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Media Studies

Media Studies refers to the broad range of interdisciplinary subjects focusing on media culture and production.

Introduction: What is Representation?

Welcome! This is our series on representations in media, highlighting how creators have portrayed various communities in the past and present, and where we hope to move in the future. On this page you will find features highlighting the portrayal of Asian American communities, Queer communities, and Animal/non-human species in film and television. These features contain resources for further research along with information on some of the common stereotypes/tropes associated with portrayals of these groups. We will continue to add new features periodically. This box serves as an introduction to the concept of representation in media featuring academic texts and scholarly articles on the topic.

In the broadest stokes, representation refers to the portrayal of people, groups, and communities in the media (including television, film, and books). Recently, audiences have asked for increased representation of underrepresented groups in media including of women, people of color, the queer community, transgender/nonbinary people, disabled people, and others. Audiences have also called for a greater diversity of religions, body types, nationality, and more to be portrayed on screen.

In trying to increase representation, however characters and plot lines can often fall into stereotypical depictions or tired tropes, especially when stories and characters are written or portrayed by members who are not part of a given group. According to Maja Hardikar, "the line between stereotype and representation is thin...it may be tempting to view the difference between “stereotype” and “representation” as the simple difference between good and bad; “representation” is when we see ourselves reflected up onscreen and feel empowered, “stereotype” is when the representation fails to represent us" (6). The features on this page discuss the histories of various stereotypes, which often originated from the first appearances members of a said group on screen (take, for example, The Dragon Lady or The Gay Best Friend).

Though representation might seem trivial, studies have shown that in some instances, the dissemination of diverse media is actually a transformative action. For example, a 2015 study found that when straight people are more exposed to gay characters on TV they become more accepting of gay equality, with a 2020 survey by GLAAD and P&G finding that queer representation increased queer acceptance by up to 45% (Bond and Compton; GLAAD).

Representation is only the beginning of a more equitable world for people whose identities do not afford them safety in the societies in which they live. Systemic, liberatory change requires deeper, more sustained movement, political activism, and community building. It is important to remember, however, that diverse representation can have dramatic, empowering, and beneficial effects on people's lives, especially when those representations depict complex characters in robust, nuanced stories.


Sources: Bond, B. J., & Compton, B. L. (2015). Gay On-Screen: The Relationship Between Exposure to Gay Characters on Television and Heterosexual Audiences’ Endorsement of Gay Equality. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 59(4), 717–732. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2015.1093485; GLAAD. (2020, May 27). Procter & Gamble and GLAAD Study: Exposure to LGBTQ Representation in Media and Advertising Leads to Greater Acceptance of the LGBTQ Community. https://glaad.org/releases/procter-gamble-and-glaad-study-exposure-lgbtq-representation-media-and-advertising-leads/Hardikar, M. (2023). A Real Gay Person: Representation and Stereotypes in Queer Romantic Comedies. Georgetown University.

Asian American Representation in Media

Content Warning: This guide contains depictions and descriptions of yellowface, whitewashing, orientalism, and racism again Asian people.

 

Still from "Everything Everywhere All At Once" with three people standing together.Still from the film "Bittermelon." 5 people stand in a group, the person in the front holds up their fists.Still from the television show "PEN15." A mother and her children hold their hands in a prayer positionA father and son stand in a field.

Images: Films (from left to right), Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), Bitter Melon (2018), PEN15 (2019-), Minari (2020).

Welcome to the Asian American Representation in the Media LibGuide. This guide will discuss the history of Asian American representation in the media—primarily in Hollywood—and examine some common tropes/stereotypes applied to Asian characters in film and television. Here, you will find brief discussions of the Model Minority Myth, the Dragon Lady trope, techno-orientalism, and whitewashing/yellowface, along with a selections of books and films written/created by Asian Americans featuring nuanced characters and portrayals of Asian experiences, including the movies and films in the above images.

In a recent study, “I Am Not a Fetish or Model Minority” (2021) from the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment, researchers found that Asian and Pacific Islanders (API) actors made up only 4.5% of leads or co-leads in the top 10 grossing domestic films from 2010-2019. In films featuring API characters in the main cast, about a third of API characters "embody at least one common API trope or stereotype (35.2%)" such as the “Martial Artist,” the “Model Minority,” or the “Exotic Woman.” There is a long and continuing history of the whitewashing and stereotyping of Asian characters in Hollywood films. In 1935, MGM refused to consider Anna May Wong for the leading role O-Lan in the The Good Earth—instead casting Luise Rainer to play O-Lan in yellowface. In the 2023 biography Tetris, Taron Egerton, a Welsh actor was been cast to play video game publisher Henk Rogers, who is Dutch-Indonesian.

The guide serves only as an introduction and highlights texts in our collection that focus on Asian American representation in the media. For more information, see our companion guides including our Feminist Media Studies guide which features brief explanations of stereotypes inflicted on women in the media:

Video: The History of Asian Representation in Film. VICE News (2021).


Citations: Almost Half of All Asian Roles Serve as a Punchline, Study Finds. Sakshi Venkatraman, NBC News, 5 Aug. 2021.

Video: Why Do We Call Asian Americans The Model Minority? AJ+ (2017).


The Model Minority Myth

The Model Minority Myth is a stereotype of certain minority groups, particularly Asian Americans, as successful, well-adjusted, and therefore requiring little or no social and economic assistance. The phrase "model minority" originated in a 1966 New York Times article by William Peterson who used the phrase to describe the economic prosperity of Japanese Americans after WWII. Since then, the term has been applied to many other groups including Chinese Americans, Indian Americans, and Korean Americans. The model minority stereotype is not only harmful to Asian Americans because it groups them into a monolith but also in that it perpetuates the idea that other minority groups should be able to achieve model minority status not through the removal of systemic barriers but through hard work alone. This stereotype can be found in media, journalism, academia, popular culture, and more. For example, in 1987 TIME published their magazine with a cover photo of "Those Asian-American Whiz Kids." 

Photocopy of a New York Times article, "Success Story, Japanese-American Style" with a black and white photograph.TIME magazine cover with the story "Those Asian-American WHIZ KIDS" and a photograph of a group of students

Images: (Left) Success Story, Japanese-American Style: Success Story, Japanese-American Style. William Peterson, New York Times, (1966)(Right) Those Asian-American Whiz Kids. TIME Magazine (1987).


The Term "Asian American"

Scholars and activists have long critiqued the terms AAPI and Asian American as "masking differences in histories and needs among communities, as well as supporting the myth that Asian Americans are a monolithic group" (Connie Hanzhang Jin, 2021). This monolithic mindset contributes society often overlooking diversity in the Asian American community in terms of ethnic groups, experience, immigration status, and economic circumstances. In fact, contrary to the Model Minority Myth which states that Asian Americans are an economically prosperous demographic that does not require financial assistance or investment, Asian Americans are actually the most economically divided racial group in America:

Graph of income disparities among Asian American ethnic communities

Graph: Key disparities in income and education among Asian American groups. Connie Hanzhang Jin, NPR (2021).

The perception of Asian Americans being economically and academically successful hides the fact that many Asian American communities experience high rates of poverty and Asian American students often feel intense academic pressure which leads to heightened rates of anxiety and stress. While the release of films and shows such as "Crazy Rich Asians" (the first film by a major Hollywood studio to feature a majority cast of Chinese descent in a modern setting since The Joy Luck Club in 1993) and Netflix's "Bling Empire" have undoubtedly increased Asian American representation in Hollywood, it is important to note that these films do play into stereotypes about the prevalence of extremely rich and successful Asian Americans. Of course, if there were more representation of Asian Americans in Hollywood, this would not be a concern—all communities deserve to be represented in a multitude of nuanced ways—but it is important to consider which portrayals of Asian Americans receive studio/Hollywood funding, win prestigious awards, and draw large audiences.

Video: The Complicated Discussion Surrounding Crazy Rich Asians. Quality Culture (2022).

The model minority myth manifests in television and film characters who are portrayed as one-dimensional nerds, high-achievers, and stoic, diligent workers. To keep learning about this myth, explore some the resources listed below:


Citations:

Peterson, W. "Success Story, Japanese-American Style: Success Story, Japanese-American Style." New York Times (1923-), Jan 09, 1966, pp. 180. ProQuest.

TIME Magazine Cover: Asian-American Whiz Kids - Aug. 31, 1987.” TIME.Com. Accessed 10 May 2023.

The Dragon Lady is a stereotype of Asian women, particularly East Asian women, as strong, deceitful, domineering, mysterious, and sexually alluring. The Dragon Lady might be seen wearing 'traditional' dress when no one else around her is, speaking in cryptic/flowery metaphors, or utilizing Asian fighting styles. The term comes from the U.S. comic strip "Terry and the Pirates," which featured a character called Dragon Lady, also known as Madam Deal

Cover art of the comic "Terry and the Pirates enter the Dragon Lady" featuring a person in a black dress.The back cover of "Terry and the Pirates Enter the Dragon Lady."

Image: Terry and the Pirates: Enter the Dragon Lady. Milton Caniff (1975). Featuring the Dragon Lady, a character based on Lai Choi San, a 1900s Chinese pirate.

Inspired by the characters played by actress Anna May Wong, the term is often applied in opposition to the "Lotus Blossom" stereotype of an overly submissive and hyper-sexualized Asian woman. The Dragon Lady has often been used to refer to powerful Asian women—such as Soong Mei-ling (Madame Chiang Kai-shek) and Devika Rani—in a derogatory fashion. The term dragon lady is applied to Asian women and not to their non-Asian counterparts as Lucy Liu highlights in her discussion of Kill Bill: Volume I: 

"Kill Bill' features three other female professional killers in addition to Ishii. Why not call Uma Thurman, Vivica A. Fox or Daryl Hannah a dragon lady? I can only conclude that it's because they are not Asian, I could have been wearing a tuxedo and a blond wig, but I still would have been labeled a dragon lady because of my ethnicity.

"Kill Bill," includes many female assassins but shows Liu's character committing her assassinations in traditional Japanese costume.

Poster for the film "Daughter of the Dragon."Anna May Wong in Daughter of the Dragon.

Images: Poster for Daughter of the Dragon (1931) and Anna May Wong as Princess Ling Moy.

The Dragon Lady trope has its roots in the Page Act of 1875, a United States law which prohibited the immigration of “Oriental” laborers brought against their will or for “lewd and immoral purposes.” In practice, this law banned all East Asian women from entering the US. On the perception of Asian women during this time, Nancy Wang Yuen states: “They were characterized as potentially carrying sexual diseases. They were also characterized as being temptations for white men” (qtd. in Pham 2021). The Dragon Lady is a result of centuries of Anti-Asian bias, yellow peril, and racist assumptions about Asian women. It is important to note that until recently, these were some of the only roles that Asian women in Hollywood were allowed to play—actors needed to take these positions lest they not be cast at all. The problem with the Dragon Lady stereotype is not that it depicts Asian women as strong, attractive, and mysterious, but that media would often refuse to show Asian women as anything else (Pham, 2021). For more on the nuanced reality of this stereotype see Sarah Kuhn's article "Enter the Dragon Lady" and explore the resources listed below: 

Video: Virtually Asian (English subtitles). Astria Suparak, Berkeley Art Center (2021).

In 2020, Astria Suparak launched the "Asian futures, without Asians" series, a "a visual analysis of over half a century of American science fiction cinema. A multipart research project, it draws from the histories of art, architecture, design, fashion, film, food, and weaponry." In this series, Suparak analyzes how science fiction utilizes stereotypical Asian signifiers that serve as the backdrop for an almost exclusively white cast.

“The piece is part of a larger project examining 40 years of sci-fi films and how white filmmakers envision a future that is inflected by Asian culture but devoid of actual Asian people."

—Astria Suparak qtd, in "Asian-American Artists, Now Activists, Push Back Against Hate

Learn more about Suparak's ongoing project and explore additional resources below:

Video: Yellowface is a bad look, Hollywood. Vox (2016).

Whitewashing is a casting practice in the film industry in which white actors are cast in non-white roles. Yellowface is a form of whitewashing where non-Asian actors are cast to play Asian characters. The practice of yellowface extends from the beginning of Hollywood to today. Famous early examples include Warner Oland playing Charlie Chan in "Charlie Chan Carries On" (1931) and Dr. Fu Manchu in "The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu" (1929). In the 1960s, Mickey Rooney wore yellowface to portray I. Y. Yunioshi in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961). More recently, you might recall Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Asbæk, and Michael Pitt playing Japanese animated characters in "Ghost in the Shell" (2017), Emma Stone as Allison Ng in "Aloha" (2015), and white actors playing Asian and Inuit characters in the film adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Image of Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell. Still from "Aloha" film with a blonde woman in a hat smiling. The cast of "The Last Airbender Movie" next to images of the animated characters they portray.

Images: (Left to right) Scarlett Johansson in "Ghost in a Shell", Emma Stone in "Aloha", and the cast of "The Last Airbender"

Whitewashing is prominent in Hollywood for Asian characters as well as any non-white characters. For an extensive list, check out this Wikipedia page. Many directors and producers are pressured by Hollywood executives to cast non-Asian actors in Asian roles. For example. Lulu Wang, the director of The Farewell (a film about here Chinese American family), has stated that many American financiers wanted to include a "prominent white character into the narrative, and punch up the nuanced drama to turn it into a broad comedy."

To learn more about the history of whitewashing and yellowface, explore the resources below:

The following are films by and featuring Asian directors, writers, and actors. For additional lists, see below:

Content Warning: Gore

Video: Happy (Official Music Video). Mitski (2016).

Asian Americans have been exploring media representation through their writing, music, cinema, and essays. Below is a small selection of books written by Asian Americans about the Asian American experience.

The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM)

is a nonprofit organization dedicated to presenting stories that convey the richness and diversity of Asian American experiences to the broadest audience possible. We do this by funding, producing, distributing and exhibiting works in film, television and digital media. For 40 years, CAAM has exposed audiences to new voices and communities, advancing our collective understanding of the American experience through programs specifically designed to engage the Asian American community and the public at large. CAAM has put together a collection titled "Memories to Light," a project to collect and digitize home movies and to share them–and the stories they tell—to a broad public. 

Video: Memories to Light 2.0: The Bohulano Family. CAAMChannel (2014).


Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ)

"Asian Americans have been part of the American story since its earliest days, and are now the U.S.'s fastest-growing racial group with the potential and power to shape our nation and the policies that affect us. Our mission is to advance civil and human rights for Asian Americans and to build and promote a fair and equitable society for all." Explore their Media Diversity Page.


Asian Film Archive: The Asian Film Archive was founded in January 2005 as a non-profit organisation to preserve the rich film heritage of Singapore and Asian Cinema, to encourage scholarly research on film, and to promote a wider critical appreciation of this art form.

Human/Non-Human Relationships in Media

Introduction

During April, we celebrate both Earth Month and Earth Day (April 26th). Earth Day has been celebrated since 1970 and marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement. In celebration of this month and day, we have developed a guide focusing on human relationships with the non-human world. This feature will center on representation of animals in the media, literature, and culture. You will find poetry, nonfiction, and novels that allow you to witness how writers and creatives are thinking, and have been thinking, about human/non-human relations.

Totoro, a large fictional animal stands in the rain at a bus stop next to a person holding a red umbrella.

Image: Still from Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro (1988).

If you are looking to learn more about the history of a specific animal, look into The Animal Series from Reaktion Books which explores the natural history of animals alongside their historical and cultural impact on humankind. Each short book is a wonderful introduction to an animal with which you are probably familiar and maybe even encounter daily!

Moth book cover.Hare book cover.Nightingale book cover.Lizard book cover.

Image: The Animal Series from Reaktion Books. Moth, Hare, Nightingale, Lizard.


Next Steps

Check out our companion feature in the Philosophy guide for more information on the scholarly fields of Animal Studies and Critical Animal Studies, as well as other philosophies of the non-human. 

If you'd like to explore more thematic content relevant to climate change, environmental justice, and nature, try the Environmental Justice & Earth Day feature, which includes music, novels, feature films, and documentaries on these topics, and the highlight on Environmental Ethics & Aesthetics at the Philosophy Research Guide.

Illuminated manuscript a wild cat and an animal called "sirayis."Cover of "The Cricket in Times Square" with a drawing of a cat, mouse, and cricket eating together.Introduction

From Winnie the Pooh to Moby Dick, animals can be found in a wide variety of novels, children's stories, folktales, and other writings from the medieval to contemporary eras. Literary animal studies explores the figurative significance of animals in literature, offering critical insight into the portrayal of animals in literature. Scholars discuss how writers represent animal experience in human language, whether it is truly possible to develop a non-anthropocentric mode of writing, and how representations of nonhuman subjects might affect our perception of certain species. 

When exploring literary animal studies in IUCAT, try looking under the following subject headings: "Human animal relationships in literature" and "Animals in literature." See also: "Palgrave studies in animals and literature" series.

Images: (Left) The Cricket in Times Square. George Selden (1960). (Right): Author: Zakariya ibn Muhammad Qazwini (ca. 1203-1283), Scribe: Muhammad ibn Muhammad Shakir Ruzmah-'i Nathani. Illustration: A Wild Cat and an Animal Called Sirayis. 1121 AH/AD 1717 (Ottoman). Artstor.


Books

Explore the following subject headings in IUCAT to learn more about animals and animal representation in the media:

Bronze statue of a dog in a park in Tokyo.

Image: Hachicko Statue in Tokyo, Japan. Go Tokyo.

Music

God Save the Animals, album cover with four birds on a branch.Chichonera's Cat album cover, orange background with a white cat wearing a hat.For the Birds Vol. I album cover, red wood background with an illustration of a bird.Animals, album cover with industrial landscape.peace places, album cover with two hands surrounded by blue sky and two yellow birds.Fetch the Boltcutters album cover.

Images: Album covers, clockwise from left to right: Alex G God Save the Animals; Ia Clua & Jordi Batiste Chichonera’s Cat; The Birdsong Project For The Birds: Vol. 1; Fiona Apple Fetch the BoltcuttersNyokabi Kariũki peace places: kenyan memoriesPink Floyd Animals.


About the Playlist

The nonhuman world, including animals, have long captured the cultural and musical imaginations of people. In this playlist, we have curated a selection of songs about, referring to, or in any way inspired by our fellow critters, whether literally or symbolically. To learn more about the music we've included, the history of nonhuman animal references in music, and animals' own relationships with music, consult some of the resources below:

Note: To enjoy the playlist in full, click on the white Spotify icon in the upper-right corner of the playlist, and press the "like" (♡) button in the application to save.


Podcasts

This American Life 

  • The Feather Heist  A flute player breaks into a British museum and makes off with a million dollars worth of dead birds. 
  • Spark Bird Stories about birds and the hearts they sway, the havoc they wreak, the lives they change.
  • In Dog We Trust  Exactly how much are the animals that live in our homes caught up in our everyday family dynamics?

Ologies with Alie Ward

The Ezra Klein Show


Articles


Miscellany 

Photograph of the book, "Modern Animal" on a neon yellow fuzzy background.Modern Animal by isolarii: Isolarii is a pocket-sized magazine that conceives of every issue as a kind of ‘island’; new space from which to view the world. Authored by the Ukrainian artist Yevgenia Belorusets, issue five is entitled ‘Modern Animal’ and is conceived as a series of lectures on the modern lives of animals. 

 

 

Logo for "The Institute of Queer Ecology."The Institute of Queer Ecology is an ever-evolving collaborative organism that seeks to bring peripheral solutions to environmental degradation to the forefront of public consciousness. IQECO projects are interdisciplinary, but unified and grounded in the theoretical framework of Queer Ecology, an adaptive practice concerned with interconnectivity, intimacy, and multispecies relationality. 

 

Logo for "Organism for Poetic Research."The Organism for Poetic Research (OPR) is a critical-poetic platform for making and studying operating primarily out of Brooklyn, NY and Providence, RI. The OPR works through writing, visual art, group discussion, and performative events to explore ideas—materially and generatively—across disciplines, e.g. “science,” “philosophy,” “history,” or “painting,” “poetry,” “music,” etc. OPR projects take a number of forms: readings, seminars, installations, books, digital residency projects on our website, and Pelt, a sporadically published (in print and online) magazine organized around an invented concept that is further articulated through the collective work of the issue.

 

There are many ways to get involved with Animal Rights and Environmental movements right here in and around Bloomington. From incorporating animal studies into your scholarship to donating money and participating in direct action campaigns, see the following list for organizations supporting animals and the environment in the Bloomington area:

  • Bloomington Animal Shelter  Run by Bloomington Animal Care and Control, whose mission is to address and respond to all animal needs in the community through education, enforcement and support in order to build a community where animals are valued and treated with kindness and respect. The Animal Shelter is accepting donations and foster applications.
  • Monroe County Humane Association (MCHA) "Dedicated to promoting the welfare of animals, strengthening the human-animal bond, and providing access to veterinary care & humane education across our community."
  • Sunrise Bloomington  "We are a group of undergrads, grads, faculty, high schoolers and Bloomington community members who are dedicated to bringing about positive changes towards climate justice initiative through grassroots movement building!"
  • IU Student Animal Legal Defense Fund  The Student Animal Legal Defense Fund was established at IU Maurer School of Law in 2010 to provide a forum for education, advocacy, and scholarship aimed at improving the lives of animals and advancing their interests through the legal system.
  • BloomingVeg  "An all-ages social and advocacy group for vegetarians, vegans, and veggie-lovers alike in Bloomington, Indiana."
  • Indy VegFest  A "nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase the public’s acceptance of the compassionate, environmental, and health facets of a vegan lifestyle through an annual event and year-round outreach and education opportunities."
  • Rainbow Bakery  Vegan bakery in Bloomington, IN.
  • Vegan, Vegetarian & Gluten-Free Restaurants in Bloomington  (Visit Bloomington)
  • Uplands PEAK Sanctuary Indiana's first farmed animal sanctuary, providing lifelong care to their residents, educational tours, and volunteer opportunities.

The following are national organizations fighting for animal rights, liberation, and environmental justice. For more information on the impact of a few of the organizations listed below, check out Animal Charity Evaluators, which researches animal welfare organizations.

  • Native American Humane Society  "Shares our expertise to help tribal communities learn how to humanely manage and care for the animal populations in their own communities. NAHS connects tribal communities and animal welfare service providers, NGOs, foundations, and other agencies to assist tribal communities in resolving their challenges with animals through regular animal care, population management, and community activities."
  • The Humane League  "We exist to end the abuse of animals raised for food by influencing the policies of the world’s biggest companies, demanding legislation, and empowering others to take action and leave animals off their plates." 
  • Good Food Institute  "A nonprofit think tank working to make the global food system better for the planet, people, and animals. Alongside scientists, businesses, and policymakers, GFI’s teams focus on making plant-based and cultivated meat delicious, affordable, and accessible."
  • The Green New Deal Network  "A coalition of grassroots organizations, labor, and climate and environmental justice organizations growing a movement to pass local, state, and national policies that create millions of family-sustaining union jobs, ensure racial and gender equity, and take action on climate at the scale and scope the crisis demands."
  • Indigenous Environmental Network  "IEN was formed by grassroots Indigenous peoples and individuals to address environmental and economic justice issues (EJ). IEN’s activities include building the capacity of Indigenous communities and tribal governments to develop mechanisms to protect our sacred sites, land, water, air, natural resources, health of both our people and all living things, and to build economically sustainable communities."

Queer Representation in Media

Welcome! In this feature, we will explore the representation of queer people in media, particularly in film and television. We will explore some common tropes/stereotypes, consider the use of representation as a concept, and track where queer representation has been and where it is going. The representation of queer people falls into categories: negative representation (harmful stereotypes that vilify and misrepresent the lives and motivations of queer folks), no representation (complete exclusion of queer people), token representation (virtue signalling through the placement of a queer character), queerbaiting (the inclusion of scenes that suggest a character might be LGBTQ+, while maintaining a distinct lack of evidence in the story to confirm or deny it), retroactive representation (when creators explicitly (and retroactively) claim that certain characters are LGBTQ+), idealistic representation (a depiction set in a world where queerness isn’t stigmatized or discriminated against), and complex representation (a nuanced, compelling depiction of queer characters that addresses the intersectional nature many queer folk's lived experiences). This feature considers a few of these representations and provides a selection of academic texts that may be helpful to your research on this or related topics.

In this feature, will highlight common tropes like The Gay Best Friend, Bury Your Gays, and Queerbaiting. Alongside these tropes, however, we highlight media that depicts nuanced and complex queer characters and reflections on queerness in the media (you will find these under the non-fiction, film, and television tabs).

For a brief history of queer cinema, check out the "Queer Film Classics" series by Arsenal Pulp Press. See a selection here:

Winter Kept Us Warm book coverParis is burning coverAnders Als Die Andern coverFire coverMidnight cowboy

From left to right: Winter Kept Us Warm, Paris is Burning, Anders Als Die Andern, Fire, and Midnight Cowboy

Further reading

To get started with your research, explore the "Sexual minorities in mass media," "Homosexuality in motion pictures," and "Lesbianism in motion pictures" subject headings in IUCAT. If there is a book you are particularly interested in, scroll down on its catalog record to find its subject headings. You can then browse by subject heading and find books similar to the one that you have already identified.

For more films, see the following lists:

Films

Documentaries

Books

For more shows, see the following lists:

Shows

Books

Queerbaiting is a (marketing) technique for fiction and entertainment in which creators hint at, but do not depict, queer romance or other LGBTQ+ representation. Queerbaiting attracts a queer/straight ally audience without isolation viewers who are opposed to seeing queer people in media. Some prominent characters that were used to queerbait fans include Dumbledore from Harry Potter, Finn and Poe from Star Wars, Holmes and Watson from Sherlock, numerous characters from the Marvel franchise, and Dean and Castiel from Supernatural. Subtext in general became popular in film in the 1930s when the Hays Code (guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States) limited what could be shown on screen. Today, queerbaiting is a way to keep media viewership up without actually representing queer people on screen, contribution to further marginalization of the LGBTQ+ community.

Further Reading


Video: The Evolution Of Queerbaiting: From Queercoding to Queercatching. Rowan Ellis (2019).

The Gay Best Friend is a trope where a gay male friend of the main character (often a straight woman) "exists mostly to add variety, funny mannerisms, and cheap laughs to an otherwise all-straight story" ("Gay Best Friend," TV Tropes). Though the Gay Best Friend is often a stereotypical depiction of a gay man, the first Gay Best Friends were positive developments in queer representation, depicting queer people on screen at a time when representation was completely absent.

VideoThe Gay Best Friend - How It Became a Stereotype. The Take (2021).

The Advocate writes, "often an important first step in introducing queer storylines to mainstream audiences, the GBF trope had a tendency to reinforce stereotypes about gay men: that their only interests are makeovers, shopping and drama, that their struggles and relationships fade into the background unless they're supporting a straight person's story, and that they only exist to be wise oracles about love and romance. In early film, the trope of the Sissy emerged as a way for filmmakers to code a character as queer (by depicting them as effeminate and outside of conventional masculinity) without explicitly stating the character's sexuality."

Still from My So Called Life

From more stereotypical depictions of effeminate white men, the gay best friend evolved to include characters of diverse identities and with deeper interior lives. For example, Wilson Cruz (right) played the character Rickie Vasquez in My So-Called Life. Cruz was the first openly gay actor to play an openly gay character in a leading role in an American television show.

Further Reading

The Bury Your Gays trope refers to the presentation of excessive deaths of LGBTQ+ characters, depicting these characters as more expendable than their heterosexual counterparts. This trope is related to the sad gay movie (which depicts queer characters in extremely traumatic situations, heartbreaking coming out stories, general suffering, etc.).

Video: The "Bury Your Gays" Trope, Explained. The Take (2020).

Studies have show that, in aggregate, queer characters are more likely to die than straight characters. "Indeed, it may be because they seem to have less purpose compared to straight characters, or that the supposed natural conclusion of their story is an early death" (Bury your gays, TV tropes). "Though the term has been widely attributed to any queer character that meets a tragic fate in media, the history it stems from is one where the characters are punished and killed specifically for the sin of being gay on screen" (Hardikar 4-5). This trope is so prevalent that the website "Does an LGBT Person Die" warns viewers of when a queer person will die in a film or television show.

Further Reading


Source: Hardikar, M. (2023). A Real Gay Person: Representation and Stereotypes in Queer Romantic Comedies. Georgetown University.