Reading Vito Russo’s influential The Celluloid Closet, along with the accompanying documentary of the same name, is an eye-opener. While Russo’s analysis of LGBT representation in cinema only dates to the 1980s, what it reveals is that films with LGBT themes, essentially, don’t end well.
Look back on some of the biggest LGBT hits of the past three decades. The two films that really hit the mainstream were Brokeback Mountain and Philadelphia. While both excellent films with fine scripting, direction and performances, Philadelphia is the story of a man (Tom Hanks) dying of AIDS, while Brokeback Mountain ends with a brutal, homophobic murder. These are stories that need to be told, but unfortunately, for the majority of cinema’s history it has been the only story told, unless the character in question is merely a side character in someone else’s story played off for comic relief.
That difference is variety. Looking at films focusing on gay men, we see a number of unique stories being told with a range of happy, sad and ambiguous endings. Shakespeare-themed gay musical Were the World Mine remains light and amusing throughout, with an optimistic ending for the future, while Shelter closes out on a domestic gay couple happily raising a child together. Films like Weekend and In Bloom cannot be said to have happy endings, but each leave their characters in a better place than where they began, and crucially leave their characters alive.
The biggest trope in LGBT cinema is “bury your gays”, the trend of killing off non-heterosexual characters by the film’s close. In the past, this was born from negative attitudes towards the LGBT community, ensuring that homosexuality would not be presented in a positive light. Brokeback Mountain, despite being a modern film, was set in such a time, and so its tragic end is somewhat justified. The trope has not disappeared, but perhaps now, it is being handled better. This year’s fabulous Lilting begins with the death of a homosexual character, but the story is not about him, it is about the mother and the boyfriend he left behind rebuilding their lives, and the result is beautiful. HBO’s The Normal Heart treads similar ground to Philadelphia, in that it tackles the AIDS crisis and therefore some death is to be expected. But what is growing noticeably more absent is the plot device of a homophobic bashing or murder. Weekend deals in a small way with some internalised homophobia and teasing from local teenagers, but it does not have a huge presence in the narrative, and no character is subject to any violence. In Bloom sees a character murdered, but there is no way of the killer knowing if the character was gay or not, and therefore cannot be seen as a homophobic killing. The trope is still in effect, and rightly so, as straight characters are also liable to facing death, but it is far better executed and is no longer the default ending for such a film.
But there are exceptions here, also. But I’m A Cheerleader, which deals with a teenage lesbian at an ex-gay camp, plays out like any other teen comedy, with the resolute cheesy happy ending. The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert features a trans* character who ends the film finding love and happiness. My Summer of Love, like In Bloom, does not end happily for the couple in question, but the protagonist has grown from the experience and emerged from the film at peace. There’s still plenty to be done in terms of clearing the negative energy of the past, and of positive representation in the mainstream, but it is a confident start.