RACIALIZED PLEASURES

Muñoz & Queer

The Muñoz reading made me think about how the term Queer and Queer representation in the media has evolved and become increasingly harmful to those who identify as Queer. However, I believe that today, the media has been working to integrate positive examples with Queer characters. Muñoz discusses how in the individuals “performance we see a unique cohabitation of traditional female and male traits” (76). This quote made me think of Judith Butler, and her argument that “gender is neither the casual result of sex nor as seemingly fixed as sex,” but rather is performed through acts of “bodily gestures, movements, and enactments” (Butler, 1988, p. 9 & 10). Queer individuals perform gender acts that are both masculine and feminine. This unique performance is why queerness has been used to penalize those who perform non-traditional gender roles.

For my video, I decided to take clips from a BuzzFeed video where Queer men recreated Superhero scenes. The video points out that the most popular Superhero such as the Wolverine, Superman, and Spiderman are incredibly heteronormative. I added in audio from the Superman theme song and left the original audio from the video. I think this clip is particularly important cause it shows how non-traditional men can still embody the traits of Wolverine, Spiderman, and Superman. I believe different representations in media, especially in aspirational movies such as Superhero movies, it is necessary to have non-heteronormative characters, to increase acceptance.

Personally, I think I find myself slightly biased because I grew up in a very progressive environment in Los Angeles. I’ve been taught my entire life never to call someone “gay” or “fag” or “queer,” and often find it appalling to realize people use these terms in a derogatory manner. I think that it in today’s political climate, the world needs more films like Wonder Woman and Black Panther to show different representations of the traditional superhero. While these films are positive for pushing the boundaries, they still promote heterosexual relationships. While I think that Black Panther and Wonder Woman are groundbreaking, I think the next step for Hollywood would be to have a superhero film that is homosexual to create normalcy.