Queerness in American Cinema

(3 Credits)

Representation of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender characters in American film is largely seen as a recent phenomenon. Nevertheless, decades of industrial studies, scholarly readings, and general queer viewership have uncovered a parallel historical trajectory, in which queer characters, themes, and narratives have been part of our national cinema for nearly the entirety of its existence, if often surreptitiously. This survey course looks at the past century of American movies for signs of queer life, from the silent screen to Golden Age Hollywood to the New Queer Cinema of the indie film boom to contemporary representations. This course will also include discussions about the function of gay critics, writers, and directors and their influence of effect on the aesthetic and industrial realities of queer cinema; and comparative studies of global modern queer cinemas.