Queer Coded/Queer Coding
Queer coded
adj. describes a character (typically a villain or antagonist) in a film, tv show, video game, book, etc. who is given traits commonly associated with queer people but is not explicitly stated to be queer
Queer coding
- n. the elements/traits of queer coding present in a character : the queer coding of the Lion King’s Scar is very obvious
- v. the act of imbuing such a character with these traits : Queer coding a villain is never excusable.
[Compare with queer baiting]
Note on usage: Queer coding typically has a negative connotation. The trope was popularized when, from 1930 to 1968, there was a ban on queer characters or any explicit reference to homosexuality in Hollywood in the form of the Motion Picture Production Code (aka the Hays Code), and queer coding allowed directors to get queerness past the censors. However, characters who have been queer coded are typically linked to what the media portrays as insane or evil, such as “deranged” killers, villains and others the media portrays as sadistic or lacking human empathy. Villains like the killer in Strangers on a Train, many villains in the James Bond series, the killing male twosome in The Rope, the list goes on and on have been queer-coded. The result of queer coding has been to subliminally relate evil and mental illness to queerness and queer people.
Now that the Hays Code has been abolished, queer-coding still continues to happen. Scar in The Lion King, Jafar in Aladdin, Xerxes in 300 are prominent contemporary examples film critics have pointed out. Many different media and genres include queer coding because homophobia is ubiquitous.
Even traits that have become tropes for villains (being well-dressed; having feminine mannerisms or manner of speech; being aristocratic in manner, wealth and appearance; being a smooth talker; having flamboyant hand gestures, manners of dress, and decor in their homes/lairs; having little to no interest in women; being conniving or catty etc etc etc) show how deeply embedded queer coding as been to the point where queer qualities are associated with evil. (Many of those traits are associated with men, but women too are often queer coded as mannish, thuggish, brutish, beastly, bulky, violent, overly ambitious or aggressive, cruel, uninterested in men, etc)
Typically when a character is suggested to be queer in a neutral, positive or glamorized way, terms such as “queer subtext” and “queer baiting” are used as opposed to “queer coding.” The latter term typically is used for villains and bad characters only.
[full glossary of terms here]
Note: I corrected my statement that the term queer coding dates back to the “Celluloid Closet” from 1930 to 1968. What I meant was the trope dates back to the time period when the Hays Code was enforced. The Celluloid Closet is the title of a documentary and book about gay representation during this time period.
