Premature deaths of LGBTQ+ characters aren’t isolated incidents. Fans have observed that shows with LGBTQ+ representation tend to rely on harmful tropes and unvaried or inaccurate characterization.

Junior Olivia Souter said this pattern originates from the Hays Code, self-enforced industry guidelines that restricted what content could be shown onscreen between 1930 and 1968. While adherence was not legally required, studios that violated the code could face consequences such as boycotts and loss of their production seal.

“One of those (rules) was that your characters must be straight,” Souter said. “If there are any kisses on screen, they have to be between a man and (a woman).”

In a cinematic world where “good” always triumphed, characters who presented against the straight, white, cisgender ideal were condemned for even existing. Queer characters were often subjected to brutal, gruesome deaths, especially in horror movies such as the “Scream” franchise, “Final Destination” and “The Children’s Hour.”

“You might say, ‘Why is the queer character the one that dies first and dies the most brutally?’” Souter said. “But if you’re outside of the (LGBTQ+) community, and you don’t know the implications of that, you’re just like, ‘Oh, it’s a horror movie, everyone has brutal deaths.’”

The main purpose of these deaths was shock value, so these characters and their stories didn’t lead to meaningful representation, according to Souter.

“People have to die in television,” she said. “That’s just kind of the way it works. But it’s this way of giving queer fans just a tiny little bit of what their relationship could be, and then immediately taking it away in such a brutal way.”

One of these tropes, “Bury Your Gays” — in which queer characters are subjected to tragic, untimely deaths in an attempt to evoke an emotional audience response — disproportionately affected lesbian characters, hurting the LGBTQ+ community.

“Queer fans are tired of seeing their characters die,” Souter said. “Because if that’s all the media is showing, then you’ll believe all you’re good for is dying for someone else’s story.”

Even though television shows, movies and books are moving away from these arcs, other problems have begun to arise, such as stereotypes about how LGBTQ+ characters should act, dress and behave based on their identity. Queer men are often associated with flamboyance and femininity, while queer women are portrayed as masculine or tomboyish.

According to junior Phoebe Mota-Judges, being exposed to a narrow range of perspectives limits one’s self-expression and can skew people’s relationship with their identity.

“It’s always bothered me, when how someone looks and dresses is equated to their sexuality,” Mota-Judges said. “Because even though there can be influence, there is no right and wrong way to ‘look gay.’”

Junior Noah Murase has observed similar problems with how the media utilizes cookie-cutter plotlines for LGBTQ+ characters to avoid losing audience traction.

“Two people can say they’re bisexual and both be bisexual, but have completely different interpretations that are both completely valid,” he said. “Being queer is a unique experience to every person.”

Souter encourages creators and audiences to educate themselves on harmful queer tropes and avoid holding LGBTQ+ protagonists to different standards than their heterosexual counterparts.

“They’re just two people who are in love, or they’re just a person who’s trying to figure themselves out,” Souter said. “If you treat it like it’s this big thing that requires a joke at every turn, and they can’t hold a conversation without talking about (being queer), that’s not going to go the way it should.”

Similarly, Mota-Judges hopes that the media industry makes more space for diverse identities and experiences.

“It would be nice to see more diverse representation getting celebrated and accepted — not just stories that are about struggle,” she said. “They could be science fiction, going on crazy adventures, solving murder mysteries.”

For Souter, heartfelt, dynamic stories that don’t rely on stereotypical and harmful characterizations of queer characters can have a lasting impact.

“Representation is really, really important, especially in media that’s aimed at kids, teenagers and young adults,” Souter said. “Because being able to see someone onscreen who looks like you, acts like you, has similar disabilities or loves the same way that you do is really, really powerful.”

The past few years have seen an upsurge in film or visual-media counterparts to popular childhood book series. Junior Stella Su remembers watching several older adaptations of her favorite childhood books — including “Harry Potter,” “The Giver” and “James and the Giant Peach” — and thinks adaptations may be going downhill.

Composition and Literature of Visual Media teacher Justin Brown said that the rubric for a good adaptation has many dimensions. In his experience, the best and most satisfying adaptations stay true to the original novel: capturing the theme, understanding the characters and imitating the writer’s style.

“In a movie, you need to have conflict in every single moment — otherwise, the audience gets bored,” Brown said. “There needs to be something at stake every moment. And a part of what’s wonderful about books is they just provide a texture to the characters in a way that films can rarely do now.”

Another problem, Brown notes, is that many directors struggle to compress the full depth of a novel into one movie. This notion is shifting, however, as many adaptations such as “Percy Jackson” move away from the movie format and into a multi-episode show.

“Now, so much mainstream entertainment is about serialized streaming stories where they’re going to spend six seasons adapting a book,” Brown said. “Those are situations where you can really do justice to it.”

Su agrees that attempting to cram a large amount of content into a film can ruin the pacing but also notices how adaptations of shorter books, such as “The Giver,” tend to stretch out unnecessary scenes and include their own details.

Freshman Ofer Kranz, who has read the “Percy Jackson” book series and watched both the movie and recent show adaptations, also appreciates the benefits of a series. She recalls the anticipation she and other fans felt waiting for the first episode to air.

“I forced my parents to watch it,” Kranz said. “It was good, really good. And I thought, ‘Finally, it’s here. Finally, we can breathe.’” Though there were a few disappointments with pacing and altered scenes, Kranz recognizes that there is no perfect adaptation and recommends the “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” show for its stronger fidelity to the book series than its movie counterparts.

“They looked at more independent details that weren’t really portrayed in movies,” Kranz said. “They did a really good job with the characters and other details so I definitely prefer the series to the movies, but the books will always be on top.”

With these recent adaptations, Su also hopes to see tributes to smaller book series, and underappreciated or newer novels.

“It’s kind of a shame that (companies) usually only adapt books when they get really popular because a lot of times they try to bank on the already existing popularity,” Su said. “And so obviously some good books don’t get adapted.”

Exploring new gameplay strategies allowed Zhang a reprieve from everyday life, and she enjoyed looking out for new skins or updates.

“There’s a lot of techniques in the game,” Zhang said. “Sometimes I watch streamers or pro-players and try to improve myself.”

Nowadays, Zhang finds herself gaming less, but Valorant remains her favorite game: She enjoys its competitive nature and being able to play with friends.

“It’s more fun that way,” Zhang said. “I would definitely recommend (joining) with people who don’t get angry easily based on how you or your teammates are playing.”

Familiar with the darker side of gaming, Zhang encourages aspiring gamers to be aware of their limits.

“When you keep losing games, it gets kind of frustrating,” she said. “Don’t take the game too competitively or too seriously because it will ruin your relationship with (it).”

This longstanding relationship has fostered educational and cultural exchanges. Stanford professors pilot curricula in PAUSD schools, PAUSD students attend Stanford summer programs and many Stanford faculty members double as PAUSD parents.

According to Social Studies Instructional Lead Jeff Patrick, however, Stanford’s influence is strongest in the realm of teacher education. Many PAUSD teachers are trained through Stanford’s 12-month, full-time Stanford Teacher Education Program.

“The program exposes them to some of the resources that Stanford has, as well as some other approaches to teaching,” Patrick said.

Gunn departments also draw on Stanford’s resources for lesson plans. Originally founded at Stanford, the Digital Inquiry Group — previously known as the Stanford History Education Group — provides supplemental lesson plans for Gunn social studies classes. YouCubed, an organization founded by Stanford’s Dr. Jo Boaler, provides the curriculum for Gunn’s Introduction to Data Science course.

According to Gunn alumna and current Stanford freshman Olivia Pham, Stanford’s and Gunn’s educational approaches share striking similarities beyond curricula.

“There’s a strong emphasis on not just understanding concepts, but being able to apply them in slightly different ways you’ve never seen before,” she said. “While friends here have told me that math here at Stanford is much more rigorous than at their a pretty smooth transition between Gunn and Stanford.”

In that way, Stanford influences Palo Alto’s culture of — and value for — educational excellence. Gunn alumnus and current Stanford freshman Jules Lustig noted that Gunn and Stanford have the same “grind culture”: an atmosphere of constant drive, strict discipline and high standards.

During Gunn alumnus and current Stanford sophomore Alex Gu’s time with Gunn Math Circle, he took part in the Stanford Math Tournament, a nationwide high-school competition hosted by the Stanford University Math Organization. Student involvement extends beyond STEM, however: Current Gunn sophomore Emerson Chang took part in the Stanford Humanities Circle and found herself interested by the discussion-based, grade-free nature of the program.

“Stanford provides Gunn students with many educational opportunities outside of high school, which allows them to explore their personal interests in unique ways,” Chang said.

Gunn alumnus and current Stanford freshman Jude Hardan hopes for further cooperation between Gunn and Stanford.

“Having such a prestigious academic institution close to Gunn and not using it for collaborations to enhance the educational experience is not the best use of resources for students,” he said.

Lustig echoed this sentiment, adding that he’d like to see a Stanford-Gunn course centered around eliminating students’ fear of failure and instead inculcating love for a subject or field.

“It would be really cool to facilitate some sort of program out of class,” Lustig said. “Something that involves getting away from the numerical grade that is not a measure of intelligence and not a measure of how successful you are in any way.”