Introductory Remarks
At this point, it is no secret the American society shows a degree of tolerance lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered individuals never enjoyed in the 20th century. The question emerges of why it is that people have grown more tolerant towards and supportive of LGBT individuals. Media categories, such as television and films considered the carriers of culture, influence people’s perception, as does the culture itself shaping it. Thus, the way such phenomenon as same-sex relationships along with their participants are depicted in television and movies determines how tolerantly the society will perceive such people. The major research question is the correspondence of the change in the social perception of LGBT residents with the more favorable and richer portrayal of such individuals in Hollywood movies and television series. Thus, the project seeks to establish whether Hollywood media are responsible for the change in the social perception of LGBT people towards greater tolerance and acceptance.
Literature Review
Mass Media, Culture, and the Influence over Human Perception
Giddens and Griffiths (2006) noted that mass media comprised a wide range of forms, including films and television among other categories. Of similar opinion are Siciliano and Gruys (2015) although they looked at the concept from a technological perspective holding that mass media incorporated television and radio transmission systems and film projection among other things. The researchers also use a cultural angle on the concept suggesting that mass media also included TV programming, recorded popular music, and cinema, to name but three. Pedersen, Miloch, and Laucella (2007) noted that media were a great shaper of public opinion. They often communicate the ideas related to culture. Straubhaar, La Rose, and Davenport (2010) stated that critical scholar that were more culturally oriented were of the view that the media reflected culture, yet they did not create it. They may not; however, as will become evident from the literature review, media do reshape culture or, rather, cultural perceptions.
However, not only media, but also the culture itself seems to be a great shaper of people’s perception. Ndubisi (2003) referred to anthropologists Franz Boas convinced of culture shaping human perceptions. Epstein and Freidman (n.d.) made an interesting remark that that the cultural influence of Hollywood has cracked the doors open for homosexual representation in Hollywood in the second half of the 20th century. Documentary movie called the Celluloid Closet noting that the influence Hollywood had exerted on the American culture has increased as its popularity progressed, and none has managed to escape its influence. Hollywood educated straight individuals what to think about homosexual people (as cited in McGovern, 2011). This is a hard opinion to contest. Paul and Kanzler (2002) agreed that Hollywood was the epicenter of the American cultural imperialism. There is one major phenomenon, the social perception of which Hollywood as an important cultural and media center might have changed, which is homosexual people.
The Change in Social Perception of LGBT People
NORC (n.d.) suggested that, unlike in the 1970s, a multitude of Americans is now supportive of the freedom of expression and civil freedoms for lesbian and gays. The approval of same-sex marriages increased more than fourfold. In 2010, it was 35% up on 1988 when it stood at 11%. Gallup (2016) noticed a similar trend in terms of greater tolerance and acceptance suggesting that LGBT relations supports and adversaries were evenly split in 1977, with 43% in each of the two camps. In 2016, the number of those opposing the legality of relations fell to 28%, as against 68% of those supporting the idea. Kellaway (2014) reported 63% of American to support the adoption of children by same-sex couples. Interestingly, the acceptance of LGBT individuals and rights equality may correspond with the emergence and increasing depiction of such people in Hollywood movies and TV series and a shift towards more positive portrayal. Now, it is time to identify the contribution made towards the shift in people’s perception of LGBT residents by Hollywood, the center of cultural and media influence doing plenty of perception shaping.
The Influence of Hollywood
Hart (2004) noted that the first representation of gay men in the USA to the domestic audience took place in 1967, the year that a documentary the Homosexuals was aired. It abounded with derogatory and scathing stereotypes (as cited in Liu, 2012). Hart (2004) and Alwood (1996) noted that they were presented as being constantly unhappy and sick respectively (as cited in Liu, 2012). Netzley (2010) and Hart (2004) stated that homosexual individuals were not presented through images other than those of murderers or the victims thereof. There is a word that such presentation evoked no feelings but uncomfortable ones, in addition to perpetuating stereotypes associated with such people (as cited in Liu, 2012). According to Netzley (2010), in spite of the number of homosexual characters being on the rise in the 1970s, their stereotypical depiction did not dwindle much (as cited in Liu, 2012).
Indeed, sometimes it takes a mere depiction of a character stereotypically demonized to cause a shift in public perception that used to oppose it from want of actual depiction and explanation. However, it would not be fair claiming that the decision to introduce homosexual characters was of Hollywood producers’ own free will. Croteau and Hoynes (2013) stated that the lesbian and gay movement gained momentum in the 1970s and the 1980s laying themselves out to get television to depict them fairer than they did. Cohen (2015) noted that it was in 1970 that the representation of gays in Hollywood reached the major milestone, with “the Boys in the Band” released. In the decades preceding the huge landmark, moviemakers used not to depict homosexuality in their works at all. The reason for there to have been no such portrayal before 1970 is the Motion Picture Production Code put into full force in 1930 pending 1968. Once it was, the code forbade the depiction of what its authors tagged as sex perversion. Although it took some doing, moviemakers did manage to convey homosexuality in movies like “Rope” produced by Hitchcock. The Boys in the Band was instrumental in rendering the gay community visible at a time when the open discussion of homosexuality remained forbidden. Convinced that dysfunctional characters and self-loathing immortalized negative stereotypes, not all the community members, however, applauded the movie. On the positive side, it condemned the psychological and social consequences of the closet or sexual identity non-revelation.
Even negative perception seems to have benefitted homosexual people seeing that it drove them to become more common and featured characters in movies and on TV. Croteau and Hoynes (2013) noted that an episode of the medical drama “Marcus Welby” from 1974 featured a homosexual child molester suggesting that homosexuality was a curable illness, which set gay activists irate who came to arrange media watch efforts that contested the negative media depiction of LGBT people. Knope (2008) opined that the drama was a personification of Hollywood cinematic depiction traditions. Croteau and Hoynes (2013) further stated that efforts made by homosexual individuals in response led to them appearing on prime-time programs, particularly in episodes involving homosexual themes. Rice (1997) named Will and Grace broadcast in the late 1990s as the turning point in the sense that, since then on, lesbian and gay characters’ appearance on screen rose exponentially, whether in lead or supporting roles. Never before had a gay character been in a lead role. The number of lesbian, gay, and bisexual characters on TV programming rose by 23% in the 1997-1998 TV series (as cited in Kanter, 2012).
Still, besides opposing the demonic social interpretation of homosexuals by introducing these characters into cinema, Hollywood moviemakers can depict them in a way that will arouse emotions prerequisite to attitudinal changes in the social perception of these people. Epstein and Freidman (n.d.) noted that that the messages Hollywood movies popularize in the second half of the 20th century taught moviegoers to shun stereotypes since gays can be perceived as tragic figures or flamboyant clowns (as cited in McGovern, 2011). Cohen (2015) also mentioned a shift in depiction, albeit more directly, suggesting that an explosion of out LGBT characters has occurred in the majority of popular entertainment genres, particularly television, whether scripted or otherwise. American moviemakers do not cast gay characters as villains as much as they did in the decades to precede (Cohen, 2015).
The specific depiction of gay characters may perform a unique social function of cultivating tolerance. Cohen (2015) stated that the most critically praised and commercially successful movies featuring gay male characters appear to be tragedies. “The Imitation Game,” “a Single Man,” “Milk,” and “Brokeback Mountain” all are flashback movies bringing the audience to the bad old days of hatred and repression that took time priority of the modern enlightened era. Also touching upon “Brokeback Mountain,” Ebert (2006) noted that the movie adaptation of Annie Proulx’s book of the same title left the audience dumbfounded with the depiction of societal acceptance for two gay male characters and the themes of loss and love. The researcher stressed that a new generation of gay characters emerged around the new millennium celebrated by characters and moviegoers in equal measure thanks to accurate and realistic depiction (as cited in McGovern, 2011). Dow (2001), in turn, noted that “Will and Grace” featured LGBT characters in positive and open relations being under the influence of the 1997 sitcom Ellen (as cited in Kanter, 2012).
However, the producers were not quick to transition to the depiction of LGBT characters as average people. Battles and Hilton-Morrow (2002) noted that the producers of “Will and Grace” paired homosexuality with a shortage of masculinity if only to ensure the acceptance of two gay characters by viewers (as cited in Kanter, 2012). Producers devised an interesting way of bridging the gap between LGBT and people with a traditional sexual orientation. Shugart (2003) explained that the relationship between Will and Grace in the sitcom of the same name and Amanda and Marc in “Ugly Betty” introduced the relations between a straight female and a gay male character resulting in this model being enjoyed now in the popular culture (as cited in Kanter, 2012). Producers took it a full step further in shattering stereotypes and hostility in another way. Raley and Lucas (2006) noted that shows, such as Glee and Grey’s Anatomy and Modern Family depicted gay couples as parents. What the concept shows to viewers is that bisexuals, lesbians, and gays can stay in committed relations and raise children as heterosexual individuals do. Now, such portrayal of LGBT community members with children in monogamous relations has become common. The poor presence of these characters reinforced the stereotype of children and family being reserved for heterosexual residents (as cited in Kanter, 2012).
Methodology
The review was exploratory in its nature, as the aim was to explore whether the cinematographic depiction of homosexual people related to the change in public perception over more than half a century. To conduct the review of literature, I have made use of systematic review and data collection to gather and scrutinize a considerable number of sources in multiple aspects. The method of focus groups allowed narrowing the overall research to homosexual residents instead of focusing on various social groups and the influence of Hollywood media on them. I used the method before deciding on the topic and stayed true to its principle while researching the issue showing consistency. I may be said to have utilized causal research since I attempted to identify the reason for people to have become more tolerant towards homosexual individuals. The paragraph on the current and past states of people’s perception with numerical evidence indicates the use of trend analysis to a degree, as I gathered sources for identifying the tendency of the attitudinal shift central to the review of sources in particular and the project in general.
Discussion
The review of literature demonstrated that television and films belonged to the broad phenomenon of mass media conveying the culture of a specific country. Both culture and mass media were found to shape people’s perception, which means the way they portray things define how people perceive them. Homosexuality is one of such things media categories, such as TV and movies, depict changing or maintaining the public perception of LGBT individuals. One of the key findings was the contrast between people’s attitudes in mid-second half of the 20th century and the present period. The acceptance of homosexual relations and support of LGBT people adopting children has mounted considerably, which encouraged the analysis of whether specific factors like media could have influenced this shift in popular opinion. It was found that the evolution of LGBT depiction in the mass media in question from their introduction to the endowment with positive features and placement in positive circumstances corresponded chronologically with the change in the way people perceived the individuals with unconventional sexual orientation within the American society. Put otherwise, the more positive such portrayal became in television and movies, the more pro-LGBT the society grew with the passage of time.
The emergence of gay portrayal, in itself, may have caused a shift in the public perception of homosexual individuals that were subject to demonization. No matter how unsupportive, their portrayal did not show them as being dangerous or repulsive. At least, it made the early efforts of phasing the homosexual character in for the first time not to let the demonic images of LGBT people dominate the media landscape. The placement of gay characters in dramatic movies makes viewers take a different look at the problem, evokes emotions like compassion by showing the atrocities of their life and treatment exactly when they had the right to express their sexuality banned forcing them to hide their genuine self. That tragic movies are the most successful among movies featuring LGBT individuals shows that media have already swayed the pendulum of public opinion in favor of homosexual people. If they had not, these movies would not prove a success these days. The media have allowed people to understand these people through tragic portrayal setting the audience sympathetic with the people with untraditional sexual orientation. If averse to homosexuality and hostile towards it, viewers would be reluctant to watch these movies. Paul and Kanzler (2002) noted that television and movies were the principal carriers of American values across the globe. This being so, the above-mentioned tragic movies already indicate a shift in perception since their communicated values are pro-homosexual and non-homophobic.
There is another attention-worthy finding. It was not Hollywood producers who desired to feature homosexuals; it was they who made them. Hollywood’s negative depiction was what motivated LGBT individuals to appear onscreen more often and enter Hollywood television series that started featuring them positively with time. In featuring homosexuals in a negative light, Hollywood is likely to have stimulated the revolution of homosexual character led by LGBT individuals flooding television. Although they did not become a fixture in Hollywood movies, they domesticated television. However, Will and Grace are Hollywood series; thus, the heart of the American film industry did much to ensure the increasingly rich coverage of homosexual characters on television. The 1997 narrative of Will and Grace was a real turning point in that it showed same-sex relations in a positive light.
Pairing a straight woman and a gay man diminished the gap between LGBT people and their heterosexual peers increased by media misrepresentation. The narrative set an example blowing away exaggerated stereotypes. Glee and Grey’s Anatomy and Modern Family depiction of LGBT couples capable of raising children made another huge contribution to the demonstration of people with untraditional orientation as people who were so normal as to raise children. In providing the characters with all functional duties and occupations of average heterosexuals, the producers clearly explained that there was no difference between people whatever the sexual orientation. The review completed, it became apparent why heterosexuals have increasingly changed their perception in favor of LGBT fellow residents, and Hollywood’s works were a reason in many ways.
Conclusions
Thus, media in the shape of Hollywood television and films and culture tend to shape human perception, and the attitude towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered individuals is one of things people used to perceive critically. However, criticism was on the ebb with the lapse of time. The period of this thaw coincided with that during which TV series and movies started featuring LGBT individuals and doing so in an increasingly favorable light. Closer to the modern period, Hollywood producers had come endowing their homosexual characters with occupations and social functions enjoyed or performed by heterosexual people, thereby reducing the gap between homo an heterosexuals widened by negative stereotypes and misperceptions. People have come to the realization that all people can raise children homosexual though he or she may be. Thus, although sometimes unintentionally, Hollywood media gradually became a herald of new cultural values of tolerance and understanding of all people being equal and worthy regardless of their sexual orientation.
References
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