"Oh my God - Danny DeVito! I love your work!" - Damien
Aside from Damien’s obvious physical portrayal of being a gay man, the character does not hold back when it comes to his even more characteristic portrayal of being a gay man. Throughout the movie, Damien uses quotes such as “She's fabulous, but she's evil” or even “Oh my God - Danny DeVito! I love your work” (this quote was actually said as he was in the girl’s washroom). His very much “flamboyant” phrases make it obvious to the viewer that they are actually encountering a gay man in the movie. Along with his “non-masculine” choices of words, Damien uses very feminine-like hand gestures to compliment his conversations. His hand gestures portray to the general audience that this man is obviously presenting a very feminine side of himself, which automatically makes him gay. Damien’s tone of voice and voice pitch is even more shocking when analyzed. If you are watching the movie without necessarily making note of Damien’s character, you might not notice that Damien’s voice pitch is in fact much higher than the rest of the men in the movie. Furthermore, his very gentle and soothing tone of voice adds even more to his portrayal of feminine qualities. Also, to top off the obvious representation of the way a gay man speaks and uses feminine like qualities throughout his conversations, Damien is even more constructed into the ideal gay man in the way he is dressed in almost every scene in the movie. Because of his light coloured shirts and light coloured pants, the audience has no choice but to form an opinion about Damien being a gay man. Damien’s choice of clothing is very calm and serene and almost inconspicuously representing a very feminine-like wardrobe.
In the movie, Damien’s body and gender is very much a
system of representation. The movie uses Damien and constructs his body and gender
to portray very feminine-like characteristics and even physical portrayal. Because his physical body is inconsistant with his female persona, he is labelled gay.
Watching a gay man in any form of media makes it difficult
to picture a gay man with masculine qualities. That is because the stereotype is
that gay men exude feminine qualities and are more feminine-like even if that is
not always the case. Therefore, in order for our stereotype to change, our media
has to change and eventually our media will influence us in a more positive light.
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