A series by Christopher James looking at the 'Gay Best Friend' trope
Was Todd (Keir O'Donnell) the earliest inspiration for Gru from "Despicable Me?"I don’t love to complain. Most of the times I write this column to understand how gay representation in mainstream film has changed and evolved over the decades. Each shortcoming could be seen as another toe that LGBTQ+ characters stuck through the door of mainstream society. However, not all representations are good. Especially in the late 90s and early/mid 2000s, male focused comedies used gay characters as particularly malicious punchlines. As cartoonish as these characterizations are, they did paint a horrifying portrait of gay life to straight people. To gay people, these characters also served as a vision of what straight America hated about them.
My dark confession is that I love Adam Sandler comedies. They remind me of being an immature teenager and
See full article at FilmExperience
»
Was Todd (Keir O'Donnell) the earliest inspiration for Gru from "Despicable Me?"I don’t love to complain. Most of the times I write this column to understand how gay representation in mainstream film has changed and evolved over the decades. Each shortcoming could be seen as another toe that LGBTQ+ characters stuck through the door of mainstream society. However, not all representations are good. Especially in the late 90s and early/mid 2000s, male focused comedies used gay characters as particularly malicious punchlines. As cartoonish as these characterizations are, they did paint a horrifying portrait of gay life to straight people. To gay people, these characters also served as a vision of what straight America hated about them.
My dark confession is that I love Adam Sandler comedies. They remind me of being an immature teenager and