Real Change News | Film session breaks down stereotypes

August 5, 2009
Vol: 16 No: 35

News

Film session breaks down stereotypes

by: Laura Rumpf , Contributing Writer

Turning a homophobic rap lyric inside out

Reel Queer participants Alayna Chamberland, 17, and Alix Hamilton, 18, discuss their work during a weeklong exploration of homosexuality in the media.

Photo by: Laura Rumpf , Contributing Writer

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“Yo, I like your shirt, pro-homo.”

Fierce, funny rap lyrics, emotionally provocative visual and audio footage and youthful confidence exude from the three films produced this month by 10 young people in Seattle.

The Reel Queer program, a brand new pilot project of the Reel Grrls nonprofit media empowerment program for young women in Seattle, presented a unique LGBT focus on media stereotypes in film.

The three shorts produced included a heartfelt interview series, a satiric ode to pop artist Katy Perry and an original rap video entitled “Pro-homo” — a challenge to the notoriously homophobic rapper Lil Wayne, who frequently interjects the phrase “no homo” into his lyrics when addressing other male rappers as a way of saying, “Don’t worry, this isn’t a sexual advance.”

“The no-homo thing seemed to be teaching guys that you don’t give [other guys] compliments unless you’re gay, explained Alayna Chamberland, or it acts to “give warning that you’re not gay.”

The Reel Queer team coined the phrase “pro-homo” to challenge the negative stereotype and to make a statement about the need for gay and bisexual females to have a way to express attraction for other females who don’t typically take compliments from other women as flirtation.

“We would say stuff like like ‘Yo, I like your dress, pro-homo,’” said Alix Hamilton, 18, one of Chamberland’s fellow team members, recalling how they first came up with the idea for their rap. “As in, this is a come-on, I’m gay and I’m proud of that.”

Popular music provided fodder not only for the “Pro-homo” rap, but another group’s witty response to Katy Perry’s Billboard hit “I Kissed a Girl and I Liked It.”

In-depth discussions of gay media literacy during the first few days of the program primed the 10 young filmmakers to recognize particularly egregious stereotypes prevalent in mainstream media before offering their own rebuttals in film.

The three finished products will all be viewed publicly for the 14th annual Seattle Lesbian and Gay film festival, which runs from October 16-25. The teens expressed excitement and also some nervousness about the films’ debut.

“[I have] butterflies in my stomach. [The film] will be criticized, people will talk about it,” said Cody Young, 20, who’s group produced a bold interview series “Hello My Name is” showing the various other identities of people who describe themselves as LGBTQ.

Many of the Reel Queers participants emphasized how little time they had to make the films.

“We really only had four days, trying to put together a film in that amount of time is really difficult,” said Jason Plord, who served as the adult mentor for one of the film groups. Plord, also the programming director for Three Dollar Bill Cinema, which produces the Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, said he was impressed by the final products, particularly given the time constraints.

“It’s amazing that [these] young people have such a strong sense of themselves,” he said. “I liked working with the mix of people and seeing what they can do. It’s important for me to see that there’s a new generation of filmmakers making queer film.”

The participants reported feeling a sense of having done something meaningful for the LGBTQ community. Many were excited by the idea of making more original film in the future.

“It’s just cool to see some of the stuff the queer community, or even people who aren’t in the queer community, are putting out there,” said Chamberland. “Also, it kind of feels like we’re helping it. I’m putting something out that I can be proud of, and I feel like queer people won’t be ashamed of knowing that that’s there.”

“I think it’s [especially] good for young adults,” she added. “If they see [our film], they see three young adults doing this. And I think filmmaking is so important, so influential to how young people live their lives.”

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