A lesbian friend of mine was off on a rant yesterday on how lesbian characters in films are always villians. I told her that there were many positive lesbian characters. I came up with Ellen D. in her old TV show (not even a film), then I pretty much died.
She said, “See, see!” I challenged her for villians and she pointed to Sharon Stone’s character in that one she did with Michael Douglas. My response was she was at the very least bi… She said there were a bunch of others but that she simply couldn’t remember them at the moment. I, of course, using my brilliant comeback ability, went “a ha” to prove my point.
But I got to thinking and I could remember a few other negative lesbians, a couple of just irrating ones, but no real positive characters. The closest I came up with was the woman in Dodgeball and she doesn’t really count despite what Rip Torn’s character “Patches” said throughout the film.
Brandon Teena in Boys Don’t Cry certainly wasn’t the villain, though I don’t know about positive. She was a just regular guy, I guess.
The two ladies in Bound were… sort of positive. I mean, they robbed the Mafia. That doesn’t make them the good guys, but the bad guys are infinitely worse than them. Also, they were hot as lava. Very positive in my book
One of my favorite miniseries, Jekyll by Steven Moffat, has a couple major characters who are lesbian (a detective and her partner) and definitely portrayed in a positive light. In fact, I’d love to see him do an offshoot with them in the starring roles.
But I’m a Cheerleader is kind of a goofy satire, but it portrays homosexuals as being regular, normal people. The main character is a lesbian, and not a villain.
Sandra Oh in Under the Tuscan Sun. She’s the protagonist’s best friend, is in a relationship with another woman. She’s also the best thing in the movie.
I thought about Thelma & Louise, but I’m not sure they’re positive characters, really. I mean, they lose control, go on a careless crimespree and end up committing suicide. They’re good people, I think, but… y’know, not positive models.
Idgie & Ruth in Fried Green Tomatoes. The lesbian thing was downplayed in the film, but those who have read the book know that they really were lesbians.
Can I name a positive lesbian character from literature? I know it’s a hijack but I like this character really well.
S.M. Stirling’s Nantucket trilogy, that starts with Island in the Sea of Time, introduces a main character named Marian Alston. She’s a US Coast Guard captain caught up in the Event that propelled Nantucket back in time, and she ends up being their war leader.
I thought Idgie in Fried Green Tomatoes would be first to be mentioned. She was watered down a bit compared to her portrayal in the novel, but still, unabashedly gay and very positive.
Am I really stupid or is this really the best we can do? Is there no female movie equivalent of say Milk or Philidelphia or Brokeback Mountain or Priscilla, Queen of the Desert or * My Beautiful Laundrette * or piles of other gay male representations?
