MarisaHenriquez

ProfessorMakarosyan
English114B
11May2015
FiltersMakeEverythingMoreBeautiful
Itisobviousthatovertimemanymoralsandtraditionshaveshiftedtoaccommodatethe
currentera.Theissueregardingsamesexmarriageanditisappropriateonmanylevelsstill
remains,butadjustmentsarebeingmadetoensureequalitylike,legalizinggaymarriagein
certainstatesandallowingthemtoadoptchildrenandcreatetheirownfamilies.Withthisbeing
said,themediahasalsotakenpartinrepresentingtheLesbian,Gay,Bisexual,Transgender,and
Queercommunitywithinthemedia.Showslike
WillandGrace,Ellen,ModernFamily,
and
manymorehavemadetheirdebutandhaveeachrepresentedLGBTQpeople.Althoughthis
showsagreatimprovement,itisclearthattheLBGTQcommunityisbeingfilteredcomparedto
howheterosexualcouplesareshowninthemedia.Theyarebeingfilteredinawaythatismore
palatableforsociety.Inmorespecifictermstheyarebeingrepresentedinaplatonicmatterthat
desexualizestheirrelationships.ThisiscriticalbecausethisshowshowtheLGBTQcommunity
isnotbeingacceptedinitswholesimplybecausesocietycannotacceptit.Mediaportraysthe
LGBTQcommunityinapositivelightinorderforittomoreacceptableforsocietyandthisis
negativebecauseitdoesnotshowLGBTQrelationshipsinitsfullform.

Aspreviouslymentioned,theLGBTQcommunityisbeingfilteredinordertofitinto

societiescomfortzone.ThefactthattheLGBTQcommunityisbeingacceptedisalreadyabig
pushoutofsociety'scomfortzone,andnowforthetoberepresentedinthemediaasanormal

familypushessocietyalittleovertheedge.GuillermoAvilaSaavedra,anAssistantProfessor
ofCommunicationsatSalemStateCollegestatesthat,Homosexualimagesarepresentedina
wayacceptableforheterosexualaudiencesbyreinforcingtraditionalvalueslikefamily,
monogamyandstability.Mostoftheeroticconnotationsofhomosexualityhavebeeneliminated.
Gaymalecharactersinparticularareonlywelcomedinmainstreammassmediaaslongasthey
donotinferanysexualdesiresandpractices(AvilaSaavedra).Thisideaisprovenintheshow
ModernFamily
.Forexampleintheshowthereisagaycouplewhowishestoandadoptsa
daughterthuscreatingafamily.Whileanalyzingthispartoftheshowthereisnoticeablyasense
ofunitythatwillonlybeshowninthefamilyaspect.Itisunlikelyforthemtomentionorimply
anytypeofsexualitywithinthisrelationship.Notonlyisthisseeninthisshowbutinmany
othersaswell.Manytelevisionshowsandmoviesareverysexualanderoticbutareonlyshown
withheterosexualcouples.Forexample,therewasahugeuproarwhenthebook/movie
50
ShadesofGrey
wasreleasedtothepublicseye.Thisbook/movieisbasedonasexual
relationshipbetweenabusinessmanandhisassistant,whoisawoman.Thisfilm/moviewasalso
releasedonValentinesDayandmanycoupleswenttoseethefilmthereforemakingmillionsof
dollarsinrevenue.AlthoughitisnotimpossiblethatHollywoodwouldmakearomanticmovie
basedonthesexualrelationsofagayorlesbiancouplebut,truthofthematterisitwouldnotbe
atallpopulartosociety.Oneofthemainreasonswhyitwouldnotbeaspopularisbecauseof
thefactthatitmakesmanypeopleuncomfortable.Althoughmanyclaimthattheyareaccepting
ofLGBTQcouplesabignumberofpeoplewouldnotevenconsiderwatchingamovielikethis,
whichispartofthereasonwhytimewouldnotbeusedincreatingthistypeoffilm.

Althoughwhatisstatedaboveistruetherearesomeexceptions.Whenandifthereisa

filmbasedoffofsamesexcouplesitisseeninawaythatmakesviewersnottakesamesex
relationshipsseriously.Withfewexceptions,commercialtheatersplayfilms...portraying
longtermrelationshipsamongsamesexpartnersonlywhenthoseunionsarepresentedas
completelycomic(
TheBirdcage
),ultimatelytragic(
Philadelphia
and
BrokebackMountain
),
mostlynonsexual,andalwayswhite(Moddelmog164).Theexampleof
TheBirdcage
shows
howtheserelationshipshavebeenseenintheprimaryaspectsincethelate1990sanditalso
simplyaddsontothefactthattheserelationshipsarefiltered.Medialikethisshowshowpeople
oftheLGBTQcommunityarebeingtreatedassecondclasscitizensbecausetheyarenotonly
deniedofmanyrightsasheterosexualsbutalsobecausethemediamakesthemfeelasiftheir
lifestyleisajokeoristragicbecauseitisnotofthenorm.Butworsethanthat,theyarealso
madetomakethemfeelshamefulforthefacttheydesireaperfectrelationshipinthenormal
sensewhentheythemselvesarenotseenasnormal.
Anotherissuethathasbeenbroughtupisthefactthatmanyofthecoupleswhoareused
inthemediatoportrayLGBTQcouplesarepredominantlywhiteandwealthy.Notonlydoesthis
showracialneglectbutitalsogivessocietyasensethattheonlyqueercouplesthatshouldbe
acceptedarewhites.Inthebook,TheContemporaryReader,itstates,Sociologiststellusthat
ourvisionoffamilyisusuallynotbasedonrealisticexamplesbutonpoliticalideasandmedia
images(Goshgarian392).Inpriortimes,beforequeercoupleswereintroduced,mostbelieved
thatatypicalfamilywassolelybasedonafather,whoworksandprovidesforthefamily,a
mother,whoisunemployed,cooks,cleans,andtakescareofthechildren,andchildren,which
wouldtypicallyonegirlandoneboy.Thiswasduetothefactthatmanytelevisionshowsthat

airedwerebasedoffofthismodelfamily.Thisisoneofthemainreasonswhymanypeoplehave
troubleacceptingvariousdifferenttypesoffamilies,becausetheygrewupwatchingthese
televisionshowsthatbringbacknostalgiaandtherefore,whenintroducedtothedifferenttypes
offamiliestheyseemtogetdefensiveandoftenfeeluncomfortablewiththeideaofdiversityin
thefamilyaspect.Anotherreasonwhythisisnegativeintheracialaspectisbecauseitdoesnot
exposesocietytothefactthatqueercouplesdonotonlyconsistofwhiteracebutallracesalike.
Therehasalwaysbeenanegativeviewpointagainstgaymeninthetraditionalandmoreold
fashioned,Latinocommunity.Althoughitisnotfullyexpresseditisaround.Thetraditional
Hispanicmanissupposedtobestrong,macho,andindependentandwhenviewingagayman
theyseethemastheoppositeofthatandcomparethemtothetraditionalviewpointofawoman,
whichisweak,fragileandgoodfornothing.Thisdoesnotonlyapplytothehispaniccommunity
butalotofotherracesandethnicitiesaswell.Queercouplesareonlyportrayedasacceptablein
themediawhenitonlyinvolveswhiteonwhiteneverbrownonblackorbrownandwhite,ect.
Thisthenfeedsoffofthetraditionalviewswhichalsohinderqueercouplesfrombeingaccepted
asawholenotinafilteredmanner.
Apossiblecounterpointmaybethatnotallshowsthatshowqueercouplesarewhite.For
example,theycontendthatintheABCtelevisionshow,
Greek,
thereisagaycouplethat
involvesablackmanandawhiteman.Thatisanunderstandablecounterpoint,however,tthe
televisionshow
Greek,
wasalsobasedoffofacollegeexperiencewhichinturn,doesnotinclude
theaspectsofbuildingafamily.Sincethiscouplewasinacollegesettingtheirrelationship
wouldbelikelynottobetakenseriousbytheaudienceduetothefactthattheyarenotmarried

and/ornotbuildingafamilytogether.Thisthendoesnotfitintoallofthepointsstatedabove
involvingcouplesandfamilybuilding.

Inadditiontothemedianotportrayingraciallymixedcouples,teensarealsobeing

influenced.Sinceweliveinagenerationoftechnologyteenagersspendmostoftheirsparetime
onsocialmedia.Onmanysocialsitestheyarephotosofcouplesplasteredallover.Thesephotos
arenotyouraveragecouplephotosbutratherphotosofcoupleswhoseemtobesoperfectthatit
mustbesomesortoffantasy.Forexample,

somethingsosimpleasadateatabeautifulviewis
seenasrelationshipgoalssimplybecauseofthefactthatbeingwithsomeoneinanintimate
placeisglorified.Manyofthesephotosdonotincludesamesexcouplesbecausetosocietya
samesexcoupleisnotseenasarelationshipgoalorisnotseenasrelatable.Thistherefore
relatestohowHollywoodrefrainsfrommakingfilmsortelevisionshowsthatshowallsidesofa
samesexrelationship.Here,societyrefrainsfromacknowledgingthefactthatasamesexcouple
isstillacouple.Sincethecouplesinthephotosareolderyoungadultsandmarriedtheyareseen
asmoreacceptable.Whengrowingup,manyteenswhoareintheprocessofcomingouttotheir
lovedonesorcomeoutareoftentoldthatwhattheyarefeelingandwhattheyaregoingthrough
isjustaphaseandthereforeisnottakenseriouswhichiswhymanyofthesecouplesaround
theadolescentyearsarenotportrayedinthemedia.Inastudyitwasshownthatadultsuse
certainphrasestoavoidworriestheyhaveinchildren.
Fourcommonphraseswhichadultsoften
sayinreactiontoteenageworries:It'sjustaphaseyouaregoingthrough,You'llunderstand
whenyougrowup,Idon'tcarewhateverybodyelsedoes,you'renoteverybody,It'snottheend
oftheworld,lifegoeson
(Punch53).Thesephrasesarejustsomeofthemanyreasonswhy
teensfeellikewhattheyaredoingorfeelingiswrong.Adultssayitsjustaphaseinorderto

avoidfacingcircumstancestheyarenotcomfortablewithbecausetheygrewupwith,as
previouslymentioned,theideaofamodelfamilyshowninthetelevisionshows.

Samesexcouplesarebeingportrayedinthemediainapositivelightbutsimplyfor

society'ssake.Filtersinthemediaareusedandthereforedonotfullyshowallaspectsofasame
sexcouplerelationship.ThisthenhinderstheLGBTQcommunityfromfullyaccepting
themselvesbecausewhentheyareportrayedinthefilmtheyareseenascomedicortragic.Even
insocialmediatheyarebeingneglectedasacoupleandareseenasjustaphase.Howdowe
expecttogrowasasocietyifweturnablindeyetothingswefeeluncomfortablewith?Ifwe
becomemoreacceptingoftheserelationshipsthenmaybeforoncewewillbeabletoenjoy
moviesotherthanyouraverageheterosexual,typicalendingweallknowandlovesowellsimply
becauseweareusedtoit.

WorksCited

AvilaSaavedra,Guillermo.2009.NothingQueeraboutQueerTelevision:TelevizedCon
structionofGayMasculinities.
Media,Culture&Society
31(1):5.
Web.25Mar.2015.

Goshgarian,Gary."FamilyAffairs:MarriageinFlux."
TheContemporaryReader
.Ed.Gary
Goshgarian.Boston:Pearson,2013.392392.Print.

Moddelmog,DebraA."CanRomanticComedyBeGay?:HollywoodRomance,Citizenship,and
SameSexMarriagePanic."
JournalofPopularFilmandTelevision
36.4(2009):
162173.
MLAInternationalBibliography
.Web.25Mar.2015.

Punch,Samantha."InterviewingStrategiesWithYoungPeople:TheSecretBox,Stimulus
MaterialAndTaskBasedActivities."
Children&Society
16.1(2002):4556.
Academic
SearchPremier
.Web.1Apr.2015.