Contemporary French Queer Cinema: Explicit Sex and the Politics of Normalization

This thesis examines how recent French queer films may mirror, interrogate and engage with sexual politics in France. The key political changes include the 1999 Pacte Civil de Solidarité legislation and the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2013. The thesis focuses on French queer films which are sexually explicit, including simulated and unsimulated sex acts. Using Michael Warner’s The Trouble with Normal and Michel Foucault’s conceptions of homosexuality, the thesis suggests that the sexual politics in France ostensibly normalize and desexualize gay and lesbian modes of desire. This thesis ultimately argues that the explicit sex scenes in the films discussed are not gratuitous. Rather they are integral to the director’s engagement with contemporary French sexual politics. French queer cinema, as such, remains a key critical lens through which to analyze the global shift towards the legalization of gay marriage and the unpredictable social, sexual, and political implications of normalization.

Name thesis:degree_name

MA

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Film Studies

Grantor dc:publisher

The University of Western Ontario

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Smith, Joanna K

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Joe Wlodarz

• Contemporary French queer cinema
• sex in cinema
• explicit sex
• normalization
• Michel Foucault
• Michael Warner

Language dc:language.iso

en_ca

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/36094

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/36094