R&P post 4: Representation of social groups in our opening sequence

Representing the LGBTQ community

In our opening sequence, the social group that we chose to represent is the LGBTQ community. It was important to us that we accurately portrayed them as developed characters without the usual stereotypes such as being camp, metrosexual or over-emotional. Examples of characters from films and TV shows that we identified include Kurt Hummel from 'Glee' and Damian Leigh, who is 'almost too gay to function', from 'Mean Girls'. Both characters enjoy talking about clothes, fashion and gossiping about the other girls in their school. They provide comedy and wit with their sassiness which is a positive representation of their sexuality but it meant that they were considered the comic relief characters.

Damian Leigh

Kurt Hummel

Jamie Gangel and his love interest Ste

Craig's situation is similar to Jamie Gangel's from 'Beautiful Thing'. Jamie is not openly gay but his dislike of football which is perceived as a masculine sport and his introvert nature means that he is picked on by his classmates. In our case, Craig's obsession with writing in his notebook, his interest in indie music and his collection of vinyls sets him apart from other people in his generation. He already is a victim of bullying and he fears that coming out as gay would put him in a worse position.

Craig's love interest is introduced in the opening sequence. By contrast to Craig, David is openly gay. His confidence in his sexuality is a positive representation of sexuality. However, in our film opening, he is a victim of bullying by a schoolmate who is aware that he is gay. Despite being a victim, he is able to defend himself, showing his strong personality.

In our initial idea, we were aware that we may not portray the LBTQ community well so we made changes to the story. We wanted to break the stereotype that gay people went out in search for love. Instead of meeting at a gay bar or club, we decided that they would meet by accident and that Craig's intent on helping someone would go humorously wrong.