eventually when films began showing homosexuality it was a step in the right direction even though they started off as negative. 

This documentary made me realize how lucky I was to go through life having role models in films that I could relate to. Not everyone used to get representation of themselves in the film world, which I can imagine made them feel unaccepted and unappreciated. Although homosexuality has had a very negative start in the film world, they have made a lot of progress throughout the years that I hope only becomes stronger as time goes on. Everyone in our community should be able to be represented in films, not just heterosexuals. 

Comments

  1. Breanna BumpFebruary 11, 2021 at 1:21 PM

    After listening to the class discussion today I remembered a tv show that I watched throughout middle school and high school. "Pretty Little Liars" was a show on ABC Family (now known as Freeform) that premiered in 2010. This was the first show that I watched that had an openly gay character, Emily Fields. This show was really well made and it showed how Emily went through the struggles of coming out to her parents as gay. Another main character, Alison Dilaurentis, came out as bisexual as the show went on. Both of these characters ended up getting married and having a family together. This was one of the only shows that didn't kill off their gay or bisexual main characters. Instead, they brought them together. This show normalized queerness and many people used it to get the courage to come out to their parents.
    After watching the documentary, I had the impression that queerness was more widely represented in movies and tv shows, which is actually not the case. I'm happy that I got to experience a show that had representation of queerness. Not only did Pretty Little Liars have representation, it also went against the norms and allowed for a queer couple to have a happy ending for once.

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