Lgbtq trope movie website
By Riley Dauber
Opinion Editor
Possibly more than any other genre, horror films utilize many different tropes and storylines over and over again. While some are classic and reliable – and parodied to this time – other tropes are harmful to not only the genre, but the audience members as well.
The “bury your gays” trope is when the Homosexual characters are killed soon on in the clip or show. Their death is usually due to their sexuality, or occurs after confessing their feelings to their romantic interest.
According to TV Tropes, “The problem isn’t merely that gay characters are killed off: the problem is the tendency that lgbtq+ characters are killed off in a story entire of mostly straight characters, or when the characters are killed off because they are gay.”
The trope not only takes several steps backward in terms of LGBTQ+ representation, but it is damaging to viewers who identify and relate to the characters on-screen.
When it comes to the horror genre, many LGBTQ+ characters are notoriously painted as villains. According to NME, “Thanks to the Hays Code, from 1934 to 1967, the film industry censored anything of a ‘perverse nature,’ meaning queer characters could be smug
13 Times Queer TV/Movie Characters Were Written Beautifully, And 13 Times They Were Portrayed In A Horrible Light
"Willow and Tara's entire association was just written poorly. First off, killing Tara fond of that was absolutely unacceptable and unnecessary — all of the 'bury your gays' moments were bad, and Tara was just another example of that. And the pure bisexual erasure of Willow in relation to her intimacy with Oz felt like obscuring bisexuality as a whole. Her romance with Oz felt as visceral and actual as her affair with Tara did, and it could have been a really excellent step for bisexuality as a whole...but it wasn't."
—skaboom
"Willow was attracted to and in love with multiple men over the first few seasons, had a fit sex life with them, and then suddenly became a lesbian, to the point where she later expressed that men repulsed her and she could only be with women. I loved the lesbian inclusion, and I recognize for its moment it was groundbreaking, but they did young bisexuals trying to figure themselves out so grimy. That’s not even to mention the 'bury your gays' issue in the show."
—allisonh4f5a181b3
Horror is gay. It’s a genre about, among other things, destroying societal conceptions of heteronormativity and domesticity. Gay horror fans like myself see ourselves in these narratives about monstrosity and “otherness” and take contain of them, making them our possess. In his novel, Queer Horror Motion picture and Television: Sexuality and Masculinity at the Margins, Darren Elliott-Smith says, “…the study of titanic homosexuality in the horror film has also revealed the celebratory pleasures offered to queer, lgbtq+ and lesbian viewers’ oppositional identification with the very identical monsters that threaten the norm.” Our identities threaten heteronormativity and we cheer on those monsters that do the same. Horror is not only about queerness, but is shaped by queerness, with LGBTQ+ directors, like Clive Barker and Don Manici, creating horror classics such as Hellraiser and Child’s Play, respectively.
While gay horror directors and fanatics have helped shape horror film, their work is eclipsed by toxic tropes created to “other” LGBTQ+ characters and make them into villains. Horror ultimately reflects societal fears and for much of recent history, society
The Best LGBTQ Movies and TV Shows for Families
Representation in TV shows and movies has show up a long way in recent years. Growing up, I rarely saw characters who reflected the complete spectrum of identities and experiences in the authentic world. Today, my kids are experiencing a media landscape that’s more inclusive, more diverse, and a lot more hopeful. While there’s still work to be done, it’s encouraging to see stories that celebrate authenticity, empathy and love in all its forms.
In honor of Identity festival Month, we’ve rounded up some fantastic family-friendly shows and movies that main attraction LGBTQ characters. These picks offer everything from laughs and adventure to earnest moments that can spark great conversations. So pop some popcorn, grab a cozy seat on the couch, and enjoy stories that reflect the gorgeous diversity of the planet we live in.
Family-friendly movies with LGBTQ characters
“Nimona”
When a knight (Ballister) in a futuristic medieval world is framed for a crime he didn’t commit, only the mischievous teenager Nimona can help him clear his name. Only one difficulty — she just happens to be a shape-shifting creature that Ballister has sworn to destroy.
A film that caused me to use the oppositional gaze was a clip that I had never thought about critically until recently as I had watched it many times as a child, this movie was Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope. Rope was made around the late 1940’s and during those times, explicitly gay characters were rarely seen in Hollywood films. This was mainly due to the Hayes Code, but the studio system was able to get around this restraint with the use of coding. Rope utilizes this tactic in order to create a greater meaning of villainy within its characters by coding them as the “other,” in this case non-straight men. The tropes in this film are used to subconsciously exacerbate the horror in heterosexual men that gay men are inherently trying to seduce them, and therefore dangerous to their family and control structure.
The film in doubt revolves around the characters of Brandon Shaw and Phillip Morgan, two well-off “friends” who decide to create the perfect murder merely to see if they can get away with it. They destroy a close friend of theirs, hide the body, and then invite their other close friends to a dinner party over the hidden dead body to prove how good hidden their murder was. On