During the Fall semester of 2017 I created a story of my life and turned it into a hand-drawn animated video along with written post!

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[Read/Watch the Full Post](/lifestory)

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Then in my Spring semester of 2018 at VIU our professor for our DIGI 401 class asked us; to create a poster to submit to the conference! So I thought why don't I turn my story into a poster form, and that's just what I did! During the presentation of the posters I had some people come up to me to tell me that I inspired them in a way or another; so that was cool!

The poster is up in the VIU Space, database here:

[VIU Space](http://hdl.handle.net/10613/6073)

[DOI Database Link!](http://dx.doi.org/10.25316/IR-1004)

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**Description:**

<Text paddingLeft="1rem">Growing up I was diagnosed with a number of disabilities and was told that I would not be passing grade 6. However, after struggles and not giving up I was able to overcome these disabilities!</Text>

**Authors:**

<Text paddingLeft="1rem">Donald Louch</Text>

**Posted:**

<Text paddingLeft="1rem">May 15th, 2018</Text>

**From:**

<Text paddingLeft="1rem">VIU CREATE Conference 2018</Text>

**For:**

<Text paddingLeft="1rem">Media Studies program</Text>

**DOI Identifier:**

<Text paddingLeft="1rem">DOI: 10.25316/IR-1004</Text>

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Poster: Learning to Live With Learning Disabilities: My Story

VIU CREATE Conference 2018

🚨 **SPOILER ALERT: The Revolution Will Not be Televised**  🚨

The film The Revolution Will Not be Televised is a film that shows you how much Digital Media in the form of Television can shape the way that people view political representation. With the addition, that you can change the course of history. This is done with the use go violence and showing fear. The revolution in fact will not be televised but a revolution will be created from television coverage.

The film The Revolution Will Not be Televised made me feel uneasy and traumatized. There were scenes were we saw people getting shot and killed, blood and all. I found for the majority of the time in the film that I didn’t felt okay, or happy. Unlike in the film Tickling Giants in which presented these horrific (not in the same intensity) but also featured a number of cometic relief aspects. It’s hard to really express any more emotions then that when the movie as a whole is depressing from the violence, to seeing that people don’t want progression in their political system when it would benefit the people of Venezuelan. I further found it hard to write notes in regards to this assignment due to the constant need to watch the screen due to the subtitles. However, at the same time I found it hard to watch due to the extreme level of violence. As Rod Stoneman put it:

>The emotional and narrative experience, however, does add up to the form if analysis and a new understanding; when you see the succession of events chronologically, a whole orchestrated shape emerges. Putting events together to reveal their organization has a different and more significant impact than isolated fragments of information (74).

With this in mind, it can be said that filmmaker had to include these scenes and in the order to bring realism to the documentary and to say that these are the real events that happened. With the further addition, to add the message and to incapsulate the idea.

With this all being said, however, there was one aspect of the film were I didn’t feel uneasy and that was when the Hugo Chavez supporters grew and more support was being shown and that they were not backing down, that they don’t believe what the media had said about Chavez and their fellow supporters.

The use of digital media is used to create specific thematic interactions such as, that the there was a coup and that Chavez is very bad and killed a bunch of people trough his platform of support. Which we later find out that this was all a ploy to create a narrative so that Vice-Admiral Victor Ramirez Perez could take the role of dictatorship and to revert the changes that the Chavez government had put in place to make it better for the community to get help, to get education, to learn how to read, and how to become their own leaders. However, with Perez going into power after Chavez he began to go against the Chavez government. As it was stated by Perez, he filmed the media address in his living room and that with the help of the private Television channel Venevison and the support of the US government he as able to declare a coup without actually saying that it was a coup until later on. We found out late that this so called coup and violence that was the supports of the Chavez government was all framed in a way to make it look real when in reality, it was fake. Thus, the Vice-Admiral created fake news to cause violence, death, and fear.

Like stated above, The Revolution Will Not be Televised is a film in which used media to construct a narrative to make you fear and not like Chavez. However, the actual film as a whole made you love Chavez and showed you that he’s amazing, dedicated, and respected. This was an interesting spin on the film and made me really think, of which view do I agree with more. I would say that the view that the filmmaker produced, I agree more with as, it showed Chavez caring about the people of Venezuelan and that he tried everything in his power to make sure people were heard and that was shown when the filmmaker showed the mail room and that there was letters. They further read some letters out showed that they cared about the letter and wanted to do what they could to help. As Matthew C. Nisbet and Aufderheide Patricia stated in their journal article,

>Documentaries are no longer conventionally perceived as a passive experience intended solely for informal learning or entertainment. Instead, with ever increasing frequency, these films are considered part of a larger effort to spark debate, mold public opinion, shape policy, and build activist networks. In addition to these new forms and uses, more traditional public media such as Frontline, Bill Moyers, and POV continue to be influential outlets for public affairs journalism and commentary (450).

With this we can say that documentary’s are now a more dynamic experience in which you can shape people’s opinions through different point of views on politics, policies, activism, and media. With The Revolution Will Not be Televised the filmmakers uses this dynamic experience to create a commentary for the viewers to decide how they proceed the information at hand.

The Revolution Will Not be Televised is a film to show you that it’s easy to shape history with the use of television. With the further use of the ability to shape peoples opinions on people. For instance, the film itself created Hugo Chavez as this amazing person; however, Venevison created Chavez as this bad guy that allows his supports to kill a large number of people.

<Toggle id="workCited" toggleAlt="Work Cited">

Nisbet, Matthew C., and Patricia Aufderheide. "Documentary Film: Towards A Research Agenda On Forms, Functions, And Impacts." Mass Communication And Society, vol 12, no. 4, 2009, pp. 450-456. Informa UK Limited, doi:10.1080/15205430903276863.

Stoneman, Rod. “Chavez: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: A Case Study of Politics and the Media.” 2008. Wallflower Press.

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Film Diary: Digital Media; Creating an Intense Revolution?

🚨 **SPOILER ALERT: GTFO | Language Warning 🤬**  🚨

The film GTFO, expressed that in the gaming community there is a number of toxicity and sexual harassment both in the online world and in the real world scenes; towards primary female gamers. Thus, there needs to be a change and social impact is great way to do so. GTFO, is about the experiences of female gamers in which in the eyes of men, should “Get The Fuck Out” and not be gamers; when females have every right just as men do to play video games.

In the film GTFO, the filmmakers brought some topics and issues forth. In the filming it was made apparent that the gaming community is a toxic environment with sexes comments, death threats, sexual violence, and hate comments. This was expressed via. A variety of talking heads, screen pans that are executed in which displayed screenshots and video of messages that people receive on Xbox Live, when playing games, and when they write blog posts. With in these messages, things such as “games belong to [men]”, messages alluding to that they want to have sex with them, to messages of people wanting to rape them or wishing that they got rapped, to messages like that women are useless in video games, to messages like “people should play while being harassed”, and to messages of men being ‘uncomfortable’ when women start talking on the microphone. In the film, they also showed that at a gaming completion one of the female contenders was getting sexually harassed on a live stream. To the male’s perspective that was doing it, it wasn’t him as he was following the requests made by the people from the Live Chat (“Chat” or “The Chat” as most streamers refer to it). However, with that being said, he could of just as easily said no. As that was happening you could see that the female contender was uncomfortable and in turn, just wanted to be done with the tournament and began to throw games in which she didn’t put in any effort.

With this information at hand, we can say that the gaming community is not a fun environment to be apart of. The social impact of the film is to bring awareness of the community. With the further idea of the hopes to mitigate the toxicity in the community. With the idea that “your not alone” and that if your wanting big change you need small change and that by speaking out you have small changes, it’s a driven force of passion that is needed to name these impacts and to make social impact. All throughout the film, there was a number of times when it was said that “there needs to be a change” with that throughout GTFO, small suggestions were made, such as, speaking out about your experience, the game and to an extent the hardware developers should implement better moderation tools and banning mechanisms, to muting the players within the game chat, to disabling comments, there should be better sexual harassment/violence policy in place in the video game tournament world. By doing these things you are bring forth the idea that your not alone and that you can bring it to an audience and make a change from there. One solution that was brought up during the film, is that if you get a good group of friends together then you can create a support group and just focus on them verses focusing on the other players and their coms (voice channels/microphones).

As it was said, in the film, “women [tend to be] afraid to talk about what happened to them” be it online or in person. Thus, by having a few people beginning to open up, you can start to encourage people to do the same. An example of this is the “#MeTo” campaign that was trending on social media like Twitter and Facebook, in which encouraged women (and to an extent men as well) to open up and to share their story on sexual harassment that they have experienced. This trend gained a large response and people began to open up to talk about their experience. Personally, I think that with the #MeTo campaign and the gaming community beginning to open up, I think that we will see a major change in the way gamers and people in general interact with one another. The film, did display the notion, by showing the panels at conventions and that when they began to open, they showed the audience feeling motivated and wanting change and that they could help with the change!

In the film GTFO, I found that there was a great amount of detail in the interviews themselves. True facts were brought up and it was backed up by evidence. However, as it was discussed in class and from what I have seen, these problems aren’t only directed towards women, but also men who don’t fit the demographic of a white heterosexual in their 20s and fit the heteronormativity stereotypes. I think if the filmmaker wants to see change then they should also show, that it’s not just females.

GTFO, is a movie filled with social impact and the important factors that in the gaming community females tend to face a number of serious sexual harassment and toxicity. By talking about you can show other female gamers that you’re not alone and that you don’t need to “Get The Fuck Out!” With social impact we can try to end toxicity.

Film Diary: You’re Not Alone; GTFO

🚨 **SPOILER ALERT: Scared Scared and Waltz with Bashir**  🚨

The different forms in which was used to create the films Scared Scared and Waltz with Bashir included a range of different things from audiovisuals, animation, and camera movements, to signal violence without showing it; to showing animation to signify the violence; to a shocking shift to actual footage to convey that these events are real and that these films are true stories. This all allows for a further enhancement on information retention during traumatic events in which has occurred.

In the film Scared Scared by Canadian filmmaker Velcrow Ripper he used a number of different aesthetic forms such as black-and-white footage to display flashbacks of a merry-go-round; when Ripper said “he was having darker dreams” in the film we were presented with descriptive scenes such as a clown like character with a super imposed image of blood and death; there were different audiovisual cues to display gunshots, and war through the use of thunder and lighting; Ripper further used shots of a green night vision and smoke to indicate the gas leak, with the further use of showing men, women, and children running away in the street to run away from the gas. On the other hand of film examination, in the film Waltz with Bashir we are presented with an animation aesthetic and with the use of different camera angles, more orange hues, and an intense soundtrack to convey trauma. As it was said, in our readings for the film Waltz with Bashir “Animating Trauma: Waltz with Bashir, David Polonsky” by Joram Ten Brink:

>[This is] not a journalistic film, it’s not about the truth; it’s about the process of discovery of memories of war, which is something else. Of course the live sequence at the end is there to make sure everybody realized it’s true. That it’s not made up (Ten Brink 133).

>It’s a delicate balance between two different directions. One is to express yourself to the maximum and the other is to remain truthful. And the very simple way to describe this in drawing is to create naturalistic drawings (Ten Brink 131).

With this in mind we can state that when creating this film, Ari Folman, used the animation verses the live-action to convey the traumatic instances as an act to memorialize war and to do it in away that is easy to follow and have the underlining effect that even through this is all ‘an act’, it’s a real thing and that with having the ending showing the women crying out with animation in the beginning and then shifting towards real footage of her walking the streets and crying out while seeing these dead children and fellow women and men. This scene is to truly bring truth to the film. This scene really stuck in my mind and allowed the film as a whole to stick in my mind for many months after watching it for the first time. By, not exposing one to the live-action it allowed for people to be able to retain the information and learn the history of certain events. Through the use of repeated imagery such as the scene in which the character of Ari wakes up in the ocean with two other soldiers and they move towards the town, it allows for the viewer to see how to memorize something you need to keep replying something, be it something that happened or something that was a myth.

With in the film Waltz with Bashir the filmmaker used animation to enhance the audiovisual representation along with the representation of the information at hand by showing content that is real and of events that aren’t necessarily easy to watch on a psyche level. As it was further sated in the reading by Ten Brink in his interview with David Polonsky:

>With the use of the animation it was able to allow the viewer to connect and to empathize with the characters as it was made believable and that they were there even though … The main thing you realize that we are dealing with memory and inner journeys and the fact that it’s done through drawings. You realize that the voice is ‘real’ and that the image is fabricated (Ten Brink 130).

> … Drawing lets you look at what’s in your mind (Ten Brink 130).

Like mentioned in the above paragraph with the mix of animation and the ending live-action scene it does allow to the film maker to step out of their boundaries and to further represent the information at hand. As it was mentioned around 44:00 minutes into the film, that once the therapies was talking with a client and he was a photographer; however, his camera broke and when it did, he was able to see what the war was and that this was traumatic and that it upset him. However, looking at the war through the lens, a physical lens so to speak, he was able to go from this feel of that this isn’t real, to seeing that this is actually real. With the use of these different forms of animation and audiovisuals, it allows for an enhancement on the psyche and allows people to step out of their comfort zones in which are prevalent when showing content like displayed in this film and to allow like stated before, to learn the history behind certain events that are traumatic.

In the films Scared Scared and Waltz with Bashir, the filmmakers use different filming forms in which to convey serious topics such as gas leaks and the 1982 Lebanon war. These forms range from the use of camera angles, audiovisuals, animation, and more. These all are used in a way in which allows viewers to retain information that may be hard on your psyche and to further expand the information to a wider audience.

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Ten Brink, Joram, and Joshua Oppenheimer. Killer Images. London, Wallflower Press, 2012.

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Film Diary: Memory Can Be a Scary Thing

For my DIGI 301, Digital Media Literacy we were asked to create a personal “goals” poster; I thought this would be the easiest assignment to make! However, I was so wrong! when you sit down and think “what the heck to I want to do with my life, career, and aspirations?” You can get caught in a loop of asking yourself if you really want to be doing the things that you have planned! This is oddly a good thing to do as it get’s you thinking! It was recommenced that we look back at this yearly and make modifications where needed! I thought this is another good example of my work in the “Graphic Design” world! Plus you get a “look” into my mind!

Creating Goal’s for Yourself Is NOT An Easy Task!

Design: Goal Poster

For my DIGI 330, Designing User Experiences class we had to create two empathy maps in which was to create a "character" that we would think would use our app that each student would "design" mock-ups for! I thought this would be an example of the work that I can do in the "Graphic Design" world!

Design: Empathy Map

🚨 **SPOILER ALERT: “The Prospectors”** 🚨

The story “The Prospectors” by Karen Russel will make people ponder what history is and what the different implications are. The author challenges the general notion of history, which is names and locations. She then gravitates her focus to ghosts and their part in history, intertwining all of this into a fictional story that makes the reader question what is real or not. History is not all names, dates, and locations, but a more nuanced subject to be questioned and always open to different interpretations.

"The Prospectors" text includes a number of locations and names. As argued in Mason’s novel “Shiloh And Other Stories” to him “[h]istory was always names and dates” (16), which leads to a common definition of history with bringing forth the additional idea that locations are a part of history. In the story, the locations are, but not limited to: Lucerne, Mt. Joy, The Evergreen Lodge, Camp Thistle, Camp Bountiful (Russell 2), Rabbit Creek (Russell 3), Oregon Gazette, O.B. Dawson, Emerald Lodge (Russell 7), Company 609 of the Oregon Civilian Conservation Corps. (C.C.C.), and Cloud Cap Inn (Russell 8). Research shows the majority of the places listed in the story are real, however, the locations aren’t accurate to where they are considered to be. For example, Lucerne is in Switzerland, Camp Thistle is in Scotland, Rabbit Creek is in South Dakota, and Emerald Lodge is in fact not in “America” (Russell 10) but rather in Field, British Columbia, Canada and is titled “Emerald Lake Lodge” (for a full list of the locations please see Appendix I). Furthermore, O.B. Dawson is not a real person and Company 609 of the Oregon C.C.C. is not shown in the historical record. Despite Russell’s fluidity with locations and places, there are a few real locations in the right place like Cloud Capp Inn.

In the article, “History, What History?”, Torgal describes history as a unique, complex, scientific ideology, and self-interpretation; collections of points, facts, names, dates, locations, and objects (41). A notion is expressed that people need to look at history with a ‘grain of salt’ and from a political and scientific viewpoint (Torgal 41). Slotkin further adds that “[h]istory is what it is, but it is also what we make of it. What we call ‘history’ is not a thing, an object of study, but a story we choose to tell about things” (222). These theories of history can be used to convey the importance of looking further into history than just the names and locations, but rather at the ideas, scientific points, politics within nature, and how we as humans interpret everyday life. These ideas can be used to study history in the text “The Prospectors” by examining the different locations that the events take place in and why the author has chosen these places as well as the impact of them.

The locations aren’t the only thing that makes the reader question history within this text, as readers are further introduced to the idea of ghosts and the importance of them with history. It was “The C.C.C. workers ghosts [who] had built this [Lodge]” who were trapped (Russell 10) as historical figures in the lodge after the avalanche killed them. However, the C.C.C. workers were unaware of their true state and refused to accept it, which means that people stay within history, even after their passing. The two main characters told the C.C.C. workers about their ‘history’ and at that time the reader could see that the workers were changing as it was described that “his round face almost featureless [and] his eyebrows vanished” as well as “a mouthful of holes” (Russell 16). They were stuck in a purgatory like state. The workers had no idea what happened and once they did, they were able to move on. By the end, once they accepted it “[t]he entire building [began to] shak[e]” (Russell 20), they were freed. As McFadden stated in her article ““People Shouldn't Be Forgotten”: Cold Case's Pursuit of History's Ghosts” when people think of ghosts it “restor[es] … our view stories of lives and experiences rendered invisible and unspeakable by dominant forms of knowledge and power” (146). With this when different texts refer to ghosts they are typically placed to represent some form of history, be it non-fictional or fictional.

The two main characters Clara and Aubergine were presumed to be alive, however, in the story, as the reader continues to read a discovery could be made that Clara and Aubergine may actually be ghosts as well. This can be seen as Aubergine questions, “[w]e could be all dead - why not?” (Russell 15) with further details like “notic[ing] a tiny chip in the [nail] polish, exposing the translucent blue enamel” (Russell 15), as well as the observation that “Clara … with blue lips and flakes daggering her lashes” (Russell 2), and that “Clara’s eyes looked shiny, raccoon-beady” (Russell 12); while “[b]ruises were thickening all over her arms” (Russell 3). With the additional discovery that Aubergine witnessed “[s]omething subtle and real shifted inside” (Russell 4); additionally, Lee knowing what Clara’s ‘real name’ was (Russell 12-13) even though they never told him her ‘real name’; furthermore, Aubergine recollected that when “Lee and I kissed, it felt no different from kissing a living mouth” (Russell 12). These points come together to suggest that the protagonists may be ghosts after all, with the possibility that they were at the lodge during the avalanche.

It’s possible that the cause of the avalanche that killed the C.C.C. workers along with the possible deaths of the two main characters, Clara and Aubergine, may have been triggered by the photographer. When the avalanche occurred, the reader is left to question if, when the photographer took a picture the flash and the sound of the shutter caused the avalanche. As Russell put it, “[n]ow [that the photographer is here] the light of the Emerald Lodge began to erupt in rhythmic bursts” further adding that “[w]e squinted against the radiant detonation [of the photographer]. These blasts are much brighter and louder than any shutter click on Earth” (Russell 17). With this, it can be thought that having loud noises of music, the excitement of the C.C.C. workers, and with the addition of stated before, the flash and shutter; is likely the cause of the avalanche. Moreover, it could be thought that the avalanche happened between “4.A.M.” (Russell 15) and 6 am as Russell put an emphasis on the 4 am time on page 15. Additionally, the author wrote in the story that before the photographer showed up that they were in “[r]oom 409” (Russell15) and that the C.C.C. workers were from “Company 609” (Russell 8). Therefore, when taking out the common numbers ‘0’ and ‘9’ the only numbers left are ‘4’ and ‘6’. It can also be thought that Clara and Aubergine were in room 409 at the time of the avalanche.

As noted in previous paragraphs, the C.C.C. workers and the main characters are trapped in Emerald Lodge. This leads to a conclusion that it is an endless loop of history that keeps repeating until all of the people within accept their truth. Russell notes on page 8, that there were “twenty-six workers” who passed away during the avalanche (8), however, on the following pages the reader is only greeted with “five boys” (9) whom are “blush[ing]” (9). Therefore, readers don’t get a clear picture of the other twenty-one workers, which leads to the idea that the remaining workers have accepted their truth and have been able to move on. It can then be argued that the other five workers, as well as Clara and Aubergine, have not yet accepted their truth and history, and thus are still stuck in this loop. Once they accepted it, as previously stated in an earlier paragraph the lodge began to shake and crumble.

Even though “The Prospectors” is throughout a historical fiction story, the author incorporates a certain amount of research. As Slotkin wrote, that historical fiction:

>[I]f responsibly done, it can stimulate interest in the study of history[,] … if properly understood, the writing of historical fiction can be a valuable adjunct to the work of historians in their discipline. A novel can be as accurate as a history in telling what happened, when, and how. It can, and should, be based on careful research and rigorous analysis of evidence (221).

With this in mind the reader can say that even though this is a fictional story, there has been some research put into it with the use of locations, events, and phrases. However, the way that Russell wrote this story leaves the readers questioning if the locations in the story are true or not and as evidenced throughout this essay and the Appendix I, most of the locations are real though located in different places than thought when reading the story. Additionally, it was quoted on page 13 that “the French word for ‘dawn’” was “Aubergine” (Russell), which is a true translation. Furthermore, the reader is left questioning if the avalanche happened in real life and killed all of the C.C.C. workers, which from research did not happen. Therefore, with this in mind, the reader’s ‘interest was stimulated’ and motivation is given to do further research.

At the end of the day, Karen Russell is an effective historical fiction writer that gets people thinking about the truth of history and how far the author went into researching details for their writing. From the depiction of the locations and ghosts, Russell made the readers question the nuanced, complicated, and the different interpretations of history, while showing history isn’t just names, locations, and dates.

[Read The Full Story](https://newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/08/the-prospectors)

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**Table 1**

The locations mentioned in “The Prospectors” in relation to the true location.

<Table tableHeader="Name of Location | On Page | True Location" tableData="Lucerne | (Russell 2) | Switzerland ;; Mt. Joy | (Russell 2) | Pennsylvania ;; The Evergreen Lodge | (Russell 2) | California ;; Camp Thistle | (Russell 2) | Scotland ;; Camp Bountiful | (Russell 2) | Ohio ;; Rabbit Creek | (Russell 3) | South Dakota ;; Oregon Gazette | (Russell 7) | Called: “Gazette Times” ;; O.B. Dawson | (Russell 7) | Not a Real Person ;; Emerald Lodge | (Russell 7) | Field, British Columbia, Canada ;; Company 609 of the Oregon C.C.C. | (Russell 8) | Not a Real Company ;; Cloud Cap Inn | (Russell 8) | Accurate Location: Oregon" />

_**Source**: Karen Russell’s “The Prospectors”; Google; Google Maps; and Wikipedia_

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<NewSection id="workCited" />

<Toggle id="workCitedToggle" toggleAlt="Work Cited">

Mason, Bobbie Ann. “Shiloh And Other Stories.” Harper Perennial. Accessed 19 June 2017. McFadden, Margaret. ““People Shouldn’t Be Forgotten”: Cold Case’s Pursuit of History’s Ghosts.” The Journal of Popular Film and Television, vol. 42, no. 3, 2014, pp. 139-149. Taylor & Francis Library, doi:10.1080/01956051.2014.881774. Accessed 15 July 2017.

Russel, Karen. “The Prospectors.” The New Yorker, 8-15 June 2015, [www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/08/the-prospectors](www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/08/the-prospectors). Accessed 18 June 2017.

Slotkin, Richard. “Fiction for the Purpose of History.” The Journal of Theory and Practice, vol. 9, no. 2-3, 2005, pp. 221-236. Taylor & Francis Library, doi:10.1080/13642520500149152. Accessed 15 July 2017

Torgal, Luís Reis. “History, What History? The Struggle for History as a ‘Science’.” Portuguese Journal of Social Science, vol. 11, no. 1, April 2012, pp. 41-46. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1386/pjss.11.1.41_1. Accessed 15 July 2017.

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“The Prospectors”: A Tale of History and Ghosts

High IQ, Low EQ, Homeland Security, Team Scorpion

TV Critique: Scorpion

When we think of algorithms, the first thing to look at is the what the word is and how it’s being used by YouTube. Algorithms are “a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer” which is from the Greek word “arithmós” meaning “numbers” ("Algorithm - Definition Of Algorithm In English | Oxford Dictionaries"). YouTube uses algorithms to find videos that may be infringing on copyright laws. YouTube further uses algorithms to help viewers find similar videos and videos they may like. There are currently some major positives for content creators and viewers with the current algorithms systems that are in place. However, there’s also some major problems with the current algorithm systems that have seriously affected content creators. Including a brand-new algorithm system that’s affecting the Lesbian, Gay, Transgendered, Queer (“LGBTQ+”) community.

### Algorithms: Copyright

When looking at algorithm systems with YouTube, the first system to consider is the algorithm of Content ID which is their copyright flagging system. With this algorithm, YouTube “is continuously [comparing] new uploads to the references for [content creators] assets. Matching videos are automatically claimed on behalf of the asset, and [content creators] specified match policy is applied to the claimed videos before they are published on YouTube” ("Using Content ID - Youtube Help").

<VideoFrame src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/9g2U12SsRns" width="900" height="506" options="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" />

With YouTube’s Content ID algorithm, it further, uses other manual administrator processing alongside the automatic system, “a video identification tool allows copyright holders to easily identify and manage their content on YouTube” (Chung, MyoungBeom, and IlJu Ko 385). Content ID is further described as an “… internal computer algorithm system that allows copyright holders and content creators to detect possibly infringing videos” (Zapata-Kim, Laura 1848). However, one fatal flaw in this system is that if “… the video encoding has changed in resolution, bit-rate or codec, [the] techniques (of Content ID) do not perform well” (Chung, MyoungBeom, and Il Ju Ko 383).

Furthermore, YouTube and their Content ID system “… is exempt from liability for removing lawful videos under a safe harbor provided by the Digital Melamine Copyright Act of 1998 (“DMCA”)” (Zapata-Kim, Laura 1847). In other words, YouTube is always going through videos that get uploaded and if the system sees that any footage or audio in a video is like another and has been claimed with YouTube, they will flag said video. With this, it provides content creators with the peace of mind that if their content gets used by someone else on the network, they will get the ability to remove the video or even make revenue from it. However, there are some problems with this system in pertinence to its accuracy. Many videos get incorrectly flagged and claimed. It’s also been said that:

>… hundreds of thousands of … videos are removed from the Internet by automatic computer algorithm systems that flag them as alleged copyright infringement. Although some of those claims are meritorious, many are not - (Zapata-Kim, Laura 1848).

Many businesses and content creators have been outraged about the faulty system and “… many believe that unless YouTube responds to the market’s criticism of Content ID it may face an exodus of its content creators” (Zapata-Kim, Laura 1848). Furthermore, “… Content ID should be required to consider fair use prior to issuing a Content ID match …” (Zapata-Kim, Laura 1849).

### Algorithms: Content (Recommended and Subscriptions)

Another aspect that should be looked at is the algorithm system that’s in place for finding similar videos for viewers to watch. With the addition of subscription boxes. This content recommendation algorithm system can be described as “… the Least Recently Used algorithm ([“LRU”] for short) to evict the latest recently watched video” (Lee, Ming-Chang et al. 1523). With the LRU algorithm, it can “... cause a poor service quality for YouTube since those videos need to be retrieved from the remote back-end database” (Lee, Ming-Chang et al. 1523). As Canadian YouTuber Corey Vidal told Nora Young on CBC’s The Current, a total of around 300 to 400 hours of videos are being uploaded every single minute on YouTube (Young, Nora). With this on YouTube theirs over “20 million viewers daily and a total viewing time of around 10,000 years (since) August 2006” (Abhari, Abdolreza, and Mojgan Soraya 91). YouTube can then use the LRU to consider the different algorithm and formulate the viewer’s favorite videos based on what they’ve already seen to “show users viewpoints that they already agree with” (Bessi, Alessandro et al. 1). It’s been thought that “YouTube promotes videos through Watch Time, which prioritizes videos that lead to a longer overall viewing season over those that receive more clicks” (Bessi, Alessandro et al. 1).

In other words, YouTube has built an algorithm system which will recommend videos to the viewers based on what they have searched for as well as what they have viewed. For the most part, this algorithm system functions correctly and can suggest similar videos with surprising accuracy. With this, viewers can find themselves immersed in hours and hours of watching funny cat videos or fail montages! However, the system can also create recommendations that aren’t relevant to the tastes of the viewer and suggest videos that are way off from what they watch and search for.

Another aspect of algorithms that YouTube uses is the algorithm system of their subscriber boxes. When people subscribe to a channel they’re asking YouTube to alert them when new content is posted to said channel and to add that channel’s videos into a feed in their subscriber box for easy access.

This offers a variety of benefits for both content creator and viewers in a multitude of ways! For the content creator, it allows their videos to be seen right away by their loyal subscribers/viewers and will increase the creator’s viewer counts and statistics. For the viewers, it allows them to see content right away from their favorite creator. Subscriber boxes further give content creators the ability to let their loyal subscribers know of upcoming LIVE Streams, Questions and Answers segments (Q&A for short), and other quick updates that will be happening in the near future. This is assuming that the subscriber box system works, which isn’t always the case.

Unfortunately, the algorithm system used for the subscriber box that’s currently in place is essentially broken and has been for years. There are multiple occasions when content creators upload content but their subscribers aren’t alerted. There are also times when videos will show up in subscriber boxes hours later, and by that time they’ve plummeted down the content feed as other creators upload their own videos. This can cause content creators viewership to suffer and diminish. This has caused content creators to plead to their subscribers, asking them to make sure “upload notifications” have been turned on so the viewer gets notified whenever a new video is posted. Content creators have now been forced to use their social media tools like Twitter to promote new content on their channel.

### Algorithms: Age Restriction (LGBTQ+ Controversy)

As I was writing this paper a brand-new algorithm system got introduced on YouTube and has caused major issues in the LGBTQ+ community. YouTube is currently age restricting most of all the LGBTQ+ content on their site. What this means is when age restricted mode is activated, viewers won’t be able to find any LGBTQ+ content.

These “age restricted” videos are reportedly being restricted due to their “sexual” theme when in fact most of the videos aren’t sexual themed and are helpful for the LGBTQ+ community/people questioning their sexuality. One of the main reasons people aren’t happy about this is the same level of “sexual” content contained in heterosexual couple videos are still being displayed in restricted mode. I can attest to this, as three of my own videos (my original Coming Out video, my Boyfriend Tag, and a let’s play of The Sims 3 where I have two male characters’ kiss and become a couple) have been aged restricted.

<TabSection id="ID" tabTitles={["Video 1", "Video 2", "Video 3"]} tabPanels={[<div>

<VideoFrame src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/2gERHXEhsVc" width="900" height="506" options="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" />

</div>, <div>

### Video Removed By Donald Louch 🚨

</div>, <div>

<VideoFrame src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/4zthDB-jaJQ" width="900" height="506" options="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" />

</div>]} />

YouTube has commented on this and states that “we are so proud to represent LGBTQ+ voices on our platform—they’re a key part of what YouTube is all about. The intention of Restricted Mode is to filter out mature content for the tiny subset of users who want a more limited experience. LGBTQ+ [videos] are available in Restricted Mode, but videos that discuss more sensitive issues may not be” (Creators, YouTube). They then went on to say that “[sorry] for all the confusion with Restricted Mode. Some videos have been incorrectly labeled and that’s not right. We're on it! More to come” (Creators, YouTube).

### Conclusion

YouTube has algorithm systems in place that are used for copyright protection, recommended videos, subscription boxes, and the newly implemented age restriction systems. These various algorithms allow content creators to have peace of mind when uploading created content and also helps viewers more efficiently filter through content to find things they enjoy. However, the accuracy of these different algorithms leaves something to be desired as many videos are falsely flagged under copyright laws and age restriction settings. While there are some flaws with YouTube’s algorithms and how they organize content, with some iteration these flaws can be ironed out and overall please content creators as well as viewers.

<Toggle id="references" toggleAlt="References">

Abhari, Abdolreza, and Mojgan Soraya. "Workload Generation For Youtube". _Multimedia Tools And Applications_, vol 46, no. 1, 2009, pp. 91-118. _Springer Nature_, doi:10.1007/s11042-009-0309-5."Algorithm - Definition Of Algorithm In English | Oxford Dictionaries". _Oxford Dictionaries_ | English, 2017, [https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/algorithm](https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/algorithm).

Bessi, Alessandro et al. "Users Polarization On Facebook And Youtube". _PLOS ONE_, vol 11, no. 8, 2016, pp. 1-24. _Public Library Of Science (_Plos_)_, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0159641.

Chung, MyoungBeom, and IlJu Ko. "Intelligent Copyright Protection System Using A Matching Video Retrieval Algorithm". _Multimedia Tools And Applications_, vol 59, no. 1, 2011, pp. 383-401. _Springer Natur_e, doi:10.1007/s11042-011-0743-z.

Creators, YouTube. "A Message To Our Community ...". _Twitter_, 2017, [https://twitter.com/YTCreators/status/843613347367079937](https://twitter.com/YTCreators/status/843613347367079937).

Creators, YouTube. "Sorry For All The Confusion With Restricted Mode. Some Videos Have Been Incorrectly Labeled And That’S Not Right. We're On It! More To Come.". _Twitter_, 2017, [https://twitter.com/YTCreators/status/843884792466817024](https://twitter.com/YTCreators/status/843884792466817024).

Lee, Ming-Chang et al. "Pareto-Based Cache Replacement For Youtube". _World Wide Web_, vol 18, no. 6, 2015, pp. 1523-1540. _Springer Nature_, doi:10.1007/s11280-014-0318-9.

"Using Content ID - Youtube Help". _Support.Google.Com_, 2017, [https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/3244015?hl=en&ref_topic=4515467](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/3244015hl=en&ref_topic=4515467).

Young, Nora. "January 27, 2017". _The Current_, 2017, [http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-january-27-2017-1.3953609/january-27-2017-full-episode-transcript-1.3956260#segment1](http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-january-27-2017-1.3953609/january-27-2017-full-episode-transcript1.3956260#segment1).

YouTube Help,. "Youtube Content ID". 2017, [https://youtu.be/9g2U12SsRns](https://youtu.be/9g2U12SsRns).

Zapata-Kim, Laura. "Should Youtube's Content Id Be Liable For Misrepresentation Under The Digital Millennium Copyright Act?". _Boston College Law Review_, vol 57, no. 5, 2016, pp. 1847-1874. Ebscohost, [https://ezproxy.viu.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,cookie&db=a9h&AN=120126036&site=ehost-live](http://ezproxy.viu.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,cookie&db=a9h&AN=120126036&site=ehost-live).

</Toggle>

What is YouTube’s algorithm system, and how does it affect YouTube Creators?

The Algorithms of YouTube and Their Creators

<NewSection id="#computers" />

### Computers

When I was a young fetus, Donald, I had my first-computer-experience in the public Library. I remember I would go there and play the Humongous Entertainment, game set with games like “Pyjama Sam”, “Freddi Fish”, “Putt-Putt”, and “Spy Fox”. I had fun while at the same time learned things! I remember shortly after experiencing the computers in the Library, we decided to get a computer in our home.

The computer that we got was the same as the one in the Library! It was a grey desktop with a monitor with a massive hump to it, just like the Tube-TV that we had. The computer ran on Windows 98, had about 100GB of storage, and had Internet that was a step above dial-up. I remember I would go on the internet and played internet games. The game that I loved to play online was the Cyberchase games (based off the animated series Cyberchase).

A few years later we upgraded our computer to a newer and faster model with 200GB of storage with a black screen. This time it was running Windows XP. This was when I started to really tinker around with computers, software, and really started to explore this wonderful thing called…the internet! I would go to YouTube and watch videos; I had to pause the video every 5 seconds to let it BUFFER… and then play it and then have the circle of death come up on the screen and need to let it buffer again… and the process would keep going, and going, and going.

I then got my very own computer which was my sister's old laptop! I was free to explore even more! It was a 15-inch HP notebook. It was portable and was running Windows Vista (later upgraded to Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 Betas). We also upgraded our Internet so I no longer had to let videos buffer as much. I used this laptop for more application usage and was when I first started my Digital Production work! I would edit my videos and pictures on editing software! I also grew the love of music with this computer!

A few years went by and at this time was when I graduated middle school and as a graduation gift, my parents bought me a new slim Samsung notebook! It had the storage capacity of 500GB! This laptop was running Windows 7 (later upgraded to Windows 8 and Windows 10) I used this computer for further Digital Production and for tinkering around!

A few years later, around three, I got a 13-inch MacBook Pro! This is my current computer. I use this computer for further production activities and for the first few years it did wonders and was fast and I didn’t have to worry about slowdowns! However, the computer went downhill from there and now can barely load any application properly and quickly.

<NewSection id="#devices" />

### Digital Media Devices

As for other Digital Media devices that I own. I own an iPhone 6s, an old and broken Sony Xperia Z2 (phone), and old and broken iPhone 4. I additionally own an iPad mini that I won at student orientations from the dean of the department this summer, an iPad mini 3 that I may be selling in the coming months, and an old and broken iPad (1st generation). I own an Apple Watch Series 2 which I got for Christmas this year. I also own a SmartTV, half of a ChromeCast (my partner and I split the cost). Furthermore, I own a MacBook Pro, my old Samsung laptop, and my old HP laptop, like stated in the previous chapter.

My first cell phone that I had was a Nokia 3310 and was on Rogers (I believe), it wasn’t fully mine. My mom and I shared the phone. A year later I got my own phone which was on PC Mobile. From there I have owned over 20 phones ranging from non-smartphones to smartphones, Nokia to BlackBerry to Android to iPhone!

When it comes to talking with my family I prefer to talk to them by calling them. If I was still living at home, I would, of course, prefer face-to-face. However, we have a family group chat on iMessage and that is becoming really, fun and interactive, so I’m almost preferring that over calling now. As for interacting with businesses, I prefer Live Chats/IMs because I can be a fast talker at times so with written responses I can get my point across and they the companies can better understand me; because I’m not talking at a mile per second. As for finding a product I like to Google it myself and watch YouTube videos and reading reviews.

<NewSection id="#media" />

### Digital Media/Social Network

Digital Media, what I doooo(“Stranger Things” TV reference)! I have been using Digital Media since 2004. The first social network application that I joined was MSN and then MySpace! I later started using other social networks such as Bebo, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo, Vevo, Twitter, Google Plus, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, SnapChat, Spotify, Vine (RIP), and Apple Music. I used these mediums for different uses and for different times.

I loved Vine, it was one of my favourite apps! I could spend days on end on this app. It was perfect for me, I have ADHD and get distracted easily and find watching TV and YouTube videos hard due to the paying attention problem with ADHD! With Vine, it was perfect because no video would be longer than six seconds and I would be able to pay attention to every single video that I saw! However, as they say, “all good things must come to an end” and that’s what Twitter (the owners of Vine) did to Vine. I remember when I first heard the news that Vine was being discontinued, I was on the bus heading to School and I saw a Tweet saying that the end was coming… I thought, “NO, this can’t be, this must be a joke…” but after further digging, I saw that it was true. I cried a little on the bus. This app was everything to me and suddenly, it’s gone. I guess back to YouTube videos I go!

I’ve been on YouTube for over 7 years and have received over 35, 000 views and over 65 subscribers! My first ever video that I uploaded was this cringe-worthy short video that a few of my classmates and I recorded for our Health and Careers class, called “The Bad Drugs at DMS”. Since then I have created multiple channels and uploaded a variety of different videos.

I grew a love for photography with applications like Flickr and Instagram! I find these networks inspiring and pushes me to do better and be more creative with photography.

If I didn’t have the Internet or Digital Media, I feel that I would be in a completely different place. I for sure wouldn’t be in Digital Media Studies, I most likely wouldn’t be in University, and I would be at some low paying job.

From my YouTube experience and other social networks, I have learned that I have a passion in Digital Production, and from that, I decided that’s what I want to do as a career! So that's why I’m at Vancouver Island University now!

The historical experience of Digital Media in my life and why I wanted to join the Digital Media Studies program.

Donald Louch’s Historical Experience with Digital Media

For me, I view TV as a combination of both digital technology and content, but with a heavier focus on content. I think you need to have some form of digital technology, be it a TV box or set, or be it a computer screen or mobile phone so that you can display the content. Here is a brief history of TV from my perspective in life.

I grew up as a child with a TV box in my house, for the longest time, we only had one TV which was in our living room. It had a 27-inch screen (I think) with a massive bezel to it and with this massive back to it, which made it so that it couldn’t even fit in our TV stand. It got the point where I feared that the TV box would fall off and smash into pieces, which thankfully never happened. This TV box was a standard resolution TV.

We then move on to a few years later and we got another TV box in the house which was located in my sister’s room and us kids would hang out in there and watched our own programs. We also upgraded the TV set in the living room to a big 55-inch (I think it was that big) TV set with a built-in speaker system. I remember this TV set was taller than me! The back was also much thicker than our previous TV box. I further remember that this TV set was heavy and taking it up and down the stairs, we struggled with. Sadly, after a little under four years of owning this TV set, the blue light tube broke and no longer displayed blues. We kept the TV set for a few additional years, but we never got the accurate picture.

Our next TV box was that of a flat-screen! It was a Panasonic 40-inch flat-screen TV box! It was so small, no back to it, barely any bezel to it and was a step into 720p resolution! Dare I also say, that the TV box was super light and could be lifted with a single hand verse multiple hands with our previous TV boxes and sets! At this time, we decided to get everyone their own TV box, my sister, my brother, my parents, and myself had our own TV box. The TV that I got was a Dynex 32-inch TV box.

A few years later we upgraded the TV boxes again. In the living room, we got a 45-inch SONY 3D 1080p SmartTV; my brother and sister decided to buy a TV together and they got a 55 or 60 inch Samsung 1080p SmartTV, and I got a 32-inch Samsung 1080p SmartTV.

From there I moved out and now live with my partner and his family and we have a multitude of TV boxes. There’s a TV box in the living room, there are two TV boxes in the common/games room (a general one and my new 32-inch Samsung 1080p SmartTV), in mine and my partners room we have a TV box in there as well, and in my partners brothers room he has a TV box as well. What do we have plugged into these TV boxes, you may ask? Mostly game consoles and personal computers. Two of the TVs have a cable box plugged into them and two TVs have a Chromecast plugged into them.

My first ever show that I ever watched was Teletubbies! I loved this show, I would be constantly watching it. Because of this show, I actually didn’t talk until I was 3 because I thought it was normal because the “characters” on the show didn’t talk.

Most of the content that I watched growing up was consumed on these TV boxes. I enjoyed programs such as cartoons like Rugrats, Kim Possible, 6Teen, Loonie Toons, Scooby-Doo, The Flintstones (I enjoyed this show so much that I’ve named all my technology after the characters), The Jetsons, The Fairly Odd Parents and much more. I then started watching and to some degree still watch cartoons like The Simpsons, Family Guy, Futurama, and so much more. I further grow up watching Disney Channel (Family Channel here in Canada) shows such as The Suite Life of Zack and Cody (and The Suite Life On Deck), Lizzy McGuire, Hanna Montana, That’s So Raven, Wizards of Waverly Place, Evan Stevens, Phil of The Future, Corey In The House, The Proud Family, and so much more.

Now I stream all the shows on my 13-inch laptop. I enjoy watching shows like How To Get Away With Murder, Eyewitness, The Real O’Neals, Mr. Robot, Orange Is the Black, Stranger Things, The Fosters, Shadowhunters, Pure Genius, The Great Indoors, Speechless, 2 Broke Girls, Criminal Minds, The 100, Superstore, Designated Survivor, and a show that I actually found the other week and have fallen in love with, Beyond. I also watch the show Scorpion and have chosen that show for my TV log. I'm also currently watching Teen Wolf and Pretty Little Liars; however, after this season these two shows will be sadly finished and going off the air.

I have further streamed the following shows before, they got canceled and went off the air. Amercian Idol, Bad Judge, Breaking Bad, Camp, Lost, Terra Nova, Under The Dome, Weeds, and Welcome to the Family.  I do wish the following shows continued as I loved them. Finding Carter, Glee, Red Band Society, Star-crossed, and The Tomorrow People. Funny story, my partner loved “That ‘70s Show” to death and has made me repeatedly see that show over, and over, and over again. We haven’t really done it lately but my partner and I use to stream and episode or two of the show EVERY night before bed and then the night that I started to write this, we started this back-up.

I do like to try to watch these shows as soon as they’ve been aired, however, there’re times that I just can’t due to my schedule. However, there’re some shows that I kind of need to watch right away because if I don’t there is a high likely hood that I will get spoiled on social media. I personally am not a huge fan of “binge-watching” a whole series in one go. Usually, if I’m “binge-watching” to catch up on a series I like to watch anywhere from 2 to 5 episodes in a “sitting”.

I recently helped film an episode of “The Show on Shaw TV Nanaimo”! I had an awesome time doing that and was seen on TV, got to see my camera work on TV, and got to see my name on TV! If you want, you may view the episode on [YouTube](https://youtu.be/JzuDBIWU8BQ)!

<Toggle id="theShow" toggleAlt="The Show">

<VideoFrame src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/JzuDBIWU8BQ?rel=0" width="900" height="506" options="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" />

</Toggle>

I view television as content that is displayed on any type of digital technology. I started off with a TV box with a 27-inch screen, we then moved to a TV set with a 55-inch screen, then moved to a TV box with a 32-inch screen while my family had a TV box with a 40-inch screen, then my family moved to a TV box with a 45-inch screen, then moved to a 13-inch laptop. I started off with watching cartoons (targeted towards children) and Disney Channel shows, then moved to watching cartoons (targeted towards adults) and a variety of other shows. I hope this helps you get a better understanding of what television means to me!

Television (TV), what is it to me? Is it a form of digital technology or is it content?

The Life of Television a Self-Reflection Essay

<NewSection id="intro" />

I will highlight the differences in characters of films created by people who don't have a perspective of how homosexuals are represented in the real world to creators who do have a perspective. I’ll be defining popular films as those that are well-known and liked in the Lesbian, Homosexual, Bi Sexual, Transgendered/Transsexual, Queer (LGBTQ+) community. My intent with this essay is to find how films portray homosexual characters.

<NewSection id="litReview" />

### Review of the Relevant Literature

When looking in to the representation of homosexual characters, I noticed that there hasn’t been much research done on the subject. In addition, what little research that has been done assumes the angle that homosexuals in media are portrayed as bad and evil people, which is clearly a gross misrepresentation. An example of misrepresentation within the genre of fantasy media such as in the TV Show _True Blood_ is how vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures are portrayed. Frederik Dhaenens suggests that:

> … the genre has omitted representations of homosexual characters or displaced homosexuality onto the victims, villains, or nonhuman others. Hence, from a queer theoretical perspective, homosexuality has been represented as a threat to the hegemonic discourse of heteronormativity” - _ (Dhaenens, Frederik)_

This was interesting to me because in media that deals with homosexual culture, typically it’s about homophobia, homophobic violence, child molestation, cheating around, always having sex, femininity, even disownment of family due to religious reasons or just plain homophobia. When you look at how homosexual characters are represented in the fantasy genre be it in films, TV shows, books, comics, games, etc. it adds to the ‘fear’ that homosexual people are dangerous and a threat to heterosexuals (as stated by Dhaenens). On the other hand, Dhaences did another analysis of the popular (now off the air) TV series _Glee_ and found that “… a significant increase in homosexual representation in contemporary television fiction, many media scholars argue that the representation of homosexual men and women is governed by heteronormativity” (Dhaenens, Frederik). As he quoted from M. Warner’s _The Trouble with Normal_:

> (H)eteronormativity: If you are born with male genitalia, the logic goes, you will behave in masculine ways, desire women, desire feminine women, desire them exclusively, have sex in what are thought to be normally active and insertive ways and within officially sanctioned contexts, think of yourself as heterosexual, identify with other heterosexuals, trust in the superiority of heterosexuality no matter how tolerant you might wish to be, and never change any part of this package from childhood to senescence. - _(Dhaenens, Frederik)_

In other words, what Dhaenens and Warner are trying to say is that these TV shows don’t properly portray homosexual characters because they’re written and created by heterosexual males. In addition, they most likely don’t know for themselves what it’s like to be homosexual so they base their rendition off of other television shows and other forms of media. Dhaenens goes on and further brings forth a notion that:

> … (T)he social and political visibility of the homosexual community is accompanied by homonegativity, homophobia, and homophobic violence … the improved conditions for homosexual teenagers to come out is concurred by recurring homophobic harassment and homosexual teen suicides …. - _(Dhaenens, Frederik)_

This can reflect in real-life and make the audience scared to come out and live their life freely if they’re a closeted member of the LGBTQ+ community. This can express to the heterosexual audience that it’s okay to throw homophobic slurs and have homophobic actions towards homosexual people, which is obviously not okay to do. Considering that media is still heavily governed by heterosexual people, I don’t see this changing anytime soon. Jay Poole states that:

> … Often, such alternative identities (non ‘straight’ identities) are fraught with their own rules and boundaries and, for those whose lives don’t conform to such constraints, anxiety and depression often manifest, often creating significant clinical concerns. As identities become more fluid opportunities to feel displaced, confused, shameful, and anxious abound. Questions about how to fit into particular groups begin to be more difficult to address personally and clinically as identity categories are blurred. Here, the impact of particular media representations of homosexual males is considered from a queer perspective; queer being defined as different or out of what has traditionally or ordinarily been expected. - _(Poole, Jay)_

With this, when homosexuals and the LGBTQ+ community are misrepresented, it can cause major mental illness issues in LGBTQ+ people (especially in youths) which is not healthy. Therefore, the representation of homosexual characters in media is degrading, misrepresentative, and above all, can cause mental health issues. I’m going to be looking in to films that have been created by homosexual people who understand how to properly portray homosexuality. From that point, they can maybe change the way homosexuals are seen across all media!

<NewSection id="hypothesis" />

### Research Question / Hypothesis

As someone who identifies as homosexual, I can personally say that in different mediums LGBTQ+ people get misrepresented quite often as shown in the above literature review. Homosexuals are made out to be sexual deviants and not ‘good people’. However, that’s entirely untrue! We’re not sexual deviants and are not ‘bad people’.

With this, I wanted to see if I could find a selection of films that are popular that have been created with the proper portrayal of homosexuals in mind. Therefore, I’ll be looking in to the representation of homosexual characters in popular films. In particular, I'll be assessing how homosexual characters and couples are being portrayed and try to see if they're properly portrayed or if they’re being misrepresented like in media from heterosexual creators.

<NewSection id="methodology" />

### Methodology

#### Subject

I’ll be selecting and analyzing the films _Make the Yuletide Gay _(2009), _That’s What I Am_ (2011), _The Perfect Wedding_ (2012), _White Frog_ (2012) and _Beneath the Skin_ (2015). Specifically, I'll be focusing on the character's Olaf ‘Gunn’ Gunnunderson and Nathan (_Make the Yuletide Gay_ [2009]), Mr. Simon (_That’s What I Am_ [2011]), Gavin and Paul (_The Perfect Wedding_ [2012]), Chaz and Randy (_White Frog_ [2012]), and Jay and Joshua (_Beneath the Skin_ [2015]).

#### Procedures

As I was finding my samples, I used the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) which is a website that has a ton of information in regards to films and TV shows. I used the advanced search function within IMDb to look for films that had the plot keywords of “Gay Couple” and “Romance”. I then sorted the results by popularity and watched each trailer a few times. From that point, I picked the five films that looked like they would have proper representation.

I watched each sample through its full entirety. I had the films on my secondary monitor, my protocol on the left side of my Macbook screen and the coding on the right side of my Macbook screen. During the coding of the film, I stopped multiple times so that I could code and make notes. I was also coding as the film was playing. With a few films, I wasn’t sure who I was coding for at the beginning so I coded for who I thought it was and then when I was wrong I paused the film and went back to re-code.

#### Treatment of Data

I coded five different film samples. I decided to code with the intent of having five major categories.

The first category was film. I simply looked at the movie title, year of release, the time period in which the film was set in, and which character(s) I was focusing on. (For full results, see [appendix A](#appendix)).

The second category was coming out. I made an effort to focus on the coming out process. I first saw if they came out, then looked at if they did it during the film or before the film started. If they came out during the film, I then coded who they came out to and what their reactions were. (For full results, see [appendix B](#appendix)).

The third category was relationships. I looked at their relationship status, then if they were single, and then looked at their sexual activity. If they were dating or married, I then looked into the type of relationship that they had and if it was monogamous or not. I then looked to see if they showed any affection in public and what were the reactions. (For full results, see [appendix C](#appendix)).

The fourth category was characters. I looked at the “homosexual stereotypes” that were followed and if they showed any gender identity traits (such as being feminine or masculine). The stereotypes I looked at were:

> Loud/catty/gossips, hate sports, well dressed with a good sense of style, ‘fabulous’, sex addicts, non-monogamous, have a lisp, always after ‘straight’ people, only have ‘female’ friends, clean, loves Lady Gaga, loves Bella, loves Broadway, loves shopping, and that all homosexuals have HIV or AIDS.

I then further looked at how they were dressed and their age. (For full results, see [appendix D](#appendix)).

Then in the fifth and final category, I looked at what happened throughout the film. I looked at if there was any homophobia, who said it (if said) and what was the result from the comment. I then finally looked at the linguistic theme of the film. (For full results, see [appendix E](#appendix)).


<NewSection id="results" />

### Results

My findings are quite different then I originally thought they would be. I went in thinking that I was going to find movies that were all about cheating, homophobia and sex like I saw in the literature that I read. However, the samples that I picked surprisingly did not have any of those things.

When the characters were coming out I noticed a wide variety of reactions from their families, friends, co-workers, schoolmates or whoever they came out to. The reactions ranged from being dramatically excited, supportive, in denial, homophobic, violence, shock, disgust, upset, angry, religious, loving, happy, accepting, and becoming close friends from being strangers.

In _The Perfect Wedding_, it did start off with Paul being a cheating boyfriend, however by the end he ‘redeemed himself’ and became a loyal boyfriend.

Besides having a “lisp”, I couldn’t identify the many stereotypes that are usually associated with homosexual characters. In addition, I found that only 40% of the movies displayed characters that would be deemed “feminine” versus the 60% that would be deemed as masculine.

In the film’s _White Frog_ and _That’s What I Am_, there was a bit of homophobia but nowhere near the amount that I thought there would be. In _Beneath the Skin_, they did display a huge amount of homophobia and violence directed towards the homosexual couple. From the homophobic actions, I noticed that as a result a character almost got fired, the brother ran away from frustration and confutation and the parents tried to shut down a community service centre; the parents disowned their dead son, a lot violence towards their son, they kicked him out of the house and then his apartment later got trashed.


<NewSection id="discussion" />

### Discussion

Like stated above, I decided to choose samples that have been created by people who understand the representation of homosexuals in real life. What I found is that they had a proper representation of homosexuals, whereas with popular media created by heterosexual there were a lot of misrepresentation in pertinence to the LGBTQ+ community and homosexual people. By doing this, they’re giving the LGBTQ+ community a bad representation and like stated earlier give homosexuals a bad reputation. This ends up in creating more homophobic behavior. With this, I think that a lot of heterosexuals should take a few steps back and actually look at how homosexuals exist and act in real life and not how they behave in other media. Doing this would create less misrepresentation and people may not ‘fear’ homosexual people as much! As I was doing the coding for the methodology part of the paper, I found that I would have to make a judgment call and code for what was in front of me. There was some biased thinking when coding. For instance, when coding for the gender identity traits and the stereotypes, I didn't know their ‘full story’ so I just went by what I saw.

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##### Word Count: 2033 Words

_Written by: Donald Louch | Edited by: Mark Dimozantos_

---

<NewSection id="appendix" />

<TabSection id="appendixTab" tabTitles={["Appendix A", "Appendix B", "Appendix C", "Appendix D", "Appendix E"]} tabPanels={[<div>

#### Table 1

_Time-period<sup>*</sup> that the films were set in_

<Table tableHeader=" | Sample 1 | Sample 2 | Sample 3 | Sample 4 | Sample 5" tableData="1960s | 1 |  |  |  |  ;; 2000s |  | 1 | 1 | 1 |  ;; 2010s |  |  |  |  | 1" />

_* Time-periods were based on what was seen and is completely bias_

</div>, <div>

#### Table 2

_Did they come out_

<Table tableHeader=" | Sample 1 | Sample 2 | Sample 3 | Sample 4 | Sample 5" tableData="Yes | 2 |  | 2 | 1 | 2 ;; No |  |  |  | 1 |  ;; Unsure* |  | 1 |  |  | " />

_* Character Turned Out Not To Be Homosexual, But Everyone Thought He Was_

#### Table 3

_When Did They Come Out_

<Table tableHeader=" | Sample 1 | Sample 2 | Sample 3 | Sample 4 | Sample 5" tableData="Before the start | 1 |  | 2 |  |  ;; During the film | 1 | 1 |  | 2 | 2 ;; Unsure* |  | 1 |  |  | " />

#### Table 4

_Who did they come out too_

<Table tableHeader=" | Sample 1 | Sample 2 | Sample 3 | Sample 4 | Sample 5" tableData="Family (parent) | 1 |  |  | 2 | 1 ;; Family (sibling) |  |  |  | 1 | 1 ;; Extended family |  |  |  |  |  ;; Close circle of friends | 1 |  |  | 1 | 1 ;; Workmates |  | 1 |  |  |  ;; Schoolmates |  | 1 |  |  | 1 ;; Not personal friends |  |  |  |  |  ;; Other  |  | 1: Parents |  |  | " />

</div>, <div>

#### Table 5

_Relationship Status_

<Table tableHeader=" | Sample 1 | Sample 2 | Sample 3 | Sample 4 | Sample 5" tableData="Single |  | 1 | 2 | 1* | 2 ;; In a relationship | 2 |  | 2 | 2 | 2 ;; Married |  |  | 2 |  |  ;; Unknown |  |  |  |  | " />

_* Due to death_

#### Table 6

_Type of Relationship_

<Table tableHeader=" | Sample 1 | Sample 2 | Sample 3 | Sample 4 | Sample 5" tableData="Monogamous | 2 |  | 2 | 2 | 2 ;; Non- Monogamous |  |  | 1 |  " />

#### Table 7

_Did they show affection in public_

<Table tableHeader=" | Sample 1 | Sample 2 | Sample 3 | Sample 4 | Sample 5" tableData="Yes | 1 |  | 1 | 1 | 1 ;; No |  |  |  |  | " />

#### Table 8

_Reaction to display of affection_

<Table tableHeader=" | Sample 1 | Sample 2 | Sample 3 | Sample 4 | Sample 5" tableData="Happy/Excited |  |  | 1 |  |  ;; Shocked |  |  |  | 1 |  ;; Violent |  |  |  |  | 1 ;; Homophobic |  |  |  | 1 | 1 ;; Ignored/don’t care |  |  |  |  |  ;; Netural |  |  |  |  |  ;; Un-noticed | 1 |  |  |  | " />

</div>, <div>

#### Table 9

_Homosexual stereotypes_

<Table tableHeader=" | Sample 1 | Sample 2 | Sample 3 | Sample 4 | Sample 5" tableData="Loud/Catty/Gossip | 2 |  |  |  |  ;; Hate Sports |  |  |  |  |  ;;  Well Dressed | 1.5 |  |  |  |  ;; Fabulous |  |  |  |  |  ;; Sex Addicts |  |  |  |  |  ;; Non-monogamous |  |  | 1 |  |  ;; Have a lisp | 1 |  | 1 |  | 1 ;; Always after ‘straight’ people |  |  |  |  |  ;; Only have ‘female’ friends |  |  |  |  |  ;; Love Bella |  | 2 |  |  |  ;; Loves Shopping |  |  |  |  | " />

#### Table 10

_Gender Identify Traits_

<Table tableHeader=" | Sample 1 | Sample 2 | Sample 3 | Sample 4 | Sample 5" tableData="Feminine | 1 |  | 1 |  |  ;; Masculine | 1 |  | 1 | 1 | 1" />

#### Table 11

_Characters Age_

<Table tableHeader=" | Sample 1 | Sample 2 | Sample 3 | Sample 4 | Sample 5" tableData="Pre-Teen (11 – 13 years)  |  |  |  |  |  ;; Teenager (13 – 19 Years)  |  |  |  | 2 | 2 ;; Young Adult (19 - 25 Years) | 2 |  | 2 |  |  ;; Adult (25 – 55 Years) |  |  |  |  |  ;; Older Adult (over 55 years) |  | 1 |  |  |  " />

</div>, <div>

#### Table 12

_Homophobia (who it was by)_

<Table tableHeader=" | Sample 1 | Sample 2 | Sample 3 | Sample 4 | Sample 5" tableData="Family (parent) |  |  |  | 1 | 1 ;; Family (sibling) |  |  |  | 1 |  ;; Extended family |  |  |  |  |  ;; Close circle of friends |  |  |  |  |  ;; Workmates |  |  |  |  |  ;; Schoolmates |  |  |  |  | 2: Josh’s ;; Not personal friends  |  |  |  |  |  ;; Other  |  | 1: Students ; Parents |  |  | " />

#### Table 13

_Linguistic Themes_

<Table tableHeader=" | Sample 1 | Sample 2 | Sample 3 | Sample 4 | Sample 5" tableData="Love |  |  | 1 |  |  ;; Challenges  |  |  |  | 1 | 1 ;; Homophobia  |  |  |  |  | 1 ;; Inspirational |  | 1 |  | 1 |  ;; Acceptance of self  |  |  |  |  |  ;; Acceptance of others | 1 |  |  |  | 1 ;; Emotional  |  |  |  | 1 |  " />

</div>]} />

<NewSection id="references" />

<Toggle id="referencesToggle" toggleAlt="References">

Dhaenens, Frederik. "Teenage Queerness: Negotiating Heteronormativity In The Representation Of Gay Teenagers In Glee". _Journal Of Youth Studies_, vol 16, no. 3, 2012, pp. 304-317. Taylor & Francis Library SSH - CRKN, doi:10.1080/13676261.2012.718435.

Dhaenens, Frederik. "The Fantastic Queer: Reading Gay Representations In Torchwoo And True Blood As Articulations Of Queer Resistance". _Critical Studies In Media Communication_, vol 30, no. 2, 2013, pp. 102-116. Taylor & Francis Library SSH - CRKN, doi:10.1080/15295036.2012.755055.

Poole, Jay. "Queer Representations Of Gay Males And Masculinities In The Media". _Sexuality & Culture_, vol 18, no. 2, 2013, pp. 279-290. _Springer Science + Business Media_, doi:10.1007/s12119-013-9197-y.

</Toggle>

In this paper, I’ll be comparing the differences in representation of homosexual characters in popular films.

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