The ‘Bait and Switch'

In this excerpt from the play, Bianca and Jane explain how storytelling tropes like Bait and Switch (where two female characters’ relationship is subtextually queer, but then one character is switched out for a male character) are used by tv creatives to attract queer viewers.

In this excerpt from the play, Bianca and Jane explain how writers and producers bait queer audiences with subtext and the promise of queer content, but then never come through on those promises, leaving queer audiences feeling cheated and used.

The 'Bury Your Gays’ Trope

Queerbaiting

In this excerpt from the play, Bianca and Jane present their research into the queer female representation on television, highlighting the “bury your gays” trope, using a PowerPoint presentation no less. This scene highlights the statistics, but also the pain queer audiences feel at the loss of these characters.

In this excerpt from the play, Bianca and Jane discuss how fans and producers now interact on social media directly, especially when new episodes of a television air, and how these relationships create new layers of accountability and complexity.

Fans and Producers

ABOUT THE PLAY When the most common ending for a queer woman on TV is a violent death, we must confront the television writers and producers and demand better representation. All Our Lesbians Are Dead! was a satirical exploration of the 'bury your gays' trope that reared its ugly head again in 2016. The story follows Abby Jacobs P.I. as she uncovers a conspiracy to erase all lesbians from television. She may be dysfunctional and desperate for work, but there couldn’t be anyone more committed to discovering the truth. The play showed at The New Theatre in Newtown, Sydney in September 2017 as part of the Sydney Fringe Festival. Written and directed by Natalie Krikowa and starring Felicity Keep, Teneale Clifford, Laura Nash, Gemma Scoble and Stephanie Hamer, the play was designed to provide an evening of laughter, deliberation and creative activism. Twitter: https://twitter.com/AllOurLesbians THANKS TO Alice Livingstone, Autostraddle, Jane Tsai, Lemons with a Twist, LGBT Fans Deserve Better, New Theatre, Matthew Phillips, Renee Lim and Clare Hennessy (nayinthelife.com), Rhiannon Noon, Snog the Frog, Sydney Fringe, University of Technology Sydney.

All Our Lesbians Are Dead! was a satirical exploration of the 'bury your gays' trope that reared its ugly head again in 2016. The play follows Abby Jacobs, a private investigator hired by two passionate fans, as she uncovers a conspiracy to erase all lesbians from television.

CAST Felicity Keep (Abby) Felicity is an actor and writer who graduated from the Actors Centre in 2009. Theatre credits include Caribbean Pirates with the Australian Shakespeare Company, The Vagina Monologues and Wiped Out. Most recently she wrote and produced the short black comedy Tightly Ground and is currently in pre-production for her next film The Casting. Teneale Clifford (Bianca) Teneale’s credits include lead roles in films such as Grace (as Grace), Next Door to the Velinsky’s, and Soul Mates, and TV’s Your Number’s Up. Theatre credits include Billy Elliot the Musical, followed by Like a Fishbone, which Artistic Directors Andrew Upton and Cate Blanchett unveiled for the Sydney Theatre Company. Gemma Scoble (Stevie) Gemma has appeared on stage in various independent theatre shows across Sydney including a recent production of Kin at the Bakehouse Theatre for the Sydney Mardi Gras. Some of her on screen credits include House of Hancock on Channel 9 and a regular role in The Horizon series, Australia’s most watched web series. Stephanie Hamer (Lenore) Stephanie is a graduate of the Australian Academy of Dramatic Art 2008. Since graduating Stephanie has appeared in numerous theatre productions including A Broken Law, Phaedra’s Love, Multiple Choice and An Italian Straw Hat. Screen credits include Doctor Doctor. Laura Nash (Jane) Laura is a Sydney based actor and filmmaker, who graduated a Diploma of Screen Acting in 2015. She appeared as Kennedy in The Sculpture Gallery which was a People’s Choice Award finalist for the 2016 Short and Sweet Festival. Laura is eager to get back on the stage in All Our Lesbians Are Dead!  CREW Natalie Krikowa               Writer/Producer/Director Benita McFadzen            Production Design Samantha Abrahim         Stage Manager Tracy Cui                         Assistant Stage Manager Sarah Paton                    Composer and Sound Design Mikaela Atallah                Lighting Design Aimee Trachtengerts       Costume Design Wendy McKeown            Technical Operator Lee Ungaro                     Technical Operator Jasmine Emonson           Social Media Coordinator FIND OUT MORE Thank you to the following organisations for their research into queer women’s representation on screen. Some of the statistics and information presented in the production have come from these sources, so please check them out to learn more about the issues discussed in the play. Autostraddle (autostraddle.com) “Autostraddle is an intelligent, hilarious & provocative voice and a progressively feminist online community for multiple generations of kickass lesbian, bisexual & otherwise inclined ladies (and their friends). Autostraddle is a serious labor of love that started out as a group of friends wanting to start a revolution and is now the world’s most popular lesbian website, with over one million unique visitors and 3.5 million views per month.” GLAAD (glaad.org) “For over 30 years, GLAAD has been at the forefront of cultural change, accelerating acceptance for the LGBTQ community. As a dynamic media force, GLAAD tackles tough issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue that leads to cultural change. GLAAD protects all that has been accomplished and creates a world where everyone can live the life they love.” LGBT Fans Deserve Better (lgbtfansdb.com) “LGBT Fans Deserve Better is a movement aiming to educate people on the importance of positive LGBT representation in the media. The website’s goal is to provide information, statistics and resources to enable media creators, production staff, critics and viewers to learn about the history of representation, the tropes encountered and the current state of representation on TV.”

Audience Responses

The Play

Cast and Crew

About

About the Project

Queer Representation Matters is an interactive documentary that explores historical and contemporary issues in queer female representation in screen media in Australia and overseas. The documentary draws from interviews with queer screen media scholars, TV writers and directors and film festival curators, and investigates storytelling tropes such as "bury your gays" and "cancel your gays" within an industrial context to highlight the importance of representation of queer people and stories in screen media. The documentary is designed to be explored through the main menu below. Through the Timeline you can explore moments in history from the prohibitive Hays Code in the 1930s-1960s, through to the proliferation of queer content in the 2020s on streaming services. On the Issues page, you can learn about the key issues in queer representation including the “Bury Your Gays” trope, Queerbaiting, the relationship between fans and producers, and the Bait and Switch by watching excerpts from the play All Our Lesbians Are Dead! Or you can watch The Play All Our Lesbians Are Dead! in full, which showed at the Sydney Fringe Festival in 2017. The play was a satirical response to the “Bury Your Gays” trope which made headlines in 2016 due to the Spring Slaughter.

i

Issues

We acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia. We pay respect to the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation upon whose ancestral lands the city campus of the University of Technology Sydney now stands. I extend that respect to all Indigenous and First Nations peoples whose lands were never ceded and recognise them as the traditional custodians of the places where we work, live and play.ABOUT THE DOCUMENTARYWhile lesbian, bisexual and queer female characters and storylines have increased significantly in the last decade, fans are often left with tragedy and trauma as their legacy as they watch their favourite queer characters die (often violently) on television. The term “bury your gays” has been around for decades and refers to the killing of LGBTQ+ characters (usually lesbian or bisexual women) often because they are queer, or to advance the story of a cis, straight (usually male) character. Recently a new trope “cancel your gays” has emerged due to new streaming platforms’ business models, which sees shows with queer characters and storylines being cancelled after one or two seasons, again reinforcing audiences’ feelings that queer people are not entitled to endings (let alone happy ones). Issues around queer screen representation such as the “bury your gays” trope are known by most LGBTIQA+ people and some screen studies academics, but not many people outside these spaces know of its existence, its history, and its damaging impact on LGBTIQA+ audiences. This interactive documentary project links academic theory and screen media practice to bring discussions of media representation from the academy into the public sphere in an accessible and entertaining way. It demonstrates the capacity of participatory digital media to inform and educate a wider audience on important issues of media representation by letting the users drive their own learning experience. CREDITS This creative research project has been created with support from the School of Communication, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney. We would like to thank the interviewees for their generosity and valuable contributions.INTERVIEWEESDr Evangeline Aguas Dr Hannah McCann Dr Joanna McIntyre Dr Whitney Monaghan Dr Clare Southerton Julie Kalceff (Writer, Director) Lisa Rose (Film Festival Director) Monica Zanetti (Writer, Director)PRODUCTIONProducer, Creative Director: Dr Natalie Krikowa Editor, Design: Dr Evangeline Aguas Opening Graphics: Ben Draisma Music: Patrick DohertySPECIAL THANKSThe project would not have been possible without the support of the following people: Dr Sarah Attfield Dr Liz Guiffre Benita McFadzenEndFragment

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Timeline

Lexa, The 100 and the Spring Slaughter of 2016

Queer Death and Genre Television

"Bury Your Gays" is a storytelling trope that sees LGBTIQA+ characters die (or meet some other type of unhappy ending) often to propel the story forward for a cis, heterosexual character. It originated in late 19th century literature, gained traction in the early 20th century, and continues to appear in novels, plays, films, and television series. It persists in Western media in modern times despite changing social attitudes towards homosexuality and the LGBTIQA+ community in general.

Lexa's shocking death on The 100 in March of 2016 was just one of many queer female deaths at the time, leading to what queer fandom called the "Spring Slaughter".

When considering how problematic it is to have queer female characters killed off disproportionately, there is an argument to be made that space for artistic expression and different kinds of stories and endings need to be opened up, particularly in genres where characters typically die (action, thrillers, sci-fi etc).

The “Bury Your Gays” Trope

Research into how heterosexual people have responded to the "Bury Your Gays" trope and their subsequent feelings about queer people, suggests that rather than promoting homophobia or queerphobia, seeing queer people die on TV actually evokes a sympathetic response. Pity or sadness however is not necessarily a positive way to elicit empathy, so the trope remains problematic.

The Heterosexual Response to “Bury Your Gays”

HOME

Skin Deep (2015)

Skin Deep (2015) written by Monica Zanetti and directed by Jonny Leahy is an Australian feature film about two women dealing with individual trauma, who meet and their one night of impulsive adventure forces them to confront their fears head on.

One of the turning points in queer representation comes down to technology. With more people having access to affordable digital tools and equipment, queer creators turned to webseries to create the content that was otherwise being gatekept from mainstream media.

GLAAD Where We Are on TV Reports

In the throes of the "Spring Slaughter" in 2016 - which saw dozens of queer female characters being killed off their primetime shows - online queer media outlet Autostraddle began compiling a list of all dead lesbian and bisexual characters on TV and how they died.

Webseries of the 2010s

The GLAAD Where We Are on TV reports come out annually and provide data about the make up of characters on US television, propel conversations about LGBTIQA+ representation, and inform GLAAD's advocacy efforts.

Autostraddle’s “Dead Lesbian and Bisexual Characters” List

Aussie TV in the 70s - Number 96 (Carlotta)

Post-Hays Code (1960s)

Calamity Jane (1953)

In 1966, Jack Valenti was elected MPAA president who replaced the Hays Code with the MPAA Film Rating System in 1968. The move away from the Hays Code saw the fall of the "Golden Age" of Hollywood and brought about the "New Hollywood".

Calamity Jane (Doris Day) is is a butch cowgirl in Deadwood Dakota who dresses like a man, rides horses, shoots guns and sings (it is a musical after all). There's also some super-gay subtext!

Aussie TV in the 70s - Homicide and the Deviant Lesbian

Homicide (1964-1977) was an Australian TV police procedural, following the fictional homocide squad of the Victorian Police force. Homicide included gay male characters involved in gay bashing and murder.

Carlotta (Carol Byron) is a popular personality in Australian TV, who became known to TV audiences from her role as Robyn Ross on the series Number 96. She was the first trans actress to play a transgender character on TV.

Queer Death and Genre Television

ACADEMIC REFERENCESAguas, E. (2022). Queer Interruptions. queerinterruptions.com/ Aguas, E. (2019). “The Queer Temporalities of Queerbaiting”, in J. Brennan (Ed.) Queerbaiting and Fandom: Teasing Fans through Homoerotic Possibilities, 57-59, University of Iowa Press, http://www/jstor.org/stable/j.ctvrs8xtj.8Burkhardt, E., Trott, V., & Monaghan, W. (2022). “#Bughead is Endgame”: civic meaning-making in Riverdale anti-fandom and shipping practices on Tumblr. Television & New Media, 23(6), 646-662. https://doi.org/10.1177/15274764211022804 Krikowa, N. (2022), “Where is Australia’s GLAAD? A case for establishing an Australian LGBTIQA+ Media Institute to Improve Diversity in Screen Media Representation”, Alphaville, 24, 49-63. DOI: 10.33178/ALPHA.24.03 Krikowa, N. (2021). “Writing inclusive and diverse children's television: Transgender representation in ABC Australia's First Day”, Journal of Screenwriting, 12(3), pp. 325-343, 10.1386/josc_00070_1 Krikowa, N. (2019). “Intervention as Activism: Advocating Queer Female Representation through Independent Film Production”, Refractory: a journal of entertainment media, 33:7 16 Oct. https://refractoryjournal.net/intervention-as-activism-advocating-queer-female-representation-through-independent-film-production/ Krikowa, N. (2020). “The Transmediated Lesbian Vampire: LGBTQ representation in contemporary adaptation of J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla”, in C. Coker (Ed.), The Global Vampire: Essays on the Undead in Popular Culture Around the World (pp. 48-59). Jefferson NC: McFarland. https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/the-global-vampire/ McCann, H. (2022). “The Refusal to Refuse: Bisexuality Trouble and the Hegemony of Monosexuality”, Journal of Bisexuality, 22(1), 71-89, DOI: 10.1080/15299716.2022.2045243 McCann, H. (2022). “’Helps me feel more like myself’: navigating bodies, emotions and identity in Australian queer salons”, Gender, Place & Culture, DOI: 10.1080/0966369X.2022.2096573 McCann, H. (2023). “Queerstralia: resistance, resilience, and the gaps that remain”, History Australia, 20(2), 306-308, DOI: 10.1080/14490854.2023.2201596 McCann, H., & Monaghan, W. (2019). Queer Theory Now: From Foundations to Futures. (1st ed.) Red Globe Press. McCann, H. & Southerton, C. (2019). “Repetitions of Desire: Queering the One Direction Fangirl”, Girlhood Studies, 12(1), 49-65, https://doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2019.120106McIntyre, J., Riggs, D.W. & Bartholomaeus, C. (2023). “Jazz Jennings and Evie Macdonald: trans child celebrities, transnormativity, and childhood ‘innocence’”, Celebrity Studies, 14:2, 214-226, DOI: 10.1080/19392397.2022.2109310McIntyre, J., Burke, L., Baker, D., & Balanzategui, J. (2023), “Kids’ TV Memories: Audience Perspectives on the Roles and Long-term Value of Australian Children’s Television”, ACTC Report 2, https://researchbank.swinburne.edu.au/file/432185bf-4893-4821-84cf-70239ad23271/1/2023-mcintyre-ACTC_report2.pdf McIntyre, J., Burke, L., Balanzategui, J., & Baker, D. (2023), “Parents’ Perspectives on Australian Children’s Television in the Streaming Era, ACTC Report 1, https://researchbank.swinburne.edu.au/file/a818e8ad-95b5-4e3d-a804-876f721b36a6/1/2022-burke-parents_perspectives_on.pdf McIntyre, J. (2020). Interviewing a queer national celebrity: Carlotta as an ‘outsider within’ Australian celebrity culture, in A. Taylor & J. McIntyre (eds) Gender and Australian Celebrity Culture, Routledge, London. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429430442 McIntyre, J. (2018). “They’re So Normal I Can’t Stand It”: I Am Jazz, I Am Cait, Transnormativity, and Trans Feminism”, in Dale, C., & Overell, R. (eds) Orienting Feminism, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70660-3_2 McIntyre, J. (2017). “Transgender idol: Queer subjectivities and Australian reality TV”, European Journal of Cultural Studies, 20(1), 87–103. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367549416640535McIntyre, J. (2011). “Before Priscilla: Male-to-female transgender in Australian cinema until the 1990s”, Refractory: Journal of entertainment media, vol. 18 (May 2011), no. 5, https://refractoryjournal.net/before-priscilla-male-to-female-transgender-in-australian-cinema-until-the-1990s-joanna-mcintyre/ McLean, J., Southerton, C. & Lupton, D. (2023) “Young people and TikTok use in Australia: digital geographies of care in popular culture”, Social & Cultural Geography, https://doi.org/10.1080/14649365.2023.2230943 Monaghan, W. J. (2022). “Doing (Queer) Time in Wentworth”, in R. O'Meara, T. Dwyer, S. Taylor, & C. Batty (Eds.), TV Transformations & Transgressive Women: From Prisoner: Cell Block H to Wentworth, Vol. 4, pp. 227-242. Peter Lang Publishing. https://doi.org/10.3726/b15823Monaghan, W. J. (2022). “Coming out in a ‘faux-lesbian comedy’: authenticity and queer identity in MTV’s faking it”, Continuum, 36(3), 352-363. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2021.1988903Monaghan, W. J. (2022). “Feminism at the movies: sex, gender, and identity in contemporary American teen cinema”, Feminist Media Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2022.2108481Monaghan, W. J. (2021). “Post-gay television: LGBTQ representation and the negotiation of ‘normal’ in MTV’s Faking It”, Media, Culture and Society, 43(3), 428-443. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443720957553Monaghan, W. J. (2020). “Lesbian, gay and bisexual representation on Australian entertainment television: 1970–2000”, Media International Australia, 174(1), 49-58. https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X19876330Monaghan, W. J. (2019). “Not Just a Phase: Queer Girlhood and Coming of Age on Screen”, Girlhood Studies, 12(1), 98-113. https://doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2019.120109Monaghan, W. J. (2018). “Queer Girls and Mashups: Archiving Ephemerality”, in S. Driver & N. Coulter (Eds.), Youth Mediations and Affective Relations, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. pp.119-135, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98971-6_8 Monaghan, W. J. (2017). “Starting From … Now and the web series to television crossover: An online revolution?”, Media International Australia, 164(1), 82-91. https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X17708842Monaghan, W. J. (2016). Queer girls, temporality and screen media: Not 'just a phase'. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55598-4 Riggs, D.W. & McIntyre, J. (2022). “Trans young people and the media: transnormativity, agency, and social change”, Journal of Children and Media, 16(3), 461-467. DOI: 10.1080/17482798.2022.2088929 McCann H. (2019). “Queerbaiting and Real Person Slash: The Case of Larry Stylinson”, in Brennan, J. (Ed.) Queerbaiting and Fandom Teasing Fans Through Homoerotic Possibilities, 161-163, University of Iowa Press, https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvrs8xt Southerton C. & McCann H. (2019). “Queerbaiting and Real Person Slash: The Case of Larry Stylinson”, in Brennan, J. (Ed.) Queerbaiting and Fandom Teasing Fans Through Homoerotic Possibilities, 161-163, University of Iowa Press, https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvrs8xtj REPORTS DISCUSSED   GLAAD. (2023). Studio Responsibility Index at 10, https://glaad.org/sri/10/ GLAAD. (2023). Where We Are on TV Report 2022-2023, https://glaad.org/whereweareontv22/ GLAAD. (2023). GLAAD Media Institute, www.glaad.org/institute  Screen Australia. (2023). Seeing Ourselves 2: Diversity, equity and inclusion in Australian TV drama, https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/fact-finders/reports-and-key-issues/reports-and-discussion-papers/seeing-ourselves-2   Screen Australia. (2016). Seeing Ourselves: Reflections on Diversity in Australian TV Drama, https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/fact-finders/reports-and-key-issues/reports-and-discussion-papers/seeing-ourselves EndFragment

Academic References

Credits and Thanks

ABOUT THE DOCUMENTARY While lesbian, bisexual and queer female characters and storylines have increased significantly in the last decade, fans are often left with tragedy and trauma as their legacy as they watch their favourite queer characters die (often violently) on television. The term “bury your gays” has been around for decades and refers to the killing of LGBTIQA+ characters (usually lesbian or bisexual women) often because they are queer, or to advance the story of a cis, straight (usually male) character. Recently a new trope “cancel your gays” has emerged due to new streaming platforms’ business models, which sees shows with queer characters and storylines being cancelled after one or two seasons, again reinforcing audiences’ feelings that queer people are not entitled to endings (let alone happy ones). Issues around queer screen representation such as the “bury your gays” trope are known by most LGBTIQA+ people and some screen studies academics, but not many people outside these spaces know of its existence, its history, and its damaging impact on LGBTIQA+ audiences. This interactive documentary project links academic theory and screen media practice to bring discussions of media representation from the academy into the public sphere in an accessible and interactive way. It demonstrates the capacity of participatory digital media to inform and educate a wider audience on important issues of media representation by letting the users drive their own learning experience. From its humble beginnings as a Sydney Fringe Festival play back in 2017, All Our Lesbians Are Dead!, this project takes the users on a journey through time as they explore the pivotal moments in history that have impacted queer screen representation and question ‘why does queer representation matter?’

CREDITS AND THANKS [if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE