Flamboyant,transgressive villains remind us that embracing the darkness isn’t just liberating – it’s also an important step toward larger societal acceptanceThroughout the history of cinema, queerness has long had associations with wickedness and villainy – whether that’s explicit homosexuality or a homosexual coding that signaled a character’s unspoken affections.
That troubled legacy – which too often treats same-sex attraction as the cause of violent perversion – can be a burden for queer audiences looking for greater positive representation. But coming to terms with or even embracing cinema’s robust history of sissy villains and problematic queer archetypes engages in a radical act of what queerness is: taking something imperfect and transforming it. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com