Straightwashing

In fiction, the practice of straightwashing has particularly been noted in screenplays based on comic books.[1] The X-Men character Mystique is depicted as bisexual in the comic books, but in the films, she is shown as straight.[1] Within the comic books published by Marvel Comics, Mystique had romantic relationships with both male and female characters. Her most prominent relationship was with Destiny, a female "fellow member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants with whom she raised a child."[8] Within the X-Men films released by 20th Century Fox between 2000 and 2019, the character of Mystique, played by Rebecca Romijn (2000-2011) and Jennifer Lawrence (2011-2019), did not have any relationship or interest in another female character.[8]

The 2015 film Stonewall was accused of ciswashing—the comparable concept for transgender people—for minimizing the roles of black and trans activists involved in the Stonewall riots.[1]

In Stuart Richard's article "The Imitation Game and the 'straightwashing' of film", about the film The Imitation Game, Richards states that WW II code breaker "Alan Turing's [gay] sexuality is downplayed and used as a plot device", to show him as a "tragic hero and an eccentric, secretive man"; to make the film " 'safe' for a potentially conservative audience", the film only depicts him romantically with Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley).[9]

The character John Constantine, played by the actor Matt Ryan, from the NBC television series Constantine has been highly criticized for not displaying the same sexuality that was originally written in the DC comic book series, Constantine: Hellblazer. The TV executives decided that John Constantine's bisexuality was not to be included in the TV show and he was depicted as a straight male.[10][8] However, when Ryan reprised the role on Legends of Tomorrow, the character was portrayed as bisexual.[11]

The TV series Riverdale from The CW television network has been subject to criticisms about their depiction of one of the main characters Jughead Jones (played by American actor Cole Sprouse) as a straight male character. According to an interview with comicbook.com, Chip Zdarsky, the author of the Jughead comic book, stated that he wrote Jughead as an asexual character.[12] Many people "within the asexual community are upset about the development of the TV series, Riverdale, on the CW".[2]

The NBC TV drama Rise has been criticized for changing the basis of the production, a "real-life gay drama teacher" in a working class town, into a straight man; Out magazine calls it "cultural theft and [gay] erasure" that "should have been the story of a complicated LGBTQ hero".[13]

The Japanese anime and manga series Sailor Moon is well known for several LGBT characters who in the English translated version made by DiC and Cloverway, were altered to minimize their identity, including the gay relationship of Kunzite (named Malachite in the English translation) and Zoisite, the latter of whom was edited to be a woman, as well as the lesbian relationship of Haruka Tenou as Sailor Uranus and Michiru Kaiou as Sailor Neptune. As well, several translations into other languages of the final season, Stars, also changed the Sailor Starlights of Yaten, Seiya, and Taiki, who take on a day role as part of a boy band but who transform into females when they take on their superheroine persona. [14]

Games such as Blizzard's World of Warcraft can be seen as inherently queer, since in the game both gender and sexuality are fluid and customizable. Here, the possibility of playing a non-straight main character is developmental.[15] However, in 2010 Blizzard began to "straighten" many parts of the game by removing the majority of the same-sex material and mechanics. The heteronormativity can be seen as a movement towards homophobia especially seen in two parts of the game which were added in 2010. First, is entitled "Shafted". Evocative of phallic penetration, the task is to "shoot 10 players with the Silver Shafted Arrow", which is a special holiday item that creates a small, cupid-like goblin that flits about the target.

Both the item and quest flirt with the titillation and anxiety over penetrative sex, specifically anal or male-on-male sex. The second is entitled "Flirting with Disaster", and requires the player to "get completely smashed, put on your best perfume, throw a handful of rose petals on Sraaz [an Alliance NPC] or Jeremiah Payson [a Horde NPC] and then kiss him. You'll regret it in the morning." The humorous intention of "Flirting with Disaster" is for a male avatar to kiss another male. When a player character drinks in-game to the point of being "completely smashed", the game clouds the player's screen as if everything becomes drunkenly blurry and unfocused. This confusion begins the joke that they must engage in a kind of "gay chicken" and flirt with a male toon. The "regret" the player character supposedly feels is one of homophobic shame excused by the fiction of drunken experimentation or ignorance.[15]

Zynga's FrontierVille game is "a wild west-themed social game that allows users to tame the wilderness, grow a family, and build a thriving frontier town."[16] Zynga allows players to create virtual families by customizing a spouse in order to raise a virtual family. The game does not set a gender to the player's spouse, opening a place for queer possibility.[15]

The video game Undertale has "been straight-washed by many writers and fans", leading to the "erasure of the queerness found in Undertale and a recasting of the game as one that jibes with the interests of heterosexual male gamers".[17]

Edmond Chang, an assistant professor of women's and gender studies at the University of Oregon, gave a speech at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2016 entitled "Brown Skins, White Avatars: Racebending and Straightwashing in Digital Games". Chang states that video games such as Assassin's Creed and World of Warcraft "manipulate race and sexuality, reinforce stereotypes and sometimes lack diversity".[18]

Heidi McDonald conducted a survey which statistically positioned BioWare as the industry leader of game romances, both gay and straight. BioWare's romance content has been evolving towards more inclusive romances for over 15 years.[19] Females were more supportive of wanting more queer romance content than males; however, more than half of straight males were also supportive of this.[19]