Representation - Analysis, Research, Planning & Video
Analysis
Sexuality Cory Monteint's character thinks Kurt is asking him out to the prom because he assumes that Kurt is gay because of his high-pitched voice and feminine mannerisms. Kurt is the embodiment of the gay stereotypes we've seen so often in movies and tv shows; ex. Jack in "Will and Grace" and Powder in "Powder". He is shown as overly concerned with his appearance; when Fin tells him to put on the helmet, he immediately refuses stating that it will "mess up" his hair. When Puck approaches Fin, asking if they "are an item now", Fin looks embarrassed that Puck would assume that.
Ethnicity The mother in Bend it like Beckham holds very traditional believes and is the typical strict housewife. Her primary concern is not how her daughter feels but if she conforms to tradition. She has a very thick accent and even says a few words in her native language when she looks particularly scandalized when her daughter talks back.
Research and Planning
I will focus on how LGBTQA+ youth is treated and represented in media. Despite the fact that LGBTQA+ discrimination has been illegal in the UK since Oct.1 2010, members of the community are still faced with the prejudice of non-LGBTQA+ people. Especially in boroughs like Croydon, with high number of Muslims and people from countries of the Eastern Bloc where homosexuality is either illegal or heavily condemned. According to a poll conducted by Pew Research Centre in June 2013, 0 out of the 500 interviewed Muslims believed that homosexual acts are morally acceptable. Representation in media has been scarce in the 90s, but that's slowly changing. No gay characters could be found on television before the 70s and for a few decades after that every gay character in shows or movies has been portrayed almost exclusively as a comic relief. In 2005, Brokeback Mountain grossed over $178 million proving that movies portraying queer people could be lucrative for large studios. That said, the film has received mixed reactions from within queer communities on the grounds that a movie about “straight-acting” gay men who barely have sex and who cannot even accept their own desires is hardly a gay movie at all. According to GLAAD's yearly "Where We Are on TV" report, only 4.8% (43) regular characters on TV shows openly identify as gay. My short is a documentary style, following a same-sex couple's date in Croydon as a backdrop while giving the audience facts about how LGBTQA+ people are treated in London and represent in the media in the past decade or so.
