#wk 8

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Representation in Music

Queer representation in the music industry while minimal is ever growing and very prominent.

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Current figures who are taking queer culture and giving it a wider platform are performers like Lil Nas X and Troye Sivan. Lil Nas and Sivan have done a lot to progress and normalize queer culture, releasing music that doesn’t shy away from who they are. These current performers are also incredibly good at utilizing popular media platforms to connect with their audiences, having millions of followers across apps like instagram and tiktok. This way of forming an almost personal connection with their fans allows queer culture and ideas to become more widely accepted as it’s ingrained into popular media. In the article Flaming the Fans- Shame and the Aesthetics of Queer Fandom in Todd Haynes Velvet Goldmine by Chad Bennet, Bennet writes, “If  the term ‘queer,’... can be taken to refer primarily to ‘those whose sense of  identity is for some reason tuned most durably to the note of  shame . . . developing from this originally affect their particular structures of  expression, creativity, pleasure, and struggle,’ then perhaps there is something queer about fandom in general...” (19, Bennet). Referencing the shame surrounding fandom and David Bowie, this quote also demonstrates the upsurge in shame and fandom surrounding new queer artists.

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Representation in Film

Queer male representation in film is somewhat rare, but the few good movies are powerful enough to make up for that.

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Maurice is a period piece on homosexual relationships in the 1900s and accurately demonstrates the inner turmoil and politics that comes with being attracted to a person of the same gender. By the end of the film one of the characters, Scudder, has to leave his whole life behind just to be with the person he loves. But we never find out if it works out because during that time it’s very possible that it all ended in tragedy. The movie just ends though and we’re left to make our own conclusions about what happens next. In the article Theses on a Philosophy of Queer History, it’s stated that “...Velvet Goldmine charges without promising an affirming conclusion.” (211, Theses on a Philosophy of Queer History). Although two different movies, these films both represent queer work as it is, on going and never finished.