The Role Of Stereotypes Of Gays And Lesbians In Movies

During the production code, there were very few representations of gay and lesbians on screen. The only few representations were filled with stereotypes and lacked variety. People will call each other when they see another gay person on TV. The story lines in movies featuring gays and lesbians were controlled and restricted. The whole story was not often told in gay movies. Even after the code was lifted, Hollywood still struggled with their portrayal of gays, the “proud sissies” and the “regular gays” who were not as flamboyant.
In today’s movies, those issues are still prevalent. Gay scenes are laced with comedy and as a form of punishment. There are not enough genuine, authentic gay love stories anymore. The notion of visibility at any
cause still exists today, maybe not as difficult as it was in the 30’s. I am starting to believe that films do not creates stereotypes but rather the people behind these films. Directors, producers and even actors creates and perpetuate the stereotypes and feeds them to the audience. Simply changing the films alone will not be enough to solve gay stereotypes in Hollywood. The change should start with the people making the films. Perhaps we need more gay directors or less stereotyping straight directors or better yet directors with open minds.
Fleming disagrees with Russo’s views on gay visibility in Hollywood. She is not as optimistic as Russo. Fleming’s point about the lack of lesbian perspective in Hollywood films was very interesting. But what stood out the most was the point she made about the dilemma of gays in Hollywood. If they become more visible, they open themselves up for ridicule but if they remain invisible then they are allow Hollywood to keep portraying them stereotypically. Overall, Fleming believes that there should be more range and diversity in gay story lines and I