“This is because queerbaiting is understood as a tactic where media producers imply queer stories and media texts that are never actualized.” “What has been interesting to trace is that gained more traction as LGBTQ representation has increased and become an accepted part of the pop-cultural landscape,” Himberg says. According to Julia Himberg, director and associate professor of Film and Media Studies at Arizona State University, the origins can be traced back to the early days of the internet when there was less explicit LGBTQ representation in media on fan blogs and internet forums. While the Oxford English Dictionary recently recognized the term in March 2021, it’s been used in the cultural lexicon for decades.
When the Pixar film Luca was released earlier this year, social media users drew comparisons to the 2017 film, “Call Me By Your Name” and the New York Times even titled their review “Calamari By Your Name.” The studio was accused of alluding to a queer relationship between the two main characters, but the director later shot down the rumors saying it was just about friendships.
