There are plenty of films that promote social change for LGBT individuals either overtly or covertly. Some use historical events, others subtly integrate strong LGBT characters, and others make LGBT issues a part of the main story. You could do an analysis of films that have done this well versus those that haven't.
I put this in film but it could be about TV shows as well.
I picked LGBT issues as the topic, but you could feasibly do this with any social issue like race, class, feminism, etc.
Mainstream media has definitely been a huge influence in social change, particularly for the LGBT movement. This article could also mention things like viral web videos, such as Prop 8: The Musical & The Gaythering Storm which undoubtedly had an impact on general social opinion by legitimizing the movement with well-known celebrities. – Hannah Spencer10 years ago
I've always thought that it would be interesting to try to apply the insights of Antonio Gramsci on cultural hegemony on topics like this, particularly if it is possible to take his insights while either neglecting or transforming his specific Marxist insights. It might be a good idea to see if anybody else has used this a theoretical way to look at film in the context of LGBT acceptance/marginalization. – Drewsalem10 years ago