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Representation
of Queer in
Cinema

Name: Drashti Joshi Roll No: 05
Sem: 3 [M.A.] Enrolment Number:
4069206420220016
Batch: 2022-2024 Paper Code: 22409
Paper Number: 204 Paper Name: Criticism
submitted To: Smt S.B.Gardi, Department of English, M.K.B.U.
E-Mail: drashtijoshi582@gmail.com

Points To Ponder
- What is Queer Theory?
- Queer Represented in Cinema
- One Movie from Bollywood
- One Movie from Hollywood
- Conclusion
- References

What is Queer Theory
According to Annamarie Jagose,
Since the early 1990s, the term queer has been strategically taken up to signify a wide-ranging
and unmethodical resistance to normative models of sex, gender, and sexuality. Although this
use of queer marks a process of resignification as new meanings and values are associated
with what was once a term of homophobic abuse, there is always an important sense in which
queer maintains, even in changed illocutionary circumstances, its original charge of shame.
Despite such a short history, the accelerated rise of queer as a critical term demonstrates the
significant impact it has had on understandings of the cultural formations of gendered and
sexual identities and practices, both in activist and academic circles. (Jagose)
The term queer is necessarily indeterminate, taking on different—and sometimes contradictory
meanings in different articulations. Sometimes queer is synonymous with lesbian and gay, for
which it becomes a convenient shorthand. At other times, it refers to a generational or even
fashion-led distinction between old-style lesbians and gays and new style sexual outlaws.
(Jagose)

Queer theory seeks to:
• Support people in their expressions of homosexual
desires and in building gay and lesbian lifestyles.
• Counteract homophobic identities.
• Promote the emancipation of homosexuality.
• Destabilize essentializing identities.
• Resist heterosexual cultures through the carnival, transgression
and parody.
• Be co-sexual: men and women are on equal footing. The term
queer is now used to mean both gays and lesbians.
• Promote the demand and fight for sexual justice as part of social
justice. (Kaur)

Queer Represented in Cinema
Cinema is a powerful medium to catalyze social change. Like other art forms cinema is both a
part of social reality and also a medium of portraying it. Films have subtle influence on society’s
way of thinking. Cinema has undoubtedly contributed a lot to the queer movement in India.
Sexual minority consists of all those people who fall under the categories of Lesbians, Gays,
Bisexuals and Transgenders. Projection of gender stereotypes in films forms society’s
perception of gender roles. (Kaur)
The over-saturation of gender stereotypes in the films results in the misrepresentation of gender
roles which gets embedded in the human mind and is passed on from generation to generation as
an acceptable view. Homosexuality is still considered a taboo in India. Section 377 of the Indian
Penal Code which criminalizes homosexuality was introduced by the British in colonial India in
1861 and it still stands in the country’s books. (Kaur)
Lately, the portrayals of queer people in films have found some sensitive and realistic
representations by directors who have tried to carve out a unique space for the representation of
queer people through cinema. (Roy)

One Movie from Bollywood
Indian cinema caters to almost all genres and screens all types of
issues prevailing in our society. The audience also welcome the
sensitive issue which are mirrored in the films. (Pandya)
Aligarh is also one such movie which has gained the popularity
worldwide for its one-of-the-kind and novel theme at least in the
Hindi film industry. The story is not a fictitious one. It is based on
the painful saga of a professor of Marathi Language working at
the reputed Aligarh Muslim University and that sets the socio-
political backdrop for this movie. The director Hansal Mehta has
very minutely worked upon the socio-political ideologies of the
authorities of AMU and has represented them brilliantly in the
movie. The real-life ordeals of Prof. Siras in the university, his
neighbourhood, the courtroom and the society in general is
keenly observed and presented genuinely in the movie.

Manoj Bajpayee has beautifully portrayed the character of Professor Siras in the movie and
has completely justified the role of a sixty-four-year-old professor who undergoes the
disgrace for being a homosexual. He puts forward his argument in the court that the action
taken of by the university has violated the rules of the Apex Court in India which ensures the
right to privacy and the orders of the Delhi High Court is also violated as homosexuality was
decriminalised.
Rajkumar Rao has played the role of a young journalist Deepu Sebastian who develops a
strong bond with Siras and takes his case to the court. Deepu’s sympathetic attitude
towards him comes as a relief for him in the time of turmoil when he direly needed somebody
whom he can rely upon and open his heart without any shame and hesitation.
Meenakshi Shedde, a globally acclaimed critic remarked, “Aligarh is masterfully directed: it
is the rare film that courageously stands for human rights, including those of homosexuals,
yet offers a quiet, distilled perspective.” (Pandya)

One Movie from Hollywood
- According to Elizabeth Little,
The story follows Alex Claremont-Diaz, son of the first female American
president, and his developing relationship with Henry, the Prince of
Wales.
Released in 2019, Casey McQuiston’s book quickly went viral,
becoming an instant New York Times bestseller, winning awards, and
making best books lists. The classic “enemies-to-lovers” romance
trope takes on international significance with the offspring of two world
leaders involved.
Alex and Henry’s initial dislike for each other boils over and catches
media attention after they ruin the cake at a royal wedding. To try to
limit the diplomatic and media fall-out, the two have to pretend to be
friends – which leads to their budding romance, and discovering their
sexuality together. (Alex is bisexual and Henry is gay.) (Little)
Released on
Amazon Prime
Released on 22
July 2023.
Director: Matthew
Lopez

- Denitha Nafalitha and her co-authors observes..
Readers Response to Queer Representation on Red, White & Royal Blue:-
Red, White & Royal Blue is the instance of a queer book written by a queer author, and presents
the predominance of LGTBQ+ characters in the story, it indicates this novel is supposed to meet
the reader’s expectations towards queer representation in a literary work. There is even a
movement called “Own Voices” around Young Adult readers and writers, as explained by Kheraj
the concept of this movement is simple, rather than majority group authors, such as cisgender,
male, straight, white, and abled to write about marginalized group, it is better if the people in the
groups writing their own perspective to encourage the publication of diverse characters written by
authors from the same diverse group .
This is one of those books that leaves you hopeful while at the same time has you wishing that
someone could send you love letters that represent the overarching themes of your romance. The
characters are complex and vulnerable, and the world represented within is one that at times can
seem removed, but all together possible. (Nafalitha)
In Red, White & Royal Blue, Alex and Henry don’t just avoid an international
diplomatic disaster by falling in love: they give voice to the desires of queer and
diverse youth who want to see a happily-ever-after that looks like them
represented on the page and the screen. (Little)

- According to Ian Kumamoto, He is also Gay and he write review on this movie.
We’re living in the golden age of LGBTQ+ movies and TV, and I’ve been binge-watching all the
queer content I never got to see growing up. Most recently, I watched the latest season of ”
Heartstopper” as well as the movie ”Red, White and Royal Blue,” but while watching the sex and
kissing scenes in both, I found myself nervously holding my breath or even looking down. That’s
when I came to a disturbing realization: Nearly eight years since I came out of the closet, seeing
physical queer intimacy on mainstream TV still makes me uncomfortable.
When I thought about it more, I had to admit to myself that seeing queer people show each other
love in an authentic way, however positive, is something that my mind is still processing. Also, I
think there’s still a voice in the back of my head telling me that I’ll never have love like that a pure
and innocent love that thrives in the light of day.
I am so happy that the next generation of queer people might grow up seeing people like them
being physically intimate with each other. Maybe when they start dating, they won’t automatically
look over their shoulders when they hold hands with the person they’re with. Maybe they’ll know
that they deserve happiness, and will not accept relationships shrouded in secrecy. And maybe
they’ll teach me a thing or two about not holding my breath when I see us expressing love out
loud.(Kumamoto)

- According to news reporting
of TOI,
Same-Sex Marriage in India Live
Updates: The court can't make
law but only interpret it and it is
for Parliament to change the
Special Marriage Act, Chief
Justice of India (CJI) D Y
Chandrachud said on Tuesday
while pronouncing his verdict on
21 pleas seeking legal validation
for same-sex marriages.
Directing the Centre, states and
Union Territories (UTs) to ensure
that the queer community is not
discriminated against, the CJI,
who is heading the constitution
bench, said queer is a natural
phenomenon known for ages and
is neither urban nor elitist.

It is unfortunate that people back then did not realize that being gay was not something that
needed to be hidden behind the curtain. Luckily, Hollywood nowadays has been somewhat
comfortable with LGBT characters in film. More and more films are now able to depict
homosexuality in an accurate and positive light . With this progress, LGBT films are anticipated
to not paint gays as a victim of their own “sins,” but as a diverse group of individuals whose
differences and triumphs should be celebrated and not shunned or ignored. (Tran)
Taking Hindi cinema’s popularity into consideration, the industry is contributing towards
mainstreaming the queer culture in India. Homosexuality is addressed to be no more a taboo in
many films of the recent era. Also many other Vernacular language cinema industries have
started picking up the LGBTQ themes within it. While advertising such a film, the word queer is
not mentioned anywhere directly in their promotional features unlike earlier, which itself is to be
looked at as a paradigm shift.When suggestions for filmmakers are to be considered, the
filmmakers might also have to add more voice to the bi-sexuality representation in the films.
(Chatterjee)
Conclusion

Chatterjee, Shoma. “Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences.” Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2018,
https://rjhssonline.com/HTMLPaper.aspx?Journal=Research%20Journal%20of%20Humanities%20and%20Social%20Sciences;PID=2
018-9-1-31. Accessed 21 October 2023.
Jagose, Annamarie. “Queer Theory.” New Dictionary of the History of Ideas, edited by Maryanne Cline Horowitz, vol. 5, Charles Scribner's
Sons, 2005,
https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&sw=w&u=uiuc_uc&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CCX3424300651&asid=3eb1faca847c7129e7e0242da
b23b585. Accessed 20 October 2023.
Kaur, Pushpinder. “Gender, Sexuality and (Be) longing: The Representation of Queer (LGBT) in Hindi Cinema.” Amity University Noida, 2017,
https://amity.edu/UserFiles/asco/journal/ISSUE50_3.%20Pushpinder.pdf. Accessed 20 October 2023.
Kumamoto, Ian. “Red White & Royal Blue: Queer Discomfort With On-Screen Sex.” HuffPost, 21 August 2023,
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/queer-intimacy-on-tv-movies_n_64e3662be4b000bac47685a7. Accessed 21 October 2023.
References

Little, Elizabeth. “The Red, White & Royal Blue effect: The royal romance trope is reflecting diverse desires.” Scroll.in, 19 August 2023,
https://scroll.in/article/1054368/the-red-white-royal-blue-effect-the-royal-romance-trope-is-reflecting-diverse-desires.
Accessed 21 October 2023.
Nafalitha, Denitha. “(PDF) Representing Queer in Popular Literature: Reader Analysis on Casey McQuiston's Red, White & Royal Blue.”
ResearchGate, July 2023,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/372759840_Representing_Queer_in_Popular_Literature_Reader_Analysis_on_Casey_McQui
ston's_Red_White_Royal_Blue. Accessed 21 October 2023.
Pandya, Dr. Digvijay. “Hansal Mehta's Aligarh: A Critical Study Of Queerness In The Socio-Political Backdrop.” Journal of
Pharmaceutical Negative Results, https://www.pnrjournal.com/index.php/home/article/download/6319/8060/7676.
Roy, Himadri. “UNIT 4 QUEER(ING) CINEMA.” eGyanKosh, https://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/40677/1/Unit-4.pdf.

“Same Sex Marriage Live: Supreme Court verdict on same-sex marriage in India evokes mixed response from LGBTQ activists.” The Times of India,
17 October 2023, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/same-sex-marriage-verdict-live-updates-supreme-court-judgement-
special-marriage-act-lgbtqia-cji-chandrachud/liveblog/104482363.cms. Accessed 21 October 2023.
Tran, Hayley. “Queer representation in film and television: How were gay characters heavily censored during the….” Medium, 26 December 2018,
https://medium.com/@myhanhtran_45511/queer-representation-in-film-and-television-how-were-gay-characters-heavily-censored-
during-the-bed88640457. Accessed 21 October 2023.

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