"For my project, I intend to build off of previous research done on implicit portrayals of homosexual individuals and relationships in media. In the past, it was considered unacceptable to show homosexuals in media. However, there were many shows that had characters that were not explicitly gay, but were portrayed as having stereotypical gay attributes, such as men who acted like women, or women who acted like men. However, in the media of the past, these characters were often portrayed as either comical and foolish or immoral and cruel. This portrayal affected the queer community negatively because it influenced the public to associate queerness with negative attributes that are not in fact related to being queer.
For my project, I intend to do an analysis of a type of media that is still not openly showing homosexual individuals or relationships, but may be doing so implicitly. The type of media I will analyze are mainstream movies and shows that are intended for children. My hypothesis is that there are also implicit portrayals of queer characters in these shows. However, due to changing public opinions about homosexuality, I believe that I will find that these characters will begin to be characters that are protagonists instead of antagonists, like they were in the past. I argue that these portrayals will lead to a more positive public image of the queer community."
