QUEER REPRESENTATION IN MEDIA: A SIT DOWN WITH TRIN LOVELL
BY MAXWELL GRUHN PHOTO COURTESY OF TRIN LOVELL
Trin Lovell has been a movie and TV reviewer since 2018 and has remained consistent with her takes on pop culture, film, and media. She originally started by reviewing newer films and TV shows while including a comedy aspect alongside her reviews. She began to develop a fanbase along with multiple series of movie reviews, combining her personality with detailed and heartfelt commentary. I was honored to sit down with her and have a conversation about queerness in Hollywood.
GRUHN: So, how do you feel about the current representation of queer individuals within film?
LOVELL: I love where it's at, but I'm always the person who is never satisfied. Like, not that I'm never satisfied — but when I was younger, I think I was really like, “No, we have to accept everything, and everything is perfect, and any little bit of representation is.” Now I'm at a point where I'm older, and I'm like, “Wait, we need more.” I think that it is in a good place. But I guess with current political times, I always worry about how it influences film and how it influences people's decisions on what stories they want to greenlight and what stories they want to move forward with.
Representation is important for a number of different reasons, especially in a time and place where many marginalized groups are put into the spotlight behind political movements. There has also been a notable change over the past couple of years with how frequently studios are releasing these queer stories.
LOVELL: It's almost a confusing time because I feel like whenever I was growing up and when I was starting YouTube and starting doing commentary, it was almost trendy. Then, something happened — well, politically, something did happen. Politically, major things happened. I think that really puts people into “What should we do and where should we put our money?” I always want bigger studios to make big movies about queer stories. I want queer characters to just be at the center of stories, even if it's not about them being queer.
Aside from the stories themselves, Lovell also brought attention to the current state of queer representation and the effect current times have on it. If studios do not fight back and highlight these individuals, the current political climate and the pushback on queer stories could drive these stories into the ground.
LOVELL: I feel like we're … not wanting to rock the boat either way right now in terms of queer representation in media, at least within bigger films. Obviously, indie films are doing their thing. They're always gonna be doing their thing. But I think it's a little bit weird … There is always an aspect of “gay” within major movies, whether that's a same-sex couple sometimes featured, but it's never really about them.
GRUHN: Yeah, fully. I totally agree with that. Yeah, it's a very strange place. I would definitely say right now when it comes to that — definitely a lot going on.
The responsibility of releasing these movies falls on the production companies. There are what’s known as the “Big Five” studios — Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures, and Paramount Pictures — that hold a vast majority of ticket box sales as well as a grip on the entertainment industry. These studios have not been consistent in their portrayal of queer individuals and have released very few projects within the past few years that feature these stories.
GRUHN: How do you feel about the “Big Five” studios having such a large hold over the movie industry when other studios like A24, Neon, and Lionsgate kind of don't get featured?
LOVELL: I'm really scared of it. I think any monopoly scares me deeply. But, with studios acquiring more and more IPs and taking on franchises and their reboots, prequels, and remakes, I get scared … more scared every single day. But, I do think that the outcome will be really doomful for the state of art because I think that part of what breeds such creativity and innovation is that competition. (You’re) trying not to stress about it too much, but also turning your head towards the smaller companies, the more independent films that do need your eyes because the “Big Five” are gonna keep it moving no matter what. They're gonna keep it moving like they're not worried about us.
However, there is a studio that is especially progressive and is always releasing queer movies that highlight the characters, their stories, and they keep up with high promotion of these films. Lovell went through many major movie studios to find one that was consistent with queer movies. In her research, she found one that stuck out: A24.
LOVELL: They were focused on indie films and smaller films. Then, I was looking at their discography of all the films that they have, I was really noticing that they kind of always have that line (of queer films), and they always have these queer stories within their lineup every single year, and it's not really something that they shy away from. I was looking, and they obviously did “Moonlight,” they did “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” they recently did “Queer” with Daniel Craig, they did “I Saw The TV Glow,” “Love Lies Bleeding,” “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” just to name a few. I was looking over that, and it was kind of spread out over the years. It wasn't like it just happened and then just stopped. It's kind of a consistent theme throughout their lineup every single year of queer stories being featured. And what I like about A24 is that a lot of the time.
Queer representation in Hollywood is crucial for many different reasons. The community itself, the other marginalized groups that are constantly affected by political pressure, and for the artistic value of movies. It is important to support smaller studios, such as A24, to preserve the creativity and innovation that these movies bring to the table. Without them, the movies we see and the media that we consume can take a turn to a much more uniform and repetitive issue. It’s important to protect queer media and to keep pushing back against a regime in which people are marginalized and scrutinized for not fitting into a box.
