Queer cinema is a film genre that explores themes of gender identity and sexual orientation through storytelling. It has been used to challenge traditional norms of mainstream cinema by presenting alternative perspectives on love, desire, and relationships. This paper will examine how queer cinema interrogates temporalities, narrative fragments, and embodied experiences of viewers.
Temporality
Temporalities are the ways in which time is represented and understood in films. Queer cinema often disrupts linear temporality, where events occur in chronological order, by using nonlinear structures such as flashbacks, dream sequences, and jumps between different time periods.
The film 'Brokeback Mountain' uses flashbacks to show the characters' relationship from its beginning until it ends. The film also includes scenes set in the past, such as when the character Ennis visits his deceased lover Jack's grave. These nonlinear elements create a sense of confusion and unsettlement for the viewer, reflecting the uncertainties surrounding love and desire.
Narrative Fragmentation
Narrative fragmentation involves breaking down the conventional structure of a film into smaller parts, often combining multiple stories or perspectives within one narrative framework. Queer cinema frequently employs this technique to explore the multiple identities and experiences of its characters. In the film 'Moonlight', the protagonist Chiron's life is shown at three stages of development: childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Each stage features different actors portraying him, emphasizing the complexity of identity formation over time.
Embodied Experience
Viewers experience films through their bodies, engaging with them on a physical level that goes beyond simply seeing and hearing. Queer cinema can challenge these assumptions by presenting images that may be offensive or uncomfortable to some viewers.
The film 'Blue is the Warmest Color' contains several explicit sex scenes involving two women. This could provoke a strong emotional response in viewers who are not used to seeing intimate moments between same-sex partners.
Queer cinema interrogates temporality, narrative fragmentation, and embodied experiences by disrupting traditional conventions of storytelling and visual presentation. It challenges viewers to reconsider their understanding of love, desire, and relationships while also pushing boundaries of what is acceptable in mainstream culture.
How does queer cinema interrogate temporality, narrative fragmentation, and the embodied experience of viewers?
Queer cinema has been exploring time, memory, and temporal disruption as key themes since its emergence. Temporal disruptions are often used to subvert traditional heteronormative narratives and explore alternative ways of experiencing time that deviate from linearity, chronology, and causality.