Weekly Individual Reflection and Self-Assessment #1- Quinn Fortin

The speaker discusses their analysis of homosexuality in Hollywood through the movie "Hellbent" and an article about the de-centering of homosexuality in American films. They highlight the portrayal of gays and queers in the movie, including stereotypes and the complexity of queer presence. They also discuss the categorization of gay films and their own learning process in understanding sexuality in films. They hope to continue analyzing power, privilege, inequity, oppression, and justice in horror films and look forward to discussing their findings with peers. Hello, everybody. My name is Quinn, and this week I will be discussing what I've learned about the development and presence of homosexuality in Hollywood. By watching the 2004 movie Hellbent, termed a gay slasher film, and reading an article about the de-centering of homosexuality in American films, I was able to cultivate the complexity of queer presence in movies. First, I will begin with my thoughts and analysis regarding the movie Hellbent. Though I didn't find this movie to be very exciting, I do think it included many important points and examples of how gays and queers are portrayed. The movie begins with a scene involving two men in a car, who are beginning to be intimate with one another. I found this interesting because it can allow for a juxtaposition to take place in the audience's interpretation. On one hand, this creates a portrayal where gays are in a very, for lack of a better term, normal environment, that is present throughout heterosexual relationships in movies, by the classic idea of two kids hooking up in a car in the middle of nowhere. On the other hand, it could point to the fact that these men were trying their best to be secretive about their relationship, not only in a sexual manner, but even by being seen together socially, and this could be why they were in a car in the middle of nowhere. This was just one example of how this movie can be interpreted in many different ways. As a whole, I noticed a plethora of gay stereotypes. Whether that be how they talk, act, or dress, an example of this was when one of the characters would refer to a lot of other gay characters as queens. Though this could have just been another stereotype of how gay people talk, it seemed like it was trying to portray gay men as feminine. This can be destructive as it blurs the line for the gay and queer community, making all gay men out to be men who are trying to be women, not simply the fact that they are just attracted to other men. Again, this was just one example of the repeated terminology that may have been used incorrectly throughout the movie, leading to the possibility of viewers finding it offensive. This week, I also read the article, Gays and Queers from the Center of the De-Centering of Homosexuality in American Films, by James Joseph Dean. One connection that I made between what I learned while reading this article and the film is the categorization of gay films. The author of this article states, I divide independent films into two types, gay and lesbian standpoint films and queer cinema. Gay standpoint films are distinguished by the narrative that focuses on gay and lesbian subculture, whereas queer cinema generally depicts representations of a character's sexuality as de-centered. In the case of Hellbent, I concluded that it aligns more with a gay standpoint film as it focuses on a gay subculture and doesn't focus fully on a character's sexuality being de-centered. As I evaluate what I learned this week, I noticed how I've been able to think about the implications and different perspectives regarding sexuality in films. I found the ideology to be very complex when talking about homosexuality, and it became hard to start to form my own ideas regarding it without getting a little overwhelmed. A change that I could have made is trying to make more connections between what I already know, the media I've consumed outside of this, and what I'm currently learning about. My biggest aha moment was while reading the article and thinking about what de-centered homosexuality actually means. This allowed me to put a phrase or explanation to my thought and made my analysis easier to think about. This has happened to me many times before in other courses where I'm able to learn a word, a phrase, a theory, an idea that explains what I'm trying to thought, and when this happens, I'm able to dive deeper into my own ideology and explain it better to others. Overall, this week I created some great habits and hope to be able to get a deeper analysis of power, privilege, inequity, oppression, and justice in more horror films. I'm very excited to be able to collaborate and discuss what I've learned this week with my peers. I plan on taking time earlier in the week in my later discussions to read and provide the provided article before I watch the film in order to already have an understanding of the topic I should be looking out for and analyzing. Again, thank you for listening.