I made a pretty chart!

It describes the basic transmission model of communication. Sort of. It's a bit more than that. And includes a bit of Stuart Hall's Encoding and Decoding model.

non-linear LGBT experiences

I'm starting to realize that LGBT media often has to be taken in context of a fast and ever-changing historical landscape. Just this week, I read Larry Gross's "Contested Closets" in which he talks about the complex dynamics and motivations for outing famous and influential public figures. The book was published in 1993. In it, he describes the struggles that LGBT communities endure and the reasons why outing visible figures would help the overall LGBT cause. Who would have known that less than 2 decades after the book came out, we are at a tipping point for marriage equality with more visibility in the mainstream than ever before.

Similarly, I am watching the Birdcage in honor of Robin Williams' life, and I had to check on IMDB when it was made (1996). I wonder if the conflicts the characters encounter and the ensuing antics in the movie are still as relevant today. I'm not saying that they are not, as there are certainly segments in society that are still less accepting of LGBT people and communities than popular opinion would have us believe.

Hence, the media made is much more short-lived in terms of relevancy than possibly other narratives, as many struggles that are portrayed, especially when it comes to things of a legal nature. Such a good thing, but when retroactively consuming media from even a few years ago, harder to contextualize.