AlexanderLee

I saw Gone Girl twice before reading the novel and I found that both the film and the book leave you wondering if everything we know about Amy (and her distinct personas) was all an act. I believe the ambiguity is much more interesting than a definitive answer.
It seems realistic for Amy to project her self-loathing onto other women since she recognizes something about them that she dislikes within herself. Also, the “cool girl” passage is one of the most memorable and telling lines in the book. Glad to see it referenced in your article! Very interesting read!

Very interesting read! I think there’s something to be said about the fact that many early examples of AIDS-related activism has been widely criticized for “de-gaying” the cause, particularly for the AIDS Memorial Quilt and Philadelphia. The filmmakers intended to address a subject as complex as HIV and AIDS, but decided to soften the blow to mainstream audiences by not unsettling them with so-called non-normative sexuality on screen. That being said, I still see the film as a significant step towards a better understanding of the AIDS epidemic, even if the cinematic representation of gay men was deliberately sacrificed in the process. I suppose one could argue that the screenwriters simply had to pick their battles. Thanks for writing!

Great work! As a film studies student, I have noticed this unfortunate trend of the expendable queer character in both television and film. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend watching the documentary “The Celluloid Closet” based on the book by Vito Russo. Historically, the earliest examples of LGBTQ characters in cinema have been depicted as bloodthirsty monsters, tragic figures who end up dead, or both.

In the recent case of The Walking Dead (mentioned above), it is upsetting in my opinion that the death of Denise was the result of an adaptation change from the source material. As soon as her relationship with Tara is beginning to flourish (a relationship that does not occur in the comics), she is suddenly killed off to further the plot of several heterosexual characters. And the worst part is: the show-runners never included a scene of Tara grieving for Denise! She is curiously absent and it’s frustrating, as if their relationship never happened.