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Queer coding

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Queer coding is the subtextual coding of a character in media as queer. Though such a characters sexual identity may not be explicitly confirmed within their respective work, a character might be coded as queer through the use of traits and stereotypes recognisable to the audience. Such traits are greatly varied, but traits of exaggerated masculinity and femininity, vanity, and hypersexuality are frequent.[citation needed] Queer coding is a concept both in the discussion of media portrayal of LGBT people and academic research involving queer theory or gender studies.

History

The idea of non-explicit queer coding likely stems from the strict regulations of how queer characters were able to be portrayed in the early days of film-making. In 1930, the Hays Code was established as a standard for what was allowed to be shown on the big screen.[1] According to the code, films were not allowed to portray "perverse" subjects such as homosexuality, which inevitably led to the portrayal of non-explicit queer characters. The trend of the inclusivity of queer characters in a subtextual way likely bled into modern portrayals of queer characters. One scholar, Jo Johnson, argued that Jerry in the Tom & Jerry cartoons had an androgynous design, even if feminized, and noted a possible homoerotic subtext between Jerry and Tom, especially when there is cross-dressing.[2] Johnson pointed to the 1966 short "Jerry-Go-Round", by Chuck Jones, as having a coded same-sex relationship between Jerry, who was gendered by Jones as female, and a female elephant who wears a pink tutu. She argued that the episode's ending could be read as a "prophetic depiction of Gay Pride".[3] Cade M. Olmstead, an interdisciplinary philosophy scholar, built upon Johnson's work. He argued that Tom and Jerry "subverts normalized gender and sexuality structures" through theatrical play and performance, transgressing the normal construction of gender.[4] Despite the queer coding in "Bugs Bunny" and "Tom & Jerry" cartoons, as scholars Deborah A. Fisher, Douglas L. Hill, Joel W. Grube, and Enid L. Gruber noted, before 1970, almost no gay characters were on television, and they remained relatively absent "until the 1990s".[5] Continuing from the late 1980s, villains in Disney films which were queer coded appeared in this decade.[6] Commentary on the treatment of LGBT+ characters in film is made in the 1995 documentary The Celluloid Closet, and is one of the first instances in which the idea of queer coding is presented to the public.[7]

Time Squad, which aired from 2001 to 2003 on Cartoon Network, arguably had an LGBTQ character. In 2012, the voice actor of Larry 3000, Mark Hamill, implied that Larry could easily have been interpreted as gay,[8] due to his femininity and presentation as the "gay best friend" to Cleopatra in "Shop like an Egyptian", even though Larry has stated on multiple occasions he dislikes humans in general. However, the show never directly stated his sexuality. Even so, Hamill described Larry 3000 as fierce and flamboyant.[9] In 2019, Klaudia Amenábar, writing for The Mary Sue, argued that Cassandra in Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure was a gay coded character who had feelings for the show's protagonist, Rapunzel.[10]

Villains

Ursula's character in The Little Mermaid was inspired by the drag queen Divine.[11]

Because of the Hays Code, positive portrayals of homosexual characters were barred, and the only characters in fiction that could be perceived as homosexuals had evil roles and were punished throughout the work.[12] Thus, villains became noted in particular to have effeminate characteristics, behaviors or gestures that could be perceived as LGBTI.[13][14] Disney characters have attracted attention because their films are popular among children.[15][16][17] Examples include:

Impact

Queer coding is similar to queerbaiting, but the queer coding of a character is neutral and intrinsic to the work, unlike queerbaiting, which often invokes queerness in order to draw viewership.[citation needed] However, queer coding may have a negative impact on perceptions of queerness in media; villains are often queer-coded, leading to the pejorative perception of queer traits. Critics have noted the Walt Disney Company's attribution of queer characteristics and behaviors to villainous or antagonistic characters.[18]

Gaston and LeFou in the 1991 film Beauty and the Beast and Jafar from the 1992 film Aladdin were created by an openly gay animator named Andreas Deja,[19] and sang music by Howard Ashman, who was also openly gay. The fact that Deja had also worked on Scar in The Lion King and the titular character in Hercules, for example, has been discussed as an influence on the development of some Disney characters.[20][21][22]

This queer coding had its disadvantages, with networks not wanting to show overt representation. Animator Rebecca Sugar argued that it is "really heavy" for a kid to only exist "as a villain or a joke" in an animated series.[6] In 2011, Deja told news.com.au Disney would have a "family that has two dads or two mums" if they find the "right kind of story with that kind of concept."[23] However, other critics criticized such queer-coded villains as contributing to "homophobic discourse" and equating queerness with evil itself.[24][25] Other critics have claimed that this attribution can lead to a negative association between queerness and immoral, licentious behavior.[26][27]

In February 2021, producer Ralph Farquhar said that in The Proud Family, which aired on the Disney Channel from 2001 to 2005, they had to use "code to talk about if Michael was gay, to talk about sexuality" and to be "sort of underhanded about it." He said this changed with The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder with the biggest changes to the show are "gender identity, obviously racial identity and quote-unquote wokeness,” and said that sexuality can be "sort of in your face with it a lot more," manifesting itself in the storytelling.[28]

See also

References

  1. ^ Billheimer, John (2019). "Origins of the Code". Hitchcock and the Censors. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 9–23. doi:10.2307/j.ctvfjcx5v.4. ISBN 9780813177427. JSTOR j.ctvfjcx5v.4. S2CID 214143884.
  2. ^ Johnson, Jo (2010). ""We'll Have A Gay Old Time!": Queer Representation in American Prime-Time Television from the Cartoon Short to the Family Sitcom". In Elledge, Jim (ed.). Queers in American Popular Culture Volume 1: Film and television. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. pp. 249, 251. ISBN 9780313354571. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  3. ^ Johnson, Jo (2010). ""We'll Have A Gay Old Time!": Queer Representation in American Prime-Time Television from the Cartoon Short to the Family Sitcom". In Elledge, Jim (ed.). Queers in American Popular Culture Volume 1: Film and television. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. pp. 256–257. ISBN 9780313354571. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  4. ^ Olmstead, Cade M. (2018). "Tom and Jerry: Performative Queerness in Action". Undergraduate Student Work. University of Northern Iowa. pp. 1–8. Archived from the original on March 18, 2020. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  5. ^ Fisher, Deborah A.; Hill, Douglas L.; Grube, Joel W.; Gruber, Enid L. (2007). "Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Content on Television: A Quantitative Analysis Across Two Seasons". Journal of Homosexuality. 52 (3–4): 167–168. doi:10.1300/J082v52n03_08. PMC 2000838. PMID 17594976.
  6. ^ a b Snyder, Chris; Desiderio, Kyle (June 29, 2021). "The evolution of queer characters in children's animation". Insider. Archived from the original on July 1, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  7. ^ Pullen, Christopher (2016). "Youth, Realism and Form". Straight Girls and Queer Guys. pp. 147–168. ISBN 9780748694846. JSTOR 10.3366/j.ctt1bgzbtn.12.
  8. ^ "039 – Mark Hamill on Talkin Toons with Rob Paulsen – Weekly Voice Acting and Voice Over Tips". Tech Jives Network. Archived from the original on 2020-03-19. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  9. ^ Hamill, Mark. "Love Unique Deadpan No-Nonsense #Skips but #Larry3000 of #TimeSquad was Fierce-Flamboyant & more Crazy-Fun to play!". Twitter. Archived from the original on March 19, 2020. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
  10. ^ Amenábar, Klaudia (March 25, 2019). "Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure Is a Surprisingly Perfect Show for Millennials". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on April 11, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  11. ^ "From Mouse to Mermaid: The Politics of Film, Gender, and Culture". Indiana University Press. 1995. ISBN 0253209781.
  12. ^ "From Sissies to Secrecy: The Evolution of the Hays Code Queer". Filmic Magazine. 1 August 2015.
  13. ^ Santos, Caynnã de Camargo (2014). "O vilão desviante: Uma leitura sociocultural pela perspectiva de gênero de Scar em O Rei Leão". Revista de Educação e Letras (in Portuguese). 16 (32).
  14. ^ "La problemática del villano afeminado". Gaymer (in Spanish). 13 October 2018.
  15. ^ "Wait a second, are all Disney villains gay?". The Tempest. 4 June 2020.
  16. ^ "10 Queer-Coded, Gay Villains from Our Childhood". Pride. 5 February 2020.
  17. ^ "Los villanos de Disney salen del armario". El País (in Spanish). 28 May 2021.
  18. ^ Martinez, Ren (December 18, 2015). "Fabulously Fiendish: Disney Villains and Queer-Coding". Margins Magazine. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017.
  19. ^ Seymour, Craig (6 October 2000). "Yep, They're Gay". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 10, 2011.
  20. ^ Dines, Gail; McMahon Humez, Jean (August 2002). Gender, Race, and Class in Media: A Text-reader. Sage Publications. p. 209. ISBN 978-0-7619-2261-2.
  21. ^ Schweizer, Peter (September 1998). The Mouse Betrayed. Regnery Publishing. p. 148. ISBN 0-89526-387-4.
  22. ^ Provenzano, Tom (28 June 1994). "The Lion in Summer". The Advocate: 66.
  23. ^ Elser, Daniela (March 4, 2011). "Gay families in Disney movies only a matter of time, says Lion King animator Andreas Deja". news.com.au. Archived from the original on August 7, 2011. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  24. ^ Gates, Meggie (July 18, 2021). "Once Again, Disney Attempts to Co-opt Pride Month". Bitch. Archived from the original on July 12, 2021. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  25. ^ Weir, John (March 29, 1992). "FILM; Gay-Bashing, Villainy and the Oscars". New York Times. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  26. ^ Mendoza-Pérez, Inés (October 26, 2018). "Queer-Coding and Horror Films". Control Forever.
  27. ^ "10 Queer-Coded, Gay Villains from Our Childhood". www.pride.com. February 5, 2020.
  28. ^ Wolfe, Jennifer (February 4, 2022). "'The Proud Family' Returns to Screens Louder, Prouder & Even More Authentic!". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on February 4, 2022. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
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