Presenters
Abstract
The closet has long been a device that has kept queer character from expressing their true identities and feelings within narratives. The closet often begins narratives in which characters fight against heteronormative views to disclose their queerness. In popular culture, many queer narratives also fall victim to the “bury your gays” trope in which queer characters often meet their demise after disclosing their sexuality or experiencing moments of true love. In this paper, I will explore what happens when show-runners subvert the closet and the “bury your gays” trope. What happens when a character arc instead begins with a queer character having died, and features the character rising from the grave? Does this change understandings of how the trope works? Does the grave function as a second closet from which one must come out? I will investigate these questions through an in-depth case study of the BBC’s two season queer zombie drama, In the Flesh. Furthermore, this paper will pose the question: even amid what some might call a zombie apocalypse, is it possible to find what Jose Esteban Muñoz and Jill Dolan might deem a queer utopia?