One of my biggest frustrations in trying to discuss queer media is how many people seem incapable of separating "this is an important milestone in representation" from "I did or did not enjoy this piece of media." Media analysis goes beyond just "fandom stuff," and queer media in particular deserves analysis and discussion because of how hard it's been stifled.
It doesn't matter if you hate Steven Universe, it's still important to talk about, because it showed the first queer wedding in American children's television. It has been cited by the creators of subsequent queer family animation as a major milestone in allowing their shows to enter production. The Ruby/Sapphire wedding is a historical milestone, and that doesn't stop being true just because you hate the show or think the ending was bad.
It doesn't matter if you think Will & Grace is entertaining or if you have any real interest in watching it, it's still a majorly important entry in televised queer representation. It kicked down the door to allow even more to come after, and deserves credit for what it did even if you don't personally care about the story.
It doesn't matter if you have any personal interest in Rocky Horror Picture Show, it's still got a ton of important history in queer spaces. Understanding why Rocky Horror showings were and still are hubs of queer expression is important even if you despise the movie and the creator.
Giving credit for representation milestones doesn't mean you can't have criticisms of a piece of media, it doesn't mean you have to like the media, and it doesn't mean you can't prefer other media. It doesn't mean it's free from problematic material, it doesn't mean it's god's gift to television, it doesn't mean it's better or worse storytelling than other stories.
It just means it's worth talking about and understanding the context in which it was made.
Reblogging this to mention a couple specific examples people have brought up in the notes, that I thought were really good--
- Glee. How many of us fucking hate Glee? I do. You couldn't pay me to watch an episode of Glee today. Damn important at the time, though!
- Rent. Fucking goddamn Rent. I hate Rent. But how many people did it introduce to broader queer stories and issues and community?
- The Ellen Show. The show was a HUGE deal, and the impact of Ellen DeGeneres coming out was far, far reaching. Ellen as a person, however, is the kind of rich asshole who hangs out with fucking Dubya. And that's something that can (and should!) be talked about in the analysis of the show and its aftermath, without ever saying that "the show is bad and shouldn't exist and Ellen's coming out should never get talked about."
i mean this doesn’t even just apply to “problematic” media
i don’t like heartstopper. that’s fine. it’s not a show aimed at me. i still think it’s important and that it should have been made.
Yes, Rent. Fucking Rent. Rent rent rent re-ent rent. It was the first mainstream Broadway musical to feature a cast of majority LGBT and POC characters. It was one of the biggest pieces of art talking about queer issues, poverty, and the AIDS crisis at the time. It introduced millions of people to normalizing aspects of communities that were at the time heavily marginalized and stigmatized and considered too taboo to present to a mainstream audience. I also fucking hate it and it sucks. These two opinions can and should co-exist.
