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Racism in Horror

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“Rac(ism) & Horror” is a YouTube video by creator Khadija Mbowe covering a general history of how the horror genre uses race as a storytelling mechanism and the racial stereotypes that are present in many films. Mbowe focuses on the portrayal of the victim and the perpetrator, and how they are racialized. As a method of oppression, colonizers created a narrative surrounding race to justify oppressing entire groups of people. Author Patricia Collins writes: “Dehumanizing Black people by defining them as nonhuman and as animals was a critical feature of racial oppression.” (Collins 55) These narratives continued into chattel slavery, and still exist in some form today. The stereotypes created and reinforced by colonization are present in film and inform how Black characters are treated. This extends to horror movies, where the trope of the Black character dying first is very common. Mbowe points out that this is caused by the hegemonic idea of Black masculinity making Black men seem ...
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How Colorism affects Casting

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  “Good Representation Matters | Colorism and Casting” was created by Cheyenne Lin in 2020 to talk about Black and Asian American representation on screen and how colorism plays a role in who is cast. In the video, she discusses the fine line between real life identification and on screen representation, the limited representation of the Black experience that colorism causes, and how casting a light skinned actor in place of a dark skinned actor can change a character's role within a story. The lack of representation means that less unique stories are able to be told and people are not able to see themselves on screen, which is an isolating experience.  As a result of white supremacy, casting directors tend to cast actors with eurocentric features and light skin because they are seen as the standard of beauty. This means that people without those features or darker skin color are given less roles and representation within the film and TV industry. A result of this is the rac...
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Where are the Butch Lesbians?

  Although lesbian representation is becoming more mainstream, there is still very minimal butch lesbian representation. Even when gender non-conforming or butch coded lesbians are shown, they rarely are called butch within the media itself. When lesbian relationships are represented on screen it is often between two femme or fem lesbians, ignoring butch, stud and stem lesbian relationships. Even rarer is relationships between two butch lesbians. The lack of representation for butch lesbians is isolating and ignores its importance within lesbian culture.  While I was brainstorming for this post, I tried to think of any butch lesbian characters to use as examples for positive or negative representation, especially if they explicitly identified themselves as butch within the media itself. I couldn’t think of a single explicitly butch character in any of the shows or movies I had watched, and when I asked my friends, they had a very similar sentiment. There were plenty of lesbian...
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Pitch Perfect and Lesbian Representation

Pitch Perfect , released in 2012, has become a cult classic for its edgy humor, catchy song mashups, and over dramatic plot. Although it is popular within the queer community, it has come under fire by fans and critics alike for its portrayal of queerness. Although it is best known for the queerbait relationship between Beca and Chloe, the only character that is explicitly a lesbian is Cynthia Rose, a butch Black woman who makes predatory comments towards the other women in the group. Within the movie, lesbianism is the butt of the joke whenever it is mentioned or alluded to. Before Cynthia Rose is out as a lesbian in the group, Amy, another member, makes jokes about Cynthia Rose's perceived queerness. Although Amy is correct in her assumption, it is implied that Cynthia Rose is perceived as the lesbian in the group because of her masculinity, which is only heightened because she is a Black woman. “This depiction of the “mannish” lesbian flows into perceptions of dark-skinned, big...
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The Importance of BIPOC Queer Representation

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     “Where’s the Representation? Black & POC Queer Media” was a video created by YouTuber Jay Theo in 2022. In it, he explains his issues with the racial representation in queer media and how there is a lack of BIPOC centric stories. He feels that the current representation for queer stories does not actually show realistic friend groups and communities.       His first point is about queer romance in the media and how it always is white centric. The majority of queer couples in TV and movies have partners that are both white, especially in the most popular and well known queer media. Examples of this include Heartstopper, Young Royals , Carol, Call Me by Your Name, and The L Word. Even in stories that may involve a BIPOC main character or love interest, the person they are set up with is white. I have noticed this as well in most new TV shows and movies. Examples of this include The Owl House with Amity and Luz, Our Flag Means Death with Stede ...
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View of Queerness based on Representation

     Although there has been an increase in queer representation in the media, a majority of it has been white. This applies to representation on television, film, and books. Overwhelmingly, white people are the face of queerness, leading the general public’s view of queerness to be only applicable to white people. This has major implications for Black members of the queer community, as their sexuality, gender identity, and gender expression are viewed as invalid by members outside and inside of their community and they aren’t able to see themselves represented the same way that white queer people are.      According to GLAAD’s report on TV representation for 2022-2023, only 20% of queer characters on primetime scripted broadcast television, cable, and streaming are Black. Comparatively, 47% of all queer characters on primetime scripted broadcast television, cable, and streaming are white. There has been a steady increase over time, but this year the numbe...
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About this blog

Representation in the media has been a long term struggle for members of minority groups. Mainstream media historically underrepresents anyone that is not white, cisgender, heterosexual, and/or male. This particularly affects intersectional identities, as there is even less representation present for them. Even when minority groups are represented, there is a high possibility that they will be stereotypes, one dimensional, and side characters. This is particularly prevalent for Black queer folks, as the image of queerness in the media is very white. Even when there is a Black queer person included in a romantic storyline, it is often with a white person. The underrepresentation of Black queer people in media doesn't allow for real Black queer people to see themselves in the things they watch or read. Being able to see yourself in the media can help you explore your own identity and see possibilities for your own life. This also means that members of other communities are not expose...
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