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  • 6/23/2025
Filmmaker Regan Latimer takes an insightful, immersive, and deeply personal look at Queer representation in television, | dG1fN2lHbDlVaHpUTGc
Transcript
00:00Ever since the golden age, when televisions first entered our homes,
00:09TV characters have been entering our hearts.
00:13We laugh with them. We hope with them.
00:16And are, of course, ultimately betrayed by their inevitable demise.
00:27Sound familiar?
00:30Of course it does.
00:31For decades, queer characters have been suffering a disproportionate number of catastrophic disasters and heartbreaking ends.
00:41To help you perumbulate this emotional minefield, we are proud to bring you A Lesbian's Guide to Surviving the Plot,
00:49including real-world navigation,
00:55step-by-step instructions,
00:57and sensible advice from experienced professionals in the know.
01:05They should get all the dead lesbians together and put them in a movie.
01:10It will be called Unbury Your Gays.
01:12Six years ago, I set out on a mission to unravel the plot behind the problematic queer representation I was seeing on screen.
01:23Siri, tell me about dead lesbians.
01:25Lesbians.
01:26Often lesbian characters, they can exist, but they have to somehow suffer.
01:32That spring of 2016 was like goo-goo-goo-goo-goo-goo.
01:35Like they were just lesbians dropping, bisexual women dropping.
01:39So then you really have to go, what's the problem here?
01:41How many gays have you buried?
01:45I have never added that up or even thought about it.
01:48We'll fact check that.
01:50There was another character who was sort of gay, but he went to Mrs. Kwan's office and then he never came back.
01:55That's where the closet is.
01:56That's right.
01:57I remember people started tweeting at me, make sure you're wearing a bulletproof vest.
02:01I was like, how does everybody know?
02:02They're psychic.
02:04And the lesbians are psychic.
02:05Does a queer character need to be bulletproof to survive the plot?
02:10Of course we have to take responsibility for the power of the pen and understand that what we write can have impact.
02:23Well, I'm not killing any more lesbians.
02:26And every time a queer character experiences joy or triumph, and then you destroy them or murder them or kill them off,
02:34what message are you sending to kids?
02:36You never know if that representation is that stone that creates a ripple effect in someone's life.
02:42It's like removing the mask of a Scooby-Doo villain.
02:44I was actually queer the whole time.
02:46It has a dramatic impact on the way in which we are seen by the general public,
02:51the way in which we have access to rights.
02:56And what are we going to do about it?
02:59Jesus, that lesbian just ran right in front of the car.
03:02Just kidding.
03:03Jesus, that was an old lady.
03:06All this and more in A Lesbian's Guide to Surviving the Plot.
03:11An action plan for a brighter tomorrow.

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