Looking at LGBT film reviews
- Love Simon (Gay coming of age drama) – Closeted gay Simon Spier falls for an anonymous classmate online.
– 92% of critics liked it
– 89% of the audience liked it
- Call me by your name (Gay romantic drama) – A seventeen-year-old student and the older man hired as his father’s research assistant fall in love.
– 95% of critics liked it
– 85% of the audience liked it
- But I’m a cheerleader (Lesbian Comedy) – Megan’s parents are worried she is a lesbian and so send her to a “rehabilitation camp” to turn her straight
– 37% of critics liked it
– 74% of the audience liked it
- Blue is the warmest colour (Lesbian drama) – 15-year-old Adele meets a blue haired girl and wishes to be in a relationship with her and it unfolds over a decade
– 90% of critics liked it
– 85% of audience liked it
- Saving face (lesbian comedy, drama and romance) – A girl is looking for a lesbian romance with a disapproving mother
– 86% of critics liked it
– 88% of the audience liked it
Conclusion
It seems that people are willing to see LGBT films and enjoy them, however, most of the films I have looked at got complaints for having characters who were so stereotypical that they were borderline offensive with “unnecessary stylization” (Quote source). This is important to be aware of whilst making our film trailer as it isn’t intended to be a controversial film or to offend anybody but rather to show that a lesbian romance isn’t something strange and uncommon.
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Journalists on gay representation in films
USA Today – LGBTQ representation in film fell in 2017, according to GLAAD study
“ LOS ANGELES (AP) — Despite high-profile Oscar wins for art house films like Call Me By Your Name and A Fantastic Woman, LGBTQ representation in films from the seven biggest Hollywood studios fell significantly in 2017 according to a study released Tuesday by the advocacy organization GLAAD.
GLAAD said in its sixth annual report that of the 109 major releases surveyed from 2017, 12.8 percent included LGBTQ characters, down from 18.4 percent the previous year. None of the major films had a transgender character either, although there was an increase in the racial diversity of LGBTQ characters after two years of decline. “
Study Breaks – Lesbians Are Not Being Properly Represented In Hollywood
“Both lesbians and bisexuals are largely unrepresented on television. A report by the BBC, which focused on lesbian, gay and bisexual people, found that lesbian women were “relatively invisible compared to the level of coverage of gay men.”
“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. “Gay male representation is improving, although camp gay men are still the norm, especially in comedy scenarios.”
“when lesbians are shown, viewers see very stereotypical depictions.
“More often than not, she fits the lipstick lesbian trope. She’s femme, traditionally attractive and hypersexualized. Sometimes she takes a heterosexual relationship out for a spin, even though she is not bisexual,” says Anderson.
“This undermines lesbians and makes lesbianism seem a flippant lifestyle choice, rather than simply an intrinsic part of who they are.”
Archer – Why not Love Simone? Lesbian representation in mainstream film
“why not Love, Sarah? Love, Simone? My friend, an actress, is fully aware of the lack of queer women’s visibility in mainstream film. The numbers speak volume: in 2016 the 125 major studio releases only 23 (18.4%) had characters identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer.
Of those inclusive films, most were represented through gay men (83%; 20 films). Lesbian representation was at 34.8% (8 films). And this was just investigating character representation, not protagonists.
The overall numbers of 2017 fared even worse: only 14 of 109 films contained characters identifying as LGBTQ. Gay men still dominated in representation (64%, 9 films), and lesbian representation remained stable (36%, 5 films).”
“Mainstream films with lesbian or queer women [at the helm aren’t afforded the same narrative. Instead there] are period-dramas and biopics (The Battle of the Sexes, Carol, Professor Marston & The Wonder woman), often featuring women coming to terms with their sexuality later in life and often negotiating this as existing mothers or wives. While these stories do deserve to be told, they also represent a dominant focus on older queer women’s lived experiences.
When younger queer women appear on screen we’re often spoon fed the myth that a young queer women’s sexuality is supposedly an experiment or phase, something noncommittal. Alternatively, the narrative shifts to how queer women are tempted or seduced out of their heterosexual relationship by another woman (Imagine Me & You, A Room in Rome).
Beneath both of these tropes is the idea that queer women’s sexuality is still determined by men. We don’t often see the young queer woman who just is.”
Summary
To conclude, from reading several articles about gay representation in mainstream media I can see that there is a big need for LGBT + films. Also, that there is a big market for a young lesbian romance (which is the category our film falls under) as there are barely any of these story types being told. Lesbians are greatly under represented in mainstream media and so any film under that umbrella has a responsibility to handle the subject of being in a lesbian relationship (and any unique struggles like coming out that come with it) delicately and respectfully whilst also being well researched and not in danger of misrepresentation.
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