Queerbating- it’s history, the beauty and my thoughts
Introduction- my thoughts on Queerbaiting and Queercoding
Let's talk about queerbaiting. Now Queerbaiting itself is a huge topic, so I will only focus on Queerbaiting in the film industry.The word queerbating comes from the word queer and bait first what does either of these terms mean, Queer means not fitting traditional ideas about gender or sexuality, especially the idea that everyone is either male or female or that people should only have sexual relationships with the opposite sex while Baiting means:something that is said or offered to people in order to make them react in a particular way. When combined Queerbaiting is seen as when a person or character is hinting that they are in a way queer . This is done mostly to attract queer audiences and since they lack much representation I would say queerbaiting works most of the time.There are multiple examples of queerbating, one such example is Sherlock and John from the 2010 BBC show Sherlock or Dean and Casitel from the 2005 show Supernatural.The second question asked would be ‘why would someone? The answer to this question is fairly simple to me. Homophobia. I personally would say that the reason writers result to queerbaiting instead of giving us an actual proper queer character is the fear of the conservative viewers disliking it.Thus, they write in a subtly queer character who would attract queer people while still allowing the show to not be considered homosexual just so that the age criteria of the show does not become too high in order to attract a larger audience. Though, One might say it's the best of both worlds, but it really isn’t.
What started Queercoding in films?
When looking at the cause of Queerbaiting, one has to look at the “Hays Code” that old Hollywood had to abide by . From the early 1930s to the late 1960s, The Motion Picture Production Code or better known as the “Hays Code”, restricted what could or could not be shown in Cinema. Queer content was not allowed to be explicitly shown as it was against the rules that state: “ The sympathy of the audience should never been thrown to the side of crime, wrong-doing ,evil or sin”. Homosexuality obviously was seen as a sin in the 30s and sadly still is by some in the present day. Thankfully, this did not stop many filmmakers from still bringing up such topics in their works. This brings us to one of the founding fathers of cinema, the late Albert Hitchcock.
Albert Hitchcock- One of the most influential people in the history of cinema
Albert Hitchcock is known for his many film masterpieces such as Psycho , Vertigo , Strangers on a Train and my personal favourite Rope. Most of Hitchcock’s films, regardless of genre, have something in common- subtle queerness. Arguably two of Hitchcock’s favourite actors to use in his projects are John Dall and Farley Granger, who both were undeniably queer. Which only adds onto the queer subtext in his works. Through making these characters more feminine or creating strong sexual tension between male characters, we are able to depict his characters as queer. Which was a bold move for someone in the 1960s. This method of adding in subtle queer characters is one of the many early example of queercoding in films.
What inspired the phrase?
Many would say that the phrase “Queerbaiting'' dates back to the 1990s as a variant of the equally controversial phrase “race-baiting”. Which according to the Cambridge Dictionary is “The act of intentionally encouraging racism or anger about issues relating to race, often to get a political advantage”. Tumblr users in 2010 however have a different view. They say they were “baited” like fishes with bait on the hook. Like they were baited or tricked into thinking there was LGBTQIA+ representation in the show they were watching. Thus the term - Queerbaiting.
Back to the modern film industry.
Now in many films we watch, Queerbaiting is still widely present. However, I would argue that the representation of LGBTQIA+ community has improved dramatically as there are more Queer Characters in mainstream cartoons. For example, in the Cartoon Network series, Adventure Time, after 10 whole seasons and 8 years of the show, the ship “Bubbline” (Princess Bubblegum and Marceline)was finally confirmed in 2018.There is also an increased number of LGBTQIA + people shown in mainstream media.Like the Netflix reality show, Queer Eye. Such representation is important as it shows queer questioning youths that they are valid regardless of their sexuality or gender identity. Although the situation is a lot better compared to the 1960s, there is still room for improvement. Many countries still have a ban against LGBTQIA + representation in mainstream media, one such country is here in Singapore.
Shipping within the fandom
With the idea of Queerbaiting,"baiting"fans into watching the show. How do fans coping with their disappointment- shipping. According to Wikipedia the definition of shipping is:”the desire by followers of a fandom for two or more people, either real-life people or fictional characters to be in a romantic and/or sexual relationship. It is considered a general term for fans' involvement with the ongoing character development of two people's character arcs in a work of fiction.” Now there are multiple popular ships that are widely known, for example,“Stucky” or Captain America and his longtime best friend Sergeant Barnes from the Marvel Franchise. This of course happens with real people as well. One popular example is the ship “ Larry” which consists of Harry Styles and Louis Thomlinson from the band One Direction however the focus of this is on Film so we would not be going into that . Many fans would come up with a large amount of evidence from the shows or films to back up why their ship should have been canon. Fans could look into the smallest details like the way the characters' eyes react or the characters' subtle hand actions. I personally am guilty for taking part in shipping as well.
Luca- the 2021 disney pixar film[ my favourite animated film]
To Serve as a summary,I want to dissect the film Luca . The Conversation has an article written by Kodi Maier on queerbaiting in animation and they mentioned the film Luca and brought up some valid points. That article is one of the many things that inspired the writing of this. Now this is personally one of my favourtie films of all time and although throughout the film there are little to no queer representation shown. It is to me one of the best examples of queerbaiting in film .Let me explain why I as a Queer person really enjoyed this film and why i think Queerbaiting was indeed present. The film focuses on our two main characters Luca Purgo and Alberto Scarfano, throughout the film they share a very close relationship or what many might interpret as an achillean relationship. Luca can also be seen going through what many LGBTQIA +youths go through: the fear of being different and the fear of their parents finding out about that difference ; Luca finds out about the joy of going to the surface which is what started his relationship with Alberto however due to his parents or most sea monsters fear of the surface, Luca is forced to hide about his adventures and Alberto. Throughout the time Luca and Alberto spent on the surface they still have the fear of getting caught as sea monsters, it is only towards the end of the film when the small town accepts them do they finally feel comfortable in their own skin. The connection of Luca and Alberto’s fear and the fear LGBTQ people have to go or went through is what I would say make this a fan favourite. Not to mention the director of the film Enrico Casarosa has said that he discussed the two main characters having a romantic relationship in the animated adventure. It is kind of disappointing that it was decided against , even in the film the pair is split by an added character, a town girl ,Giulia once again following a hetero pattern. Despite everything, it is still a very good film I feel everyone should watch at least once.
