This particular discussion is part of Blog For Equality 2011, which is essentially blogging in defense against yet another attempt to define marriage as between a man and a woman, introduced in the Pennsylvania House by Daryl Metcalfe. There's a petition here, and if you'd like to read the bill itself, you can suffer through it here. To our friends in nearby Cranberry Township, I'd like to ask kindly that you stop putting Daryl in our state assembly.
As far as horror movies go, we have a long way to go before we reach equality, too. The concept of the "homosexual other" is one that's applied to create fear in horror films fairly commonly, but honestly, we haven't seen a truly memorable killer that happens to be homosexual. If homosexuality is utilized as a trait in a villain, we expect him (because, let's be honest kids, it's not 'her' often enough either) to be defined by his sexuality. It is the author's opinion that one of the key struggles we face in accepting LGBTQs in our society is our tendency to place them in a category- we try to define them by their sexuality rather than accept it as a trait.
To further clarify what I mean by the "homosexual other" in horror movies, it is important to define exactly what I mean by the "other." In horror films, we typically find the villain to be different. This is an important part in establishing why we should fear him- Freddy Krueger is different because he is a child molestor from a lower class, as well as because he is a dream demon. Dracula is obviously different because he is a foreigner- and, yes, the vampire part is important too, I suppose, but that's less visible. We can use these signs to establish a difference between ourselves and the villain. In a sense, this is comforting to the audience, but it also establishes why there should be fear.
Actually, Dracula is a particularly exciting example of sexual fear- the idea of a foreigner breaking into a young virgin's room at night, to "suck her blood" is enthusiastically suggestive, as well as a prime example of what keeps Daryl Metcalfe up at night. Still, Dracula is attacking young women- what about the LGBTQ villain? They do exist, but their status is meant to set them up as the "other." Consider Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs- his confused sexual orientation seperates him from the audience; consider Ted Levine's over the top performance as Bill. He's an other; his sexual orientation is part of that status as an other. Shouldn't the fact that he, you know, skins young women alive be enough?
So, in conclusion, I'm still waiting for the day that LGBTQ in our horror movie villains is a trait, rather than a seperating category. If it's something that seperates "them from us" in films, shouldn't it then be assumed to be the same way by filmgoers in real life? And, in a perverse sense, doesn't that encourage the passage of laws like those that Daryl Metcalfe supports?
I'd love to hear about films where sexual orientation isn't used as a seperating factor of the villain in the comments.
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