Magical Queer

The Magical Negro is a term in media analysis to describe a particular archetype of character that is very problematic. It is a black character that provides advice to the main (usually white) protagonist which seems to always solve all their problems. They always have the correct answers for the correct situation, but they never gain anything for themselves. A lot of people would be confused as to why this might be an issue, but the problem is that the people of this race are no longer treated as actual people, but are instead tools for the main character to use in order to advance the plot. The same archetype has expanded and has recently come to include queer individuals. This character, the Magical Queer, serves exactly the same purpose as the Magical Negro, just replacing the racial minority with a sexual minority.

The reasons as to why this happens can be varied, but one explanation, I believe, makes the most sense. The character sort of serves as recompense for the negative portrayals of the past. Since society has now turned towards a more accepting environment, Hollywood and other major industries are trying to fix the harsh characters of the past by making these new characters as flawless as possible. They think this serves as an appropriate fix to years of problems, but it is still problem, just of a different extreme. Queer individuals are no longer villainous and predatory, but are instead perfect and extremely well-composed.

We can see this through various examples across mediums of expression. In literature, there is Patrick from Perks of Being a Wallflower.

He is the first character to befriend Charlie and also a constant guide for him. His main role in the book is to provide support and give advice, while his own motivations and goals are relatively kept hidden from the audience. Patrick is not a perfect example though, as the character does have his own plot and growth, but this character helps to introduce the concept.

A more prominent example is Wallace Wells from the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels and film.

The film is a particularly good example as Wallace Wells does not have his own plot except to remind us that he is gay or to give Scott Pilgrim advice on his various relationships. Wallace Wells is a Oracle of Delphi type character that always knows the right answers, they just need to be unfolded correctly. Even though Wallace Wells may be a great character, it does not change the fact that the readers are constantly presented with the fact that he is both gay and perfect, as if the writers were trying to apologize for past misfortune.

The Magical Queer is problematic, even though it is a positive portrayal of an often underrepresented and poorly depicted minority. The main issue is that through these characters, members of the Queer community are not represented as actual humans. Instead, they are some mythical creature that knows all the answers, but has no story of their own. Through this, the Queer community is relegated to two extremes and neither of them helps to make them more accepted in society. The community cannot be seen as equals until we are treated as equals in the media that portrays us. Media has such a heavy impact on society and we need our stories to be told in a realistic way. The community is not full of perfect people and we have struggles and goals just the same as other members of society. This needs to be realized and remedied and we can slowly see this happening. The success of films such as Dallas Buyers Club, or shows like Orange is the Black demonstrates that it is getting better and the stories of members of the Queer community is being told, but cannot ease up now. This is a continuing battle and hopefully it will only get better from here.