Staging the self: performance/performativity as affirmation of subjectivity in teen gay film

In the films considered in this paper a principal character's engagement with theatres and stages enables him to express his creativity and intelligence as a form of personal empowerment, and the process functions in turn as a strategy to gain audience approval for gay characters. We argue that the shift in cultural perception represented in this trend has been mediated by a delicate and subtle combination of performativity and comedy.