NOV–15–2024
Words by: Sara Atencio-Gonzales
Graphic by: Midjourney
Graphic by: Midjourney
The films’ plots centered around LBGTQ+ characters, portraying them differently than ever before. In the past, queer characters had not been written with multidimensional personalities and backstories. It was typical to see queer characters playing the role of the “gay best friend” — but that was pretty much it. Amid the rise of “New Queer Cinema,” queer characters were treated with love; they were constructed with the complexity and well-roundedness that seemed to be reserved only for heteronormative plotlines at the time.
These films not only gave a spotlight to the LGBTQ+ community, but also highlighted topics that weren’t being discussed in mainstream media. The Living End (1992), for example, gave the spotlight to main characters who were living with HIV/AIDS. The film followed two HIV-positive gay men as they form a relationship and go on a journey to flee from the law and society.
A study on the importance of HIV/AIDS was done in 1994, it was found that “the majority of Americans have not (knowingly) interacted with people with AIDS on a regular basis and have been forced to rely heavily on mass media images for their social knowledge about HIV/AIDS and people with HIV/AIDS” (Hart). This meant that cinema and media were playing a huge role in affecting the way the public viewed HIV/AIDs, showing that these pieces of media were being considered educational rather than obscene.
As time went on, more and more queer-led films started to hit the mainstream: Brokeback Mountain (2005) being one of the standouts of its time. Starring two of Hollywood's biggest stars, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, the film followed two cowboys who are hired to work together as sheepherders in Wyoming. The two men start an affair while working, which would last throughout the entirety of the film — a whopping 20-year-long love affair being depicted by the two actors.
The film's release was clouded in controversy, as the heteronormative associations that the public had of "cowboys" were actively being challenged. Still, the film would go on to win a multitude of awards, including Best Director at the Academy Awards.
Thanks to the trailblazers that came before, queer films are starting to become more common and welcomed in mainstream media. Films like On Swift Horses and Queer, two 2024 films led by queer characters, have been making their festival run this year, garnering positive reviews and attention.
GLAAD recently released the 12th installment of its Studio Responsibility Index, a study that annually assesses the quantity, quality, and diversity of LGBTQ+ in films released by 10 Hollywood distributors. This installment found that in 2023, 70 of the 256 films from these distributors contained an LGBTQ+ character. Though there was a decrease in what had been seen in previous years, discourse and appreciation regarding the necessity for inclusivity in films and media is becoming more and more prevalent. Notably, the same 2023 report also showed the number of characters represented by a person of color was increased by 6%.
Films like Bottoms (2023), which recently joined the one-million-watched-club on Letterboxd — the app loved by cinephiles everywhere — exemplifies how queer films are upon a new-age wave of popularity.
As the lens of Hollywood continues to widen, queer stories are now positioned at the forefront of cultural discourse. Each new film is an opportunity for a new chapter to be written: Where love, struggle, and identity are no longer confined to the heteronormative that audiences are conditioned to. The journey for queer cinema is no longer a movement, but a revolution.