The Enforcement of Homosexuality on Netflix Originals between 2019 and 2021 : Framing Theory Perspective

Abstract

This treatise aimed at unveiling the destructive ideology of Netflix originals vested in the enforcement of homosexuality through exploring the styles of homosexual characters to unravel the explicit and implicit messages conveyed through the associated social themes. To this end, the study theoretically, relied on Framing Theory to formulate of the research questions and to interpret the findings. Practically, however, a qualitative content analysis was conducted on a purposive sample composed of three original Netflix TV series that were successively released on 2019, 2020, and 2021 to extract the themes. In addition, quantification to the qualitative data was conducted relying on the univariate frequency distribution analysis available on SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 25) in order to explore the frequency of the extracted themes. Availing from the possibility of using Hope’s (2008) framing model not only as a tool for analysis but also of interpretation, and projecting it on the data, we came up with significant conclusions. First, the findings revealed that in order to enforce homosexuality, Netflix portrays the homosexual characters as optimistic people who enjoy a happy natural life and engage in a long term passionate love relationships. Furthermore, it depicts them as brave hardworking individuals who stand in the face of struggles and oppressive norms, and look forward to inspire others and help them accepting who they truly are while being proud of themselves. The aim behind this is to promote a positive image of the characters and by extension to naturalize their actions in society.