FMP Thesis research
Viewing homosexual films helps people change their preconceived notions and prejudices about the homosexual community by showing the daily life, interpersonal relationships, and emotional experiences of the homosexual community. It is estimated that homosexuals make up 2% to 4% of the world’s population; the number of homosexuals in China reached 70 million in 2014, according to average statistics from the Academy of Sciences. According to the data, whether in the world or in China, although the proportion of homosexuals is not large, the absolute number of homosexuals is noteworthy. Therefore, it is necessary to pay
attention and understand homosexuals’ daily lives, interpersonal relationships, and emotional experiences. Meanwhile, the gay community also needs a platform and a medium for the public to have a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of them.
Yet, the development of gay and lesbian films in Chinese hasn’t been satisfactory, and acceptance and recognition of gay and lesbian films by the Chinese public are still very low.
In the past, Chinese homosexual films have not been generally accepted and recognized by the Chinese public due to the influence of heterosexuality, filial culture, and the demonization of homosexuality. In this paper, I will summarize the attitudes of Chinese audiences towards gay films in the past, describe the possible prejudices and misunderstandings that audiences may have towards homophobia, and explain them, and then compare and analyze them in terms of content, genre, and distribution methods, in order to investigate the possible trends of the survival and development of gay life in China.
RQ1: Were the movies with gay themes banned in Mainland China? How many of them
were allowed to be shown publicly?
RQ2: To what extent were gay roles portrayed? Did the plot involve gay characters in an
integral way, or were they assigned peripheral roles?
RQ3: To what extent were gay roles shown in sex scenes portrayed? Are these implicit or
explicit scenes? What is the impact of the scenes?
RQ4: Were homosexual characters portrayed in a positive or negative light?
RQ5: What jobs did the gay characters hold? Do their homosexuality affect their social
status?
RQ6: How do the gay characters perceive themselves? What is the cultural and social
impression toward the characters’ homosexuality in terms of the attitude, reaction, and
treatment from their family and the larger society when they find out or doubt the
characters’ homosexuality?
RQ7: What roles did gay characters in these movies? Were they shown as, for example,
artistic, sympathetic, emotional, volatile, or flimsy?
RQ8: Are gay communities shown in the film? How does the film portray them?
RQ9: In terms of the story structure of the movie, how does the character’s journey lead to
the outcome? In other words, in the process of storytelling, do the homosexual characters
achieve what they want? What are the obstacles they face and how do they react to them?
What are the outcomes and the turning points that result in the outcomes?
RQ10: Is there any development or improvement in the portrayal of gay characters over
time?
RQ11: What might be the impact of these movie portrayals on audiences’ perception of
gays in the real world?
Keywords
Gay rights，Chinese vs western gay films，political environments，Mass’s feedbacks，
positive change，Millenials vs Gen Z on gay community.
Bibliography
Watching Men Kissing Men: The Australian Reception of the Gay Male Kiss On-Screen
(jstor.org)
Gay Plays, Gay Theatre, Gay Performance (jstor.org)
Being Gay and Doing Research on Homosexuality in Non-Western Cultures (jstor.org)
Madzrevic_and_SotoSanfiel_2018-Sexuality___Culture_PUBLISHED-with-cover-page-v2.pdf
(d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net)
Conservative Narratology, Queer Politics, and the Humor of Gay Stereotypes in Modern
Family (jstor.org)
Attitudes toward Stereotypical versus Counterstereotypical Gay Men and Lesbians (jstor.org)
Sexual Identity Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Shanghai (jstor.org)
Culture/Community/Race: Chinese Gay Men and the Politics of Identity (jstor.org)
Queer Asian Cinema and Media Studies: From Hybridity to Critical Regionality (jstor.org)
Queer Politics in China: A Conversation with “Western” Activists Working in Beijing (jstor.org)
Same-sex marriage in China? The strategic promulgation of a progressive policy and its
impact on LGBT activism (jstor.org)
同性影视在中国的发展及其影响探析_姚云清 – 道客巴巴 (doc88.com)
Introduction
Films in China, both fiction and nonfiction, significantly shape and reshape audience members’ perspectives on contentious social problems. The academic community has paid a lot of attention in recent years to the impact that entertainment or story has on their audience. Audiences may be swayed to adopt the views tacitly expressed in entertainment media because of how the novel engages them. This analysis explores the development and audience acceptance of queer-themed films in China.
Background
Since most items are not intrinsically gay or lesbian, there have been few studies on issues that promote homosexuality and bisexuality. Notably, stigmatizing notions are not the only way to comprehend queer identity, even though negative attitudes and labels have been linked to LGBT individuals throughout history and into the present. Problem Statement
In this research, audience acceptance appears to be the most crucial factor in Audience acceptance of queer-themed films, and views on same-sex relationships and gay rights may change due to their feelings. In this light, the research proposes several questions to form the basis of discussion. What are the Queer Chinese films from 2010 to 2020? Is there an increase in the quantity and quality of gay film creation? Is there a solidification and stagnation of audience
acceptance of gay films? What are the misconceptions about audience acceptance of gay films? What is the correlation between discerning the sexual orientation of homosexuality and the concept of procreation? What are ethical and philosophical considerations? Are there misconceptions created by the media and public opinion? What are the development and acceptance trends of gay and lesbian films in Chinese? What is the development of expressive content and acceptance trends and the result of genre and acceptance trends? Finally, what are the development of communication methods and acceptance trends? These questions offer an excellent foundation for the discussion in this research.
Aim and Objectives
The central idea or golden thread runs continuously in this research. Therefore the main objectives of this research are to document the development of queer-themed films in China and the audience’s acceptance of queer-themed films.