Cinema and the Discursive Construction of Alternate Sexualities

Abstract

Cinema acts as a visual discourse which constructs identities and shapes our perception in a particular way. Popular cinema works in accordance with mainstream tastes and propagates its ideologies. This discursive constitution of identity is particularly problematic in the representation of subaltern groups, who lack discursive privilege and hence are fated to bear the burden of mainstream representations. Alternate sexualities appear under the purview of subalternity. Michael Foucault has extensively theorized on the discursive construction of sexuality by the operation of latent forms of power. Alternate sexualities get systematically othered in discourses, which serve as sites of operation of power. This is especially true in the case of mainstream cinema. Stereotype and spectacle are dominant tropes used in representing non normative sexualities on screen. Theory of social construction propounded by Moscovici and queer theoretical framework propounded by theorists like Butler could be used as effective tools to deconstruct the re-presentations of alternate sexualities, which could be a political and social strategy.