Date of Award
5-2021
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Honors Thesis
Department
Communications
First Advisor
Ann Savage
Abstract
From a queer-feminist media studies perspective, this paper performs a qualitative discourse analysis on a large selection of film reviews about the recent queer films Atomic Blonde (2017), Call Me by Your Name (2017), Carol (2015), and Rocketman (2019). Given the historically taboo nature of queer relationships on screen, these films stand out as productions that were widely distributed and critically acclaimed while containing explicit depictions of queer romance and sexuality. This analysis compares reviews of the two films centered around gay (male-male) couples—Call Me by Your Name and Rocketman—to those of films centered around lesbian (female-female) couples—Carol and Atomic Blonde—in an effort to determine how reviewers differ in their portrayal of the films. Through careful analysis, it becomes clear that, even though both lesbian films are more liberal with their inclusion of queer elements, the gay films receive more reviews that emphasize their queerness, therefore “othering” male gayness as somehow less acceptable than heterosexuality or even same-sex relationships between women.
Recommended Citation
Ebner, Corinne, "Love in the Time of Cinema: A Queer Feminist Analysis of Reviews of Four Mainstream Queer Films" (2021). Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection. 582.
https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/ugtheses/582