{"id":190,"date":"2023-10-07T05:22:26","date_gmt":"2023-10-07T05:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitalwriting.cornellcollege.edu\/queer-voice\/?p=190"},"modified":"2023-10-16T17:28:29","modified_gmt":"2023-10-16T17:28:29","slug":"steps-to-becoming-a-queer-coded-villain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalwriting.cornellcollege.edu\/queer-voice\/2023\/10\/07\/steps-to-becoming-a-queer-coded-villain\/","title":{"rendered":"Steps to Becoming a Queer-Coded Villain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"queer-coded
Screenshot of Scar from “The Lion King” (1994) taken by Monique Jones from the website \u201cJust Add Color<\/a>\u201d (another queer website you should totally check out!)
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Have you found yourself wearing an absurd amount of eyeshadow lately? Or perhaps been scheming more than usual? These may be signs the path of queer villainy is for you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Just what is a queer-coded villain?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A queer-coded villain is a villain in media that is assigned stereotypical \u201cqueer\u201d traits, such as men wearing makeup, acting flamboyantly, or deviating from the hetero-typical norm. Their evilness and queerness are always intrinsic. Also, it is important to mention their queerness is never confirmed, just very obviously hinted at (don\u2019t worry, I\u2019ll delve into why in just a second).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So how do I become one?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fear not! Below are some quick and easy steps on how to achieve this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Step #1: Be an antagonistic character during Hollywood’s Hays Code (be queer, but not actually<\/em> queer)<\/h2><\/font><\/strong>\n\n\n\n

When films became popular in the 1920s and 30s, the US government decided that some content needed to be censored. This led to the official establishment of the Hays Code<\/a> in 1934\u2013though most major film companies had already adopted it in 1930<\/a>. This law was super problematic for tons of reasons: it banned the portrayal of interracial relationships on film, disrespect toward religion (aka Christianity), and sexual\/passionate scenes in general. This last part not only meant we\u2019d have basically a 40-year period of lukewarm romance scenes, but also\u2013and more importantly\u2013LGBTQ+ characters were not allowed to exist in television shows and movies. The result? Queer-coded characters that were queer in everything except title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Will H. Hays, the man responsible for the Hays Code, and the devil himself. From Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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How this impacted positive and negative representation<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

While positive, necessary representation of LGBTQ+ characters was hindered, negative representation was relatively unaffected. Even though a villain wasn\u2019t officially stated as homosexual, they could still embody negative gay stereotypes. Meanwhile, filmmakers looking to depict positive and respectful representation of queer individuals would have to \u201ctone it down,\u201d not ever being able to explicitly verify that their characters were LGBTQ+. This in turn diluted the already dismal amounts of good queer visibility in media, while negative representation was held to much lower standards for potential censorship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It couldn\u2019t have been that<\/em> bad, right? It was. Long-term impacts of the Hays Code<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The Hays Code was lifted in 1968. In the grand scheme of things, it didn\u2019t last for that long, but it did, however, set the standard for the portrayal of queer characters in movies and TV shows. It\u2019s important to remember that even if the Hays Code was officially removed legally, it still existed as a standard many companies adhered to. Also, since the Hays Code was enacted early on in the film industry, it contributed to the normalization of a lack of LGBTQ+ representation. Meaning, that when TV and filmmakers in the 1980s and ’90s tried to show something as simple as two women kissing, it caused an uproar<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Now that you know a bit about queer-coding, let\u2019s move on to the other steps to becoming a queer-coded villain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Step #2: Be owned by Disney<\/h2><\/font><\/strong>\n\n\n\n

Especially in the 90s, Disney\u2013one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world I might add\u2013put out a lot of queer-coded villains. The list is incredibly long, including iconic antagonists such as Scar from \u201cThe Lion King\u201d, Ursula from \u201cThe Little Mermaid\u201d, that one dude no one remembers the name of from \u201cPocahontas\u201d, Jafar from \u201cAladdin\u201d, and Captain Hook from \u201cPeter Pan\u201d (who\u2019s totally gay for Mr. Smee). While the absolute queerness of these characters wasn\u2019t obvious to me as a pea-brained child, when I rewatch the classics I\u2019m almost always surprised by just how gay<\/em> the villains are (Scar has a limp paw??? Hello??).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Queer-coded men vs queer-coded women villains<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

An interesting thing I came across while researching this topic was that at first glance, there weren\u2019t a lot of obviously queer-coded women villains in the same way there were men (besides Ursula). Then I realized tons of Disney villain women were queer-coded, they just embodied a different set of queer stereotypes than the men. While queer-coded men were the flamboyant gay man type, the women were often butch lesbian-esque with masculine traits or had ties to drag<\/a> (I\u2019m looking at you again, Ursula).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Some women villains with drag vibes or \u201cover-the-top\u201d gayness<\/h5>\n\n\n\n