“Normporn and Queer Imaginaries” with Karen Tongson

Queer Lit

What could be more soothing than escaping your beautiful but complex queer life by watching a bunch of straight people remodel their suburban home in a new shade of beige? Karen Tongson joins me to explain why mainstream television can be so comforting and why admitting to having watched Gilmore Girls for the fourth time can feel a bit like sharing your browser history… In this curious entanglement of norms, shame, and self-soothing, Karen also shares insights into the shifting views of what is normal and what this means for queer life – televisually as well as geographically and sociopolitically.
Listen now to hear Karen speak about “surrendering to the spontaneous overflow of basic feelings” and don’t forget to follow Karen on Instagram @tongsonator to keep up to date with her work.

References:
Karen Tongson’s Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us (2023)
Karen Tongson’s Relocations: Queer Suburban Imaginaries (2011)
Karen Tongson’s Why Karen Carpenter Matters (2021)
Karen Tongson’s Empty Orchestra (forthcoming)
The Ultimatum
Thirtysomething
Parenthood
True Blood
Gilmore Girls
José Esteban Muñoz
Catherine Zimmer
Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette
The Phantom of the Opera
Michael Crawford
Sailor Moon
Tuxedo Mask
Gestalt
The Traitors
Alan Cumming
@tongsonator
Karentongson.org

Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:

1. Can you define ‘normporn’ and give an example of what might be a typical normporn show?
2. What is the ‘porn’ in ‘normporn’? How does shame play into watching mainstream TV as queer escapism?
3. What role does grief play in relation to normporn?
4. Karen talks about discussions of normalcy as a throughline for all three of her currently published books. Which type of ‘normal’ does each monograph discuss?
5. Which show do you find particularly soothing and why?