How Images Reflect Complex Social Issues; Documentary Aesthetics and Contemporary Trans Representation in Media

Kelly, Carolyn

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

How Images Reflect Complex Social Issues; Documentary Aesthetics and Contemporary Trans Representation in Media Public Deposited

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Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/undergraduate_honors_theses/h415pb933

Abstract

Transgender and non-binary people face disproportionate mental health concerns, most prominently, higher levels of depression, anxiety and thoughts of suicide compared to levels reported by their cisgender peers. A factor that significantly fuels this concerning disparity is the level of safety and acceptance that trans and non-binary folks say they feel in environments in which they exist each day. Many trans and non-binary folk turn to media to find representation that may be lacking in their local communities. While social media is an emerging platform that LGBTQ+ individuals are using to form communities, create and share content and find information, documentary film has long-preceded this space. By using the method of textual analysis, this thesis conducts a study on how trans and non-binary individuals, their stories, and topics such as mental health and current events related to gender identity are represented in contemporary documentary film. More specifically, it anyalyzes how producers and filmmakers manipulate aesthetic components of documentary film to represent an issue and evoke certain emotions out of the audience. In a wider scope, it looks at the progress that has been made overtime in terms of representation of trans and non-binary voices and individuals who are interviewed in documentary film. Finally, this thesis analysis the representation of trans and non-binary folks behind the scenes, who hold positions where they have a say in the aethetic choices that are made to represent each individual and their story, and the effect that this has on the broader progression of trans and non-binary representation in media.

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