fea395journal-daniel-r

[fea395journal-daniel-r]

Week 12

Portrait of a lady on fire

The film Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a beautiful film. The cinematography is incredible and the story is very unique. The way the relationship between Marrianne and Héloïse unfolds was very compelling.

I would like to discuss the scene where Marrianne and Héloïse have sex, specifically the one shot where one of their hands is seen touching the others armpit. It seems that the director chose to implicitly show what two lesbians having sex is like, rather than explicitly. This shot where one of their hands is seen touching and groping the others armpit is implicitly showing the audience how they are making love, without actually showing it.

I thought this shot was very clever and it reminded me about our reading about representations of lesbian sex. Jenny Kitzinger wrote “lesbianism is underrepresented in the mass media, and lesbian sex is often invisible.” Even to this day, films usually refrain from showing explicit sex between two lesbian women. I feel like this idea of not showing explicit scenes of lesbian women has permeated so much throughout cinema history that filmmakers decided to get creative in the way they show lesbian intimacy. This shot of the hand and armpit was a very creative implicit way of giving the audience a very good idea of what is happening between the two.

Overall, I really enjoyed this film for many reasons and thought that this shot was very interesting.

[fea395journal-daniel-r]

Week 6

And Then We Danced (2019)

This weeks film "And then we danced" was powerful. It explores the idea of dance being used as a medium for queer identity and desire. We follow the story of Merab who grows an attraction to another male dancer names Irakli. The film takes place in Gregoria which is a largely conservative society. Gays were not accepted and the film shows us Merab's struggle within this society as he deals with his newly found queer identity.

One of the main aspects of the film was it's portrayal of dance as a means of self-expression. Merab's performances were forms of his expression and the amazing dance sequences highlight how dance can be a great medium for marginalized identities to have a voice.

The reading for this week by Jennifer Campbell, "Dancing Marines and Pumping Gasoline: Coded Queerness in Depression-Era American Ballet.", examines the same themes explored in our film. Campbell examines male ballet dancers during the great depression, and how they used gestures and movements to express their queer identity. During the great depression, society had very strict gender norms and was not very accepting of queer identities.

Both the film and article shed light onto the way dance can be a powerful means of expression for marginalized identities. They highlight the ways in which dance can serve as a safe space for people who identify as queer to express themselves proudly, despite the fact that queerness was not widely accepted by the rest of society.

In conclusion, both the film and article were very fascinating because they explored dance as a means for self-expression for queer identities.

[fea395journal-daniel-r]

Week 5

Happy Together

This week’s film Happy Together has apparently been rated one of the best queer films of all time, and I believe that there are very good reasons for this.

I really enjoyed this film because of the way that it represented this queer relationship in an honest and nuanced way. All of the complexities and issues that Po-wing and Lai Yiu-fai are just as complex as those issues seen in heterosexual relationships.

One of the issues that the couple face was Po-wings promiscuity during the time that Fai has to work as a doorman. This issue is not exclusive to queer men and is a problem that heterosexual couples can also face. Another nuance about their relationship was how they break up and eventually reconcile. This is something that is also seen frequently in heterosexual couples and not just queer men.

I also really liked that the film broke the typical norm of the happy ending by having them be separated for good by the end of the film. It shows that queer relationships don’t always work out and are just as complicated as any other relationship.

The scene that really captures this idea of relationship issues is when both are at the waterfalls and Po-wing confesses to Lai Yiu-fai about him cheating on him with another man. The confession causes them to have a violent argument out of frustration on Lai’s part. I think it was very interesting to see the contrast between the beautiful scenery with the ugliness that can come from human emotions.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed the dynamic between the two characters and how the film represented their queer relationship. 

[fea395journal-daniel-r]

Week 10

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

This weeks lecture and film was very interesting for me because I had never thought about how Captain America: The Winter Soldier seems to have queer undertones. The film does not explicitly address queerness, but many viewers have interpreted certain aspects of the film as containing queer undertones or subtext.

Many fans have read queerness into the relationship between Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, interpreting their intense emotional connection as a romantic or sexual one. Additionally, the way in which the Winter Soldier was brainwashed by Hydra has been seen as a metaphor for the trauma and erasure that many queer people experience.

Previously, I was not aware of the twitter hashtag #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend that gained a bit of popularity. It makes me realize just how much support there is from the LGBT community for the Marvel films. The fact that viewers can identify queerness in the movie and interpret it in their own ways is evidence of the value of representation and the need for diverse and inclusive media.

Overall, it was refreshing to see this film again but with a new perspective. I had never considered how Captain America: The Winter Soldier could have queer undertones. But after analyzing the dynamic between Steve Rodgers and Bucky Barnes, I could see how some can interpret their relationship as having hints of queerness.

[fea395journal-daniel-r]

Week 8 Journal

Pariah (2011)

I really enjoyed the film Pariah (2011) because it was very emotional. Especially the scene where Alike becomes “broken” after becoming heartbroken by the girl who she caught feelings and then being disowned by her mother after finally finding out who Alike really is.

The title is very fitting for the story because Alike definitely does feel like she is outcasted by almost everyone. Firstly, her mother who beats her and kicks her out of the family after finding out about her true identity. Secondly, her friend who she has her first kiss with who tells her that she doesn’t actually want a relationship with Alike and is actually “fully gay”. Alike feels like she doesn’t fit in anywhere.

This idea of the pariah also connects to our reading. The reading talks about how black women would not connect with the white women that were placed into films as the ideal women to be gazed by men. Black women had this “oppositional gave” where they would not relate to the white women on screen. These black women must have felt like a pariah because they did not relate to the white women that were placed as the perfect women.

Overall, I enjoyed the film because of how emotional it was. I feel like this film resonates with a lot of people simply because most people have probably felt like they don’t fit in the norm in a certain aspect whether queer or not.

[fea395journal-daniel-r]

Week 7 Journal

Striking Vipers

The episode Striking Vipers was very surprising to me because it wasn't obviously queer at first. It's also doesn't follow the typical tropes of many queer media, like the typical coming out story and how society reacts to the revelation. I think this story captures two men's first gay moment and how their lifelong masculine identity interferes with that. The ending was very interesting because they end up not actually pursuing each other when they meet in real life. I believe this connects to the idea of the closeted gay man who still wants to appear masculine, where the two know that if others find out of this then it would contradict their masculine identity.

It's also interesting how technology plays a huge part in this interaction between the two. In the episode, the two men explore their queerness through an immersive video game where they can have virtual sex. It connects to our reading that talks about technology enabling an easier way for men to explore their queerness. The app Grindr is mentioned and how it has changed the landscape completely for gay men to find each other and meet.

The story is very confusing too because it raises a lot of questions about wether or not it is actual gay sex for many reasons. Firstly, one of the men is virtually in the body of a women, so for the other man it's sort of still straight sex except for the fact that it is his friend in a women's body. Secondly, the entire act is virtually and is not actually happening in real life. This makes it very hard to tell whether they are actually having an affair or if they are even actually having sex.