The Celluloid Closet-Jared Lestenkof

 Jared Lestenkof


While watching “The Celluloid Closet” I never thought how movies perceived the LGBTQ+ community. At first they wouldn’t allow gay characters in movies and when they did they would hulmiliate in some sort of way. When the movie industry was booming the censorship laws began booming as well. People who didn’t want to see something on the screen didn’t want it on screen at all and LGBTQ+ people and LGBTQ+ loving making were under these laws. I had no idea how bad it was for the gays in the past.


Back then it started off as you weren’t sure if the character was gay but when they acted gay the audience would laugh at them. This would make a lot of sense why people back then were afraid of coming out because of how the movie represented them. If they came out they would get made fun of or beaten or worse. Fast forward a little bit and the gays were perceived as monsters, for example, a vampire, a werewolf, they are showing the people that gays don’t belong in this world.


Keep fast forwarding and gays were perceived as villians of the movie which usually resulted in them dying at the end. When the audience would cheer and applaud at the death of the villain well they weren't cheering because the villian died they were cheering becuase a gay person would die. This obviously was an issue for the LGBTQ+ community in the Hollywood industry because it would make it a lot harder for someone to come out. Even the straight actors that played gay characters would get hate from it like Tom Hanks. 


In today’s day and age the LGBTQ+ community is more welcomed with more gay characters and normalizing it in movies but not all the way there yet. But it will one day and I hope to live to see that day.

Comments

  1. Olivia VinciFebruary 12, 2021 at 1:27 PM

    Hello Jared,
    I find it interesting how far they went to hide or never say an individual was gay throughout the films that were presented in the documentary. It is crazy to me how they only put these characters in these films for individuals in the LGBTQ+ community to be laughed at and made fun of for either dressing as the opposite gender or being what they call a "sissie" throughout the film. Personally to me I do not find these things funny or amusing and it makes individuals of the LGBTQ+ community look like a joke. I also think that it is horrible that they made queerness into something scary, such as them being the "villain" in some of the movies. I agree when you said being the villain shows that "gays dont belong in the world" because yet again the directors are trying to make them look bad and put hatred on people in the LGBTQ+ community.

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