Harry M. Benshoff is an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

of TV, film and radio at the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

(UNT). He is the author of ''Monsters in the Closet'', which deals with the portrayal of gay men in American

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

and

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses Speculative fiction, speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as Extraterrestrial life in fiction, extraterrestria ...

s, with the creation of what Benshoff calls the "monster queer" identity, which Benshoff posits as a

counter-hegemonic Counter-hegemony is an attempt to critique or dismantle hegemonic power. In other words, it is a confrontation or opposition to existing status quo and its legitimacy in politics, but can also be observed in various other spheres of life, such as ...

identity to the

heterosexual Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions ...

status quo. In this work, he argues that the films of

Val Lewton Val Lewton (May 7, 1904 – March 14, 1951) was a Russian-American novelist, film producer, and screenwriter best known for a string of low-budget horror films he produced for RKO Pictures in the 1940s. His son, also named Val Lewton, was a pai ...

in the 1940s, such as '' Cat People'', reflected "a growing awareness of homosexuality, homosexual communities, and the dynamics of homosexual oppression as it was played out in society and the military" during that era, which led to a more nuanced depiction of monsters in films of that era. In 2022, he was interviewed for ''

Queer for Fear ''Queer for Fear: The History of Queer Horror'' is a 2022 television documentary series from the AMC-owned streaming network Shudder and Steakhaus Productions, executive produced by Bryan Fuller and Steak House. The series uses interviews wit ...

'', a 2022 documentary on LGBTQ representation in horror films. He has also written books about the

blaxploitation In American cinema, Blaxploitation is the film subgenre of action movie derived from the exploitation film genre in the early 1970s, consequent to the combined cultural momentum of the black civil rights movement, the black power movement, ...

and the presentation of race in American horror films.

Select publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benshoff, Harry Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Queer theorists 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people American gay writers American academics American LGBTQ academics Black studies scholars University of North Texas faculty