Paris Sébastien Cameron-Gardos | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (original) (raw)
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Papers by Paris Sébastien Cameron-Gardos
DiGeSt: Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies, 2022
The narrative of Danish director Nicolo Donato’s 2009 film, Brotherhood, demonstrates how both th... more The narrative of Danish director Nicolo Donato’s 2009 film, Brotherhood, demonstrates how both the coming out and outing of a gay Neo-Nazi creates dramatic moments of transformation within the film’s storyline. As a result, the audience has to confront the representation of unstable and asymmetrical acts of sexual, social, and political identification. These moments of identification involve acts of violence and betrayal that lead to the creation of a fluid sexual identity on screen. This article examines the choices of the characters within the film and the homosocial world that those characters purposely construct. In order to carry out that examination, key aspects of contemporary Danish political culture are assessed with a view to better understand the ascendency of the far right, anti-migration rhetoric, and the centrality of that political culture within the stories that are told in Brotherhood. The collisions within the Neo-Nazi group over what defines hyper-masculinity, family, violence against migrants, and same-sex desire are best observed through an interdisciplinary analysis that combines film, queer, and sociological research. In the film, a violent, hyper-masculine Neo-Nazi authors a coming-out moment that is both unique and tragic. This assessment of the collisions between homosociality and homoeroticism in the lives of these men creates space for the important and productive analytical deconstruction of hyper-masculinity in a fictionalized Danish far-right political movement.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Queer Studies and Communication, 2021
The rejection of coming out as a linear narrative must be accompanied by an alternative to the fo... more The rejection of coming out as a linear narrative must be accompanied by an alternative to the formulas of confession, disclosure, and identity adoption that have pervaded the current representations of coming out in the West. The appearance of coming out in film narratives provides important opportunities to observe how elements such as repetition, rehearsal, and, above all, contrasts are incorporated into the stories that are recounted. Conventional coming-out films have relied so heavily on the restrictive nature of the genre’s narrative structure that the potential for alternative, or queered, realities of coming out is erased. The continual reappearance and adaptations of coming out will enable a better understanding of the ways in which the act is presented as a moment that is never finished and that often evades a final, perfected, and polished performance.
Four specific narratives from queer film—Beautiful Thing (1996), Summer Storm(2004), Brotherhood (2009), and North Sea Texas (2011)—will be presented to offer counter models for coming out. In Beautiful Thing, the visual narrative demonstrates the importance of the reiterative, adaptable, and unanticipated representation of the act in visual media. In Summer Storm, the audience witnesses how coming out occurs in a world of competitive sports and where the teenage athletes reveal secrets that everyone already knows. In Brotherhood, the act of coming out is transformed into a moment when identities are instantaneously accepted and rejected within a homophobic, neo- Nazi subculture. In North Sea Texas, the script of coming out is reimagined by two characters who ambiguously decline any opportunity to define their identities. Coming out in visual narratives must be understood through an elaboration of Janet Harbord’s belief that the audience gravitates toward particular visual narratives where a comfort zone is created. These films have authored reiterative and adaptable approaches to the act of coming out that both comfort and challenge the audience.
Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies, 2020
Bavo Defurne's film Noordzee, Texas (2011) provides a unique cultural object with which to reexam... more Bavo Defurne's film Noordzee, Texas (2011) provides a unique cultural object with which to reexamine the discourses concerning queer representation in Flemish audiovisual media, the normative acceptance of the Flemish LGBTQ+ community, and the importance of coming out narratives. Vanlee (2019) and Vanlee, Dhaenens, and Van Bauwel (2020) argue that the banal representations of queer identity in Flemish television has privileged norma-tive discourses about both sexuality and Flemish identity. In the film, coming out both takes place and never occurs. The deathbed scene presents coming out as a moment of disorientation from the normative. Sara Ahmed's (2006) concept of disorientation is employed as a tool to help develop a pluralistic definition of coming out that takes into account the endless repetition and adaptability of the act in practice. The scene illuminates the vulnerability of conventionally saturated notions of coming out, being out, and gay identity. The film's narrative, and its Flemish roots, serve as analytical tools to help better understand how coming out can be enacted in a manner that forces the audience to re-evaluate how identities are formed and adopted.
DiGeSt: Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies, 2022
The narrative of Danish director Nicolo Donato’s 2009 film, Brotherhood, demonstrates how both th... more The narrative of Danish director Nicolo Donato’s 2009 film, Brotherhood, demonstrates how both the coming out and outing of a gay Neo-Nazi creates dramatic moments of transformation within the film’s storyline. As a result, the audience has to confront the representation of unstable and asymmetrical acts of sexual, social, and political identification. These moments of identification involve acts of violence and betrayal that lead to the creation of a fluid sexual identity on screen. This article examines the choices of the characters within the film and the homosocial world that those characters purposely construct. In order to carry out that examination, key aspects of contemporary Danish political culture are assessed with a view to better understand the ascendency of the far right, anti-migration rhetoric, and the centrality of that political culture within the stories that are told in Brotherhood. The collisions within the Neo-Nazi group over what defines hyper-masculinity, family, violence against migrants, and same-sex desire are best observed through an interdisciplinary analysis that combines film, queer, and sociological research. In the film, a violent, hyper-masculine Neo-Nazi authors a coming-out moment that is both unique and tragic. This assessment of the collisions between homosociality and homoeroticism in the lives of these men creates space for the important and productive analytical deconstruction of hyper-masculinity in a fictionalized Danish far-right political movement.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Queer Studies and Communication, 2021
The rejection of coming out as a linear narrative must be accompanied by an alternative to the fo... more The rejection of coming out as a linear narrative must be accompanied by an alternative to the formulas of confession, disclosure, and identity adoption that have pervaded the current representations of coming out in the West. The appearance of coming out in film narratives provides important opportunities to observe how elements such as repetition, rehearsal, and, above all, contrasts are incorporated into the stories that are recounted. Conventional coming-out films have relied so heavily on the restrictive nature of the genre’s narrative structure that the potential for alternative, or queered, realities of coming out is erased. The continual reappearance and adaptations of coming out will enable a better understanding of the ways in which the act is presented as a moment that is never finished and that often evades a final, perfected, and polished performance.
Four specific narratives from queer film—Beautiful Thing (1996), Summer Storm(2004), Brotherhood (2009), and North Sea Texas (2011)—will be presented to offer counter models for coming out. In Beautiful Thing, the visual narrative demonstrates the importance of the reiterative, adaptable, and unanticipated representation of the act in visual media. In Summer Storm, the audience witnesses how coming out occurs in a world of competitive sports and where the teenage athletes reveal secrets that everyone already knows. In Brotherhood, the act of coming out is transformed into a moment when identities are instantaneously accepted and rejected within a homophobic, neo- Nazi subculture. In North Sea Texas, the script of coming out is reimagined by two characters who ambiguously decline any opportunity to define their identities. Coming out in visual narratives must be understood through an elaboration of Janet Harbord’s belief that the audience gravitates toward particular visual narratives where a comfort zone is created. These films have authored reiterative and adaptable approaches to the act of coming out that both comfort and challenge the audience.
Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies, 2020
Bavo Defurne's film Noordzee, Texas (2011) provides a unique cultural object with which to reexam... more Bavo Defurne's film Noordzee, Texas (2011) provides a unique cultural object with which to reexamine the discourses concerning queer representation in Flemish audiovisual media, the normative acceptance of the Flemish LGBTQ+ community, and the importance of coming out narratives. Vanlee (2019) and Vanlee, Dhaenens, and Van Bauwel (2020) argue that the banal representations of queer identity in Flemish television has privileged norma-tive discourses about both sexuality and Flemish identity. In the film, coming out both takes place and never occurs. The deathbed scene presents coming out as a moment of disorientation from the normative. Sara Ahmed's (2006) concept of disorientation is employed as a tool to help develop a pluralistic definition of coming out that takes into account the endless repetition and adaptability of the act in practice. The scene illuminates the vulnerability of conventionally saturated notions of coming out, being out, and gay identity. The film's narrative, and its Flemish roots, serve as analytical tools to help better understand how coming out can be enacted in a manner that forces the audience to re-evaluate how identities are formed and adopted.