The search for queer representation in animation
Every year, June is observed as pride month. The web goes colorful, and flags everywhere remind the world about the valid queer existences, just like any other non-queer people. For Pride month this year, I thought of looking into queer representation in animation, and here’s what I found:
Queer representation in an animated feature-length film is nearly zero. While a love story with a hetero-normative lens often overfills a watch list, finding a story that solely depicts the life of a queer person is largely through short films by independent filmmakers or student projects. Queer characters are more likely to show up in an anime, but in animation in general, their representation can do better.
Here’s a list of some queer short films I chose to write about:
#1 Macher Jhol (Fish Curry)
Macher Jhol (Fish Curry) is a short film that sets itself in an Indian context and depicts the coming out of a man as gay using fish curry as a catalyst. With an activity as simple as eating, Macher Jhol captures all emotions — intimacy, anxiety, the delicious combination of fish and rice that easily gulps down the throat, and the hard-to-swallow information about a son coming out as gay.
#2 Drawn to You
Drawn to You is an adorably made short film about a teenage girl who has just discovered her sexuality and expresses it through a drawing. Unsurprisingly, her mother disapproves of her natural orientation and tears it. The creators play with the word — drawn and use it to express it in the animation of two girls being drawn to each other.
#3 The Acorn Princess
The Acorn Princess is a fairy-tale-style story that reminds me of queer people who existed in the past, and some of them were probably forced into marriages for the sake of creating alliances. This short film is simple and made in the same template of prince and princess stories that we have known so far. The characters are gay and lesbian for a queer twist.
#4 If This Isn’t Love
If This Isn’t Love touches upon the rarely talked about intimacy between asexual people and their non-asexual partners. This short film under four minutes explores the difference between friendships and relationships through both lenses of sexuality and asexuality. Made with a sex-positive asexual in mind, the story explores the ups and downs of this type of relationship, the growth both parties experience, and defines love on their own terms.
#5 Asexual Story
Asexual Story in true sense is an asexual story. Given that asexual people represent a single-digit percentage of the global population, this student project brings to light the sex-repulsed side of the asexual spectrum, who still crave intimacy. With a simple activity like watching a movie together, this short film conveys the anxiety and pressure that asexual people feel from potential partners.
#6 Send Me an Angel
Send Me an Angel is the only short film I found that explores the life of a trans man and documents the entire process of rejections and acceptances. It is a beautiful ode to his pet dog — Buddy, and his genetically disordered skin itch that becomes a bonding experience of not feeling at home in one’s own body.
#7 Star Fallen
Star Fallen is a wishful story that simplifies a queer relationship of wanting to be together. Shortest on my watch list, the film is barely 2 mins long and yet captures the lifetime intimacy of a gay couple and the fear of losing a lifelong partner.
Final thoughts on queer representation in animation
A well-written and factual queer animation in mainstream media is the need of the hour. While independent filmmakers and student projects often produce good animation, budget and skill constraints make them stick to short films. Asexual and trans representations are nearly zero within the already negligible queer-centric content.
The other aspect of queer animation is how they are distributed. While student films are more likely to go on platforms like YouTube, studio films are often restricted to a few OTTs along with geographical limitations. So far, Mubi.com has a good collection of queer animation, but I could only access Macher Jhol from the list.
There is indeed a lot more queer-centric content in live-action, but if animation can play a role in normalizing queer existence, the existing content needs to first free itself from geographical restrictions on the web. Post this, we may hope to see some easily accessible feature-length animation representing queers.
Originally published at https://blog.sangitaekka.com on June 30, 2022.
