TV and Movie Queer Characters Hollywood Did Incredibly Dirty
They missed the potential to give LGBTQ+ characters the shine they deserve.
In recent years, Hollywood has made progress in representing LGBTQ+, which has led to more queer characters being portrayed on the big screen. But not all representations have been accurate or well handled.
Here are the instances where Hollywood has fallen short of portraying queer characters, and failed to provide authentic and nuanced storylines in depicting them.
Damian — Mean Girls
Damian in Mean Girls was unfortunately reduced to the stereotype of the "gay best friend," overshadowing his potential for deeper character development.
Instead of exploring his own complexities, he served primarily as a source of comedic relief and to enhance Cady's experiences. It's disappointing to see the character's potential wasted on a few clichés.
Poussey Washington — Orange Is the New Black
Poussey's death was the exact moment we stopped watching the show. As one of the few black lesbian characters on the show, her death reinforced the disturbing trend of LGBTQ+ characters being killed off. Her character had so much potential, but she became the victim of yet another deeply troubling and disappointing portrayal.
Albus Dumbledore — Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
Warner Bros. Pictures cut out a key line of dialogue involving Dumbledore in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, leaving only a single line in which he expresses his love for Grindelwald, which ultimately led to disappointment among fans and the LGBTQ+ community.
In China, for example, there was a complete removal of the dialogue. It is no surprise that Dumbledore has never tried to come out ever again.
Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar — Brokeback Mountain
Imagine being so afraid to let yourself be in love with someone that when you are finally ready, that person is gone forever. While the movie delivers a visually stunning portrayal of two men falling in love, it fails to give the characters a happy ending, leaving one of them to die tragically.
Hope Mikaelson — Legacies
It's always disappointing when characters aren't given the depth they deserve, especially ones as compelling as Hope Mikaelson. Hope's character in Legacies was generally poorly written, and her not fully expressing her sexuality is further proof of that.
With Danielle Rose Russell revealing her bisexuality, the showrunners had great potential to bring that chemistry to the screen, but they chose to go with hints regarding her character's sexuality.
