jonj

Loved the breadth of films covered, presents a solid comparison of the representation of sexuality and how it does or doesn’t construct the characters of a film.

Based on all this, I’d say there’s two big forces in shaping how sex in film can succeed and that’s 1) does it contribute to character development in some way and 2) how is that development represented on screen. This requires the strength of a great writer, the talents and understanding of a great performer and the delicacy of a great director.

I would make the argument that TV is beginning to make strides in overall representation of couples from different backgrounds. Whether it’s an episode of Black Mirror (the San Junipero episode centering on a black and white woman falling love) or on a mass hit like the Walking Dead where an asian man and white woman get married.

TV has the capacity and sheer number of programs to really disrupt negative stereotypes regarding couples of different backgrounds. The length of a season on a Television show provides a great platform for a viewer to really understand the couple and see the relationship for what it really is, simply people connecting.

This is where film can take a hit because of the time constraint. The right director/producer/studio needs to be behind the wheel in order to land the relationship in the right way (as the target window is smaller) but unfortunately that isn’t always the case.

Great points, and very intriguing ideas raised, although I would make the argument that in terms of narrative structure, most video games play out more like a season of a TV program (with many elements of Cinema).

Sometimes chapters (or episodes) will be defined and sometimes not, but throughout the course of certain games you are given such an ample amount of time with the characters, that the actual length of time playing/watching equates to a season of TV (8+ hours).

This only points to the merit of a video game’s narrative potential, which you really make a great case for in your article.