The Performative, The Bad, and The Queer

Queer representation has always been messy but now it is a trainwreck 

by Josh Nava | February 14, 2025 

CHICAGO- Queers have always existed on film. They appeared on-screen and have been behind the camera since the dawn of filmmaking. However, the representation of queer people in cinema has been often complicated and undesirable. Early representations of queerness were through subtext and suggestion, queer depictions after the Production Code ended were more overt and less stereotypical, and newer representations are performative and lackluster with the intent of getting queer dollars and awards. 

Early depictions of queer people relied heavily on offensive stereotypes of gay men and lesbians. However, there were some glimmers of hope in early film with 1927’s “Wings” which had the first gay kiss in an American film and won Best Picture. More positive depictions could be found abroad like Germany’s “Mädchen in Uniform” released in 1931. The film centered on a lesbian relationship between a student and a teacher.  

Things worsened in the States in the thirties, as the Production Code was embraced, and representation became limited. The Production Code restricted portrayals of queerness, race mixing, violence, alcohol and drug use, sex and nudity, and the triumph of criminals.  

Subtext and suggestion became king.  

Queer coding via subtext became the norm and was quickly adopted by filmmakers to depict queer characters. Queer coding is tricky as it utilizes stereotypes to dog whistle viewers into noticing a character is queer but that is the crux of the issue. Queer-coded male characters were flamboyant, had a high-pitched voice, were catty, and fashionable. Queer-coded female characters were butchy and aggressive.  

Queer coding is evident across Hollywood’s Golden Age. 1944’s “Laura” featured a queer-coded man in Waldo who was feminine, catty, a gossiper, and ultimately the villain. The villainous Joel Cairo in 1941’s “The Maltese Falcon” is interpreted as queer due to a high-pitched voice and having a feminine slant. Hitchcock’s “Rope” released in 1948 has two queer-coded men in a relationship attempting to get away with murder. Another Hitchcock film, “Strangers on a Train” released in 1951 depicted a queer-coded man who goaded another man into helping him with murder. 

A pattern emerges if one has a keen eye, queer-coded characters are often villains. These depictions because of the Production Code forced the public consciousness to conflate queerness with villainy and led to the othering of queers. However, while these thoughts calcified in the public mind, queer representation somewhat improved as filmmakers tired of the restrictions placed on them.  

During the late fifties and throughout the sixties the Production Code was ignored and began to fall out of fashion. 1959’s “Some Like It Hot” had gender-bending antics and the questioning of gender identity. The epic “Lawrence of Arabia” from 1962 is full of homoeroticism and at its director’s admittance, Lawrence and Ali were written as if they were in a gay relationship.  

Queer representation further flourished in the late sixties with John Waters coming into the fray with his campy, gross-out films featuring queer actors and themes. Further boundaries were broken with the release of John Schlesinger’s “Midnight Cowboy” in 1969. The film was R-rated then changed to X-rated because of homosexual themes. It is seen as a proto-gay film because Joe Buck is a male prostitute with male clients and Ratso and Joe Buck’s close relationship makes them seem like a couple rather than two friends. “Midnight Cowboy” went on to win Best Picture. More films with overt queer themes followed in the seventies like “Dog Day Afternoon” and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” 

Queer representation truly hit its zenith during the early nineties with the rise of New Queer Cinema. Filmmakers such as Gus Van Sant with “My Private Idaho,” Derek Jarman with “Edward II,” and Cheryl Dunye with “The Watermelon Woman” are classics of the movement with other queer filmmakers like Gregg Araki and Todd Haynes coming to prominence during this period. It took a while, but queer people finally had their representation in their hands and were being noticed.  

However, remnants of queer coding from the Production Code era and the rise of performative depictions of queerness would pop their head up during the nineties and in the following decades. One of the biggest culprits of these trends is Disney. In their Renaissance era of the nineties, villains such as Scar from “The Lion King,” Jafar from “Aladdin,” Gaston in “Beauty and the Beast,” and Ursula from “The Little Mermaid” were queer-coded. Disney continued this trend into the new millennium but also began to pat themselves on the back for their faux progressivism. 

In the mid-2010s, Disney made it a tradition to announce every time they will have their “first queer character” appear in one of their films. Out Magazine compiled a timeline from 2016 to 2022 of seventeen different instances of Disney announcing their “first queer character” in a Disney movie. However, these depictions are disappointing, minuscule, and a poor attempt to seem progressive. Disney is infamous for making scenes of queer characters as short as possible and inconsequential so they can be cut from international releases in territories with anti-gay laws.  

These faux progressive depictions are not limited to Disney as others within the film industry are more concerned with getting their hands into the pockets of queer people while giving them the bare minimum of representation. And it is not just the studios that love these poor portrayals of queer people, the Academy eats them up too. 

Weak representations of queerness can be seen in critically lauded films such as “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The film shied away from Mercury’s sexuality and erred into a homophobic depiction of same-sex relationships. In the film, Mercury is only happy in a relationship with a woman but his relationships with men are abusive and predatory, and queerness is shown to be completely isolating with no happiness. Despite the film’s uninspired and poor representation of queerness, it still went on to gross close to a billion dollars and was lavished with four Academy Awards.  

The more deserving film, “Rocketman” about Elton John acknowledged and grappled with his sexuality but was ignored by the Academy. Great queer films have been acknowledged like “Moonlight” and “Brokeback Mountain” and have won awards but are outliers.  

However, there is another “Bohemian Rhapsody” situation happening right now as the Academy has given thirteen nominations to the dreadful “Emilia Perez.” Much has been written about this film from its tired and cliche depiction of a narco with a heart of gold, its god-awful Spanish, the disparaging remarks made by its director and lead actress, and the obvious lack of research done to portray Mexico and Mexicans. The nomination of lead actress Karla Sofia Gascón is historical as she is the first trans person to be nominated for Best Actress, but it is for the worst possible movie, and it is an understatement to say her opinions are offensive.  

Responses to the film have been scathing as Camilia Aurora, a Mexican trans woman made a parody of the film, and the LGBT organization, GLAAD released a list of reviews by trans people criticizing the film. Criticisms include the inaccuracies of the transition process, the use of the “kill your queers” trope, Emilia Perez being a stereotypical queer villain, and much more.  

This unfortunate mess of a film was acclaimed by the Academy while Jane Schoenbrun’s “I Saw the TV Glow” was ignored despite being a better depiction of the trans experience. Another shame was the Academy ignoring Luca Guadagnino’s adaptation of William S. Burrough’s “Queer.” The film is a surreal, gross, and frank depiction of the loneliness and yearning gay men faced during the fifties with plenty of notable callbacks and references to the work of Burroughs. Both films were more deserving of accolades and praise than “Emilia Perez.”  

The nomination of “Emilia Perez” speaks to the trend of faux progressivism within the film industry but also highlights the complete apathy toward honest and sometimes difficult depictions of queerness. “Queer” and “I Saw the TV Glow” are strange and more abstract depictions of different queer experiences but speak to queer people more than “Emilia Perez” ever could.  

The nominations for “Emilia Perez” are more for the Academy’s benefit and allow them to pat themselves on the back like Disney. The film is regressive to the queer community and utilizes tired queer tropes and stereotypes. “Emilia Perez” like 2004’s “Crash” and 2018’s “Green Book” is nothing more than a film made by people who have no respect or any clue about the issues they are talking about and are interested in making Oscar bait.  

Queer people like everyone else deserve good representation in film. Queer coding was a necessary evil in the Production Code era and something that can be useful, but it often leads to flat and stereotypical depictions of queerness. Queerness comes in varied forms and expressions, and it is not easy to experience or define. Queer people deserve honest depictions of themselves and that includes depictions that may be uncomfortable or abstract. One of Japan’s most revered writers, Yukio Mishima was a gay man and a right-wing fascist. However, his book “Confessions of A Mask” about growing up closeted resonates with queers worldwide. William S. Burroughs was not a good person, to say the least, but his works featured queer characters and the exploration of same-sex attraction.  

It is possible to make a film like “Emilia Perez” about a bad queer but using stereotypes and regressive characterization is not the way to go. Not all queer people will be good but their experiences of being queer can be valid stories and help other queer individuals looking to see themselves. If the intention is to garner awards and pilfer from the pockets of queer people before telling an honest and interesting story, then it is over before it starts.