Christopher Pullen
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780748694846
- eISBN:
- 9781474418485
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748694846.003.0006
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter considers the representation of the straight girl and the queer guy within varying documentary media forms, considering the notions of social agency and performativity. Foregrounding ...
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This chapter considers the representation of the straight girl and the queer guy within varying documentary media forms, considering the notions of social agency and performativity. Foregrounding both documentary theory and performance studies, the documentary biographical film drama Carrington (Christopher Hampton 1995, UK), offers a historical precedent in the representation of the straight girl and queer guy, all the while foregrounding notions of devotion and intensity. The context of the social actor is further examined in more recent documentary case studies such as Fag Hags: Women Who Love Gay Men (Justine Pimlott 2005, Canada), My Husband Is Gay (Benetta Adamson 2005, UK) and My Husband Is Not Gay (TLC 2015, US), framing the intense relationships between straight girls and queer guys – in many instances relating legal marriages and questioning issues of fidelity. Also the performative potential of reality television is explored in Would Like to Meet (BBC 2001, UK), Boy Meets Boy (Bravo 2003, US) and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (Bravo 2003–7, US), through examining the confines and opportunity of television formats.Less
This chapter considers the representation of the straight girl and the queer guy within varying documentary media forms, considering the notions of social agency and performativity. Foregrounding both documentary theory and performance studies, the documentary biographical film drama Carrington (Christopher Hampton 1995, UK), offers a historical precedent in the representation of the straight girl and queer guy, all the while foregrounding notions of devotion and intensity. The context of the social actor is further examined in more recent documentary case studies such as Fag Hags: Women Who Love Gay Men (Justine Pimlott 2005, Canada), My Husband Is Gay (Benetta Adamson 2005, UK) and My Husband Is Not Gay (TLC 2015, US), framing the intense relationships between straight girls and queer guys – in many instances relating legal marriages and questioning issues of fidelity. Also the performative potential of reality television is explored in Would Like to Meet (BBC 2001, UK), Boy Meets Boy (Bravo 2003, US) and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (Bravo 2003–7, US), through examining the confines and opportunity of television formats.
