Queerness Connotations in Films

The concept of connotation in terms of homosexuality has been addressed by a number of critics who relate the issue to film and television depictions of queerness. Doty refers to the connotation of queerness as being able to "suggest things without saying them for certain" (Doty xi). For much of film history, connotation was the norm for queerness, which was rarely denoted in an overt fashion. Doty approaches the issue from the standpoint that connotation has hidden the issue for too long. he cites D.A. Miller to the effect that connotation has become "the dominating signifying practice of homophobia" (Miller 125). Connotation is a way of both hiding the fact of queerness from much of the audience and of portraying queerness as a mental aberration, and numerous critics have started to address this issue and to consider the notion of connotative queerness and what it says about the dominant culture that utilizes it.

Miller points out that connotation is utilized because it allows for a plausible deniability, meaning that a depiction of queerness can be denied as such to those who would criticize such a depiction or find it to be a moral fault. Homosexuality, says Miller,occupies a unique position as "the only subject matter whose representation in American mass culture appertained exclusively to the shadow kingdom of connotation" (Miller 124-125). Miller says that in this sway, insinuations can be both developed and denied at one and the same time. At the same time, sa

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ence to various situation comedies on television: "Reading and enjoying mass culture texts such as Golden Girls queerly in one way or another can be, and is, done by audiences of all sexual identities" (Doty 44). A number of sitcoms suggest "a homosocial, 'just friends' understanding" of the togetherness of the characters (Doty 44). At the same time, Doty sees connotation as more destructive than does Wood, and Miller sees it as even more a means of keeping the homosexual community in a repressed state. Works Cited Doty, Alexander. Making Things Perfectly Queer. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993. Miller, D.A. "Anal Rope." In Inside/Out, Diana Fuss (ed.), 119-141. New York: Routledge, 1991. Wood, Robin. "Responsibilities of a Gay Film Critic." In Out in Culture, Corey K. Creekmur and Alexander Doty (eds.), 12-24. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1995. The question of queer authorship has been considered by a number of critics as to whether the queerness of the author should be considered in analyzing their work and whether their work of necessity reflects their queerness in some way. Doty approaches the question with reference to the films of Dorothy Arzner and George Cukor: The claims of

Category: Film - Q