When you get what you want but not what you need

Who doesn’t like a happy ending? So good representation is when everyone reacts positively to the characters' coming-outs, they don’t have to look for love for long and live happily ever after, right? Right? That might represent your dreams, but that doesn’t represent reality. What representation means is: Can I identify with it? Have I been there?

In return, does that mean, we can’t have a happy ending? Sure, we can. But it has to be well-earned. First, the story has to pick up where we currently are. That might be a dark place, we wish to escape. There might be someone reaching out to us, showing us the way. That way might be rocky. And if we keep a stiff upper lip, we find our happy ending waiting for us. And we can do it. We are not alone.

Queer actors/actresses required?

We often have these discussions on social media where queer people complain that queer roles are portrayed by non-queer actors and actresses. Of course, we can question this, but what is this all about in the first place? The claim is backed up by the assumption that privileged people don’t know how to play marginalized roles from experience. That’s partly true.

1. Method acting doesn’t require the actor/actress to have experienced the exact same thing. It can be similar things

2. If only one queer and one non-queer actor/actress audition and the non-queer one turns out to be more believable against all odds, why not give them the role?

3. Just because you have experienced something yourself, doesn’t mean you are as good of an actor to play that

4. What is the key to authentic scenes? The actors/actresses? They have their fair share of it, but they are really at the bottom of the food chain. For them to strive, there has to be a good script, a good counselor, and a good director. So it sometimes might be wiser to place that experienced person higher up in the food chain

If companies can launder money and air one’s dirty linen in public, why not queerness?

There are many alternative versions of that meme, and it has a certain truth to it. Just because somebody hoists the pride flag or tweets “love is love”, doesn’t necessarily mean, they are an ally.

There is a difference between “doing every little thing right from the very start” and “showing stereotypes for laughs”. People are allowed to make mistakes, people can learn from them. Not everything needs to be brightly polished. But it might require some research to not repeat falsehoods people were led to believe.

What are your good/bad examples? Feel free to share them!