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Penguins Mate for Life

[mainly-contradictory]

I may be a nobody around here, but I’ll pitch in anyway regarding Gotham and Queerbaiting and homophobia. 

I must say that I identify so strongly with Oswald that I had nightmares about 3x12. So if we could all acknowledge that some people were hurt by the last episodes, that’ll be a start. Anger and sadness are valid feelings and people are allowed to have and express them. Joy at the last episodes is also a valid feeling.

To me, the nature of being a fan means that we sometimes feel more deeply attached to the stories and characters than even their own creators. And sometimes, we need to step back, and tell ourselves it’s just a stupid TV Show. 

With all that said, I believe homophobic is a strong word to throw at a show like Gotham. Which is a moderate success by TV standards, and they’re basically bleeding viewers. Having a major character like the Penguin declare his love for another man is one of their riskier moves. And I will forever cherish how Oswald just said it in the most open and unapologetic way multiple times.

I always found that Barbara being bi was done relatively tastefully at the beginning of the show, trying to make her a not-so-cookie-cutter blonde girlfriend (not that there’s anything wrong with that). And that was before she was made a villain.  Since Erin Richards is so gorgeous, any wlw relationship that Barbara has runs the risk of being seen as pandering, and her “toxic” relationship with Montaya was just a poor way to get her back to Jim.

 To me Gotham is guilty of lazy writing and insensitivity, but not homophobia (we’ve got beautiful Facebook for that one.) And it may not be the most perfect queer representation yet, but it’s there and I’m happy for that; it could have easily be absent.

I also can’t accuse the show of queerbaiting. Fandom has a way to amplify the minutest details and sometimes our imagination takes over. How I wish Oswald could just be fucking happy, preferably in a relationship with Ed. But looking at all their scenes objectively, Ed has proclaimed only admiration for Oswald. And certainly a deep platonic love. (Wouldn’t you do anything for your friends, too?) . But I can also see how Oswald may have interpreted all the ambiguous signals differently.

While I refuse to accuse Gotham of queerbaiting, their web team is definitely guilty of this. I think it’s important to keep the two entities distinct.

Of course, when the production decides to torture Oswald, the fictional character, in the story they are telling, they don’t mean to torture people that identify with him as well. This is all done in the name of plot and character advancement. Penguin as a villain is destined to become an acerbic, mean, possibly pudgy, mobster. This is all a very tragic origin story. He’s not tormented in this way because he’s the lone gay male character, it’s because it’s the best way they found of getting him there, thematically.

And The Riddler is The Riddler. Let’s face it, we’re not watching Gotham for a cuddly chief of staff named Edward Nygma. This is not Grey’s Anatomy; this is Gotham, and Gotham corrupts.