While my research has also helped me learn a lot about the subject of my documentary and how I can best approach it, it has also helped me make the representation clearer and discover my target audience.
From the beginning, it's obvious that representation is a major component and aspect of my documentary. I am highlighting and uplifting queer voices and stories, especially those that are underrepresented, such as asexuality. While representing asexuality, I am also representing kids and teens. Most documentaries, especially ones focusing on the queer community, often focus on adults and the life that they live as a part of the LGBTQIA+ community. I'm choosing to focus on underrepresented topics both in the queer community and the genre. By representing queer youth in my documentary, I am choosing two groups that I am a part of which allows me to represent both groups in a proper, accurate, and positive way.
Although, I am just starting the project, mentioning the representation in my documentary makes me think of a question that is included in the critical reflection. That question is, "How do your products represent social groups or issues?" My products represent social groups or issues by uplifting the voices of people who are underrepresented in the documentary genre, queer youth. Most young people are told their sexuality is "not valid" or "just a phase" because of their age and my project's goal is to prove those people wrong and show that every identity is valid, no matter how old the person is. I am also representing young asexuals, who have been rarely given a platform to speak about issues that affect them both in the LGBTQIA+ community and outside of it. While I'm not going into much detail about the question now, as I am just starting to plan the main documentary component, I think simply answering this question best summarizes how I am going to highlight representation in my project.
The target audience for my project is very similar to the representation in my project. The main target audience for my documentary is people of all genders aged ten to twenty-one, either members of the LGBTQIA+ community or are allies, and are likely of middle-class. The documentary could also reach an older demographic of people aged twenty-two to thirty-two. This older demographic would watch this documentary because they are a part of or are activists for the queer community. Both demographics consist of people who want to educate themselves on the LGBTQIA+ community and are typically fans of other media content with prominent LGBTQIA+ themes. By understanding my project's target audience, I can get better ideas as to how I should approach it and properly execute it.
By understanding both the prevalent and important representation in my project and its target audience, I am able to begin planning the various parts of my piece.
“Representation not only reflects but actually changes reality.”
- Angela Chen, author of Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex
On top of researching the Queer Youth Movement, I wanted to watch queer documentaries to get a better grasp on how I should approach my documentary and what the genre is like.
For my research, I watched two documentaries. The first documentary I watched is called, Paris Is Burning. Paris Is Burning, directed by Jennie Livingston,is about the New York City ballroom scene in the 1980s. New York Ballrooms in the 1980s were a place for gay and trans people, especially minorities, to express themselves through fashion, drag, and dance. They also find a community and a family where they can be themselves when they have been cast out by their biological families. Many parts of this documentary also highlight the important parts of ballroom culture that have influenced the queer community today. Some of these include vogueing which is a form of dance that is used to challenge somebody, reading which is using insults as jokes, and drag competitions. I thought this documentary was phenomenal. It was so beautiful to see people so genuinely happy about being themselves, expressing themselves, wanting to follow their dreams, and finding a family in their own community. This is what I want to capture in my documentary. I want to show while there has been hatred and dismissal of different identities, they can still live, be themselves, and be happy. I also want to incorporate the genuineness of people telling their stories and how they have overcome the hate and bitterness that come with being different. This documentary was amazing and it really helped me understand how to better approach and create my own documentary. There is a link to the film here.
The second documentary I watched is called, Transhood. Transhood, directed by Sharon Liese, follows the story of four transgender kids and their families as they grow up over five years. Each subject told a different story, Lenna age fifteen wants to complete her transition and become a model, Jay age twelve is just medically starting his transition, Avery age eight is a child activist for the trans community, and Phoenix age four identifies as a girl-boy. This documentary did a good job of showing how their identities evolve and how they grow and mature. They also tell stories of being outed, activism, and de-transitioning. While I liked most aspects of the documentary, there were some I deemed problematic. When Phoenix de-transitioned and decided they identify as a boy, his mom went from being very supportive of them being transgender at first to relief when he identified with his gender at birth. She treated Phoenix’s time as a girl as a dirty secret, deleting all of the old photos of her on Facebook and believing that all transgender people have mental issues. While I think it is important that multiple perspectives are important, especially in documentaries, ideas like this could be harmful when promoting something as important as transgender kids being themselves which is often looked down upon. I watched this film to get a younger perspective on the LGBTQIA+ community and I did. This film helped me better approach my documentary with how I can approach it with subjects like me, in mind.
There was another film I wanted to watch called Summer Qamp that debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival this year, but it is currently waiting to be distributed so there was no way to easily access it. It is about a summer camp in Alberta, Canada for trans and non-binary kids to be themselves and find a community with kids that are like them.
Watching other documentaries similar to mine helped me get a better idea of how I can approach my documentary and make it flow thematically. Both documentaries were very useful in my research in different ways and I plan to apply the different techniques I learned in my piece. I learned a lot from both of these documentaries and they will have a positive impact on my final project.
"Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself."
Before I start planning my documentary, I want to start off with what I believe is crucial background information and research. I’m going to talk about the queer youth movement.
The gay liberation and youth movements coincide; they cannot be separated. This is especially true with the event that is associated with and is deemed the start of the gay liberation movement, The Stonewall Inn uprisings. The Stonewall Inn uprisings began on June 28th, 1969 when police officers raided a gay bar in New York City; A gay bar that was seen as a community and safe space for many LGBTQ+ teenagers and adults in New York. When the police attacked, the patrons fought back and led riots that lasted for six days. No one knows how or who started it, but it marked the beginning of a new era for the LGBTQIA+ community.
The Stonewall Uprising
The Stonewall uprising involved many young people, including Sylvia Rivera. Sylvia Rivera is a trans woman who was one of the leaders in the Stonewall riots at seventeen years old. She also created the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries or STAR with Marsha P. Johnson, a trans woman and leader of the Stonewall riots. Both STAR and Marsha P. Johnson herself aided LGBTQIA+ youth by providing aid and shelter for those in need. Their impact on the queer youth of their day was very powerful, helping so many queer kids that were left on the streets.
Interview of Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson, and other members of STAR talking about the organization and the movement
This movement and the impact it had led to the first GSA or Gay-Student Alliance in 1972 at George Washington High School in Washington Heights, New York. The high-school students, mostly students of color, created the club with a list of demands. Their demands were as follows, “The right to form gay groups of both a social and political nature (1), The right to be included and to receive fair representation in any high school course dealing with sexuality (as both sexual beings and as a political movement in a changing society with changing cultural values), and if none exists, to have them be created (2), and The right to be treated as equal human beings, which includes the removal of all textbooks and other educational material that treat homosexuality as an aberration, rather than as an integral and important part of human sexuality. (3)” Although the club was small, only consisting of twenty people (nine lesbians, six gay men, and five straight allies), it was impactful. It encouraged people to form their own idealizations and ideas about the world and the society we live in. They were also recruited and spoken to by the Gay Activist Alliance, or the GAA, in an open forum where they answered questions, and gave advice, and support to the group. This group caused many others to rise, especially teenagers, all across the country. The first GSA had a great impact on the queer youth movement of the seventies.
List of demands from George Washington High’s GSA
By the summer of 1973 however, the gay liberation movement began to fade and end. This became clear when some lesbian “feminists” became unaccepting of trans women in the community and when Sylvia Rivera was jeered on stage during the annual Liberation Days Rally (Pride today). While some queer youth groups emerged after this, they were more forgotten and less impactful than those of the decade prior. The LGBTQIA+ community also suffered in the coming decades, but the modern day would see a revival of the queer movement, especially with teens.
The modern queer youth movement began in the mid-2010s when gay marriage was legalized in 2015. LGBTQIA+ representation is more present in pop culture and in media such as the TLC show, "I Am Jazz," which tells the story of transgender teen Jazz Jennings, as she goes through high school. The TV shows Will & Grace, where one of the main characters is gay, and Modern Family, which highlights a gay couple who adopted a daughter from Vietnam, were also on the air. When these shows were on the air, teenagers today were kids and grew up with queer representation as a normal thing in their lives. Being queer was becoming more normalized and accepted, allowing people to feel more comfortable to come out and express themselves.
Social media was also seeing a significant rise and kids and teenagers were using it extensively. Because of this large exposure to social media, kids and teens were seeing more representation on their screens through platforms like YouTube and Instagram. Creators like Tyler Oakley, Joey Graceffa, and now famous singer Troye Sivan, got their start on YouTube making content about their life and having fun but also about being queer and educating their audiences. A lot of young people felt seen and found comfort in their videos. This representation in the media has continued and expanded today making it more and more normal in our society.
This normalcy of representation in the media has allowed more teens to feel comfortable in their identity and has allowed them to come out. According to a General Society Survey, more young people openly identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual from 2007-2017. This support has also caused more schools to create GSAs and for fewer LGBTQIA+ students to face less harassment in school. According to a GLSEN survey, 60% of schools had a GSA by 2018, and only 20% of LGBTQIA+ students reported harassment at school. Many people are more open and accepting which has allowed people to express and be themselves.
While queer teenagers are also able to express themselves more freely, many face mental health issues, don’t have support at home, or are being affected by anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation that is being passed in southern, more republican states. According to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about seventy percent of high school students who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual reported persistent sadness which is twice the rate of their heterosexual peers. One in five have also attempted suicide in the last year which is nearly four times the rate of straight young people. There are also young queer people who's family aren't supportive of them and their identity, forcing them to either live in a house isolated or leave at an early age. This is extremely harmful to their mental health but there are organizations, like The Trevor Project, who provide aid to young queer people in need. There are also anti-LGBTQIA+ laws that are being passed in mostly southern states that affect transgender youth and how gender and sexuality are being taught in schools. Transgender minors are being refused gender-affirming care, teachers aren't allowed to refer to transgender students by their preferred name or pronouns, and LGBTQIA+ topics are being restricted and silenced in schools. This is extremely harmful as it restricts opposing viewpoints, limiting the knowledge of students, and causing transgender people to not get the care they need to survive.
No matter what year, decade, or era, the LGBTQIA+ community has always been that, a community. Everyone is united by their identity and will uplift each other to uplift their community. People have discovered themselves and are living their truth because they can feel safe enough too. Community is a very strong and powerful thing and is valued for queer youth. The LGBTQIA+ movement has evolved with the times but it has always been a youth movement.
"The movement had put me on the shelf, but they took me down and dusted me off… Still, it was beautiful. I walked down 58th Street and the young ones were calling from the sidewalk, ‘Sylvia, Sylvia, thank you, we know what you did.’"
- Sylvia Rivera
Sources:
“LGBTQ History.” The Trevor Project, The Trevor Project, www.thetrevorproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/LGBTQ-History.pdf. Accessed 22 Feb. 2024.
Paris, Francesca, and Claire Cain Miller. “What It’s like to Be a Queer Teenager in America Today.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 3 June 2023, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/06/03/upshot/up-lgbtq-teens.html#:~:text=For%20L.G.B.T.Q.,bisexual%2C%20transgender%20or%20otherwise%20queer.
“Queer Youth Cultures.” State University of New York Press, 2008, sunypress.edu/Books/Q/Queer-Youth-Cultures2.
Rindner, Grant. “Who Were the Stonewall Riot Leaders?” Oprah Daily, www.oprahdaily.com/life/a36319161/stonewall-riot-leaders/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2024.
Ventura, Anya. “The Radical History of the First Gay-Straight Alliance.” The Nation, 24 June 2022, www.thenation.com/article/society/gay-liberation-high-school/.
Before I begin working on the project, I must create a schedule and layout for how I will approach the project and how I will get it done in a timely and efficient manner. I created a similar schedule for my portfolio project in the AS class last year and it was one of the most useful tools I had when creating that project. It helped me properly plan out exactly what I needed to do and when I should do it to keep a proper pace. By creating one for this project, I hope it serves the same purpose and proves to be as useful as the previous one. My schedule for my last portfolio project is depicted in a previous blog post, "My Concept and How I'm Approaching It."
This is the schedule I created for my A-level portfolio project
This schedule, much like the previous one, highlights what is going to be in my research, my process with filming, editing, and creating both the magazine spread and the social media page. I also implemented breaks in my schedule so I give some time to myself and don't burn out. These breaks also coincide with events that I have and I made sure I worked around them. This schedule is also closely modeled by the one our teacher, Mrs. Stoklosa provided to ensure we followed an efficient pace and got our projects done on time. By following this schedule as closely as possible, I will complete the necessary steps and my documentary with great results.
"There will not be a magic day when we wake up and it's now okay to express ourselves publicly. We make that day bu doing things publicly until it's simply the way things are."
As mentioned in the last post, I was leaning towards the idea to do a documentary about being young and queer in America. I decided this is what I’m going to do! I want to highlight queer voices in a positive and uplifting manner and I feel this is the most genuine way to do so.
The concept for the documentary is that every episode will highlight a teenager ranging from thirteen to nineteen that identifies as queer and falls under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella. My documentary will talk about the young queer experience and the different aspects that come with it that many people in the community share. The first episode would talk about finding yourself and being comfortable with your identity, and the second would talking about the different ways people express themselves through their identity. The third episode would talk about how transgender people battle gender dysphoria, and the fourth would talk about how queer people overcome bigotry, hatred, and homophobia. The fifth episode would talk about finding a shared community and support through the LGBTQIA+ community and the sixth and final episode would highlight queer joy and embracing your true identity. My documentary excerpt would be from the fourth episode and highlight how asexuality is not seen as a "valid identity" and is not seen as a real identity by some people in society. I chose this topic because asexuality is not known to many people and is not talked about enough. I want to use my platform to educate and inform more people about queer topics they may not know much about.
Before I chose this documentary and episode concept, I had another idea in mind. I was still going to highlight young, queer voices but each episode was going to highlight a specific letter in the LGBTQIA+ acronym and a person that follows under each category would be highlighted in the episode and talk about their experience. Although I liked this concept, it didn't allow me to portray my desired topic fully and left me wanting to showcase more. I also think that the idea I'm going to put into production does a better job of fully and genuinely talking about everything that comes with being young and queer, both the good and the bad in a genuine and less stereotypical way than other media pieces of the same topic.
My portfolio planning sheet depicting the different ideas for my documentary.
My next blog post will show my schedule, the way I break down my project process week by week, and how I will get my project done in a timely and efficient manner. I also wanted to add something new to my blog this year. Because my project is all about elevating queer voices, I want to add an inspirational quote from a queer person, whether they are a celebrity or an activist, to the end of all my blogs. The first quote I chose, I feel highlights the full purpose and intention of my project. It is very powerful and impactful.
"All young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential."
I am finally starting this year’s portfolio project! It’s going to be a long and sometimes stressful process, but it’s going to be worth it to have a project I’m very proud of.
Before we begin, let me provide some background and explain what the project is. With this project, I have a choice of four options, a music promo, a film promo, a documentary package, and a short film. The music promo is for the release of an album from a local band or artist with a music video, an official social media page for that band or artist, and a digipak (the rendering of the CD or vinyl display of the album). The film promo is creating two full-length trailers, an official social media page, and a poster to promote a new film. The documentary package is creating a five-minute excerpt of an original episodic documentary with a social media page and a magazine article. The final option, the short film, is creating a five-minute complete short film with an official social media page, and a postcard advertisement for a film festival.
While I like all of these options, the two that stand out to me the most are the short film and the documentary. I like the short film because it would give me a great piece to submit to film festivals and show my work off to more people while advertising it with the social media page and the postcard. It also allows me to be creative with writing a new story which is something I like to do. I like the documentary because we have created documentaries already this year and I really enjoyed it. This process is detailed in my previous five posts. I also have an idea for the documentary, that I've been wanting to do since last year. I want to create a documentary about what it's like being young and queer in America. This is a topic that has always interested me and identifying as queer myself, I think I could bring stories to life in a real and authentic way.
So far, I am heavily leaning towards the documentary package but I will update you with my decision and the ideas I have for it. Stay tuned!
