Hollywood's Use Of Homosexual Characters In Film

In the 1920s and 1930s, Hollywood depicted homosexuality either in gender-conventions and stereotypes or ignored it altogether. And the purpose of homosexual characters was to be humorous and ridiculous. Often, homosexual male characters were portrayed as effeminate and flamboyant. They were shown to have high-pitched voices, dramatic attitudes, limp wrists, and dainty steps. For example, the 1933 film, Our Betters, features a male homosexual character as effeminate and flamboyant. Similarly, the films Myrt and Marge and The Broadway Melody both feature characters, who while never outright said to be homosexual, are comically portrayed as effeminate and “sissies.” Additionally, in the 1920s, filmmakers used lesbian themes to add a “shock” value to their films. Lesbian women were also often portrayed as masculine, nasty, and stoic.

This meant the end of overtly homosexual characters, and the beginning of reserved and between-the-lines portrayals. One such example is the character Joel Cairo in The Maltese Falcon. To avoid problems with censors, Cairo’s homosexuality is assumed in his mannerisms. Also, in this era, homosexual characters were depicted as criminals. For example, the 1948 film Rope by Alfred Hitchcock focuses on two gay psychopathic characters. And Hitchcock’s 1951 film Strangers on a Train also casts a homosexual criminal. Additionally, lesbians were often cast as tough and masculine, or unstable women. The movie Cage, for example, portrays lesbian woman as mean bullies. And the film Young Man With A Horn casts a troubled neurotic as a