Queer coding: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 23:17, 8 June 2023

Revision as of 01:22, 13 June 2023

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==History==

The idea of non-explicit queer coding likely stems from the strict regulations of how queer characters were able to be portrayed in the early days of film-making. In 1930, the [[Hays Code]] was established as a standard for what was allowed to be shown on the big screen.<ref>{{Cite book|jstor = j.ctvfjcx5v.4|chapter = Origins of the Code|last1 = Billheimer|first1 = John|title = Hitchcock and the Censors|year = 2019|pages = 9–23|publisher = University Press of Kentucky| doi=10.2307/j.ctvfjcx5v.4 |isbn = 9780813177427| s2cid=214143884 }}</ref> According to the code, films were not allowed to portray "perverse" subjects such as homosexuality, which inevitably led to the portrayal of non-explicit queer characters. The trend of the inclusivity of queer characters in a subtextual way likely bled into modern portrayals of queer characters. One scholar, Jo Johnson, argued that Jerry in the ''[[Tom & Jerry]]'' cartoons had an androgynous design, even if feminized, and noted a possible [[homoerotic]] subtext between Jerry and Tom, especially when there is [[cross-dressing]].<ref>{{Cite book|title = Queers in American Popular Culture Volume 1: Film and television|last = Johnson|first = Jo|publisher = Praeger|year = 2010|isbn = 9780313354571|___location = Santa Barbara, California|chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/queersinamerican0000unse/page/246/mode/2up |access-date = September 23, 2021|editor-last = Elledge|editor-first = Jim|volume = 1|chapter = "We'll Have A Gay Old Time!": Queer Representation in American Prime-Time Television from the Cartoon Short to the Family Sitcom |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/queersinamerican0000unse/mode/2up |pages=249, 251 }}</ref> Johnson pointed to the 1966 short "[[Jerry-Go-Round]]", by [[Chuck Jones]], as having a coded same-sex relationship between Jerry, who was gendered by Jones as female, and a female elephant who wears a pink tutu. She argued that the episode's ending could be read as a "prophetic depiction of [[Gay pride|Gay Pride]]".<ref>{{Cite book|title = Queers in American Popular Culture Volume 1: Film and television|last = Johnson|first = Jo|publisher = Praeger|year = 2010|isbn = 9780313354571|___location = Santa Barbara, California|chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/queersinamerican0000unse/page/246/mode/2up |access-date = September 23, 2021|editor-last = Elledge|editor-first = Jim|volume = 1|chapter = "We'll Have A Gay Old Time!": Queer Representation in American Prime-Time Television from the Cartoon Short to the Family Sitcom |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/queersinamerican0000unse/mode/2up |pages=256–257 }}</ref> Cade M. Olmstead, an interdisciplinary philosophy scholar, built upon Johnson's work. He argued that ''Tom and Jerry'' "subverts normalized gender and sexuality structures" through theatrical play and performance, transgressing the normal construction of gender.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://scholarworks.uni.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=ugswork |title=Tom and Jerry: Performative Queerness in Action |last=Olmstead |first=Cade M. |date=2018 |website=Undergraduate Student Work |publisher=[[University of Northern Iowa]] |access-date=September 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200318122855/https://scholarworks.uni.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=ugswork |archive-date=March 18, 2020 |pages=1–8 |url-status=live}}</ref> Despite the queer coding in "Bugs Bunny" and "Tom & Jerry" cartoons, as scholars Deborah A. Fisher, Douglas L. Hill, Joel W. Grube, and Enid L. Gruber noted, before 1970, almost no gay characters were on television, and they remained relatively absent "until the 1990s".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fisher |first1=Deborah A. |last2=Hill |first2=Douglas L. |last3=Grube |first3=Joel W. |last4=Gruber |first4=Enid L. |date=2007 |title=Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Content on Television: A Quantitative Analysis Across Two Seasons |journal=Journal of Homosexuality |volume=52 |issue=3–4 |pages=167–168 |doi=10.1300/J082v52n03_08 |pmid=17594976 |pmc=2000838 }}</ref> Continuing from the late 1980s, villains in Disney films which were queer coded appeared in this decade.<ref name="insidersnydes">{{cite web|last1=Snyder|first1=Chris|last2=Desiderio|first2=Kyle|url=https://www.insider.com/the-evolution-of-queer-characters-in-kids-animated-tv-shows-2021-6|title=The evolution of queer characters in children's animation|website=[[Insider (website)|Insider]]|date=June 29, 2021|access-date=July 1, 2021|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210701050407/https://www.insider.com/the-evolution-of-queer-characters-in-kids-animated-tv-shows-2021-6|archive-date=July 1, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> Commentary on the treatment of LGBT+ characters in film is made in the 1995 documentary ''[[The Celluloid Closet (film)|The Celluloid Closet]]'', and is one of the first instances in which the idea of queer coding is presented to the public.<ref>{{Cite book|jstor = 10.3366/j.ctt1bgzbtn.12|doi = |chapter = Youth, Realism and Form|last1 = Pullen|first1 = Christopher|title = Straight Girls and Queer Guys|year = 2016|pages = 147–168|isbn = 9780748694846}}</ref>

''[[Time Squad]]'', which aired from 2001 to 2003 on [[Cartoon Network]], arguably had an LGBTQ character. In 2012, the voice actor of Larry 3000, [[Mark Hamill]], implied that Larry could easily have been interpreted as gay,<ref>{{cite web |title=039 – Mark Hamill on Talkin Toons with Rob Paulsen – Weekly Voice Acting and Voice Over Tips |url=http://techjives.net/2012/05/04/039-mark-hamill-on-talkin-toons-with-rob-paulsen-weekly-voice-acting-and-voice-over-tips/ |website=Tech Jives Network |access-date=18 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200319040214/http://techjives.net/2012/05/04/039-mark-hamill-on-talkin-toons-with-rob-paulsen-weekly-voice-acting-and-voice-over-tips/ |archive-date=2020-03-19}}</ref> due to his femininity and presentation as the "gay best friend" to Cleopatra in "Shop like an Egyptian", even though Larry has stated on multiple occasions he dislikes humans in general. However, the show never directly stated his sexuality. Even so, Hamill described Larry 3000 as fierce and flamboyant.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hamill |first=Mark |title=Love Unique Deadpan No-Nonsense #Skips but #Larry3000 of #TimeSquad was Fierce-Flamboyant & more Crazy-Fun to play! |url=https://twitter.com/HamillHimself/status/733579727215042560 |website=[[Twitter]] |access-date=March 18, 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200319034956/https://twitter.com/HamillHimself/status/733579727215042560 |archive-date=March 19, 2020}}</ref> In 2019, Klaudia Amenábar, writing for [[The Mary Sue]], argued that Cassandra in ''[[Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure]]'' was a gay coded character who had feelings for the show's protagonist, [[Rapunzel (Tangled)#Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (2017–2020)|Rapunzel]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Amenábar |first1=Klaudia |title=Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure Is a Surprisingly Perfect Show for Millennials |url=https://www.themarysue.com/rapunzels-tangled-adventure-millennials/ |website=[[The Mary Sue]] |access-date=September 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411094427/https://www.themarysue.com/rapunzels-tangled-adventure-millennials/ |archive-date=April 11, 2020 |date=March 25, 2019 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref>