The term queer usually refers to a group of people who are oppressed by their sexual orientation or gender identity and excluded from society. They can be gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex; broadly speaking, as long as People who are "abnormal" who are not included in society, or, to put it more bluntly, "outliers" can all be classified in this category. Therefore, the group of strange boxes living underground and only appearing at night in the film is of course a symbol of queerness. Not only were they treated in a strange way, they were ostracized by the residents of Cheesebridge Town, and they were inexplicably named evil and shaped into monsters that could eat people. Unable to speak human languages, they are silent characters, unable to let the residents know about their lives and at the same time wash away their stigma. Doesn't this encounter echo the situation of queer people?
In this group of strange boxes, there is a special existence, he is the human child egg head. Egghead has lived with the monster box since childhood, and was raised by them. He naturally regards himself as a part of them, wears cardboard boxes and eats bugs together. In addition to metaphorizing people's confusion about self-identity during adolescence, Dantou's existence also blurs the line between "normal people" and "queer people", revealing that the two are actually homologous , are born of so-called "normal people".
Unfortunately, as the story progresses, we see queerness slowly being incorporated into the system under the dominance of heterosexual patriarchy. Interestingly, the person responsible for subduing the egg head is the little girl Winnie; this arrangement just tells the audience that patriarchy is actually an ideology, and those who believe in it are not limited to males of biological sex. Winnie first mentioned "boy", making him confused about his identity: Am I human, or am I a monster? Then, "they" was used to distinguish the egghead from the monster box, and he was included in "us". Next, Winnie asked the egg head not to grab the lower body, because it was the "private part", and taught him the etiquette of dealing with others, so as to integrate into the group. In addition, the way of dressing up is Winnie's way of transforming her egghead. She asked Egghead to take off his suitcase and patch him into "normal" clothes to make him look like a "decent boy". If queerness is a reaction against mainstream social norms and values, then Winnie's series of actions will undoubtedly make Dantou (queer) gradually "normalize" and enter the system.
Aside from Eggheads and Monster Box, there's one more queer character in the film, and that's Snatra. Snape is the originator of the demonization of the Monster Box, so how can he also be called queer? Don't forget, the master in the film is the white hat class headed by the mayor of Port Leland, although Snatra is portrayed as the villain, but he is also on the edge of the main body and is excluded.
So, why did Eggheads and Monster Boxes end up being included, while Snatra ended up tragically? I think the main reason is that Snatra not only vilifies and fools heterosexual patriarchy, but tries to replace it. Snatra, who is not as gentle and harmless as Lord Atreland and others, delusionally wants to be promoted to the white hat class, or even become a "big man", and his incomparable ambition makes him look hideous and ugly. If he obtains a white hat like this, it is equivalent to polluting the originally pure and noble class, and naturally he is not allowed. Not only that, but Snatra dressed up as Mrs. Fleur to win the love of the crowd, which highlights the stupidity and ridiculousness of the white hat class, and also reflects the ignorance of the crowd, who will only blindly follow mainstream values. Snatra's gender play symbolizes queer autonomy on the one hand, and the fluidity of "gender" on the other. His/her presence reminds heterosexual men from time to time that they once fell in love with queer men who "dressed up" as women. It's a fact they don't want to face, and they don't want to admit, so the only way to get rid of it is to simply erase its existence. So far, queer people have been either completely excluded or included in the system, and heterosexual patriarchy has successfully reasserted its authority.
In fact, it's not just that queer people are excluded from the heterosexual patriarchal system. In order to establish absolute masculine values, "Odd Box" even excludes the appearance of female characters. Among the main characters in the film, there is no female existence at all. Even Winnie is an asexual character who has not evolved into a "woman" and has no threat to patriarchy. What is even more intriguing is that in the two families in the film, there is also no female character "mother", as if to declare that a man is the head of the family. As long as there is a man, a "home" can be established; as for other characters , but a dispensable accessory.
Although "Monster Box" calls for monsters/queer people, it does not show tolerance for it, but intends to assimilate. "You can change your nature." Egghead's father once said. This sentence is like seeing things that are different from mainstream heterosexual values as pathological in the past, which can be "corrected" through treatment and put on the "right track". It turns out that after so many years, queer people still need to suppress the opposite sex and move towards "normalization".
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