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A wedding ring is one full circle away. arts2090 major assignment

June 9, 2010

Digital network media make no essential difference to the relations between publishing institutions and society.

After viewing the much publicized Sex and the City 2 movie, for the second time, I wondered when my wedding day would come about; the day when I, a man, could walk down the aisle in my white Dior suit, to all male chorus and lavish swans swimming around me and marry another man. After the excitement was over and the very generous idea had come to a rest it dawned on my how ‘traditional’ weddings are and the religious connotations they with-hold. And since ‘homosexuality’ is anything but ‘traditional’ in the sexual, physical and even emotional sense why are us ‘gays’ represented as ‘ordinary human beings’ throughout the media and their publishing institutes like television and film?[1] I’m sure the intentions are all well, and needless to say I support equality throughout sexual, religious, cultural and gendered minorities, but the truth is to be gay is to be different. Our sexual behavior is not the same as a heterosexual couple, and because of that it manifests different emotional obstacles that we must overcome.[2] I begin to wonder that by putting homosexuals in a heterosexual template are we being un-intentionally oppressed by the media?[3] After all, at least we are recognized and seen throughout the entertainment media, surely that must be a huge step forward? Us humans are complex beings and trying to generalize our behavior and state of mind to capture it in a publishing form is so difficult. The very idea of trying to create a gay relationship on screen or in print with ‘straight’ ideals and values almost preserves the heterosexual lifestyle as it often will show us the flaws and mishaps of the ‘gay couple’ in the situation.[4] Again, I understand that this is usually done in texts to reach a wider audience; the media represents the minorities with a strong focus on the more universal topics so that every audience member can relate to the issue.[5] But it does not work; to me it’s the equivalent of creating a television show about an Islamic family and having them celebrate Easter and Christmas.

I wouldn’t be complaining if I didn’t think the ramifications were severe, but publishing has such an effect on society, it shapes our ideals and can easily play with our already existing prejudices. Stereotyping for instance fuels dominant ideologies, and attaches meanings to different objects and images.[6] For example, a published medium can mean different things to a different audience depending on their background and education, and how we associate these images is all dependent on how our minds reproduce the issue about the subject. Because of the media and the visual representations of a ‘lesbian’ many would probably envisage a butch, large, aggressive female with short hair, likewise, with a gay man, the overtly flamboyant bitch. And the problematic issue at hand here is most of these typecast roles are used for humor.[7] Rosie O’Donnell on The View fulfilled these shoes, and likewise does Jack McFarland in Will and Grace or Nathan Lane’s character in the Birdcage. These ‘characters’ (not Rosie) are also very single dimensional there is no real depth to them, they almost mock our society and silence their voice because they cannot be taken seriously.[8] Not once does Sex and the City or Will and Grace, Ellen (the skit-come) or even Brokeback Mountain try to actually travel the political issues of their society through their medium. Whilst they might focus on those universal issues of love, it really makes the wider audience uncomfortable when the media dwells or even attempts to tackle the minority’s oppressive issues.[9]

New technologies and their easy availability means mediums with more homosexual context can slowly be published to a wider audience and bring these issues to the surface. On youtube for example A Jihad for Love follows young Islamic men and their struggles with homosexuality and the Iranian documentary Be like Others tells of men going through underground sex changes.[10] These documentaries are vital as they show real gay men, facing and suffering gay issues; in Hollywood and the entertainment medium gays are desexualized to make them seem less of a threat to the audience but here, the issue is being dealt with in a manner that does not attempt to glorify nor escape the true political substance some homosexuals face.[11] The internet is almost a blessing, whilst it is not a medium, it’s a form of publication that fuels communication amongst the community, for example there are a number of chartrooms, were anyone can be anonymous and talk with another homosexual around the world, also there is a gay Christian internet Radio station that offers support and insight into real Homosexual oppression within religious sectors of the community. But perhaps the internets greatest achievement is how it can over come and publish mediums that might be physically banned, it can reach a wider audience to tell our story, the way we want it to be told, so we are no longer invisible, or better yet, our stories are not told by a heterosexual ‘artist’ using conventional cinematic techniques, which really benefits the heterosexual audience.[12] Because film attempt to reach a wider audience it must confide to certain rules, the internet has different intentions and therefore does not need that very large audience’s approval, therefore the internet can display an issue the author wants within having to put a large dominate audience’s needs first, instead the author puts his/her needs and opinion forward.

It’s also so important to look back at how we were portrayed throughout history within arts, literature and film. Again, with websites like Wikepedia, an open-ended publishing media, we can find democratic and easily accessed information to show that homosexuality publishing goes all the way back into the ancient civilization. An ancient Roman silver artifact found in Bittir, dated to 1AD displays an older man having sexual encounters with a younger gentlemen and likewise a red figured cup dated 480BC depicts Zephyrus and Hyacinthus in a most sexual pose.[13] The Greek and Roman empires depicted homosexuality as a common ‘practice’ and there were statues commemorating their love, displayed in public. ‘To say that queer emancipation is a product of western reform is severely misinformed.’ [14]For these ancient publications show us that society obviously knew, and some even ‘embraced’ their sexuality through their artworks. Yet, it’s almost like we have taken a step back, in 100 yeas of movies, especially before 2000, if homosexuality was bought up it was very subtle or something to pity or laugh at. I came across a fine author named Vito Russo and he said “Hollywood, the great makers of myths, taught straight people what to think about gay people… and gay people what to think about themselves”, and I completely agree with this statement. Hollywood is such a powerful medium that almost shapes our state of mind, and in films such as Basic Instinct, Victim and The Silence of the Lambs homosexuals are seen as psychopaths, attaching the morals and values of the heterosexual environment, it conveys a message that our lifestyle is almost “problematic” or “sickly”, and Russo, and I, believe that films are a moving artwork that depict the ideologies of the time. [15]

The Hollywood Production Code of the 40’s and 50’s censored the context of film to preserve the American values. And amongst this rule I found that homosexuality was forbidden, and if an auteur wanted to touch on this topic, he could not humanize or glorify the gay individual.[16] Instead in films like The Maltese Falcon and Gilda homosexuality is portrayed as a web of social fear, threat and anxiety to the community. [17]So we think about this, and if you ask yourself the fact that a law had to outline that Hollywood could not touch upon the oppression of homosexuality it must mean that publishing institutes really DO have an effect on society!

You want proof? I’ve found heaps! In 1996 (Riggle and co.) studies the attitudes of 82 students before viewing a documentary on Harvey Milk and then again surveyed the students after, the results shows that there was less prejudice towards homosexuality amongst the students who held prejudices before hand.[18] A more recent study in 2006 (Shiappa and co.) proved that Will and Grace created more of a tolerance towards the gay lifestyle amongst young heterosexuals.[19] All proving how powerful publishing institutes are in our society. Again a 2001 German study (Rossler and Brasus) created 2 groups of people, one was a controlled group with their ‘gay’ media intake was restricted; the other was exposed to talk shows that dwelled on homosexual themes. Both groups started with the same amount of prejudices to begging with but only the 2^nd groups attitudes saw a significance difference by the time the research had ended. [20]

This is exactly why it’s so important that we are portrayed as the individuals we are, it’s all good and fun to mock (kindly) anyone, but our characters, our representations need depth. We need to be taken seriously within the media. Even in the late 90’s with the hate crime in Wyoming on Mathew Shepard (19y.o homosexual who was badly beaten by two locals, who robbed him and left him tied to a fence for 18 hours, before someone found him and passed 4 days later in hospital) the United States media took different attitudes towards this crime. Publishing is a voice, a very strong voice. The ABC’s 20/20 program stated that “… portrayed as a hate crime because Shepard was homosexual, was in fact a bungled burglary and not motivated by hate.”[21] The New York Times and the Boston Globe also agreed with the ABC. But because other media outlets and freelance bloggers, in the day and age of the very slow dial up internet, could still voice their un-effected opinion a movement was able to be put forward; “hate-crime” laws to protect homosexuals from discrimination began with large supporter coming from Sen. Edward Kennedy. [22]

So can we see how easily influenced we are, I mean evidently, I wanted to replicate a wedding I saw in a movie, but in a more serious manner, we need to understand how powerful the media is in shaping our opinions, and better yet we really need to understand that when attempting to create a ‘realistic’ and ‘honest’ depiction of a minority group, like homosexuals, it must be understood that each group is different and new conventions or templates must be used to capture and tell our stories accurately. Hatred and a closed minded attitude will get no one anywhere, we need to move forward. And the best way to do this is by using publications and digital media to our advantage, it’s out there, it’s easy to use and it’s fun! J

[1] http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC18folder/GaysinFilmDyer.html

[2] http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC18folder/GaysinFilmDyer.html

[3] http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC18folder/GaysinFilmDyer.html

[4] http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/gays_and_lesbians/gay_film.cfm

[5] http://medialiteracy.suite101.com/article.cfm/minority_media_representations

[6] http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC18folder/GaysinFilmDyer.html

[7] http://medialiteracy.suite101.com/article.cfm/minority_media_representations

[8] http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/gays_and_lesbians/gay_film.cfm

[9] http://medialiteracy.suite101.com/article.cfm/minority_media_representations

[10] http://meemgroup.org/blog/?p=40

[11] http://medialiteracy.suite101.com/article.cfm/minority_media_representations

[12] http://www.hour.ca/film/film.aspx?iIDArticle=13416