Abstract

In many cases, movie audiences internalize the values they see expressed on-screen (Hall, 1997; Raley & Lucas, 2006; Sutherland & Feltey, 2013). For North American audiences, this often means internalizing heteronormative values (Benshoff & Griffin, 2006; Chung, 2007; Sutherland & Feltey, 2013). This does not mean queer characters are excluded from North American film and television, but when they are included, the queer community is presented from heteronormative perspectives (Chung, 2007; Raley & Lucas, 2006). Despite this, queer audiences watch these performances and may learn how others expect them to cope when facing similar struggles, conflicts, or intolerances (Chung, 2007; Raley & Lucas, 2006). While many studies examine the representation and reception of the queer community in media (e.g., Cooley & Burkholder, 2011; Raley & Lucas, 2006; Sink & Mastro, 2018), fewer studies investigate or recognize the role of emotions in queer discourse. To address this, the following study conducted a thematic decomposition analysis (e.g., Bower et al., 2002; Stenner, 1993; Wollett et al., 1998) of seven North American films that were cross-listed as both gay/lesbian and romantic comedies, and were produced and released between 1996 and 2018. In combination with the analysis and a symbolic interactionist approach to understanding emotions (e.g., Armon-Jones, 1988; Hochschild, 1983; Goffman, 1959; Scheff, 1977, 1988), I proposed five coping strategies used by queer film characters: humor, conforming, avoiding, ignoring, and accepting. While some characters are able to accept their sexual orientation despite intolerances, other characters struggle to overcome shame associated with their identity. While these films may validate the queer community by providing visibility, with only a few examples of pride, these same films suggest that there is an abundance of shame associated with being queer.