Queer Representation in TV and Film
People in the Queer community are no strangers when it comes to being underrepresented. With every year that passes more and more people are coming out and yet that doesn’t seem to translate to what we watch. Looking at GLAAD’s “Where We Are on TV 2018,” of the 901 regular characters on scripted TV only 58 were of the LGBTQIA+ community. This is roughly 6.5% with many characters being played by cis, straight actors. I love films. I love the weird, quirky, independent films that tell niche stories. Films are what I turn to on sad days. Films help me when I’m emotional and want to escape into a world that is not my own. The only problem is I can never really connect to any character as I don’t see myself represented.
I am Arab. Sadly, this is something that took me a long time to say and come to terms with. I am “white-passing,” which means that my skin is pale and looks white but I’m not of white heritage. Both my parents are from Damascus, Syria and my grandparents as well as my great-grandparents. For as far back as my family can trace, we come from the Middle East. I am proud to be Arab, though many people hardly believe me at first because of my lighter skin. I always have to prove my ethnicity to be valid, to be Arab. This is also true with my sexual identity. I always knew I liked girls but, I still dated boys. At first, I thought that I was bisexual but as I grew older, I understood that I was and am pansexual. Now, the main question I get asked is if I’m a lesbian or not.
Back to the problem, growing up there weren’t many queer, Arab women in the media, if any. The only popular Arab women was Jasmine, but I identified more with Aladdin than with Jasmine. I felt so lonely because there was no one like me on screen. Arab folks are often portrayed as the villain or as an exotic side character. I am only one of many whose identities have been erased from media. Many LGBTQIA+ identities aren’t represented on screen. 2018 was the first year with an official non-binary character and asexual character. Many characters that are in the LGBTQ community are often played by straight, white folks. Social media debates have raised many of these issues and brought them into the public eye. A popular example of this is Eddie Redmayne’s 2015 “A Danish Girl,” film where he plays a transgender woman who prepares to undergo one of the very first cases of gender reassignment surgery. This was and still remains an issue as Redmayne is not transgender and does not understand the experiences of transgender people. This can also be seen in the 2017 film “Anything,” starring out-actor Matt Bomer. This film was highly criticized for its decision to cast Matt Bomer because even though he is gay, he is not transgender. There are so many examples of queer roles being played by non-queer actors even though there are many queer actors. One of the most popular examples of queer erasure is in the 2015 film titled “Stonewall,” which completely rewrote queer historical events in favor for a white, cis, gay man narrative. Hollywood’s refusal to portray queer people as such is frustrating and tiring.
One of the many reasons that I am excited to go to Frameline is to see more diversity in films. Frameline43 highlights more diverse identities than ever before. With “Kattumaram” as a highlight and “Gay Chorus Deep South” as their closer, plus many more; this to me indicates a shift within the Queer community. Though white, cis, gay men still dominate the “popular” narrative. To which I mean, popular LGBTQIA+ movies that are produced still focus on gay, white men. This includes “Love, Simon,” “Call Me by Your Name,” and “Boy Erased.” While movies like the “Saturday Church” and “We the Animals” are sidelined. Another reason I am excited to go to Frameline is to see queer films by queer artists. Most films presented in Frameline have members of the LGBTQIA+ community involved during some part of making the film. From producing, directing, being part of the crew, or being an actor. These films are made by queer folk telling different narratives and experiences of the LGBTQIA+ experience.
