A Review of “Media as a Means to Improve LGBT Image”

The author of the paper “Media as a Means to Improve LGBT Image”, tries to present an
accurate and effective solution to the problem of a general negative perception of the Lesbian Gay
Bisexual Transexual (LGBT) Community in both entertainment and social media. The theme is
relevant to the present society and the author was able to elaborate well on the variables involved.
However, he was not able to provide a concrete, precise, and well-thought-out solution; thus, I
believe that this paper is an ineffective solution paper.
Firstly, I would like to talk about the relevance of his solution paper. His paper, as a whole,
is a relevant topic to his possible readers and the current society because it talks about an issue that
is prominent in this day and age. Both variables (LGBT Community and Social & Entertainment
Media) play huge roles in shaping the understanding and perceptions of our society about certain
issues, and finding the correlation and problems and solutions to both makes this paper stand out.
He gave a lot of information regarding the variables and explained it in a clear, elaborative manner.
For example, the author described the different roles of LGBT characters in entertainment media
and how mostly, they are just the supporting characters that are there for hilarity and the satirization
of their difference from the social norm.
In relation to the standard of relevance, this paper also shows the standard of significance.
LGBT issues are something that the current society values because it is a reflection of ourselves,
our beliefs, and our perceptions. It shows the correlation between two huge ideologies that the
millennials value and fight for (LGBT rights and freedom of speech online). I believe that the
author himself is an advocate for LGBT rights, explaining his choice of topic, which, in my
opinion, reflects the ideal thinking of our generation. This inference can be seen in his introduction
where he states that we should solve these discriminative and unjust issues against the LGBT
Community.
Although the author presents a paper that is generally relevant, some of his paragraphs,
when analyzed individually, are not. For example, the introduction where the author states names
of celebrities that are part of the LGBT Community has nothing to do with the second paragraph.
The second paragraph talks about an example of an event that shows violence against the LGBT
Community (Orlando Mass Shooting) which also does not relate to the next paragraph. The third
paragraph introduces the idea of media as a means of communication. The second paragraph does
not show relevance to the topic and disrupts the flow of the paper. Additionally, the author also
writes a paragraph revolving around Lady Gaga as an example of effective use of social media to
improve LGBT perception, taking up almost one whole page.
Another standard that the paper noticeably lacks is precision. The author focuses on the
examples of the variables but fails to state statistics and evidences regarding those. In his paragraph
about the portrayal of the LGBT Community, he could have stated statistics about the number of
people who watch television shows that consist of mainly heterosexual characters against shows
that are inclusive of LGBT characters. This can prove that the entertainment media actually has
heavy influence on its viewers, proven by the current perceptions of the other genders that oppose
the hetero norms.
I believe that the author focused mainly on the definitions of variables instead of
elaborating on his proposed solution, which is to increase the prominence of members of the LGBT
Community in entertainment and social media. He stated his proposal at the beginning and
elaborated a lot more on the problem itself rather than the actual solution. The author could’ve
stated concrete plans on how to improve the perception of the LGBT Community like different
projects (e.g. Twitter hashtags, video challenges, different mobile applications, etc.) that promote
equality and that celebrities could participate in, instead of providing a vague solution. To
conclude, the author has written a good research paper in terms of the information it contains and
the relevance it exhibits, but I believe that it was not able to provide a concrete, precise, and well-
thought-out solution.