#elsa is so queer coded | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nerissalmao · 4 months

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I’m back on Tumblr, so it’s time to talk about GAY FROZEN! The movie is gay. All of it.

Okay, not all of it. But a lot of it!

Daily reminder as I yeet myself back onto Tumblr that Elsa is freaking gay okay? That’s how we’re gonna start this and the main thesis of this bullcrap will be Elsa’s obvious gayness.

I’m sorry, but in this scene (only moments before Elsa is shown talking to Honeymaren while holding her hand and gazing at her face) there is clearly some gay stuff going on. Note the absolute HOPEFULNESS on Honey’s face when she looks at Elsa and says “you belong here, you know?” in an extra hopeful tone? And the way Elsa actually does stay there with her?!

And earlier in the movie when they’re talking to each other it looks just like that scene from Tangled where Rapunzel is talking to Eugene! If it was a girl or boy the calm and wholesome way they talk to each other while maintaining steady eye contact and all that wholesome stuff would be read as a romantic connection, yet here it’s just shrugged off by the people who watched it as friendship. Yes, it could be that, but it also could be more and y’all aren’t even willing to suggest that alternative simply because they’re both girls.

Let’s talk about Oaken! He’s gay and has a husband and kids, and it’s clearly seen in the first movie.

Yes, I’m aware the tall girl with brown hair could be his (snore) wife. But all the kids honestly look more like the possible mother other than the blonde hunk, so it doesn’t make too much sense. If that woman was the wife and mother, why does she look just like all her kids except one, and the one doesn’t even look like her or Oaken? It would make much more sense if the blonde guy, who looks older anyway, was his husband and the kids were adopted. Yes, realistic genes usually don’t mean much in animated films, but then why are Elsa and Anna and their family designed to look related? And Honeymaren and Ryder from Frozen 2 look related as well. So yeah.

BACK TO ELSA! So, you see, if Oaken is gay, it would be perfectly reasonable for her to be given if this is true the franchise has tackled gay characters before. A gay Disney Princess would be awesome and given the first two movies showcased Elsa’s own personal journey and journey to mend her relationship with her sisters, a third movie could in turn have her beginning a romantic relationship with someone who very well may be a woman, and very may well be Honeymaren given the way they behave in the second movie. It seems to me like the Frozen 2 interactions are like Raya and Namaari from Raya and the Last Dragon— homoerotically toned friendships that seem to all but outright say that the two characters are gay. Except with Honeymaren and Elsa their friendship is shown a lot less given the movie is about Elsa’s self discovery. Unless, you know, Frozen 2 is merely setting up the building blocks for them to get in a relationship later. A girl can dream.

Did any of that make sense? I hope so. Because come on, Disney. A lot of people don’t like you know and some of your actions have gone to crap, but you can at least try to fix things by ceasing to support genocide and just maybe hearing us out and giving us a gay Disney Princess— hopefully Elsa, because that girl is gay-coded as all hell.

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onbearfeet · 8 days

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Queerwolf By Night: Queercoding, Media Literacy, and Werewolf By Night (part 2)

Welcome back to Media Studies And Writing Hacks With Kat! Part 1 is here if you missed it. We discussed queercoding: what it is, how it works, why it exists, and how it plays into the 1930s and 40s horror movies Werewolf By Night likes to reference.

Once again, the thesis I'm arguing here is that there is queercoding in WBN, and that it should be part of the discussion of the special (which I'm calling a movie or film because I think "special presentation" is dumb and this is my essay.) I am NOT arguing that WBN is explicitly queer, or that inferring heterosexuality where queercoding exists is morally wrong or even textually inaccurate.

TL;DR: you can totally still ship Jack and Elsa, I just wanna point at some metaphorical rainbows and say, "Look! Rainbows! Aren't they neat?" I personally think the queercoding adds a layer of richness to the story. I hope you get something out of it, too.

And now, allow me to introduce our starting point, the wolfman of the hour, everyone's beloved blorbo and queercoded icon: Jack Russell.

Look at this adorable protagonist, this absolute chewtoy of a human being.

He's queercoded as fuck. Not as much as Ted, but we will GET to Ted.

Let's begin with Jack's introduction, where he is literally revealed as the narrator speaks the phrase "the monster who finds himself among them". We join Jack as he enters an unknowingly hostile space, a building full of people who would literally mount his head on the wall if they knew who and what he really was. Jack's introduction to this world is a series of Bayeux-style tapestries showing, among other things, the gory slaughter of his kind. We see him react with a mixture of shock, queasiness, and tamped-down anxiety, which marks him as an outsider. It seems unlikely that the other hunters would be grossed out by the sight of a depiction of their literal jobs.

Now, outsider status alone isn't necessarily queercoding, but it often is, especially in monster movies. Jack's reaction is not dissimilar to that of a closeted person entering a homophobic church for some kind of socially expected ritual--and, indeed, Jack has come for a funeral.

Look at that nervous glance as he walks into the room. He's not comfortable here. He knows he doesn't fit in.

This is a good time to mention Jack's outfit and the way it intersects with what we see of hunter culture. From the leather to the weapons to the heads on the wall, the aesthetic of hunter culture in WBN is hypermasculine, almost to the point of parody. The obsession with imagery of violence and death (the paintings on the walls, the corpse animatronic, the skull bowl) and the hostility to anything perceived as feminine is marked.

Wait. Hostility to anything feminine? Yes, I said that.

There are three characters who are played by female actors: Elsa, Verussa, and ... look, the hunters HAVE names, but I'm just gonna call them Scottish Guy, Asian Guy, Black Guy, and David Bowie. So David Bowie is an adrogynous character played by a female actor who acts as our third not-exactly-a-male character, and it's interesting to me that they're taken more seriously by the other hunters than Elsa is. Elsa, by contrast, is treated with contempt by the other hunters--and the contempt is very specifically gendered. Scottish Guy calls her "lassie" when he threatens her, and Asian Guy says, "Where's the lovely lady's medallion?" with a noticeable leer. They don't take her seriously, not even after Verussa announces she's welcome to participate--and they only brighten up when Verussa reminds them that they're allowed to kill Elsa if they can. That's the response to the only unambiguously female hunter.

Now, you may point out that Verussa doesn't get nearly as much shit from the hunters, but Verussa is explicitly presenting herself as the servant (and sexual partner) of a man. She's also not competing with them for the Bloodstone, nor trying to inherit, even though presumably she has at least as good a claim as Elsa does. She's not trying to enter the hypermasculine realm of hunting, but Elsa is in it, and so Elsa is despised and Verussa is tolerated.

And then there's Jack.

Okay, time for Baby's First Queercoding Element: gender nonconformity. In general, feminine male characters and masculine female characters (something explicitly forbidden by the Hays Code, by the way) are coded as queer. A lot of gay male stereotypes are men doing "womanly" things, like cooking and wearing dresses and having sex with men. The same goes for lesbian stereotypes like short haircuts, manual labor, and having sex with women. Now, obviously ACTUAL queer expression is infinitely more complex, but stereotypes don't do infinite complexity.

So. Is Jack feminine?

Well, he's wearing a gentleman's suit, but by the standards of hunter hypermasculinity, yeah, he's pretty girly. For one thing, he's wearing that suit in a room full of people in combat gear. For another, the suit itself is full of fussy details that mark him as a man who cares a great deal about his appearance, another stereotypically feminine trait. The suit is green, a barely acceptable color in menswear, and it has glittery details like the trim on his lapels. The spinal-column tie is metal as fuck, but it's also a silk tie. He's doing the death-and-gore theme, but making it high fashion. He's even wearing makeup. Granted, it's Día de los Muertos makeup, but it's still pigment on his face for aesthetic purposes. He's also the only hunter who acknowledges, in dialogue, that he has non-white, non-USAmerican heritage--"It's to honor my ancestors." He marks himself (literally) as visibly foreign, even though denigrating foreign masculinity is a big part of American hypermasculinity. He also tries to smile at and befriend every hunter who glares at him--another stereotypically feminine trait that leads to his conversation with Scottish Guy.

Speaking of, that conversation is gay as hell. It's practically flirting, especially the part where Scottish Guy compliments Jack's makeup and then tearfully admits that hunting and living all by himself "gets lonely". And Jack makes this amazing face:

Now, this is me inferring again, but I read this face as a combination of "Aww, that's sweet of you" and "Loneliness caused by hypermasculine self-isolation? I literally have no idea what that's like, but it sounds bad, bro." Perhaps with a soupçon of "Get me out of this conversation aaaaaaa."

So the scene rolls on, and Jack continues to be Bad At Toxic Hypermasculinity. When his top kill count is mentioned, he shrugs it off rather than taking a little bow like the others do. He actually chuckles at Ulysses' joke. He seems mildly interested in Elsa rather than hostile, and amused by her snark rather than threatened by it. He shows fear and worry when he learns Ted is in peril and in pain. The guy really wears his heart on his impeccably tailored sleeve. Notably, none of these traits are bad, per se--they're just more likely to be assigned to feminine characters, and they're given to Jack.

It's important to note the impact of perspective here. Jack is our POV character. If there were to be a hunters' version of this story, Jack would be a sneaky, cowardly, vaguely effeminate villain and Elsa a traitor (or possibly a dimwitted victim seduced by Jack's charms). All of Jack's queercoding would make him a GREAT queercoded villain; it's just that here, he's the protagonist, and a deeply sympathetic one at that, so we miss some of his "unmanly" traits.

All right, let's fast-forward to the maze. We see Jack being clueless and awkward about the drawing of lots, we see some sneaking around, and then we see his first hostile encounter with Elsa, and we get this great exchange:

Jack: I suggest we just pass each other by.

Elsa: ... What?!

Jack, visibly pained by the awkwardness: I suggest we just ... pass each other by.

Jack is uncomfortable with violence. He actively avoids it, talking his way out of trouble when he can and running when he can't. Even Elsa points out how strange he is compared to other hunters, specifically because he avoids violence. He doesn't kill or even hurt anyone in his human form. He doesn't even know how his explosive works--to the point where he asks a woman if SHE knows how to work it.

I'm not saying violence is an inherently masculine trait, but the association of masculinity with a capacity for (and comfort with) violence runs deep in Western culture in general and American culture in particular. It's a huge thing in Mexican culture as well, and yet Jack is actively choosing not to participate in it. He's denying a core part of what would otherwise be his traditional gender role. He later tells Elsa that any "hunting" he does is done by "a part of me that is not me"--a part of himself that he doesn't see as himself. In his eyes, violence is not merely scary or distasteful; it's not part of him at all.

(Compare this to all the ass-kicking Elsa does.)

And then we get to Ted. Buckle up, guys.

Technically, our first introduction to Ted is a distant roar and some screaming, but the moment where we meet him is this:

A jumpscare, followed by a cuddle.

Once again, Jack wears his heart on his sleeve, but more importantly, let me draw your attention to the juxtaposition of Ted's scary grab and Jack's excited snuggling. This relationship is introduced as something scary before being revealed as something sweet--and "scary" is a good description of the portrayal of queercoded couples (who are, remember, usually villains) in classic cinema. All the cinematic language around Ted right up until the grab is telling us to be afraid of him--and then our cinnamon roll of a protagonist starts petting him and greeting him and asking if he's okay. Ted is monstrous and inhuman ... right up until we see him receive affection from another man.

We don't get clear details of Jack's relationship with Ted, but we know that it's a big deal to them--after all, Jack is risking his own life to save the big guy. Jack also describes Ted as "family" and, with a fond eyeroll, a "pain in the ass". Jack implies that he no longer has contact with his family of origin, a common experience for many queer people who are shunned for leaving the closet, but Ted slots neatly into the category of found family. Ted is also, notably, the only close relationship Jack is seen to have, just as Jack is the only close connection Ted is seen to have. The two are physically affectionate (again, cuddling) and emotionally vulnerable in their conversations.

And Elsa, the outsider to their relationship, finds the whole thing bizarre, right down to Ted's name.

Speaking of Elsa, let's talk about Jack's behavior in the crypt and the cage.

In the crypt, Jack displays compassion for someone who has largely been hostile to him (he REALLY wants to fix Elsa's leg), absolute delight when he receives the tiniest signal that she might be sympathetic to him ("It's not in your DNA, then?") and remarkable emotional intelligence (see his speech about families). He also, notably, doesn't hit on Elsa or indicate any sexual interest in her.

He also makes this terrific face when he's handed a skull:

Oh, yeah, that's a big, scary hunter there.

Now, the cage. Jack's response to being put in the cage (and stripped of his jacket, interestingly--little bit of dehumanization there, perhaps) is recognition, followed by attempts at reassuring Elsa, followed by panic. He's arguably more upset than Elsa is, and Elsa thinks she's about to be torn to shreds.

At two points in this story, Jack Russell finds himself trapped in a small space with a beautiful woman and more or less immediately freaks out. It's not the most heterosexual pattern. In fact, it's got strong thematic overtones of queer men being forced into straight relationships by their families, their work, or their society. In a culture that entwines sex and violence, the fact that he's delighted to be grabbed by a male swamp monster but begs for death rather than symbolically do a sex with a woman is noteworthy.

"Symbolically do a sex"? Yeah, the only times the film frames Elsa as anything like a sexual object are the transformation sequence, which is a visual callback to classic sexualized scream queens of yore with her literally in Jack's shadow, and the face-touching scene, where Jack straddles her, their faces almost touch, and then he flees and she sits up with her hair mussed in a dreamy, almost post-orgasmic way.

Michael Giacchino doesn't eroticize violence MUCH, but he's fairly classy about it when he does.

"But wait!" I hear you saying. "What about the sniffing scene? Isn't that eroticized? And it's between Jack and Elsa! Checkmate, liberals!"

First of all, how dare you call me a liberal when my preferred political descriptor is "chaotic good". And second of all ... well, you're HALF right. It IS eroticized...but not because of anything Laura Donnelly or Gael Garcia Bernal is directly doing.

Go watch Elsa's body language during the scene. It's awkward as fuck. She's curled in a ball, knees and elbows out, letting Jack pull on her arm and sniff her hair but not really participating. There's no indication that she wants to be doing this, or even knows what "this" is.

Gael is making a little more of an erotic show about it; in fact, the intensity of his sniffing would probably be an indicator of sexual desire--if he weren't CRYING WHILE HE DOES IT. That's why his voice breaks on "Once."

These are both excellent actors, making very intentional choices with their voices and bodies. They're playing the scene as something that COULD be sexy IF THEY WEREN'T BEING FORCED TO DO IT.

Seriously. There's enough fanfic now that we've all read Jack giving Elsa a leisurely, consensual sniff. You can't tell me Gael and Laura couldn't have made that happen. This is not sexy sniffing. This is angst sniffing. It's just angst sniffing between two beautiful, sympathetic characters who genuinely don't want to hurt each other. It could have been acted and shot in a much sexier way, but it wasn't.

It's also worth noting one last category of queercoding that WBN plays with a lot: dehumanization. A lot of those classic movies played their queercoded characters as specifically less than human, visually aligning them with disliked animals like rats or wolves and often making them literally less human as the story progressed. Even after the Hays Code, monstrous and inhuman queers became a staple of horror movies, especially in the 1980s and 90s as the AIDS crisis convinced a lot of conservative America that LGBTQ people were literal plague rats. There were proposals to tattoo HIV-positive people to identify them, to round them up into camps, to shut HIV-positive kids out of schools because those kids were implicitly queer and therefore not deserving of human rights like an education.

WBN, with its werewolf POV, pushes back on this trope in some specific ways. Jack's line about being "still a human" is an obvious one, as well as his explanation of "systems" to keep other people safe. (It was common during the AIDS crisis for queer people to be fired from their jobs if they were outed because they were considered an AIDS risk to their coworkers--even if they were, say, an office worker who didn't have any contact with other people's bodily fluids. There were conspiracy theories about AIDS spreading through shared soda cans. Those paper seat protectors in public bathrooms came about because of fears that AIDS could spread via toilet seats. So imagine a gay man trying to explain that he's not a threat to his officemates, and you'll see the parallels to Jack trying to reassure Elsa.)

Most notable, however, is how Elsa survives the wolf. She's safe because she maintains eye contact (implicitly acknowledging her and Jack's shared humanity--she literally refuses to stop seeing him) and because he remembers her scent (she becomes a part of his world as he becomes part of hers). Elsa is rewarded, both with her life and with her inheritance, for treating Jack and Ted like human beings when the world around her regards them as abominations.

Elsa is an ally. She's ally-coded. She can also be read as a love interest for Jack, but she consistently acts in support of his relationship with Ted as well.

In Part 3, we're going to talk about the crowning moment of queercoding in WBN. That's right--it's time to learn about coffee in the woods, the gay jukebox, and the Friends of Dorothy.

#werewolf by night #werewolf by night meta #queer coding #jack russell #ted sallis #elsa bloodstone #attempts at formal analysis #what am i even doing #i hope someone actually likes this #jfc this is so much longer than i planned #nobody get mad at me please #i am literally just pointing at the thing we all like and saying “look a good bit”#long post #media studies and writing hacks with kat

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pinkandpurple360 · 6 months

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Stella is “The most evil character in the entire series” right…

They’re very much same, and that works! They both suck. Two selfish petty spoiled brats. It’s a new dynamic we’ve never seen before. Making her the domestic abuser #189 in the series just to minimise stolas’ creepiness and shove stolitz in my poor unwilling eyeballs is bad writing

Since she is the big bad bitch 💅 the final boss of the universe apparently- stopping the beautiful holy grail it’s not rape-if-they-both-get-off Stolitz let’s morally compare her to Stolas and Blitz (this will contain spoilers!)

- Wants husband dead for cheating.

Im sorry but given how humiliated she feels and how unapologetic he is about the cheating in between wimpy excuses like ‘i couldnt find a motel’ and pretending she feels no betrayal when she’s screaming at him that she does, embarrassment is a form of betrayal this makes sense? Did she give and then get it slapped back in her face? Yes. But her motive makes sense.

She threw a silly public I hate my marriage party loudly discussing her sex life and so did he, a loud divorce party. And he discussed sex and being horny in front of his 17 year old daughter. Ignoring Blitzs non stop resistance and lack of consent. They should both be embarrassed of themselves. The main protagonist (It’s supposedly blitz by the way not stolas) is an assassin himself. Stolas has hired this exact assassin to kill plenty of people for him. I just don’t value Stolas’ life as superior to the imp lives he takes the same way that he values himself. And he’s been fine with putting Moxie and Millie “the littler ones who aren’t Blitzy” in danger many times without even acknowledging them as people. Screw this guy. In this show what Stella does is in-line with the morality considering what IMPs job is. Remember those guys?? They specialise in killing cheaters, Blitz has probably killed countless cheating husbands in and outside of hell, next!

- Loudly airs their dirty laundry about how much she hates being married to Stolas and doesn’t want to have sex with him and she’s glad she had a baby quick enough to not have to pretend to be attracted to him cause she finds him pathetic (but he actually is, anyone who abuses the weak then cries in self pity when someone his own size says something, is very pathetic)

How dare she not want to fuck him. How. dare. How dare she resent the man she was forced to marry and sleep with. Especially since. He is sex personified.

Just look at that sexy face—urgh sorry I just threw up a little in my mouth.

- She tried to slap him

Yes. That is not ok. Don’t slap people.

- SO, the “appeal” of Stolas is that he is full of repressed spicy gay barely consensual racist coded desires, and he will get them at any cost. Which appeals exclusively to lovers of the forbidden fruit trope, and makes the object of his lust and many queer viewers like myself feel…sick. He loves his daughter who is becoming more miserable by the day by his neglect and (🚨!) is going to turn into angry “You can’t be with him! Gasp you love him don’t you! It’s him or me!” Elsa in the finale. I’m so sorry Octavia. Three times they’ve done this to you. Blitz literally bullies Moxie worse than Stella bullies Stolas and I am not exaggerating. Loona abuses Blitzø worse than Stella. I care more about my boy Moxie who’s only crime is being too silly sometimes. T - T Stolas however is a coward who sexually and violently preys on, condescends, and exploits those he sees as beneath him. This is mainly our main characters? Who we are supposed to root for? Who he constantly puts in harms way for his own preferences even though he has an ARMY, PROPHETIC VISIONS AND CAN PETRIFY ENEMIES

Stella finds his sexualising of imps disgusting - and she has a point—cause she’s also bigoted but honestly that’s better than having an imp sex plaything like Stolas does while maintaining the bigoted attitude that has destroyed Blitzs entire self worth—oh wait according to Seeing Stars he’s into it now ok? Oh but in Oops he’s mad at his exploitation again? BUT HE LAUGHS AT HIS GORE JOKES! Season 2 writing sucks when the feathered twig ass is involved

Leave him alone… you should be an actual registered sex offender..

#Helluva Boss #rant #Stella Goetia #this guy sucks #in a bad way 💅

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toulousejanvier · 1 month

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Guys correct me if I'm wrong but I just had an epiphany , was Elsa from frozen gay??? I feel like she was so queer coded

#i searched on youtube and there were some people that already have said it #that's why she was my favorite princess #frozen 2 #queen elsa #girl FrEInds #queer coded #oh and HONEYMARENN i loved girl “FRIENDSHIP”#i was like i just don't want them to ruin her character by giving her “boy” love intrest cuz she's too mature for them #lesbian #lgbtqia #gay rights #gay struggles

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ts1989fanatic · 4 months

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The NYT should be ashamed of its gross Taylor Swift op-ed speculating she’s a lesbian

By Johnny Oleksinski

It never ceases to amaze me what the New York Times will devote thousands of words to.

But even the criminally verbose Gray Lady shocked everybody last week when it published an out-of-its-mind 4,764-word op-ed analyzing why Taylor Swift might be a lesbian or bisexual.

Yes, the equivalent of 13 pages of a novel was spent on a yucky wild goose chase to out a famous woman who has a famous boyfriend.

No, we’re not back in homophobic 1985. It’s still supposedly enlightened 2024!

If you read that highfalutin crock in the morning paper, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were still asleep — it was that bonkers.

As I cross-country skied through the endless article, many questions popped up.

An opinion piece in the New York Times speculated that Taylor Swift could be a lesbian or bisexual.

How did a creepy, irresponsibly speculative analysis of years of pop lyrics, flamboyant costumes and out-of-context interview quotes wind up in a publication that once ran a lofty ad campaign proclaiming, “Truth. It’s more important now than ever.”?

How was the following sentence allowed to run in the New York Times opinion section? “What if the ‘Lover Era’ was merely Ms. Swift’s attempt to douse her work — and herself — in rainbows, as so many baby queers feel compelled to do as they come out to the world?”

Why are readers paying for the Times when they can get this “Is she? Isn’t she?” garbage on TikTok for free?

And most pressingly: Why is it not enough for Swift to be one of the best-selling music artists of all time, an unrivaled businesswoman in the entertainment industry and an unflinching LGBTQ ally? Why must she be wedged into some opinion writer’s head-in-the-clouds narrative that dreams Swift would come out and be a “hero” to queer people? What’s so wrong about her being a straight white woman who makes great music?

Why must Taylor Swift be everything for everybody?

A Swift source told CNN, “There seems to be no boundary some journalists won’t cross when writing about Taylor, regardless of how invasive, untrue, and inappropriate it is.”

Not only do you need a machete to hack your way through this overgrown opus — writer Anna Marks’ piece is offensive and socially backward for a newspaper that fancies itself the Vatican City of progressive mores.

Start with the headline: “Look What We Made Taylor Do.” Sure, it references Swift’s hit “Look What You Made Me Do,” but it also seems to recklessly conclude that the 34-year-old singer is “queer” even as she denies it.

Says the Times: It’s society’s fault for not letting Taylor be the person we have unilaterally decided she is!

Well, according to Swift, she’s not a member of the LGBTQIA community at all, although she supports them personally and artistically.

A Swift source told CNN, “There seems to be no boundary some journalists won’t cross when writing about Taylor, regardless of how invasive, untrue, and inappropriate it is — all under the protective veil of an ‘opinion piece.’”

Too right.

The Times op-ed cited instances of Swift “dropping hairpins” in music videos, which some perceived is a coded queer message.

By the way, Lady Gaga is also a gay ally and wrote and performed an LGBTQ anthem called “Born This Way,” but she is not yet the subject of a ridiculous, 4,764-word Twitter thread about her private life in the New York Times.

A woman’s insistence is, apparently, not enough for the crackerjack investigators over on 40th Street.

As the op-ed jabbers on, it becomes weirder and weirder, like a thriller movie scene that takes us into a conspiracy theorist’s basement with walls plastered in a celebrity’s photos and scribbled-on newspaper clippings.

Marks mentions instances of “dropped hairpin” imagery in Swift’s music videos and concerts, saying that is a coded message for queer identity: “They suggest to queer people that she is one of us.”

OK. Elsa lets her hair down during “Let It Go” in “Frozen.” Is Elsa also a lesbian who befriends a talking snowman?

The writer adds such incontrovertible bombshells as that the pop star once dyed her locks the colors of the bisexual pride flag and that she often wears rainbow outfits. Call the Pulitzer committee.

Swift’s “Eras Tour” film made $250 million at the worldwide box office.

The whole kooky thing is written in the tone of somebody trying to refute the John F. Kennedy assassination “single bullet theory” in the corner of a bar at 3 p.m.

And yet, as the Times so often does, the writer pretends that the piece is much more important and intellectual than trashy whispers in a supermarket gossip rag.

This part had me in stitches.

“Feverish discussions of her escapades with the latest yassified London Boy or mustachioed Mr. Americana fuel the tabloid press — and, embarrassingly, much of traditional media — that courts fan engagement by relentlessly, unquestioningly chronicling Ms. Swift’s love life.”

Um, what do you call this 4,764-WORD dissection of her sexuality? A doctoral thesis? Please.

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert sold more than $1 billion in tickets and she was named Time’s 2023 Person of the Year.

Most bothersome is that op-eds like these don’t arrive in a publication via the stork. They are pitched to an editor, get approved, take a long time to write (Marks’ last piece for the Times ran in September) and undergo rigorous editing. There are many steps before you actually read it.

So, even if Marks’ article is not the official editorial stance of the Times, giving her the go-ahead to try and out a celebrity as gay in the guise of “the conversation” is damning enough.

In 2023, Swift’s Eras Tour grossed more than $1 billion in ticket sales. The movie of that concert did an additional $250 million at the worldwide box office — a record for a film of a live music performance — and Time magazine rightly named her their Person of the Year.

Remarkable achievements, all.

But over at the New York Times, who cares? They just wish she was gay.

ts1989fanatic:

I don’t often agree with a rag like the New York Post but in this instance I could not agree more. For The New York Times to give any credence let alone publish some 5,000 words speculating on anyone’s sexual identity let alone someone of Taylor’s stature is just shitty journalism.

It doesn’t matter that it was published as an opinion piece it was still published in TNYT and frankly it was poorly written speculation at best.

As a fan of Taylor Swift it makes me cringe when people be it journalists or fans discussing or speculating about her private life and sexuality, it’s nobody’s business but Taylor’s.

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the-gay-disney-games · 5 months

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Round 1A: Ratatouille (2007) vs. Frozen II (2019)

Propaganda

Ratatouille:

“This rat is lgbt”

“Remy is trans TO ME and cooking can be an allegory for queerness, very rejected by his family”

“Don’t @ me that rat is trans”

“The whole message of the film can be interpreted as being true to yourself and what you aspire out of your life. Even with the pressures of his family to "be a rat" or from the restaurant "to be a human", Remy finds solace in being himself and doing away with those expectations. This lines up a lot to many queer narratives, especially those regarding the trans and nonbinary experience, and the societal expectations put on gender performance. I could go on end about how all of Remy's interactions with his father mirror similar discussions queer people have had with their own parents/authority figures...almost goes without saying to me.”

“Remy is trans-coded as you already know, Colette is obviously not straight and Linguini is a twink. Gusteau is a bear. Skinner is homophobic.”

“remy is queer coded and I’m not even joking. he has a double life that he has to keep secret from his family. his brother Emile is the only one he’s “out” to. He gets annoyed by Linguini and Colette’s hetero nonsense. We love a gay rat king”

“that rat is a faggot”

Frozen II

“Elsa is so queer coded. And I love “Let it Go” from the first, but I think her songs from Frozen 2 (into the Unknown, and Show Yourself) are much stronger songs that relate (at least to me) to being queer. Especially for those of us who were like cool im x and then later learned their journey wasnt done. And finding other people put there like you who help your life make sense.”

“Look I know people have said Elsa is lesbian coded in her first movie but I feel it so much more with Frozen 2. Her two big songs (Into the Unknown and Show Yourself) has the biggest energy of a lesbian finally coming to accept herself. Plus, I saw the look between Elsa and Honeymaren. Like wow. Lesbians.”

“elsa is really often headcanoned as either lesbian or aro!”

“That Reindeer guy Ryder and Kristoff were gay AF”

“I see Elsa as AroAce, so seeing her not get a love interest in the sequel and finding peace and happiness without one made me very happy.”

“Honey Maren my beloved”

#polls #queerest disney movie tournament #round 1a #disney #ratatouille #frozen ii

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outplacedwriter · 1 year

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things I think frozen does very well that were forgotten by the anti-hype crowd

It is a natural occurrence that the breakthrough of a piece of media will eventually end up in its own anti-hype crowd culture. We have reached a point, long ago, in which saying that Frozen is bad or that Anna and Elsa aren't as great as the hype says became a sign of...

✨ status, intelligence, not-like-other-girls revolutionary warrior ✨

It's impossible to say "Frozen" anywhere without someone popping out of thin air to preach how they don't like it and how flawed and annoying and how X is better, because reasons.

But after Frozen II, this crowd became louder. I just can't find a single video on YT about Frozen that is not about someone dashing or overly criticizing the movie and its characters because it's cool, and different, and oh-so-clever to be one of the superior ones who weren't caught on this Disney trap.

Yet I feel like the hype made people forget *why* the world was so impacted by this story in the first place. I have my own whys, and some popular whys, here is a list of a few of them that I care to discuss.

Sympathetic Neurodivergent Character. In all fairness, Elsa might still be seen as a villain by some people -- usually because of their inability to understand nuance, analyze a text, or just self-righteous ignorance. But it is very obvious in the movie that the whole narrative and the artistic choices try to paint Elsa's struggle and personality in a positive, or at least in an understanding light. She's not the monster who people fear, who she fears, and who another story would make to be a villain. She's a traumatized child dealing with a burden too great for anyone. Let's remember that back in 2013 the talk about mental health wasn't as nearly as spread as it is today, and having a queer-coded, canonically neurodivergent Disney PrincessTM was unthinkable. Dare I say, Elsa's significance and symbology were completely green-lit by accident. Maybe the artistic force behind it was aware of that, but Disney Corporation just wanted the cute girls to sell dolls and hopefully pay itself. This is a win for the mental disable community and for the queer community that is forgotten and downplayed everywhere. After all, we are woke now!

Complex and Shattered Sibling Relationship Getting Healed. I swear to heavens if I have to hear anyone else compare these two to Lilo and Nani, and try to force them against each other like it's some kind of necessary comparison I will-... Anna and Elsa are sisters who love and care about each other. But they are in a very specific context in which their relationship is broken. This exact premise is what makes the movie excels. It was original -- as far as originally is possible or real. And such a breath of fresh air. The premise of this conflict in which the problem did not have an easy solution, was enough for a very compelling tale. It's so beautiful and wholesome to watch these young women struggle and find healing. Their undying affection and genuine love for each other make us hope so hard that they can finally find peace. I won't even touch on the matter that sibling relationships are complex and nuanced and how Frozen showing that to kids might help them to mend their own conflicts because it goes without saying. Just in the matter of narrative alone, this is a story that had to be told and should be praised again.

The Soundtrack Slapped Everyone In The Face Repeatedly. The song is good. The Broadway vibe is delicious. It's a fact.

#frozen #frozen 2 #frozen 3 #queen elsa #elsa #queen anna #anna #princess anna #the fifth spirit #cant a dyke enjoy her neurodivergente sisterly movie IN PEACE????#also we dont have to have a big deep reason to like anything #the movie is cute and have singing #let people enjoy frozen again #it doesnt always have to be about something #frozen is a victim of its own success and the cliche is true

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burnwithtears · 2 years

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I WATCHED IT! And I remember vivid how you were one of the only rinas with hope after the mess of 2x12 WE DID IT! At first I had mixed feelings to be 100% honest but after read the interviews I feel at peace. How do you feel?

oooh tell me more about the mixed feelings!!!

overall, it's my second favorite episode of the season (3x5 forever number 1 in my heart), but the kiss scene is definitely my favorite scene of the whole show. it was just so damn beautiful. Gina's speech? Ricky's expression? boy couldn't believe his luck. the damn ORCHESTRA that begun to play like a breathe of fresh air because finally, FINALLY they're on the same page?? that was their fireworks exploding for the 10th time this season.

Rina this season was just IT. there's no denying their chemistry, their feelings, how WELL they work together. and, given the interviews, they're here to stay. their troyella era is coming!!!!!!

i would make a few changes in the episode, though. Emmy's solo was beautiful, and she's definitely coming back to season 4, but i would totally give "This is me" to Kourt before the play, maybe make her conversation with Alex happen a bit earlier, given that we've been following Kourt's storyline for longer, and she deserves all the solos.

i also wanted to see Kourt and Gina singing together as Elsa and Anna! just a small bit, could be like 30 seconds of "For the first time in forever (reprise)", idk. i understand Gina's solos happened before the finale because her storyline this season parallels Anna's, but ughhhhhh i wanted a hour-long episode jsjdkskdks

ALSO, a tiny bit of "Fixer upper", after Ricky almost punched Channing (as he should), right before "Kristoff's Lullaby". And after "Kristoff's Lullaby" i wanted to see Olaf's dialogue of "love is putting someone else's needs above your own", because we KNOW this whole section of the play was the moment it hit for Gina that she never got over Ricky, and that he's been there the whole time for her because he feels the same. don't get me wrong, i LOVED how it happened during Kristoff's Lullaby, but we can always wish for more, no? 🥹 (I'll have to write a fanfic about it)

and that's literally it??? i have no other additions. OH, NO, i would also bring Seb back, what the hell, the dance was the previous night hahahahah

i cried my eyes out during Nini's last scenes. it was such a beautiful goodbye, even though she only saw Kourt and Miss Jenn, feels like a full circle (a callback to 1x5, even, with "Born to be brave" playing in the background). her closure with Ricky, helping him finish his bucket list, and now they can grow up in separate ways as good friends. (although I'm sus... how did she know this was the last remaining item? and Gina's face watching him? chocolate truthers are you with me? okay now I'm being delusional perhaps. OR NOT.)

also: the queerness this season. absolutely GOLD. Carlos, Seb, Maddox and Madison are very clear, and then we have Ash, Big Red and Ricky (yes, RICKY, don't fight me on this). How delicately they dealt with Ash's coming out, without relying on the "cheating" plot twist, so associated with bisexuality. she's dating someone, but she also has a crush on other people, and that's okay. she's not acting on it. she's just feeling it, and she still loves her boyfriend. her face when she said "I'll call big red" was just so !"?'!!$!'!"!$ like she's so happy they're on the same boat.

Big Red coming out publicly almost like an afterthought, almost like he thought all his friends and girlfriend already knew it!!!! this was so personal to me!!!!! and then we have a bi-coded Ricky, with actions and words that tell the audience what we need to know without having to spell out "I'm bi".

not everyone is gonna have a big coming out moment. a bi person doesn't need to date someone of the same sex to validate their queerness. of course, do we want that? hell yes, i am totally on board for Ash x Maddox, for example. but this season, I'm so glad they were able to explore the characters' sexuality and still keep their romance intact, no cheating, no heartbreak, just happiness to discover something about themselves that's shared with the other. save the drama for the next season!!!

also, even though his stans are whining about it, i LOVED EJs plot this season. he finally got a compelling storyline. and yeah, it was painful to see him in pain, but also it was something so personal to me, because i relate to him A LOT. perfectionist, doesn't want to burden anyone, snaps at people when overwhelmed, would totally deny help if someone offers, and it's incapable of asking for it because feels like he has to deal with everything alone? yup. YUP. that's the syndrome of the "perfect child" right there. i might elaborate this later, though. it's long. (ps: i can't wait to see what the success of this documentary will do to him. hopefully make him richer than daddy.)

OOF THAT WAS LONG, SORRY ANON. i hope you loved this episode and season as much as I did. and the hope we've been harboring for Rina since 2019??? it paid off. now it's our moment!!!!!!! WE SHALL THRIVE.

#hsmtmts #ricky x gina #rina #ricky bowen #gina porter #ej caswell #ashlyn caswell #big red #there are probably typos #because its past midnight and im sleepy #sorry folks

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silver-la-pixels · 2 years

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So I'm rewatching frozen. Elsa feels autistic-coded. I've seen people view it as closet queerness, but it's much more reminiscent of masking neurodivergence.

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uncloseted · 2 years

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Why do you think Elsa's a lesbian ik ppl have said that before and I don't get why i haven't watched frozen since I was a kid so I don't remember much but do they hint at it?

Mostly it’s just ✨vibes✨, but also her friendship with Honeymaren in the second Frozen movie feels queer-coded to me.

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nerissalmao · 3 months

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in another world: fifth spirit Anna!

“𝙴𝚕𝚜𝚊! 𝙴𝚕𝚜𝚊! 𝚆𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚞𝚙, 𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚞𝚙!”

“𝙰𝚗𝚗𝚊.. 𝚐𝚘 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙!”

“𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚔𝚢’𝚜 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚎, 𝚜𝚘 𝙸’𝚖 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚎! 𝚂𝚘 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢!!”

“𝙶𝚘 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚋𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏!”

“𝙱𝚞𝚝, 𝙴𝚕𝚜𝚊! ..𝙳𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎?”

~~~~~~~~~~~ In an alternate version of Disney’s Frozen where it’s Anna, the youngest daughter of Arendelle, who is the fifth spirit and who is fiery. Essentially, in the beginning she wakes up Elsa early to get her to come downstairs in the throne room and make a large bonfire for them to tell stories and dance around, and she creates a small burning marshmallow man called Olaf who supposedly loves the winter, which she and Elsa adore. Anna, being the rowdy person she is, decides to make it so when Elsa dances fire explodes from around her and dances with her. Though the reserved and quiet older Elsa is at first worried, she then really has fun with it, but grows reckless and goes too fast, causing Anna to hit her in the head with a flame.

Rather than burning Elsa like Anna fears it would, it gives her a red streak of hair and causes her to collapse, sweating from the heat. Anna calls for her parents and they take Anna to the trolls, who use their magic to make Elsa forget about Anna’s powers and instruct Anna to hide them as they will only grow bigger. Anna is forced to shut Elsa out, and Elsa attempts to ask Anna to play with her, but Anna’s loud spirit is diminished by her fear of setting things on fire or hitting Elsa again— possibly even burning and killing her this time.

Naturally it’s Anna who is crowned Queen of Arendelle because her parents’ will specifies that Anna should be the queen despite not being first born (though the will was in actuality referring to Anna being the fifth spirit). It’s Elsa who forms a friendship with Hans once the gates are open. Anna’s glove slips off earlier during the party when she strikes up a conversation with Elsa, so when Elsa unwittingly stresses her out by asking what she’s so afraid of, Anna unleashes a burst of fire and heat. Afraid of being considered a monster, she runs away, unwittingly setting off a heat curse on Arendelle, with fires breaking out in dry spots and the heat unbearable. Elsa leaves Hans in charge; she’s beginning to feel something for him despite her being usually reserved, and wants to help Anna and cool down Arendelle, although she is scared for her.

It’s Elsa who goes on the journey with Kristoff (and Olaf, the ashy marshmallow man who was brought to life by Anna) and finds Anna lettin’ it go in an ashy palace wearing a gown of pure fire, and Elsa who gets struck again, her heart burned this time instead of just her head. As the fire around her heart burns, more red appears in her hair and she goes back under the pretense that an act of true love will put out the fire that will eventually burn her to death. Of course Hans reveals he never really cared for her and refuses to give her true love’s kiss, and Elsa grows unbearably hot. Olaf informs her Kristoff loves her, and Elsa rushes outside to greet him. Meanwhile, Anna has been captured after an earlier kerfuffle, but as she attempts to escape Hans tells her she killed Elsa. Anna, who never trusted Hans, at first reacts in anger but sees his somber face and gasps, slowly vaulting to her knees, halting the fire as she sobs.

Hans is about to kill Anna so that Elsa will also die of the heat and so he can take over Arendelle with both royals dead, but Elsa sees Anna about to be hurt and rushes to protect her. When Hans reaches out his sword to stab Anna, Elsa is in the way and his sword touches her hand, instantly catching fire and knocking Hans back; Elsa then collapses, her body catching fire and writhing from the heat as tears run down her face. Anna watches Elsa be reduced to ashes and sobs, expressing how much she loves her sister as Kristoff looks on in horror. But Elsa rises from the ashes anew like a phoenix, as Anna learns love breaks the spell and uses her fire power to entertain as queen and learns how to control it, removing the eternal heatstroke weather.

It’s Anna who then goes on a journey of self-discovery to Atohallan, Elsa who gets in the relationship with Kristoff, and Anna who journeys to frozen Atohallan after taming the water Nokk, the icy lizard Bruni, Gale the wind, and the earth giants, and takes her place as the fifth spirit.

As Elsa tries to escape the magical cave with Olaf, Anna witnesses true hate (as heat and fire projects and holds memories) at the hands of a memory of her grandfather who built the destructive dam who hurt the Northuldra. Anna then goes too far and is herself burned, restored to the corner covered in burns as the heat bothers her for the first time.

Olaf’s fire is put out, but Elsa gets a last-ditch message from Anna. Consumed with anxiety, she sobs, but finally manages to escape and angers the earth giants into breaking the dam and Anna, the fifth spirit, is revived in time due to Elsa’s love and rushes in with the Nokk to evaporate the destructive wave for Arendelle just before it hits.

Anna then becomes the protectess of the Enchanted Forest while Elsa marries Kristoff and becomes Queen.

You know, just a funny little scenario to think about!

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onbearfeet · 8 days

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Queerwolf By Night: Queercoding, Media Literacy, and Werewolf By Night (part 3)

Lovely to have you back for this, the final part of our examination of WBN being queer as fuck. If you missed the earlier presentations in Media Studies and Writing Hacks With Kat, Part 1 is here and Part 2 is here.

We've gone through the Hays Code AND the AIDS crisis so far, and that's a lot, so could I interest you in a cup of coffee brewed over a campfire?

Thanks, Ted. You're a peach.

So let's look at the final scene of WBN through a queer lens. There's a needle drop, color is restored to the world, and we see Jack waking up in the woods to drink coffee, grunt at Ted, and eventually decide that sushi should happen.

(Side note: I have a whole rant about queercoding and sushi, but I cut it, so here's a gif of Aziraphale gayly eating sushi in Good Omens, which you should watch.)

Okay, enough queer angels. Time for more queer monsters.

First things first: this scene is SO DOMESTIC, y'all. They're literally playing house in the woods, in that Ted has built Jack an adorable little house and brewed his morning coffee. The camp is littered with little domestic touches like the French press and the guitar. It's a homey, if slightly eclectic, vibe. (Where did Ted find a payphone?)

There is no explanation for these objects being there, afaik; Ted and Jack both have presumably come from some distance away, involuntarily in Ted's case, so there's no reason Ted would know the location of a well-stocked camp to put an unconscious Jack down in if Jack even set one up. Presumably the camp is Ted's work, but there's never an explanation for where he got any items other than the robe and the phonograph. (I'm particularly curious about the flower mug, personally.) Yet the objects are not remarked upon, and the entire scene is played as if this is a relatively normal morning for the two of them.

In fact, most of the mechanics of the scene are effectively those of a morning-after scene, perhaps a morning after characters fall into bed for the first time. Jack wakes up groaning, crawls out of bed to see where he is, and finds his partner has laid out something like breakfast for him and is prepared to discuss the events of the night before whenever Jack is ready.

And speaking of that discussion, we once again have displays of queercoded masculinity: Jack and Ted being physically affectionate, playful banter, and emotional vulnerability when Jack asks about Elsa. You know the drill by now. The camera pans up as "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" swells and fades out.

Wait.

Rainbow?

Let's talk about music in this film.

Michael Giacchino is primarily known as a composer of film music. WBN is his directorial debut. I guarantee you've heard his music before, because it's basically in every summer blockbuster franchise. If you can't get John Williams, Danny Elfman, or Hans Zimmer (all of whom are getting long in the tooth), you get Giacchino and he turns in a fucking SCORE.

Now, I am not a music person. Not at all. But even my musically illiterate ass knows that traditional film scoring derives a lot from classical music, especially Romantic composers like Beethoven. And that means LEITMOTIFS, baby!

(I learned about leitmotifs from Bugs Bunny and Star Wars. Do not be impressed.)

A leitmotif is a short musical phrase that can be used to signify a character, object, or theme in a larger work of music. For a very basic example of this, look up the Force theme from Star Wars and watch a supercut of all the times it was used to indicate that someone was using the Force. Or just watch this Sideways video about why the music in Rise of Skywalker was ass:

youtube

Anyhoo. The point of leitmotifs is to give an audience a feeling without necessarily tipping them off to exactly WHY they're having that feeling. And Giacchino LOVES his leitmotifs.

So when he uses someone else's music, he's extremely aware of the emotions that can come attached to that music. It's literally what he does.

There are two pieces of music used in WBN that Giacchino didn't write: a late 1930s recording of Vera Lynn singing "Wishing Will Make It So" and Judy Garland singing "Over The Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz. Let's start with Vera Lynn.

Vera Lynn was an English singer most associated with big band music before and during WWII. During the war, she was known as "the Forces' sweetheart", both for her efforts to entertain the troops and for the fact that she was kind of every British fighting man's waifu. What Betty Grable's legs were to American GIs, Vera Lynn's voice was to British servicemen. She's best known for the song "We'll Meet Again", which is about exactly what it sounds like. She was a nice lady, by all accounts, and there is a ferry boat named after her now.

A Vera Lynn song about childhood and wishing is what Verussa plays in the labyrinth, apparently to annoy Elsa, who switches it off (even though that's going to inform everyone of where she is). For the purposes of queercoding, Vera Lynn is mom and apple pie, or possibly mum and fish and chips, and above all she is safe, compulsory heterosexuality. The Forces' sweetheart.

Judy Garland, on the other hand, is a queer icon.

I can't overstate what a Big Deal Judy Garland and Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz are in queer culture. The themes of the story, including acceptance of the unusual and embrace of a found family (along with the sapphic elements of some of the books), resonated so deeply with queer people that for several decades, "are you a friend of Dorothy?" was code for "are you gay?" The US Navy actually launched an investigation to find the mysterious "Dorothy" who was supposedly the ringleader of all the gay sailors.

And then there's the song itself, with its theme of longing for a faraway, more colorful place where those who don't fit in at home are loved for who they are. It's, uh, pretty resonant with the queer experience.

So I now draw your attention to the phonograph. Gramophone. Record player. Whatever it's called.

In WBN, we first see the player set up in the labyrinth, presumably by Verussa or at her orders. It's playing a Vera Lynn song about childhood and wishing, which apparently annoys Elsa so much that she switches it off, thus alerting Jack to her location.

The next appearance of the player is in the camp, where it's now playing "Over the Rainbow" beside Jack as he wakes up. Ted has presumably stolen it; there's no other candidate for that, and we already saw him swipe a murder robe for Jack, so why not a record player too?

In other words, Verussa Enthusiastic Heterosexuality Bloodstone sets up the Compulsory Heterosexuality Machine, after which Elsa Ally-Coded Bloodstone turns it off in disgust, and Ted swipes it and turns it gay for Jack's benefit.

That's the coding. That's BARELY subtext. I really don't know what else to tell you. This essay started with my making an offhand joke to bluemoonperegrine about Ted and Jack being "literally friends of Dorothy" and then realizing nobody else in the conversation had noticed this stuff.

So what do we do about all this? Is WBN queer? Does all the Wolfstone stuff pale in comparison to the glory of Russallis? Am I trying to start a ship war in a fandom so small it probably wouldn't fill up Vera Lynn's namesake ferry boat?

Jack, you can answer this for me.

Nope. Not trying to start anything. I happily read Wolfstone, and technically have written some. I love all three WBN leads and am happy to enjoy them in any configuration (although my personal preference is group napping in a puppy pile, because these characters deserve naps).

I just figured it was worth documenting all this so people who haven't had the benefit of my very strange education would be better equipped to recognize (and ideally enjoy) old-style queercoding when they see it.

Wait a minute. You promised writing hacks. It's in the series title and everything.

Shit, you caught me.

Obviously, queercoding isn't a universal tool. There are plenty of storytelling contexts in which it's much better to make characters explicitly queer. Representation matters, and all that.

But sometimes you won't have time for explicit confirmation (like when your story takes place overnight and nobody really has time to play tonsil hockey). Sometimes you won't be able to include it due to outside constraints (like Disney being Disney).

And sometimes, you'll remember that there are plenty of people who can't or won't pick up explicitly queer media. Homophobic parents who won't let their kids watch Love, Simon ... but who WILL let them read your YA novel about unicorns or whatever where there are two female unicorns who are, uh, life partners. Grumpy uncles who refuse to acknowledge their nephew's boyfriend until they notice that, hey, they kinda act like Finn and Poe from that Star War. And so on. Sometimes, coded rep is the best rep you can get ... and so it's useful to have. A good toolbox has ALL the tools.

So if you're building characters for your story and don't or can't have specific queer goals, throw in a little coding. Put a rainbow T-shirt on a kid. Let two boys hold hands or have literally any feelings. Let a girl say a girl is pretty. Look up some of the older symbols for queer love and have someone growing lavender in their garden, or use newer queer symbols and have a character crack an egg in a key scene. Have a character who's content without a romantic or sexual relationship, and has an arc about something else, because aces and aros exist too.

There's a whole universe of coding out there. Go add some layers to your work.

Or better yet--see if they're there already. You might surprise yourself.

Sometimes the monster has a familiar face.

#werewolf by night #media studies and writing hacks with kat #queer theory #queer coding #queercoding #jack russell #elsa bloodstone #ted sallis #writing advice #vera lynn #judy garland #leitmotif #michael giacchino #oh god please don't kill me for this #i am rambling not trying to start a ship war #if i seem defensive it's because I'm a Peggy Carter fan and the last few years in fandom have done psychic damage #friends of dorothy #thank you for being a friend of dorothy

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sparebutton · 3 years

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I love when Disney makes yet another queer coded villain, but then they decide that that character has too many human emotions and makes too many good points, so they decide to make that character a protagonist instead of an antagonist but they keep the queer coding

#ok Elsa is the only one that never does anything to purposely hurt others but my point stands #I also wonder if these characters had remained villains if ppl would still say they’re gay #I think about that with Elsa a lot because if she was evil then I wouldn’t want her to be lesbian #because I don’t want people to think leabians are evil lol #but there are other Disney villains that are queer coded that people still like to say are lgbt so idk #disney #frozen 2 #frozen #elsa #Vidia #tinkerbell #disney fairies #namaari #raya and the last dragon #ALSO I KNOW VIDIA IS A STRETCH but I wanted a 3rd character lol #tbf she is a lot meaner in the books imo #and Namaari is kinda the villain of the movie but she has an arc and is good by the end of the movie

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hecatesbroom · 3 years

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A bit late but I just discovered there's going to be a third Frozen film and Elsa had better get herself a girlfriend

#I mean??#please??#ahxjsk no wonder 11 year old me found her so relatable #she's so queer coded?#and there's still an opportunity for her to come out in a 3rd film?#I'm way too excited over this but-#how cool would that be?#and the best part!! elsa's *already* a children's idol #and the kids will *want* to see the thirds frozen film and will love her regardlessly #so parents will be forced to (hopefully) confront their homophobia?#I know I'm being way too positive about this but just imagine :))#frozen #disney elsa #disney

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void-tiger · 4 years

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...it’s 2020.

Can we please stop pitting queer women against eachother, especially over headcanons.

#tiger’s roar #fandom wank #...yes it’s about froz2.#okay. so I always hc Elsa as aroace.#buuuuut my ace ass *always* hc’s characters as aspec #and elsa and honeymaren are adorable. let the wlw have their day with coding and/or hcs #what DOES tick me off enough that I’ll prolly never watch froz2?#Elsa abdicating.#WHY. just WHy.#especially when she’s queer coded #(you all know what THAT reminds me of with a certain fandom)#WHY can’t queer characters become&remain LEADERS #ESPECIALLY if they might maybe possibly have a love interest (but oh noooo~ censorship because money!)#can THAT be the fandom discourse vs attacking eachother over Which Queer Spec and What Rep #(...and who says Elsa can’t be an ace wlw grey or demi romantic?! best of both??? but whatever. not the point.)

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rosiegeee · 2 years

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Disney Film Characters That Should Have Been LGBTQ+

After my list of all lgbt characters in disney films I thought I’d make a list of those who should have joined them. This won’t be a fan-ficy post as all these characters had great reason to be not straight.

Oaken: Frozen

When this scene aired the lgbt community lost there minds as in the sauna there appears to be four children between the ages of 5 to 17, and 1 adult male, and since he referred to those in the sauna as his family many people automatically assumed that the man was his partner and the one he was raising his children with. This would have been so easy for Disney to leave in a sort of limbo canon but instead (despite gay marriage supposedly being legal in Arendelle) they eventually confirmed he has a wife. This inferiorities me because all they had to do was nothing, but they couldn’t let people think one of there characters were gay.

Valkyrie: MCU

I know she is confirmed bisexual, my beef is how marvel and the mcu has cut both of her only lgbtq scenes. There was one where we see two people leaving her bedroom (one of which female) and they are implied to be her lovers, and then an extended version of her flashback where we see that the blonde Valkyrie was her girlfriend. They are so proud of her but cut the only two scenes that would have made it canon on screen. Maybe Love and Hammers will fix this, but for now I am very mad and what they did to her.

Poe and Finn: Star Wars

For four years this ship was teased, from the very first time Oscar Isaac said there was a small romance in tfa to every single actor saying they want Finn and Poe to be a couple, to the director saying there would be an lgbt kiss in tros. But what did we get in the final film, a far background kiss of two background characters and am implied straight Poe. It was 2019, after all those years of teasing and onscreen chemistry it would have been so easy to have Finn or Poe confess there love by the end that could have been redubbed in foreign countries to still be a bromance. Instead they chickened out and to make sure there wasn’t even an implied romance, gave Poe a sort-of girlfriend.

Pumbaa and Timon (2019)

I don’t have much to say here, they were queer coded in the original, it would have been easy to have them actually be a couple or at least gay in 2019, especially considering one was even played by a gay actor in the remake.

Chen Honghui: Mulan 2020

Even though it was never canon, Li Shang was a bisexual icon amongst the lgbt community, and it would have been so nice if his 2020 counterpart actually got to be bi. But no, the little screen time he does have is just as ambiguous as Li Shang.

Elsa and Honeymaren: Frozen 2

They don’t have much dialogue, but what they do have is very sweet. And when Elsa says she is staying behind she is looking directly at Honeymaren. Since the first film there had been a huge movement called GiveElsaAGirlfriend that was proof to disney that we are ready, and wanting an lgbt disney character, and although they flat out said they wouldn’t, they gave us Honeymaren who totally isn’t flirting with Elsa and Elsa totally didn’t decide to live with. It would not have been hard to make these two a couple, especially considering so many people want them.

Raya and Namaari: Raya and the Last Dragon

They obviously couldn’t be girlfriends in the actual film as they were trying to kill each other and that would give bad messages, but once they were allies they could have implied there was romance in there future. They flirted the entire film, when they first meet Namaari tucks her hair behind her ears like a crush would talking to who they like, and they call each other “Strangly Beautiful” repeatedly throughout the film, they were gay in all but words. Kelly Marie Tran who plays Raya (who also supported Stormpilot) stated she thinks they should be a couple. This was the most Queerbaiting I have ever seen. Actually I take that back:

Luca and Alberto: Luca

No, this entire movie wasn’t just one big metaphor for being in the closet in a homophobic town, defiantly not. I have gone into depth about these two on many an occasion so I am not going to again, however I will summarize. Alberto showed Luca a whole new world, they both fantasized about running away together, Alberto gets extremely jealous when Luca changes his mind about running away together, they both out themselves to save each other, and Luca only cries when he wishes Alberto goodbye. Despite what the director says, THEY ARE GAY! (also they watch multiple sun sets together)

Katy and xialing: Shang-Chi

The only time Xialing smiles as an adult is when she is talking to Katy, she is awfully smitten with her and despite seemingly disliking America, listens to Katy’s compliments and gives a seemingly genuine one back. They had very instant chemistry and I want to see where it goes.

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