Why is the Great American Family Channel so behind on queer representation?
The exclusion of queer characters from holiday movies is occurring in parallel with a recent shift of US corporations abandoning DEI initiatives under pressure from right-wing outrage. THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED ON UNCLOSETED MEDIA A NEW INVESTIGATIVE LGBTQIA+ FOCUSSED NEWS PUBLICATION. WORDS ABBIE THOMPSON AND SPENCER MACNAUGHTON ADDITIONAL REPORTING HOPE PISONI In 2022, on the set of one of the many made-for-TV romance movies that are shot every year, the crew was producing a scene where the supporting cast – a lesbian couple – have their first dance at the wedding of their dreams.
As the music swells, the couple shares a chaste kiss and their families erupt in applause. In the few holiday movies that feature queer characters, producers often avoid including moments that display same-sex intimacy. “These networks typically like to dip their toe in the pond,” a director of holiday romance films told Uncloseted Media. “They want to check off a box in terms of including a queer storyline, but they don’t want to go so far as to see characters kiss because that typically does not sell as well to the more Christian-based networks,” he says, noting that production companies shoot the movies first and then pitch them to various networks.
This director, who asked to remain on background to avoid jeopardising future opportunities, had advocated to include the lesbian peck and felt it was wrong to omit it. “It didn’t make sense from a filmmaking standpoint, from a directorial standpoint, and it didn’t make sense from a narrative standpoint.
I made the argument that it’s a bit strange to see a couple go through their first dance and then at the end they just pull away from each other.
