The Depiction of Homosexuality in US-American Movies and Its Reception in Society

Zusatztext

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,7, University of Marburg, language: English, abstract: According to Epstein and Friedman, the engagement of Americas film industry with ho- mosexuality in general has always been a sensitive issue and still is up to today. Although quite a few people working in Hollywood, in all aspects of moviemaking, from producing to performing, are openly homosexual, the industrys main players are still reluctant to intensively approach this prime phobia in Hollywood (Hilliard 9). From the first signs of homosexuality in Dicksons Dickson Experimental Sound film (1895) over to the restrictive Hays Code in the 30s on to influential modern movies such as Demmes Philadelphia (1993) or Lees Brokeback Mountain (2005), there are plenty of examples of Hollywoods varying engagement with homosexual issues. In the course of this paper, I will not only analyze the depiction of homosexuality in these movies, but also describe societys reactions to these works. Of course, there have been harsh reactions to movies presenting homosexuality not as something to be feared of. Especially Christian groups have always blamed respective movies for depicting deviant behavior, as well as conservative politicians and media.

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