Are Blockbuster Superhero Movies Doing Enough for the LGBTQ Community?
The answer is no. LGBTQ representation is at a minimum, and when there is representation, it ends up either lacking or problematic. Case in point: Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok. In the comics, Valkyrie is openly bisexual and is actually in a relationship with Annabelle Riggs, an anthropologist.
Wired reports that while the actress Tessa Thompson played the character as bisexual, there were no scenes that alluded to this fact. The same goes for Loki, who’s a gender fluid character in the comic books.
Thompson even shared that she convinced director Taika Waititi to film a shot in which a woman exits Valkyrie’s bedroom, firmly establishing some form of same-sex representation. But even that was cut for time; what little representation there could have been was taken out by the studio.
The really bad news is that Thor: Ragnarok is not alone. Nearly all Marvel and DC blockbusters fail to represent LGBTQ people even though they’re in the perfect position to do so. For instance, in Wonder Woman, on the all-woman island of Themyscira not one same-sex relationship was shown, even though it’s explicitly stated that no males have ever existed on the island.
Screen Rant also recently found out that in Black Panther, the studio producers decided to cut an initial part of the script that included a romantic arc between two of the Dora Milaje. It was based on Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Black Panther comics spin-off, World of Wakanda, in which the lives of other Wakandans are explored, including romances.
The movie Black Panther is especially disappointing if you consider the fact that Wakanda supposedly represents an Africa that was never colonised by the west. Out Magazine reveals that Africa has a rich history of indigenous same-sex traditions. LGBTQ people are well represented in the continent’s history, but in Hollywood’s Afrofuturistic interpretation of this history, none of that mattered. All of this points to how some Hollywood producers are actively backing down on establishing real LGBTQ representation in the mainstream genre of superhero movies.
However, it’s not all bad news. In terms of gender representation in mainstream superhero media, there have been some positive strides. Wonder Woman recently proved that a woman-directed and woman-starred superhero movie can be as successful, and more so in many cases, as a male directed and lead superhero film. According to CNET, Black Panther director Ryan Coogler is very open to the idea of a spin-off movie focused on Wakanda’s alpha women.
At the very least these are indicative of the fact that gender politics in mainstream media seem to be improving, albeit slowly. Digital slot website Slingo is leading the way in the gaming industry and has several female-fronted titles – Amazon Queen, Fire Queen, and Cleopatra – and is proof that women are now front and centre in nearly every form of male-dominated media. While a thematically LGBTQ digital slot game would be even more groundbreaking, even the tiniest bit of fair gender representation is welcome. At the very least, the fact that women are taking centre stage in the male-dominated world of superhero movies (as well as digital online slot gaming) is positive steps towards fair gender representation. It could indicate that LGBTQ people will be making huge strides in mainstream representation in the near future.
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