Hollywood may be releasing more queer films, but one group is missing
Disobedience (Bleecker Street/YouTube)
Although a flood of queer films are being celebrated in the mainstream, there’s still something missing from the roster of movies that have been released.
Whether it’s Moonlight, Call Me By Your Name or Love, Simon being celebrated through gleaming accolades in Hollywood, there’s one poignant act about queer coming of age films: They are not favouring the depiction of lesbian women.
According to GLAAD – the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation – gay men comprise an overwhelming 83 percent of LGBT representation in the media, while lesbian characters featured on our screens at 35 percent of the rate.
In 2017, the organisation also found that of the 2016’s top films just 18 percent included LGBTQ characters.
“Gay men seem to be so much better represented [than lesbians], although I’d say they get slotted into the camp niche and the diversity of their representation is consequentially restricted,” a spokesperson for the Arts Trade Union Equity said to studybreaks.com.
“Gay male representation is improving, although camp gay men are still the norm, especially in comedy scenarios.”
Even on TV screens, explicitly lesbian dramas do not seem to make the silver screen’s grade.
Although flourishing bisexual characters can be seen in the likes of Riverdale, shows such like Everything Sucks! have been discontinued to a great deal of backlash.
Everything Sucks!, which features a lesbian getting to grips with her sexuality, was pulled by Netflix after just one series.
Hopes are high that the release of Disobedience will start to equal out the stakes when it comes to lesbian representation in Hollywood film.
Starring Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams, the film follows a young woman who returns to her Orthodox Jewish home after learning about the death of her estranged father.
Unable to deny her feelings for her best friend, she rekindles her love for the woman who is now married to her cousin.
However, UK fans will have a bit of a wait on their hands when it comes to the adaptation of the Naomi Alderman novel, which will be coming to British screens on 28 September 2018.
However, whether it’s Disobedience or Love, Simon, one thing is apparent: None of these title roles are being played by queer actors.
Perhaps it’s also worth asking the industry if it will only change when it puts queer actors on the screen – and introduces them into the lofty ranks of the industry.
