R + P Post 4: Representation of social groups in our opening sequence

Representations of LGBTQ+ Community
In our opening sequence, we show two opposing representations of gay males. This is the representation of David as an effeminate gay male who and Craig as more introvert. David is our protagonist's love interest and although he does pay particular attention to his appearance, which is typical of effeminant males, he does not poses the stereotypical fake tan "orange" skin or over exaggerated vowels of stereotypical camp speech. This portrays gay males in a positive light as it shows that they do not need to conform to society's expectations to be considered gay.

Stereotypically Camp Male

David's confidence in his sexuality would become more prominent as the film went on, however in just the opening sequence David would be on the receiving end of abuse for his sexuality, from someone who went to the same school as him and would obviously know of his sexual orientation. This builds on our ideas of representing the LGBTQ+ community in as true to life way as possible, as many gay individuals will have received offensive comments at one point or another due to their sexuality. This would make the film more relatable to the LGBTQ+ community, with one in five Britains admitting to have made homophobic comments, however this number is likely to be much larger in actuality as people would not want to admit to having made such comments.

Waylon Smithers

Our film also has a closeted gay protagonist called Craig, which is commonly found in the media, with examples even appearing in animated series such as the Simpsons, with Mr Burns's assistant Waylon Smithers. Subtle hints suggesting his sexuality are dropped through out our opening sequence, for example in the voice over he mentions trying to find the "perfect guy" to settle down with him, which insinuates not only that he is gay but that he also is uncomfortable with straight up saying so. This connotes that he is still in the closet. Another key element of the opening sequence is where Craig steps in and attempts to help David when he is receiving offensive comments. Although this intervention ends sourly for Craig, he is still shown to be pushing himself out of his comfort zone in an attempt to be less introvert and help another person, which is a positive portrayal of the protagonist and of gay people in general, as one gay male looks to help another in times of distress.

Omar from The Wire is a good example of a
well rounded gay character

However, gay people are obviously still ordinary people and therefore still have other aspects to their personality and interests. We felt that often when a gay character is featured in the media, these areas of their character are not properly explored as the character is purely there to be "the gay guy". Therefore, we thought it was important to portray Craig as a far more three dimensional character with interests and other aspects to his personality, as we felt this portrayed members of the LGBTQ+ community in a more honest and true to life fashion. This meant that when showing Craig's bedroom it was important to include key props such as movie posters, vinyls, etc. that highlighted his likes and dislikes within the media and the drum kit showed a particular interest in music within Craig. This alongside his emotional development that is shown through out the movie through his notebook make Craig a far more fully featured gay character, than often otherwise seen in the media and thus portray gay people in a far better light.