Modes of production in television has changed in the production, distribution and consumption due to the implementation of digital technologies and streaming services. These technological transformations in contemporary television not only changes the way of distribution, consumption, scheduling and audiences but also caused an aesthetic transformation in both ‘ televisual programmes and the televisual experiences of audiences’ ( C. Hogg & M.N Goddard 2018) . This transformation created a space for niche users to explore and consume trans and queer television that would not have been so easy to find or been shown on cable television.

Netflix for example has a category named ‘ LGBTQ+’ which has all films and TV series that have LGBTQ+ narratives, characters or content made for the community. Netflix has made a streaming space where ” multi-discursive fandom can be experienced as uncannily divided and spilt into lived fan tastes” ( M.Hills 2018) which enables audiences to negotiate a sense of belonging.

For example the Netflix original film Alex Strangelove is a teenage love film about a boy named Alex who falls in love with a girl called Claire at High school, but as their relationship blossoms there seems to be an issue around their sexual chemistry as Alex cant bring himself to have sex with her after being together for 8 months, however we start to realise that Alex is in confusion with his sexuality as he falls in love with a boy called Elliot. The film has many conversations about people discovering their sexuality , for example when Alex opens up to his best friend Dell about being bisexual dell replied ” everywhere you look someones omnisexual, Polyamorous, gender queer or transitioning into god knows what” ( 44:56) . These topics and narratives in films such as Alex Strangelove are driven by the “new online ecologies in which television finds myself” and due to the ” emergence of new sexual identities and practices” ( C. Hogg & M.N Goddard 2018)

References

C.Hogg & M.N Goddard. Introduction: Trans TV as concept and intervention into contemporary television. Sage Journals

M.Hills. Netflix, transfandom and ‘trans TV’: Where data-driven fandom meets fan reflexivity. Sage Journals

Lois Reilly