"It defies understanding, except for the fact that it's a pretty obvious part of a politics of misdirection and distraction," McBride said of Republicans' proposed federal anti-trans legislation.
They, really, desperately, want to be able to roll back any gay rights. I think they are using trans (and “but the children!” arguments) as a wedge to do so.
I think what gets them so very spun up is that culture changed, at least in their view. And by that, I mean that Hollywood seems to place something related to lgbtq in nearly every show, and so “culture” here means tv/movies/games. I sometimes wonder at the thinking behind this, it doesn’t seem to be helping them financially. It certainly seems to be building up a LOT of resentment and it shows up in our politics. Sure, maybe some of these big companies lose money on it in big ways with gigantic flops, but they can make it up elsewhere. I don’t know if the motivation is to annoy a large percentage of the country, knowing full well there is really nothing they can do about it, or if the motivation is worse than that, and if some of the big money wants to annoy enough deplorables that they’ll come out and vote for the likes of donvict, because it’s not like these deplorables have the power to change the content of movies/tv/games, and man, do some of them really, really resent that. It’s kind of bizarre because they blame Hollywood for having certain attitudes that they hate, but really, Hollywood doesn’t have nearly as much power as they seem to think…
And by that, I mean that Hollywood seems to place something related to lgbtq in nearly every show, and so “culture” here means tv/movies/games
LGBT people are something like 10-20% of the population. It would be insane for them to not be in a movie that has more than a handful of cast members. Why do you want your movies to show some weird unrealistic version of reality, one where queer people are just mysteriously absent? That’s pretty fucked up.
I mean, sure, I could maybe see the argument for a period piece. Maybe it’s not too realistic to have a bunch of out queer characters in a drama set in Elizabethan England. But in something modern? Again, one in ten to one in five people is queer to some degree or another. Statistically speaking, if you select a cast at random of anything other than a handful of people, you’re going to have some queer people in that sample.
Why do you want your movies/games to be less diverse than reality? Do you really need to live out some straight fetishistic fantasy that badly?
The reason studios put LGBT content in movies and games is that a lot of people in the real world, aka their customers, are LGBT. If a studio rarely if ever did so, they would quickly and rightfully be labeled as “that bigoted studio that likes to pretend queer people don’t exist.”
The reason studios put LGBT content in movies and games is that a lot of people in the real world, aka their customers, are LGBT.
If their population were small, disproportionate representation can still have a positive impact for awareness. That being said, I think a big reason for the representation is the percentage of people in the arts that is LGBT is greater than the general population. It would be tough making content and looking in the eyes of so many creatives while not including characters like them in stories.
Side note:
Maybe it’s not too realistic to have a bunch of out queer characters in a drama set in Elizabethan England.
All the recent period pieces I’ve seen have LGBT characters. I’m going to use this as a moment to advertise My Lady Jane. It’s not an entirely accurate depiction of the
story of Lady Jane Grey (for obvious reasons), but it was an entertaining show.
But on the other hand, over half my friends are queer and it rarely comes up. Maybe if your movie is a romance it would be relevant who is fucking who, but if you wouldn’t make it relevant for a straight person, why focus on it for a gay person? Like, gay James Bond would have to be fucking hot dudes left and right, obviously. But gay Robin Hood err Indiana Jones err Shrek err Barry B. Benson… Why the fuck do they all have romantic plotlines??
I think you missed what I was saying. Go back and re-read. I personally could care less. There are certainly instances I’ve seen where something just seemed to be done…let’s say, performatively and for a very small audience. To the point where it’s really breaking the fourth wall and stretches all credulity. I, personally, might roll my eyes, but I move on with it and I’m so unbothered by it.
What I’m saying is that not all of America is at that point in this, and they clearly ARE very, very agitated by it. And they vent this anger onto the political scene. It also shows up in big losses for some of these companies, too. One cannot help but wonder what they are trying to accomplish. Some of the backlash they are creating seems to be almost deliberately done.
I don’t want this to come of as me having the answers to what kind of representation should or should not be done in movies/tv/games etc…I’m just noting what is clearly playing out.
They, really, desperately, want to be able to roll back any gay rights. I think they are using trans (and “but the children!” arguments) as a wedge to do so.
I think what gets them so very spun up is that culture changed, at least in their view. And by that, I mean that Hollywood seems to place something related to lgbtq in nearly every show, and so “culture” here means tv/movies/games. I sometimes wonder at the thinking behind this, it doesn’t seem to be helping them financially. It certainly seems to be building up a LOT of resentment and it shows up in our politics. Sure, maybe some of these big companies lose money on it in big ways with gigantic flops, but they can make it up elsewhere. I don’t know if the motivation is to annoy a large percentage of the country, knowing full well there is really nothing they can do about it, or if the motivation is worse than that, and if some of the big money wants to annoy enough deplorables that they’ll come out and vote for the likes of donvict, because it’s not like these deplorables have the power to change the content of movies/tv/games, and man, do some of them really, really resent that. It’s kind of bizarre because they blame Hollywood for having certain attitudes that they hate, but really, Hollywood doesn’t have nearly as much power as they seem to think…
LGBT people are something like 10-20% of the population. It would be insane for them to not be in a movie that has more than a handful of cast members. Why do you want your movies to show some weird unrealistic version of reality, one where queer people are just mysteriously absent? That’s pretty fucked up.
I mean, sure, I could maybe see the argument for a period piece. Maybe it’s not too realistic to have a bunch of out queer characters in a drama set in Elizabethan England. But in something modern? Again, one in ten to one in five people is queer to some degree or another. Statistically speaking, if you select a cast at random of anything other than a handful of people, you’re going to have some queer people in that sample.
Why do you want your movies/games to be less diverse than reality? Do you really need to live out some straight fetishistic fantasy that badly?
The reason studios put LGBT content in movies and games is that a lot of people in the real world, aka their customers, are LGBT. If a studio rarely if ever did so, they would quickly and rightfully be labeled as “that bigoted studio that likes to pretend queer people don’t exist.”
In Ancient myth: Zeus, Apollo, Asclepius, Athena, Dionysis, Hephaestus, Hermes, Orpheus, Pan, Tantalus, Theseus, Ganymede, Callisto…
In lit: Edward Albee, WH Auden, Francis Bacon, Balzac, Aphra Behn, Judith Butler, Byron, Truman Capote, Catullus, Jean Cocteau, Noel Coward, Emily Dickenson, Daphne du Maurier, Foucault, Ginsberg, Gogol…
Like pick a year, find a queer.
It appears to be 5.5% of the population.
If their population were small, disproportionate representation can still have a positive impact for awareness. That being said, I think a big reason for the representation is the percentage of people in the arts that is LGBT is greater than the general population. It would be tough making content and looking in the eyes of so many creatives while not including characters like them in stories.
Side note:
All the recent period pieces I’ve seen have LGBT characters. I’m going to use this as a moment to advertise My Lady Jane. It’s not an entirely accurate depiction of the story of Lady Jane Grey (for obvious reasons), but it was an entertaining show.
But on the other hand, over half my friends are queer and it rarely comes up. Maybe if your movie is a romance it would be relevant who is fucking who, but if you wouldn’t make it relevant for a straight person, why focus on it for a gay person? Like, gay James Bond would have to be fucking hot dudes left and right, obviously. But gay
Robin HooderrIndiana JoneserrShrekerrBarry B. Benson… Why the fuck do they all have romantic plotlines??Every movie nowadays has a shitty romance subplot tossed into it
I think you missed what I was saying. Go back and re-read. I personally could care less. There are certainly instances I’ve seen where something just seemed to be done…let’s say, performatively and for a very small audience. To the point where it’s really breaking the fourth wall and stretches all credulity. I, personally, might roll my eyes, but I move on with it and I’m so unbothered by it.
What I’m saying is that not all of America is at that point in this, and they clearly ARE very, very agitated by it. And they vent this anger onto the political scene. It also shows up in big losses for some of these companies, too. One cannot help but wonder what they are trying to accomplish. Some of the backlash they are creating seems to be almost deliberately done.
I don’t want this to come of as me having the answers to what kind of representation should or should not be done in movies/tv/games etc…I’m just noting what is clearly playing out.