The Research on the Representation of LGBTQ in Eastern and Western Films

Abstract

In recent years, increased public awareness and understanding of the LGBTQ community have led some film and television productions to venture into LGBTQ themes. However, there is still some under-representation in these films. These films often come from the independent sector of film, and there is a lack of such films in the major Hollywood studios. Stereotypes about this group still exist despite the lack of diversity and representation of this group in media. Through visual analysis, discourse analysis and other analysis methods, the author examines the representation of LGBTQ people in both Eastern and Western films and uses these three films: Farewell My Concubine, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, and Call Me By Your Name as examples. Through this study, the author found that the expressions of this group in Eastern and Western films and TV series differed greatly, with the expressions in Eastern countries being more subtle and the expressions in Western countries being more intuitive and diverse. This code was relaxed in the 1960s-1970s, which also signalled the dawn of the feminist and homosexual movements.