We all know the archetypal portrayals of characters on TV shows, especially those woh identify as lesbian, gay, trans, or queer. Why are these characters portrayed in such a way, and why is this always seen as more convincing?
In addition to looking at stereotypes/characters who are defined only by their sexual orientation, it could also be helpful to give examples of characters who are a strong or accurate representation of a person in the LGBT community. – Heidi Muriel5 years ago
Stereo-typing is common ground for viewers and producers of film. It helps to build connections between characters and makes their orientation or stereo-type more recognisable for the viewers. In some cases, if an LGBTQ+ person is stereotyped as flamboyant from the beginning, it may avoid the case for a back story which would take away from the main plot of the story (for example if the show was about horror or murder mysteries), where as a coming out situation, would have to be tied in a lot more and involve more screen time. Sometimes they get represented honestly and are based on people from real life and other times some producers just see LGBTQ+ people like that and that's how they think that they should be portrayed – JustEllieWillDo5 years ago
There is a lot of good critical and scholarly material on the representation of LGBTQ+ people in film and on TV. I would be cautious of terminology, however. 'Stereotype' is peobably a more suitable expression for a topic such as this, instead of 'archetype'. For me, the issue is very problematic, but one definitely worth exploring! – Kaya5 years ago
What an interesting topic! I was personally thinking about this when I was watching the CW shows Supergirl, Arrow, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow. There are some great scenes that can be broken down in how they make the LGBTQI+ characters complex characters and not just stereotypical which adds to them being seen as realistic/convincing characters. I would recommend picking either a few important scenes or a few important characters from media your interested in to analyze so that you can use concrete examples. Maybe your research question can be more specific in the genre of TV show you will be looking at. – Aleon5 years ago