How to cite The Queerbait-Tragicqueer-Cishet-comfort Test

BibTeX

@software{carlisle_qt_2020,
location = {{Retrieved from https://qt.bgcarlisle.com/}},
title = {The Queerbait-Tragicqueer-Cishet-comfort Test},
url = {https://qt.bgcarlisle.com/},
organization = {{The Grey Literature}},
date = {2020-04},
author = {Carlisle, Benjamin Gregory}
}
	    

Vancouver

Carlisle BG. The Queerbait-Tragicqueer-Cishet-comfort Test [Internet]. Retrieved from https://qt.bgcarlisle.com/: The Grey Literature; 2020. Available from: https://qt.bgcarlisle.com/

AMA

Carlisle BG. The Queerbait-Tragicqueer-Cishet-comfort Test. Retrieved from https://qt.bgcarlisle.com/: The Grey Literature; 2020. https://qt.bgcarlisle.com/.

MLA

Carlisle, Benjamin Gregory. The Queerbait-Tragicqueer-Cishet-comfort Test. The Grey Literature, 2020, https://qt.bgcarlisle.com/.

Notes for See How They Run (2022)

These notes contain possible spoilers

I didn't put down Gio, Mervyn Cocker-Norris's "nephew"/bf as non-tragic, because his bf gets killed and that's also tragic

Notes for Dune (2021)

Mercifully, the Harkonnen character, at least to my eye, seemed extremely straight-coded, if anything

However, in-canon he's "the archetype of the depraved gay sadist" so ...

I found myself flip-flopping on whether he "counts" as gay, which is why I put him down as ambiguously gay

Notes for Foundation (2021)

Season 1

These notes contain possible spoilers

Brother Day briefly mentioned that she had sex with a woman before he kills everyone that ever knew her

Notes for Loki (2021)

Season 1

These notes contain possible spoilers

In S01E03 Loki says "a little of both" when asked by Sylvie if he had men or women love interests

That's it

That's all the queer stuff

Notes for Squid Game (2021)

Season 1

These notes contain possible spoilers

Episode 7

Includes the "gay men are decadent abusers who prey on innocent straights and therefore deserve to receive sexualized violence" trope

Unnamed gay "VIP" tries to sexually assault the cop who is disguised as a waiter

Cop grabs the gay VIP's genitals and forces him to provide evidence about the Squid Game

Notes for The Matrix Resurrections (2021)

These notes contain possible spoilers

Bugs and Lexi have a hug and it seems like they're in a relationship, but it's pretty quick

They're both extremely queer-coded to be sure, but someone could definitely watch this and completely miss it

Notes for Fantasy Island (2020)

These notes contain possible spoilers

Brax doesn't die, but he has to spend eternity on this hell island, so ...

Literally everyone else gets either a happy ending, a resolution to their conflict, a heroic ending, or they're the bad guy

But the gay dude sacrifices the rest of his life for the straight guy

Notes for Hades (2020)

While the character dies often, I don't think that this counts as "tragic" queer representation

Notes for Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020)

Season 2

These notes contain possible spoilers

There is exactly three (3) gay in Lower Decks:

* Mariner briefly mentions to Tendi that she dated women in S02E03
* Billups is supposed to sex up someone in S02E07 and the prospective sexual partners include both a man and a woman
* In S02E10, at the very end, Mariner tells Jennifer that she likes her

And they all happen so fast

Notes for Star Trek: Picard (2020)

These notes contain possible spoilers

The ending of the last episode has a 10-second gay hand-holding scene between Seven and Raffi:

https://scholar.social/@bgcarlisle/103943617095050296

Notes for Avengers: Endgame (2019)

That guy from the group therapy session with Cap.

Notes for Assassination Nation (2018)

These notes contain possible spoilers

Does not die at the end, but people attempt to hang her. Transgender woman.

Notes for Boy Erased (2018)

These notes contain possible spoilers

Even though he lives and the story has a happy ending, the whole story is about the ways he was abused, so it's arguably tragic for that reason

But then the whole point of this story is about how terrible gay conversion therapy is, so it's not the gratuitous tragic representation that we're all so tired of either

Notes for Venom (2018)

The Venom symbiote may have a different sexuality from its host's, however this is not explored enough to merit being called a "queer character," based on the representation in this film alone

Notes for Destiny 2 (2017)

In-game lore and associated media

These notes contain possible spoilers

The core campaign is about doing space magic and shooting aliens to save the world and contains little in the way of character or relationship arcs.

The 'lore' component of the game contains reams of actual interesting fiction that is full of romance, and it's basically all gay. In the only well known straight pairing (Mara and Shaxx), one of the two canonically bi, and the other is a pan-poly-hero who is married to most of the players in the game.

One of the major characters alludes the having had an opposite-sex lover, but later admits that she was made up. He's the only character that has been killed off.

Notes for God's Own Country (2017)

Johnny, a young Yorkshire rancher, falls in love with Gheorghe, a Romanian migrant farmhand.

Notes for Star Trek: Discovery (2017)

Seasons 1-2

In the leadup to when this show premiered, the writers, actors and everyone involved fucking *crowed* about how they were going to do gay representation "right."

And by that, they meant that you wouldn't be able to tell it's a gay character.

Notes for The Orville (2017)

There's an entire episode where as best I can tell, the whole point is to give straight people an opportunity to be self-righteous at queer people for a change

Notes for Star Trek Beyond (2016)

There's a two-second side-hug between Sulu and a guy who we're supposed to take as his partner

Notes for Bojack Horseman (2014)

In season 5, we learn that Todd is asexual

Notes for Call the Midwife (2014)

Season 3+

These notes contain possible spoilers

Character in question is canonically and unambiguously gay; however her storyline ends with her fiancée dying

Notes for The Babadook (2014)

Despite its cherished place in queer culture, there are no in-canon queer characters.

Notes for Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013)

Very much written for straight comfort:

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/andre-braugher-brooklyn-nine-nine_n_7189318

https://www.femestella.com/7-times-brooklyn-99-captain-raymond-holt-gay-sterotypes/

Notes for Orphan Black (2013)

Felix is too good for this world; we don't deserve him.

Notes for Gravity Falls (2012)

These notes contain possible spoilers

It is very strongly implied that Grenda Grendinator is trans, however it's played off for comedy and it's ultimately deniable, so I'm not sure that it quite reaches the threshold of providing canonical trans representation

The police officers are also in the same boat

It's strongly implied that they're gay, but it's never quite explicit

Notes for Les Misérables (2012)

Valjean doesn't kiss any cute boys at all

Notes for The Legend of Korra (2012)

These notes contain possible spoilers

The full extent of the queer content in the whole four seasons is that Korra and Asami briefly hold hands and look at each other while going away on a vacation.

That's it. It happens on the very last episode.

That's all of it.

No more gay stuff.

Notes for Bob's Burgers (2011)

Marshmallow is a recurring but minor character who is a trans sex worker and presented explicitly as such.

Bob is the show's namesake character and is generally presented as straight, but in S04E05 ("Turkey in a Can"), he responds to a gay deli worker's flirtation with "No, maybe-- wait, I'm straight. I mean, I'm mostly straight," and later, "Also, I'm married. But if I wasn't... who am I kidding, you're out of my league!"

Notes for Modern Family (2009)

This is a very heteronormative gay couple.

Notes for Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005)

One of the pirates is arguably queer-coded, but that's it.

Notes for Slings and Arrows (2003)

These notes contain possible spoilers

The gay character dies in S01E01, so it's hard to make the argument that he isn't a tragic gay character. However by the end of the 3rd season, he moves on, so there's that.

There is another gay character in season 2, however this character has a whole weirdo "Shakespeare can turn you straight" plot line that is way too much to unpack here.

Notes for Firefly (2002)

These notes contain possible spoilers

Aside from a scene in which Inara tries to seduce a villain who is a woman, there's one scene in which Inara euphemistically suggests that she has a sexual preference for women

Notes for Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)

While the bulk of the film is about Hedwig's misfortunes, it comes across as empowering, and so it's hard to say that it's "tragic"

Notes for Lord of the Rings (2001)

All of them

Frodo and Sam don't count

Notes for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1999)

S07E14, "Chimera"

These notes contain possible spoilers

Odo links with Laas and Kira specifically points out that it's a very intimate thing to do.

Later on, Quark hammers the point home that we're talking about queerness with his "Changeling Pride Parade" comment.

Notes for Harry Potter (1997)

All of them

I have not included Dumbledore as a queer character because I am only considering representation that is provided in-canon.

Post-hoc revelations made by the author after the book sales are already in the bag do not count.

Fuck off, JKR.

Notes for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1995)

S04E05, "Rejoined"

These notes contain possible spoilers

While both Dax and Khan survive the episode, they are denied a happy ending.

Notes for The Living End (1992)

These notes contain possible spoilers

Okay, so it's implied that they die off-screen of AIDS after the end of the film, which is pretty tragic, I gotta admit.

But I feel like this movie should get a pass on that because it was made in 1992 and that was kind of the *actual experience* of gay men at the height of the AIDS epidemic.

Also: this is a very very white movie. They were not trying to interrogate any intersections of queerness and race, so watch out for that. :/

Notes for Samurai Cop (1991)

It's not good queer representation, and it's not a good movie. It's trashy, racist, sexist and it verges on being a softcore porn.

But it technically passes the test.

I got the name for the gay waiter from IMDB; I'm not sure it's right. But the character is definitely named, because there's a big conversation about him telling the cop his first name.

Notes for Clue (1985)

These notes contain possible spoilers

Early in the film, Mr Green says explicitly that he is being blackmailed for being a homosexual.

However, in the alternate ending where we're told what "really happened," Mr Green reveals that he is straight.

Notes for Star Wars (1977)

All the numbered episodes

The blink-and-you-miss-it lesbian kiss happens in Star Wars IX at the very end.

Notes for The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

It is, as they say, a "problematic" fave

Notes for Cabaret (1972)

Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome!!

Notes for Some Like It Hot (1959)

These notes contain possible spoilers

As the very last joke of the film, Jerry reveals to Osgood that he's a man, and Osgood says that he still wants to marry him.

We don't get any more information than that, and it's played off as deadpan on the part of Osgood, so that means that he's bi or pan.

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