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Pelo Malo and Hollywood's queer pain problem



     I really loved Pelo Malo mostly because of how different the queer narrative is compared to the American (and subsequently white) queer narratives present in media.

    In most white American queer films the pain comes either from a character's struggle to come out (like Love, Simon) or how for whatever reason the two leads can't be together (Brokeback Mountian). The possibility of actual injury or death should the characters' queerness be exposed isn't really the focus (or it isn't present at all), the worst that can happen is a bully makes fun of them or their families get mad. Abandonment is also there as a possibility but it isn't often explored. Queer pain often feels more like shallow window dressing, not something that's really given meaningful observation or study. These films feel like queer stories written for straight audiences by straight writers (which is weird to me because Love, Simon is the only film, as far as I know, on this post directed by a queer person and yet it has the most criticism lobbied at it for how it shows next to no queer pain).

    The only mainstream American movie I can think of that doesn't do this would be Moonlight and can you guess what the big difference is between Chirons struggles and Simons? 

   So I wonder, does American film have a phobia of showing white queer pain? There are countless films about black pain, Hollywood loves exploiting it for profit after all, so what's stopping them from mining this untapped market? Is it some sort of pandering, Hollywoods attempt at saying "look we aren't homophobic we have a fun gay and a tragic gay" and Chiron just happened to be the only black gay Hollywood green light?

Or would making more movies surrounding queer pain be the answer? 
I know I loved Love, Simon because it was a cheesy gay rom-com that didn't focus on homophobia, I know I didn't like Brokeback Mountian because Jack and Ennis didn't get to have a happy love story. Is it worth subjecting queer audiences to more queer pain stories just to keep straight people from thinking homophobia is over? That's the reasoning I keep seeing from people who support black pain movies. 

Or maybe there's more value in showing Americans any queer story just so there's representation?


Pelo Malo to me represents a question more than an answer, this is a film about queer pain that doesn't ever really confirm the queerness of its characters and I think it is the most devastating of any queer pain film I've ever seen. 
Is it because Junior is a child for the entire film? Is it because he isn't American and therefore his situation is easier to pity? Or is it because Mariana Rondon has discovered something about queerness that Hollywood directors haven't or can't grasp?


    

Comments

  1. Kai MoraApril 10, 2021 at 4:45 PM

    Id like to comment on Love,Simon. I would argue it does show queer pain (queer white pain... idk what that is) but it doesnt address or talk about it. I think this film forces two people to come out publicly to their entire school and makes it seem like it was a romantic moment. I think the guys name was blue but im 100% sure that a real person in the closet who wasnt ready to tell his family about his queerness was def not ready to do so in front of his school knowing that people were waiting for someone to come. I think that white queer pain is actually talked about pretty often but its not as systematically or socially oppressive as black/brown queer pain so it seems like there isnt any representation of this in the media when in reality its everywhere.

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    Replies
    1. Ren NorrisApril 18, 2021 at 12:14 PM

      In the movie he was presented as shy but in the book by the time he came up to Simon it was in a private moment between the two of them and he had already come out to his father and I think his mother.

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  2. Ben HilesApril 11, 2021 at 10:54 AM

    Yes! I have had very similar thoughts and frustrations while watching all of these movies. I think your idea of Hollywood only showing queer movies for the representation has a lot of weight to it. It is as if studios are just checking off boxes and uninterested to show complex queer struggles. Also, I can hardly name a movie that ends in queer joy (aside from Love, Simon). It is also think it is hard to find a balance between making a plot that solely focuses on the queer identities, but also shows significant queerness.

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  3. Tida RApril 11, 2021 at 12:06 PM

    I have not seen either of the two movies you've mentioned, but I have seen some scenes from Love, Simon. I like the question you've asked about whether or not showing more displays of queer pain is worth it, and personally, as a cis straight person, I think it is, but I wouldn't want it to be the sole representation that queer people receive in mainstream media. I think that incorporating intersectionality into mainstream media would definitely benefit multiple marginalized groups and increase well-needed representations rather than trying to fit their identities into white normative narratives.

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