Intro; Foreword: Entertainment And/Or/Not Education; References; Contents; Chapter 1: Introduction: Entertaining to Educate; TV Queers; Entertainment as Pedagogy; Televisual Pedagogy; The Queer Self and the Queer Other; Representing the Queer Other; Queer TV; References; Part I: Historical Context; Chapter 2: Looking Back: The Evolution of Queer TV; The Gay 1990s; 2000s-2010s: Gaystreaming in the Post-Gay Era; Gaystreaming as Progress?; Gaystreaming as Normalisation and Depoliticisation; 2010s Onwards: The Golden Age of Queer Representation?; References
"It's Not TV": Cinematic Realism as Pedagogical ToolConclusion; References; Chapter 9: Realistic Entertainment: The Complex Pedagogy of Transparent; Introduction; Maura Pfefferman as Complex Pedagogical Tool; The Queer Other: The Ensemble Cast as Pedagogical Tool; The Queer Other: Fractured Communities; Realism as Pedagogical Tool; Emotional Realism: Queer Feelings; Narrative Complexity as Pedagogical Tool; Conclusion; References; Chapter 10: "I Am Also a We": The Pedagogy of Sense8; Introduction; Queering Love and Family; It's Not TV. It's Netflix!; Extraordinary Queers
Part II: Musical Soap Operas on Broadcast TelevisionChapter 3: It Gets Better: The Pedagogy of Glee; Introduction; Queer Youth; Oppression; Music as Pedagogical Tool; Emotion as Pedagogical Tool; Does It Really Get Better? Storytelling as Pedagogical Tool; Comedy as Pedagogical Tool; Conclusion; References; Chapter 4: Burning Boxes: The Pedagogy of Empire; Introduction; Gay Men in Empire; Queering Gender and Sexuality; Queering Race; Homophobia; Storytelling as Pedagogical Tool; Music as Pedagogical Tool; Empathy as Pedagogical Tool; The Constructivist Pedagogy of Soap Operas; Conclusion
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This book examines queer characters in popular American television, demonstrating how entertainment can educate audiences about LGBT identities and social issues like homophobia and transphobia. Through case studies of musical soap operas (Glee and Empire), reality shows (RuPauls Drag Race, The Prancing Elites Project and I Am Cait) and "quality" dramas (Looking, Transparent and Sense8), it argues that entertainment elements such as music, humour, storytelling and melodrama function as pedagogical tools, inviting viewers to empathise with and understand queer characters. Each chapter focuses on a particular programme, looking at what it teaches--its representation of queerness--and how it teaches this--its pedagogy. Situating the programmes in their broader historical context, this study also shows how these televisual texts exemplify a specific moment in American television.