Homoeroticizing History: The Good, the Bad, and the Homophobic
When it comes to queer characters, not all representation is good representation
I have a deep love for historical fiction, biopics, and movies based on real-life historical events. Some of my nonfiction favourites include Hidden Figures, based on the female computers at NASA who were instrumental in the Moon Landing; Bohemian Rhapsody, a biography of Freddie Mercury; Loving, about the first interracial couple to get legally married in the USA; The Imitation Game, the Alan Turing biopic; Catch Me if You Can, the true story of a 1960s con-artist; and The Crown, which dramatizes events surrounding the British Royal Family from the 1940s onward. On the fiction side, I’m currently loving the comedy series Derry Girls, set during The Troubles in Ireland; Call the Midwife, which is partially based on true events; The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society, set just after WWII; and Downton Abbey, which follows an aristocratic family from the start of WWI through to the 1920s.
As a fan of historical media, I’ve consumed a lot of fiction set in the recent (and distant) past. As a queer person, I’ve also noticed how LGBTQ people are represented in media set in the past. Portrayals of queer characters are becoming increasingly common in historical settings, as it…
