Brokeback Mountain, Moonlight, Call Me By Your Name, Portrait of a Lady on Fire…These are just a few highlights from the massive (and ever-increasing) list of award-winning films that prioritize LGBTQIA+ representation. As LGBTQIA+ themed films continue to garner rave reviews, the demand for more becomes increasingly apparent. Fortunately, a similar trend seems to be occurring in the book market, creating the potential for endless new stories to be shared.
In many ways, film serves as a reflection of society. It’s both an escape from reality and a mirror of it. In other words, we as an audience should be able to see aspects of ourselves in movies. This means proper representation in film is essential.
Film is a powerful educator. In an overwhelmingly cisgender, heterosexual market, queer-focused films connect with an LGBTQIA+ audience. Improving the amount of LGBTQIA+ films and characters enables queer people to resonate and the non-LGBTQIA+ population to better empathize with them. In other words, it decreases alienation and increases understanding.
With streaming services skyrocketing in popularity and becoming increasingly accessible, it’s easier than ever to reach a wider audience. By extension, it’s easier than ever to utilize the capacity of film as an immersive storytelling mechanism to cultivate awareness of LGBTQIA+ issues via representation. Additionally, by depicting nuanced characters in diverse life situations, film harnesses the ability to decrease stereotypes and stigmatizations in a way that is nearly universally accessible.
The benefit of adapting novels for film is multifold. First, the obvious is that it increases the audience. A book may already have a large following and will generate buzz around the film almost immediately. Second, books tend to possess multifaceted, complex characters within detailed storylines, helping to avoid stereotypes and “flat,” uninteresting (and hence unrelatable) characters in film. Third, the book itself has to be decently compelling even to be adapted for film. This means potential increased audience engagement and emotional investment for the adaptation. Another huge perk is that many of the authors of the novels themselves are queer, with personal experiences and understandings to guide their story writing. This reduces the potential for stereotypes, generalizations and stigmatizations in favor of an authentic, impassioned product.
Now, here’s something concrete to look forward to: the sensational LGBTQIA+ novel They Both Die At the End is currently being adapted for television. Written by an openly gay author, Adam Silvera, the novel recently went viral on TikTok (and for good reason)! Set in a single day, the two protagonists, teenagers Mateo and Rufus, meet on what they know to be their last day to live. The New York Times Bestseller explores the inseparable relationship between love, life and death through a devastatingly inspirational story. Currently, in development for a TV series (I know, not exactly film), They Both Die At the End will be produced by Drew Comins, and Entertainment One holds its rights. Hopefully, the adaptation will be pretty spot-on because Adam Silvera himself is responsible for the screenplay.
Next up are Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Red White & Royal Blue, and more! There is apparently no end in sight for LGBTQIA+ book-to-screen adaptations. Be sure to check out IMDb, Deadline, and (of course) TikTok for updates!