45 that have been central to queer existence in the last century” (Love 2007: 127). While this is true, that there must be a recognition of the negative in queer media, it still stands true that the ability of Jamie to shed this trope is a positive sign. Opposing Love’s position, it’s important that there are representations of queer happiness, as a “response to the very presumption that a queer life is necessarily and inevitably an unhappy life” (Ahmed 2010: 94). In a similar vein, Outlier is also largely positive, being a musical that is heartwarming and emotive. This deserves praise similarly to Jamie, as there is often a “pressure [black] artists feel to only relay stories of Black tragedy and oppression” (Kegode 2021: 29). Kegode’s ability to escape from this pressure in creating Outlier - a narrative that focuses on her own struggles and triumphs, rather than bearing the burden of navigating the intricate geopolitical history that led to who she is - proves to be positive. Outlier, instead, can embrace beauty and joy, rather than focusing on tragedy. Despite Outlier being an uplifting and hopeful musical, it is not one-tone nor naively positive. The root of this praise lies not in Kegode’s abandonment of the negative, but in the fact that all tragedy in the story is not a result of her being black. Outlier, then, is not reductive in its representation, as it doesn’t reduce the joys and sorrows of Malaika to solely being associated with race. In summary, it is a musical about a black woman, not a musical about a woman being black. This is a praiseworthy feat, as someone shouldn’t be defined and restricted by such qualities as ethnicity or race. A final point of recognition surrounding the development of British political ideals is the sheer quantity of queer representation and racial diversity across all media, not just musical theatre. This is through both the number of stories that include diverse characters, but also in how central to the plot they have become. No longer are gay characters reduced to sidekicks, nor black characters reduced to vague- ly disconnected friends. In both Outlier and Jamie, they are the main character. This focus represents “the hope or promise of becoming acceptable” with Jamie depicting a story of one’s ability to find acceptance amongst one’s peers (Ahmed 2010:106). Some may criticise this as conformity, not acceptance, as “you must become acceptable to a world that has already decided what is acceptable” but Jamie particularly rejects this trope (Ahmed 2010: 106). It is not about providing hope that one might eventually “fit in” - therein to say conform - to social demands but instead find a place in which one already does. Ultimately, stories today actively reject and contest the single story posed by op- pressors within majority groups and instead bring light to true counterparts. These counterparts, then, reflect joy and happiness into the world, without their narratives becoming consumed or overrun with shame. For a country that develops further into these ideals each day, the presence of these musicals is
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