Bisexuals in the Media

[QueerFilmmaker]

Have you noticed that in popular media the queer community is always portrayed as flaming, upper/upper-middle class, white, males? I've got love for all of the gay characters that do get some airtime on television, but what about the rest of the LGBT community!? And when bisexuals are featured in the media, they are generally portrayed (or perceived) as "slutty heterosexuals". What gives!?

Thoughts? Well, I, along with a group of other queer students and allies, put together a comedic, webseires on youtube in order to bring more diversity to the portrayal of the queer community in the media, which includes bisexuals, pansexuals, people of color, genderqueers and more. We're 100% not for profit--this project is strictly for the purpose of showcasing more of the queer community in the media. You can check us out at www.qtheseries.com to see what we've put together.

I would love to hear more thoughts/opinions on the matter. Am I the only one who thinks the popular media's image of the LGBT community is limited? Or is this issue apparent to everyone?

[tenni]

Hi
Congrats on the webseries!

I found the episode 2 interesting but some of the production quality (sound, lighting) will hopefully improve. (good shot as the two guys are walking down the street. Do you have access to a steadycam or something?)

As I watched the episode a thought kept going through my mind about where are the heteros?..lol (then again the character being suspected of being an asexual may very well be the "hetero"?..lol) In some respects it may be doing the opposite of what you are believing about the media. Every character seems to have been bi, gay or asexual as if they are ghettoized? On the plus side, it portrayed relationship issues between the characters that many in the mainstream might identify with to some degree.

As far as bisexuals and the GLBT "community" are concerned, I suspect that there is a small (?) range of bis who accept "queer" as a self referencing term and a much larger section of bisexuals who do not identify with the words, "queer" and "queer community". How do you portray bisexuality when there is such a wide range of possibilities as to how bisexuals live their life?

I think that the wide range that you would like to see the mainstream media portray sexuality does have some truth but compared to one or two decades ago, it shows a wider range today than then. It portrays same sex couples with similar family issues as heteros as far a child rearing. I saw "The Kids are Alright" last night. Now, there is a unique narrow community ..lesbians and their anonymous sperm donor developing a relationship. Both lesbians were white. Is that bad or does it help a mainstream hetero white audience gain some empathy for the characters? I dunno. You can not overcome all stereotypes with one movie, tv series etc. GLBT community artists have been showing their identity in art video/films and other artforms for at least thirty years. It is becoming more accessible in more mainstream plot lines. That's good. Keep fighting the good fight though :)

In my country's arts community, it is said (jokingly) that if you want a grant, you need to a one legged, blind, First Nation (aboriginal), black(or asain) lesbian. In other words, our granting system gives preference to the voices of minorities. Not sure about your country at all but Canada does have same sex marriage and our media portrayal of differences may be at a different place than your country. Our television series have been showing crossing gender barriers (Kids in the Hall for one) etc. for decades but there is a fundamentalist, conservative wind blowing through Canada now. Who knows if our media will become more restrictive and narrow in its portrayal of characters.

btw I'm a professional video artist. Good luck with your film making.

[omsapo]

I totally agree with you, I've always found that in the media, bisexuals are portrayed as slutty hetros, or homosexuals who won't fully come out, I just think that the general public doesn't grasp the fact that people can be attracted to and fall in love with both men and women. I think that bisexuals should get a better representation in movies and tv and stuff.