Villanelle

All of Us Strangers buys into tropes of tragic queer lives – but there is hope there, too

Retrieved on: 
Mercoledì, Marzo 13, 2024
Online, Love, Television, Human, Traction, Tenderness, Queer, Pain, Female, Screen Australia, Parent, Hope, Homophobia, Image, A Single Man, Grief, Life expectancy, Death, Homosexuality, Creativity, Villanelle, Logan Mader, Trauma, Film industry

On the surface, All of Us Strangers, directed by Andrew Haigh, is a dark and twisty love story.

Key Points: 
  • On the surface, All of Us Strangers, directed by Andrew Haigh, is a dark and twisty love story.
  • Underneath, there is the often-present storyline seen in queer cinema: that of trauma and tragedy.
  • All of Us Strangers follows lonely middle-aged gay man Adam (Andrew Scott), struggling to come to terms with his tragic past and sexuality.

Queer representation

  • Queer representation in mainstream media has historically been marred by negative stereotypes, tokenistic representation and death.
  • In my recent interactive documentary, Queer Representation Matters, queer media scholars and queer screen storytellers share how queer characters are often relegated to roles characterised by tragedy or trauma, perpetuating harmful tropes like “bury your gays”.
  • Online queer news site, Autostraddle, have compiled a list of the 230+ dead queer female TV characters, which continues to be updated with each death.
  • Essentially, for queer people, it starts to feel like you can’t have queer representation without someone dying tragically at the end.
  • Read more:
    We studied two decades of queer representation on Australian TV, and found some interesting trends

We need diverse stories

  • Tropes will always exist in storytelling, but by having more diverse queer filmmakers telling more diverse queer stories, audiences will have a more balanced narrative about queer life (and life expectancy).
  • We need to see stories that challenge the narrative that being queer ultimately leads to pain, trauma and tragedy.
  • We need to see we can also live long and happy lives, so we can believe we can have the happy ever after.
  • Read more:
    All of Us Strangers: heartbreaking film speaks to real experiences of gay men in UK and Ireland


Natalie Krikowa does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Latorial Faison and Sean Patrick Mulroy Win the 16th Annual Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest Sponsored by Winning Writers

Retrieved on: 
Lunedì, Aprile 15, 2019
Literature, Poetry, French poetry, Poetic form, Rhyme, Villanelle, Performing arts

Latorial Faison of Chester, Virginia won the Tom Howard Prize of $1,500 for a poem in any style or genre, for "Mama Was a Negro Spiritual".

Key Points: 
  • Latorial Faison of Chester, Virginia won the Tom Howard Prize of $1,500 for a poem in any style or genre, for "Mama Was a Negro Spiritual".
  • Sean Patrick Mulroy of Portsmouth, Virginia won the Margaret Reid Prize of $1,500 for a poem that rhymes or has a traditional style, for "Villanelle for the Wound".
  • Contest co-sponsor Duotrope awarded Faison and Mulroy each a one-year gift certificate (value $50) to access Duotrope's extensive literary information services.
  • In addition to the Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest, Winning Writers sponsors the Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest, the North Street Book Prize for Self-Published Books, and the Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest (no fee).