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This study performs a quantitative content analysis of popular Western films released in 2015-2016 and 2020-2021, examining both the frequency of featuring queer characters and the use of queer tropes. Grounded in cultivation theory, parasocial contact, and minority representation analysis, results indicate no overall increase in queer character appearances and no proliferation in queer-trope usage, followed by discussion of explanations and study limitations.",{"@graph":69,"@context":126},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/bury-your-tropes-or-how-queer-characters-get-confined-in-their-portrayals-a-content-analysis-of-recent-films-produced-in-the-west/140659/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/bury-your-tropes-or-how-queer-characters-get-confined-in-their-portrayals-a-content-analysis-of-recent-films-produced-in-the-west/140659.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"River Wang","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-11","2026-08-24",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":81},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118,122],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What question does the thesis investigate regarding queer portrayals in films?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It investigates how often queer characters are featured and how frequently queer media tropes are used in popular Western films across two time windows.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Which films and time periods are analyzed?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The quantitative content analysis covers popular movies produced in the West released in 2015–2016 and 2020–2021.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What theories guide the analysis?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The study is informed by cultivation theory, the parasocial contact hypothesis, and a minority media representation analysis framework.",{"name":123,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":124},"What do the results suggest about recent changes?",{"text":125,"@type":113},"The results indicate that queer characters have not appeared in movies more often and that the frequency of using queer tropes has not increased.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":128,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":130,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":132,"site_id":62},140659,1787594492,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":135},{"doc_id":132,"user_id":136,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":137,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":138,"file_id":139,"file_url":140,"file_type":141,"file_size":142,"view_count":81,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":143,"language":144,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":145,"faqs":146,"seo_title":147,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":133,"read_time":148},1099514067438,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/100002539ee87300030?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1780474512215547542","Bury Your Tropes or How Queer Characters Get Confined in Their Portrayals: A Content Analysis of Recent Films Produced in the West  \nJulia Gornostajeva (12110310)  \nMaster’s Thesis  \nUniversity of Amsterdam  \nGraduate School of Communication  \nMaster’s programme Communication Science  \nThesis supervisor: dr. Irene van Driel  \nWord count: 7615 (supervisor approved due to two research aims present, the study method, i.e., content analysis, and clashing findings found)  \nDate: 30/06/2022  \nAbstract  \nAs studies investigating mainstream entertainment media in the 21st century suggest, queer characters have lately been included more often. However, some research and LGBTQIA+ organisations report that, while the overall number of portrayals of queer characters has increased, using queer media tropes has proliferated too. To attest these claims, a quantitative content analysis of popular movies produced in the West and released in 2015- 2016 and 2020-2021 was conducted. Based on the cultivation theory, parasocial contact hypothesis, as well as a minority media representation analysis, the frequency of featuring queer characters and using queer tropes were investigated. The results showed that lately queer characters have not appeared in movies more often, neither has the frequency of using queer tropes proliferated. Potential reasons, explanations, and the current study’s limitations are discussed.  \nKey words: LGBT+; LGBTQIA+; queer; queer tropes; film; Lexa; content analysis  \nBury Your Tropes or How Queer Characters Get Confined in Their Portrayals: A Content Analysis of Recent Films Produced in the West  \nAs studies investigating mainstream entertainment media in the 21st century suggest, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and other (LGBTQIA+; further used interchangeably with “queer”) characters and stories lately have been included more often (Bond, 2015; GLAAD, 2020; GLAAD, 2021). In ten years’ time, the frequency of featuring queer characters has grown from 3.9% to 9.1%, with occasional slips in between (GLAAD, 2011; GLAAD, 2021) . This constitutes a rather positive change for the LGBTQIA+ community as queer characters have long been excluded from popular culture (Bridges, 2018; Raley & Lucas, 2006; Shugart, 2003; Waggoner, 2018), but are now carving out their place on screen.  \nHowever, the situation is not as rosy as it may seem. Some research and LGBTQIA+ organisations report that, while the overall number of portrayals of queer characters has increased, using queer media tropes has proliferated too (Bridges, 2018; Edwards, 2020; GLAAD, 2021; Guerrero-Pico et al., 2018) . This means that employing widely used, often stereotypical and/or one-sided portrayals of queer characters has recently become more frequent. Perhaps, the most prominent examples of queer tropes are “Camp Gay” and “Butch Lesbian” that highlight how gay men and lesbians are portrayed in ways adjacent to the opposite sex, i.e., effeminate and flamboyant for gays and masculine and butch for lesbians. Another prominent queer trope is “Bury Your Gays”, which emphasises the disproportionate rates of queer, especially lesbian and female bisexual, characters’ deaths on screen (Bridges, 2018) . However, this trope received a backlash in 2016 after death of a lesbian character Lexa, one of the “The 100” television series’ heroines, as it exemplified queer characters’demise on screen.  \nAt least allegedly this scandal has made the screenwriters of “The 100” and others torethink the ways they portray queer characters (Butler, 2016; Levin Russo, 2017; Ryan, 2016). After that, some entertainment producers have become more careful when depicting LGBTQIA+ stories. E.g., not only have producers ofthe Netflix’s series “Sex Education”(Campbell et al., 2019 –) portrayed asexual and non-binary characters, who are represented even less often than gays/lesbians (GLAAD, 2021), but they have also avoided using direct queer tropes, like “Gay Best Friend","cbCaivxyDKsgxQNC","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaivxyDKsgxQNC","pdf",704508,74,"English","# Abstract\n# Attesting recent changes in queer representation\n## Research rationale for focusing on films\n## Need to address differences between TV and film industries","[{\"question\":\"What question does the thesis investigate regarding queer portrayals in films?\",\"answer\":\"It investigates how often queer characters are featured and how frequently queer media tropes are used in popular Western films across two time windows.\"},{\"question\":\"Which films and time periods are analyzed?\",\"answer\":\"The quantitative content analysis covers popular movies produced in the West released in 2015–2016 and 2020–2021.\"},{\"question\":\"What theories guide the analysis?\",\"answer\":\"The study is informed by cultivation theory, the parasocial contact hypothesis, and a minority media representation analysis framework.\"},{\"question\":\"What do the results suggest about recent changes?\",\"answer\":\"The results indicate that queer characters have not appeared in movies more often and that the frequency of using queer tropes has not increased.\"}]","Bury Your Tropes or How Queer Characters Get Confined in Their Portrayals - A Content Analysis of Recent Films Produced in the West | PDF",186]