1) Classify answers into the categories listed on the Factsheet: Social groups, ideological beliefs, interests etc.
▪ Social groups and classifications (“I am a student”, “I am female”)
▪ Ideological beliefs (“I am a Christian”, “I am a Labour voter”)
▪ Interests (“I am a Queens of the Stone-Age Fan fan”, “I am a cricketer”)
▪ Ambitions (“I am going to be a doctor”, “I am going to visit China”)
▪ Self-evaluations. (“I am pretty”, “I am bad at Maths”)
2) Go back to your favourite film. What does this choice of film say about your identity? Are there any identities within the film (e.g. certain characters) that particularly resonated with your values and beliefs?
A Clockwork Orange - Mr Halsey says this makes me a violent person¿
4) Watch the trailers for the five films highlighted as examples of gay/lesbian representation in mainstream film:
How are LGBT identities constructed in the trailers and how are audiences encouraged to respond to these representations?
- Wilde (1997, dir. Brian Gilbert)
Wilde is a 1997 British biographical film about Oscar Wilde. We can argue that the LGBT identity constructed highlights Wilde's intelligence and success, as well as popularity - suggesting that homosexual people can be just as successful as anyone else. However, it does portray Wilde as deceptive, a negative attribute but then again this is a result of the restrictive attitudes towards homosexuality. Overall, I feel that this is a positive representation of homosexuality.
- Philadelphia (1993, dir. Jonathan Demme)
Philadelphia is a 1993 American drama film and one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to acknowledge HIV/AIDS, homosexuality, and homophobia. A negative representation of homosexual men is created in the film. This is because their main identifying factor is the fact that they are diseased. However, the film does bring light to social prejudice the homosexual men are experiencing such as in the work place - i.e being fired for having AIDS.
- The Wedding Banquet (1993, dir. Ang Lee)
The Wedding Banquet is a 1993 romantic comedy film about a gay Taiwanese immigrant man who marries a mainland Chinese woman to placate his parents and get her a green card. His plan backfires when his parents arrive in the United States to plan his wedding banquet and he has to hide the truth of his partner. A negative representation is created as the man deceives his parents, a woman and is essentially living a double life. This creates the idea that homosexual men are deceptive and manipulative. Moreover, his act is illegal in that he is getting someone into the country as a result of false marriage - creating a sense of unlawfulness and deviancy in his character also. However, the fact that he feels he needs to undergo a false marriage and create a facade just to please his parents and avoid being an outcast, draws attention to the concerning attitudes towards homosexuals, representing the main character as a victim also.
- The Kids are Alright (2010, dir. Lisa Cholodenko)
The Kids Are All Right is a 2010 American comedy-drama film directed by Lisa Cholodenko. It is among the first mainstream movies to show a married lesbian and bisexual couple raising two teenagers. This film presents the family and the children as normal - suggesting how LGBT parents are now accepted in society, and that they can raise perfectly healthy children.
- Pride (2014, dir. Matthew Warchus)
Pride is a 2014 British LGBT-related historical comedy-drama film directed by Matthew Warchus. The film shows LGBT identities as a targeted group, in their restrictive Catholic community, and therefore they make communal effort to try and fight the discrimination they face. This creates a representation of homosexuals as victims and strong-willed.
It is very clear to me that our attitudes towards LGBT issues have changed significantly over the years. This is apparent through how gay characters are the most frequently depicted consistently across a variety of mediums.
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