Saturday, May 25, 2013

Outing of Fictitious Characters


In the my recently published AWN article , I mention how there has been a decrease in the social censorship of LGBTQ themes and that “viewers who are less receptive to such characters are becoming less vocal.” I thought it would be nice to go into a little bit more detail about this and give some examples that show this change.
 
The outing of fictitious characters is not a new phenomenon. When a Picture of Dorian Gray was first released in 1890 media at the time called out the sexuality of the main character, the Scots Observer wrote that the book would be of interest to only those, “outlawed noblemen and perverted telegraph-boys (How Oscar Wilde Painted Over Dorian Grey).”
In 1895 the novel was used to call into question the sexuality of its author Oscar Wilde. When he was put on trial for being gay (or more accurately “gross indecency with other men”), sections of the book were read aloud. The opposing attorney called the novel “sodomitical” and drew comparisons between Oscar Wilde, and Dorian Gray as if the fictional character were a stand-in for the author (pg5).
Some sixty-eight years after the release of Dorian Gray, in 1958, Seduction of the Innocent was publishedIn this nonfiction novel author and psychiatrist Fredric Wertham, harshly critiqued comic books for their violence and sexual content. One of the chapters dealt with children’s sexuality, and suggested that Batman and Robin were a gay couple, Wonder Woman was a lesbian and that comic books were causing sexual perversion in children.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

AWN: ParaNorman Reblog


Exciting news!
I recently had the opportunity to write for the Animation World Network. In the article, ParaNorman’s Mitch: The First Family-Friendly Gay Animated Character, I look at the changes that have taken place in American animated theatrical releases in the past twenty years to allow for the first out animated character. This has been a wonderful experience, and I’m so thankful for all the feedback I received from Dan Sarto while writing. The article was just published today : ) 
Check it out HERE.

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Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Gender Ratio 2008-2012

Study: Gender Ratio in Family Targeting American Theatrical Animation

Year: 2008 - 2012

Looking at only American, or American/Foreign Coproduced Animated Films Rated G or PG that were released in at least 500 theaters in the U.S.

 53 Movies Released

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Fact Check: Only 13 Female Protagonists

"Between 1937 and 2005 there were only 13 female protagonists in animated movies."

I stumbled upon this quote that's been floating around, originating from Miss Representation, though I can no longer find it on their site. There doesn't seem to be any source material backing it up. I feel like this is why it is so important to get some raw data out there about gender statistics in animation, because there isn't a lot to go off of at the moment.