Queer movies / TV series?

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Now that representations of homosexuals have become a stable part of popular culture, I wonder if there are any queer ("queer" as in in queer theory, not as a synonym to "gay") movies or TV series made? That is, popular cultural works which would try to deconstruct the essentiality of all identities (including "homosexual")? Or is are representations of gay and lesbians still too precarious for anyone to risk doing this? All I can think of at the moment is the British miniseries from a few years back about a gay man who fell in love with a woman, and who then had to deal with all the reactions from his gay friends.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 07:20 (seventeen years ago) link

Cheers

― Dr. Superman (Huk-L), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 07:24 (seventeen years ago) link

That also happened in Chasing Amy!

― Michael (Oakland Mike), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 07:25 (seventeen years ago) link

mannix

― bliss (blass), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 07:32 (seventeen years ago) link

Of course queer isn't about sexuality but gender as well... One of my teachers has written an article how 3rd Stone from the Sun has strong queer elements, because it's about aliens trying to fit into human bodies, and not quite managing to perform gender and sexuality as they're supposed to be done. This is most apparent in the character of Harry, for whom gender and sexuality seem to be more situational than essential in any way.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 07:38 (seventeen years ago) link

If These Walls Could Talk episode w/ chloe sevigny and chick from the gay cowboy movie (god, i cannot remember names 2nite!) might have approached this a bit.

― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 07:49 (seventeen years ago) link

Michele Williams. And that was the best segment.

― nickn (nickn), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 08:16 (seventeen years ago) link

Dare we mention the worst telly series in the history of telly, ever

― Forest Pines (ForestPines), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 08:48 (seventeen years ago) link

God, I never even heard of any of those people. Except Pui Fan Lee, of course.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 09:13 (seventeen years ago) link

Noel Clarke = Mickey out of Doctor Who Ecclescake Period.

― Forest Pines (ForestPines), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 09:14 (seventeen years ago) link

popular cultural works which would try to deconstruct the essentiality of all identities

waht

― temporary enrique (temporary enrique), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 09:16 (seventeen years ago) link

we're on some fake-anthony shit now huh.

― temporary enrique (temporary enrique), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 09:16 (seventeen years ago) link

One of my teachers has written an article how 3rd Stone from the Sun has strong queer elements, because it's about aliens trying to fit into human bodies, and not quite managing to perform gender and sexuality as they're supposed to be done.

she thinks gay people are aliens?

― temporary enrique (temporary enrique), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 09:17 (seventeen years ago) link

You're clearly out of your depth here.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 09:21 (seventeen years ago) link

evidently -- please to explain "popular cultural works which would try to deconstruct the essentiality of all identities" though. for the layman.

― temporary enrique (temporary enrique), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 09:22 (seventeen years ago) link

The L-word must be the best example of a queer tv-series. They really try to cram every queertheory-cliché in it. But theres a lot of stuff. Its a "genre" in cinema.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queer_cinema
(dont no how to embedd the adress..)

― jon person (jon person), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 09:36 (seventeen years ago) link

For what I know the essence of queer theory is that both gender and sexual identities are historical and social constructs, shaped by the different discourses in society of what it is to be a man/woman/gay/whatever. There is no essential (that is, something that exists outside these discourses) basis for them, or if there is, we cannot observe because we can only view gender and sexuality through those discourses. Now, this doesn't mean identities are necessarily obsolete or unuseful - obviously most people have a strong sense of gender and sexual identity, and identity is also an useful strategic tool around which to form political alliances (such as the feminist or gay/lesbian movements). But I think it's a better way of viewing things than the idea that sexuality or gender has some unchangeable essence to it.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 09:37 (seventeen years ago) link

The Wiki entry probably explains it better than I can:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queer_theory

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 09:42 (seventeen years ago) link

so you mean "popular cultural works which would try to deconstruct the SPURIOUS essentiality of all identities".

i don't really think gender is is an historical or social construct. it is in the way you mean, perhaps, but not in every way.

or more to the point: naming *anything* gets you into the realm of social/historical constructs, that's no big revelation. the 'biological discourse' is what prompts the midwife to say "it's a girl" or whatever. very clever.

― temporary enrique (temporary enrique), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 09:51 (seventeen years ago) link

I don't think queer theory is denying the existence of biological differences, it's just that gender ideologies we form around those differences are social consructs. Women give birth, true, but the content we give to "motherhood" doesn't automatically follow from that.

Having said that, I do think some queer theorists tend to downplay the role of bodies, and I do think there needs to be way to talk about them, even if language can never be free of power relations. But I don't think biology is nearly as important as social/historical constructs when talking about gender.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 10:06 (seventeen years ago) link

that's not really queer theory or contentious at all then -- a big step down from "For what I know the essence of queer theory is that both gender and sexual identities are historical and social constructs, shaped by the different discourses in society of what it is to be a man/woman/gay/whatever."

somewhat predates queer theory.

― temporary enrique (temporary enrique), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 10:11 (seventeen years ago) link

queer theory in the movies has been about unpicking "apparently conventional" films (like sirk's) and discovering amazing facts such as sexual aidentities being social and historical constructs. i think a few films since the '90s have been made to play this up -- ie 'far from heaven'. or i suppose fassbinder's stuff.

― temporary enrique (temporary enrique), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 10:20 (seventeen years ago) link

Nah, that's just my personal view on the subject. I think queer theory proper has to mostly to do with sexuality, whereas the deconstruction of gender is a feature of postmodern feminism - though the two are closely related. A proper postmodern feminist would probably say that even though physiological differences exist, the values given to the are totally contingent. People could as easily as be divided according to their hair colour than gender. Personally I don't think it's that easy, though I do feel biological differences between genders tend to be massively overemphasized.

(x-post)

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 10:25 (seventeen years ago) link

I just saw a documentary which tried to explain about every aspect of gendered sexuality in humans based on biological traits and the imperative to reproduce. Quite conveniently it didn't touch the issue of homosexual behaviour at all.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 10:33 (seventeen years ago) link

Two Drifters

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 20:49 (seventeen years ago) link

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/images/400/itainthalfhotmum_1.jpg

― It's Expected I'm Maud Gonne (Modal Fugue), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 20:53 (seventeen years ago) link

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