Movies teach us how to be. We learn morals, ethical lessons, how to interact with others, how to fall in and out of love. And we learn from movies how to view others — and how to view ourselves. This has been truly evident in how film has depicted queer characters from its earliest days as visual medium. We have seen people like us reduced to stereotypes — sometimes based in truth, sometimes played by queer performers eager to find work and express their own identities in front of a camera, for better or for worse. Film has also depicted queer people as villains, victims, heroes, and outcasts. More often than not, films about the LGBTQ community are made not for those of us within it, but rather viewers who consider themselves a part of the straight world. Film teaches us about empathy, about understanding difference. Many films featuring queer characters have succeeded at that mission, while many others have failed.
As with any other marginalised group, it’s tricky to make a movie about the queer community — even if the filmmakers responsible are members of the tribe. There’s a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t nature to the audience’s response. Are these characters trying to assimilate into the straight world? Are they too queer? Do they represent the vastly intricate inner lives that make up the LGBT community? Most likely they don’t — just as any other straight character in film cannot possibly stand as an Everyman or Everywoman, representing the entire human experience.
Here, in honour of LGBT Pride Month, we rank the 50 best feature films about queer people. These are films that took major risks and attempted to depict the queer experience in a variety of ways. This is a collection of movies that, at the very least, express to its viewers that — no matter what end of sexual or gender spectrum in which they feel most comfortable — they are not alone.
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From: ELLE UK
