Sound Off: Black LGBTQIA People Deserve a Rom-Com
In this 'Sound Off' piece, I discover the frustration of now not "finding a love that looked like mine" in a romantic comedy.
By Elizabeth RandolphFeb. 12 2024, Published 5:45 p.m. ET
One of my favorite genres of films is the romantic comedy, steadily known as the “rom-com.”
As a kid born in the ‘90s, I’ve seen nearly each standard rom-com of the era imaginable, from Clueless to 10 Things I Hate About You, Can’t Hardly Wait, and so on. And, after all, as any person who's Black and had Black adults in her existence rising up, I used to be uncovered early on to a few classics starring people who appeared like me, comparable to Jumping the Broom, Brown Sugar, and Deliver Us From Eva, to call a few.
While seeing other Black folks on display screen was once less of a subject matter than it was once for previous generations, finding a love featuring Black, queer women reminiscent of myself was hardly ever highlighted on film. And, once I did, I noticed the tales had been by no means humorous but were most often filled with unacceptance and secrecy, something this is unfortunately original to the Black queer or LGBTQIA area. However, like many parts of the human enjoy, there’s gentle and, dare I say it, humor in finding love while homosexual.
My middle breaks for the generations arising (and my very own) who nonetheless haven’t noticed themselves in a rom-com atmosphere. During the Valentine’s Day season, when these motion pictures incessantly thrive, right here’s my open letter to Hollywood to inform our stories with out including tragedy.
Why don’t Black rom-coms exist?
Before I dive into the desire for a genuine Black, queer rom-com that isn’t rooted in the struggles we are facing only for being ourselves, I have to be fair and say that Black queer film illustration has come a good distance.
According to a May 2021 abstract from Victor Evans in the Oxford Encyclopedia, Black queer cinema wasn’t round until the 1980s. The post shared that the concept that got here as a “response to the AIDS/HIV epidemic, in addition to the blatant homophobia that existed inside the Black group in the Eighties” and named queer directors Isaac Julien, Marlon Riggs, and lesbian director Cheryl Dunye spearheading the purpose in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
The inception of Black LGBTQIA characters got here with The Color Purple, Set It Off, and Holiday Heart in the ‘80s and ‘90s. However, no manufacturer, creator, or director ever made a coming-of-age love tale for LGBTQIA other folks in the same vein as Love Jones, The Best Man, and the all the time arguable Love & Basketball.
celie and shug from the colour purplepic.twitter.com/WR7xYn0R2j
— sapphics like: (@sapphicslike) February 6, 2024And, from the to be had tales, the characters are continuously lowered to the physically sexual aspect of our love, and we don’t get to see the humor or the innocence of a queer love story. For example, I’ve by no means seen a lesbian couple move in together with a U-Haul soon after assembly, which is something the group often jokes about.
Stereotypes aside, queer folks have the similar anxieties about if their weigh down will textual content them to glue, questioning if the individual they met on a courting app is a catfish (it happens always), or falling in love along with your absolute best pal. These real-life eventualities are hardly ever observed on-screen or are even greenlit by means of Hollywood.
The few Black queer romantic depictions out there are value amplifying.
Though there has never been a mainstream romantic comedy featuring Black queer leads, Hollywood has discovered ways to make audiences ask less pissed off through showcasing Black queer love in some of its mainstream films and TV shows.
Programs like Noah’s Arc, The Chi, Season 3 of Master Of None, Pose, and The Skinny showed a correct depiction of queer relationships, as well as Moonlight, which received an Academy Award for Best Picture in 2017.
As the luck of these tasks proves, Black queer other people will show up to see themselves on display. So again, the query stays: why can’t we view the lightness of our identities in a movie theater?
With more actors and creators in the LGBTQIA neighborhood evolving into A-list areas (Colman Domingo and Niecy Nash being the first to come back to mind), there are alternatives to look a rom-com that would trade the one-note interpretation of what Black queer love is or will also be.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pbXSramam6Ses7p6wqikaKhfqLy2usNmpp%2BeXZ28rbjYsKaonF2jsqaw0maZpZmToHqywcSeqWaqn6KwsLnS