Milan Zivanovic

Alien: Earth

Overcompensating

Building the Band

2 likes

The perception of homosexuals in mainstream culture has shifted throughout history—from invisibility to stereotypes. Queer outlaws and dead lovers have become shopping companions, armed with gym memberships that open every door. In order to secure a place in the mainstream world, they gave up their personalities and became either obedient and inconspicuous or comical, in a way that makes people laugh at them, not with them. Netflix’s animated series Q-Force leans heavily on such stereotypes. Unbothered by social issues, the creators deliver ten witty episodes with one problem—nothing about them is actually funny. True, cartoons have always been meant to entertain, ever since Disney. Back then, princes were handsome, women were cute and delicate, stepmothers were evil, and gay people either didn’t exist or showed up encoded in symbols. Everyone knew their place, and socially acceptable content guaranteed public affection. Acceptable means something the majority can relate to. If you belonged to a minority, you were out of luck—until recently. Things are slowly changing. Even He-Man gave way to Teela (though we still lost our queer Prince Adam). Progress may be happening, but Q-Force seems oblivious to it. The series offers an alternate universe in which even James Bond could be gay. Okay, maybe not him exactly—Q-Force is essentially a queer spy ghetto, a squad of secret agents who are different from their straight colleagues. The four protagonists—a fit pretty boy, a drag queen, a butch lesbian, and an asexual hacker—are a mirror of every stereotype you can imagine. For instance: lesbians merge bank accounts on the first date. Or: it’s fine to call gay men by female names, even better if you throw in “fag.” Even this: straight men are dumb and dirty.

Q-Force

1 like

Joe Bell

The Last of Us

Riefenstahl

5 likes

A Thousand Blows

The Apprentice

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