Movies lag TV for LGBT roles
‘Appearance of bias’ continues, GLAAD says, although there have been bright spots
NEW YORK — We are seeing more prominent gay and lesbian characters on TV shows, as we have done starting from as early as the 1990s sitcoms Ellen and Will & Grace to the current prison drama Orange is the New Black. That Netflix original series includes a transgender character, Sophia, played by Laverne Cox, who is herself a transgender performer.
But the movie industry lags well behind the small screen, an advocacy group reports.
In its first study of LGBT roles in major studio releases, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation found that compared with TV, where there has been a significant shift over the past decade, “major studios appear reluctant to include LGBT characters in significant
“It was great to see an LGBT character in such a significant role.” ť MATT KANE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA AT GLAAD, SPEAKING OF THE VILLAIN IN SKYFALL
roles or franchises.”
In its report released Wednesday, GLAAD found that of the 101 releases from Hollywood’s six major studios in 2012, just 14 included characters identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual. Most were no more than cameos or minor roles, it said — and none of the films had transgender characters.
“Until LGBT characters appear more regularly in these studio films, there will be the appearance of bias,” said Wilson Cruz, GLAAD’s U.S. national spokesperson. He said his organization will be meeting with studio executives to discuss the findings.
There were some bright spots in 2012, and some more ambiguous ones, the group said. For example, Skyfall, the hugely successful latest instalment of the James Bond franchise, featured a main villain, Silva, played by Javier Bardem, who was apparently bisexual.
“It was great to see an LGBT character in such a significant role,” said Matt Kane, associate director of entertainment media at GLAAD. “But unfortunately the character was also devious, psychotic, and untrustworthy — it fell into that trap.”
As genre films like comic book adaptations consume much of the studios’ capital and promotional efforts, the report says, such films have a striking lack of LGBT characters. In The Avengers, it notes, there is a gay news anchor, but his appearance is “so brief it was likely missed by many viewers.”
The report — called the 2013 Studio Responsibility Index — rates each of the six studio according to the number of LGBT-inclusive films they released. Faring worst: 20th Century Fox and Disney, which each receive “failing” grades. The other four — Paramount, Sony, Universal and Warner Bros. — receive grades of “adequate.”
One of the best examples of an LGBT-inclusive film in 2012, GLAAD said, was an animated family film, ParaNorman, about a misunderstood boy who can communicate with the ghosts of dead people.
In the film, from the Portlandbased studio Laika, Norman’s cheerleader sister asks the hunky football hero Mitch (voiced by Casey Affleck) for a movie date. He casually makes a reference to his boyfriend.
The film’s writer and co-director, Chris Butler, said the filmmakers, while determined to include the scene, had worried it could cost them a PG rating and get them a PG-13 instead, which would have been inappropriate for the movie. In the end, they got their PG rating.
Butler said he was disappointed with some negative commentary about the scene — including one viewer’s online review that praised the film for its anti-bullying message of inclusion — but said it ruined matters by making a character gay.
“I was surprised at all the fuss,” Butler said. “But on the flip side was the positive reaction.” The movie was the first animated film nominated for a GLAAD award.