In the video, The Celluloid Closet, Harvey Fierstein refers to having to 'translate' mainstream films so that they were more relevant to him as a gay viewer. Investigate the extent to which such translation still goes on amongst gay viewers.

Guidance

For general guidance about what is expected in your essays for this module, see the guidelines for writing essays and reports.

What Key Features Do I Look For? Familiarity with relevant texts Evidence - the stronger the better Argument - coherent and balanced Theoretical discussion - relation to relevant theories Understanding of relevant concepts Reflexivity - reflections on methodology Examples - insightfully analysed Style - readability and effective presentation

Please remember to avoid footnotes and to include an alphabetical list of 'References' which have been cited in the text (not a Bibliography of anything you have read for the essay). This list should include author's names, date, book titles (in italics), place of publication and publisher. Within the text always cite author's surname, date and page number. Double-space your text and number your pages.

Guidance for this assignment: Interviews would be the best way to get detailed responses on this issue. It makes more sense to draw upon qualitative rather than quantitative data and analysis. Do not confine yourself to films shown in the module's screening sessions. At all costs, avoid 'moralising' about the subject - about what film-makers or policymakers should or should not do about this - stick to the topic!

Some suggested reading

• Bourne, Stephen (1996) Brief Encounters: Lesbians and Gays in British Cinema 1930-1971. London: Cassell
• Burston, Paul (1995) A Queer Romance: Lesbians, Gay Men and Popular Culture. London: Routledge
• Clum, John M. (2002) He's All Man: Learning Masculinity, Gayness, and Love from American Movies. London: Palgrave
• Doty, Alexander (1993) Making Things Perfectly Queer. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press
• Doty, Alexander (2000) Flaming Classics: Queering the Film Canon. London: Routledge
• Dyer, Richard (Ed.) (1977) Gays and Film. London: British Film Institute [recommended]
• Dyer, Richard (1990) Now You See It: Studies on Lesbian and Gay Film. London: Routledge [recommended]
• Dyer, Richard (1993) The Matter of Images: Essays on Representation. London: Routledge [recommended]
  
• Farmer, Brett (2000) Spectacular Passions: Cinema, Fantasy, Gay Male Spectatorships. Durham, NC: Duke University Press
• Gever, Martha, John Greyson & Pratibha Parmar (Eds) (1993) Queer Looks: Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay Film and Video. London: Routledge
• Gross, Larry (1998) 'Minorities, Majorities and the Media'. In Tamar Liebes & James Curran (Eds.) Media, Ritual and Identity. London: Routledge, pp. 87-102
  
• Hadleigh, Boze (2001) The Lavender Screen: The Gay and Lesbian Films - Their Stars, Makers, Characters, and Critics. New York: Citadel
• Hanson, Ellis (Ed) (1999) Out Takes: Essays on Queer Theory and Film. Durham, NH: Duke University Press
• Jackson, Earl (1995) Strategies of Deviance: Studies in Gay Male Representation. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press
• Jones, Melanie (2005) 'Gay Audiences and Film "Translation"' [WWW document] URL http://users.aber.ac.uk/dgc/media/Students/mmj0201.doc (student essay)
• Kabir, Shameem (1998) Daughters of Desire: Lesbian Representations in Film. London: Cassell
• Keller, James R. (2002) Queer (Un)Friendly Film and Television. Jefferson, NC: McFarland
• Medhurst, Andy & Sally R. Munt (1997) Lesbian and Gay Studies: A Critical Introduction. London: Cassell
• Russo, Vito (1987) The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies. New York: HarperCollins