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Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2015

Normative Queerness. Gay intimacy goes public on HBO

Résumé

HBO, the American premium cable and satellite TV network, has recently expanded its audience by adding three gay-themed shows: Behind the Candelabra (2013), The Normal Heart (2014), and Looking (2014-). After such series as The Sopranos (1999-2007), The Wire (2002-08), or more recently, True Blood (2008- ), and Game of Thrones (2011- ), they follow in the line of successful HBO shows that successfully employ narrative complexity as a tool to positively affect viewers (ratings and reception). Looking, in particular, seems to be considered a major breakthrough as concerns the inclusion and treatment of the GLBT community in the media: 'œIt is the first mainstream television show (that is, not on a network explicitly targeted at a gay audience) about gay people since Showtime's The L Word, and . . . [is] correctly and ecumenically representative of the Gay Experience entirely'• (Lawson, Vanity Fair, 16 January 2014). This remark hints at a possible interesting turn in HBO's marketing and editorial strategy as regards media content specific to the GLBT community. Rather than the use of stereotypical, superficial, and sensationalized characterization in mainstream programs, it is now the public representation (treatment) of individual intimacy that makes up the substance of these new shows. This paper will address how today's premium TV content on cable channels (HBO, namely), offers a democratic space that serves as a platform for both the representation and demystification of gay intimacy, and to pave the way for inclusive narratives about GLBT 'œtrivialization'• . These three HBO shows'”though based on different business models and release strategies, which are always predicated on an author's approach (Soderberg, Murphy, and Haigh)'” are all related by the introduction of a non-biased normativity of gay intimacy and sexual intercourse. They create a space for discussions of companionship (what a gay relationship is about, coming out'¦). Furthermore, The Normal Heart and Looking develop a 'œnew'• , 'œnaturalistic'• aesthetic as evidenced in cinematographic elements of the series. The way these shows publicize gay life and culture through the representation of love and sex may lead us to question such notions as ' ̃post-gay era', ' ̃normativity' and ' ̃transgression'.
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Dates et versions

halshs-01765158 , version 1 (12-04-2018)

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  • HAL Id : halshs-01765158 , version 1

Citer

Grégoire Halbout. Normative Queerness. Gay intimacy goes public on HBO. 55th SCMS Conference, Society For Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS), Mar 2015, Montréal, Canada. ⟨halshs-01765158⟩

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