#y’all just because they didn’t immediately get together doesn’t mean it’s queerbait

[youcannevertrustastark]

cant believe people are actually comparing the s2 ending of good omens to straight up queerbait… do you not have any media literacy?

[rosavalenti]

unpopular opinion time, but 1x13 definitely revealed the ugly side of this fandom - and what i mean by that is the people who are only invested in a show because of a ship, as opposed to the actual characters and their happiness, to the point where it’s the only thing that they focus on and expect every single character and storyline to revolve around them.

it was pretty shitty to see the way a lot of this fandom reacted to the season finale, or more importantly, the lack of m@lex closure. i think the grossest part of this was seeing how many people who either 

a. decided that it was now perfectly acceptable to hate maria now  b. claimed that michael is “less of a bisexual” because he’s also interested in a woman ( check your biphobia at the door ) c. immediately flocked to shipping kyle and alex only because of how the episode turned out for m@lex and not because of actual dynamics and history between the characters d. sent nasty and/or creepy tweets to the actors

alex and michael are people first, before they have anything to do with their relationships. they deserve to have other relationships and dynamics, they deserve storylines and development and arcs that don’t just revolve around one another. there were some issues with the season finale, sure. i would’ve loved to see some of the characters ending up happier than they did. but let me be very clear -- michael deciding he wanted to try something with maria was not one of my issues. more importantly - it was not queerbaiting. 

i think m@lex has a super compelling story, and it’d be great to see them happy together at some point! but before that. i want to see alex happy and being his own person and conquering his own demons more than i care about him relegated to “that gay love interest”. i want michael to understand he’s loved and he has people that care about him outside of just alex. all of these characters have their flaws and have made tons of mistakes - not a single one is perfect.

i get it. we’re starved for lgbt representation on television. we’re starved for happy lgbt representation on television. i feel that so deeply. but michael and alex are still both lgbt characters. whether or not they’re together, that doesn’t negate who they are. reducing these interesting characters to either just their sexualities, or their relationships is an insult to them and a bigger insult to their actors. ( robert sheehan articulated this very well when he said he didn’t want his character on the umbrella academy to just be known as “the gay one” ) 

all of these characters deserve better than how some of y’all are treating them.

[dragonquill]

Gotham and LGBT+ Representation

So. Gotham.

On its surface, Gotham has more LGBTQA+ characters than most shows, and this should be good.  But the more the series limps on, the more enraged I am by this representation, and the more I feel like Gotham manages to be more dangerous for the community than shows that pretend we don’t exist.

Before I start, let me say that I know there is no such thing as a healthy relationship on this show, especially romantic ones, but I still argue that m/f relationships are treated, on the whole, with more respect than queer ones, and it really gets under my skin.  I’m going to sort through the various romances played in the series, as well as the strongest example of queerbaiting on the show (Penguin/Riddler; a one sided romance) to explain what I mean.

NOTE: I am not against all the m/f pairings on this show, INCLUDING the controversial Lee/Ed, even though it doesn’t row my boat because of how it has been wedged into this No Homo Ed idea.  But the idea that we should accept out of nowhere straight couples, and that straight couples are generally given more nuanced relationships, burns my cookies.

Relationship 1: Jim and Barbara  m/f, one presumably straight character, one definitely bi character

The one good thing: No one shows any problem with the fact that Barbara is bisexual, and in the first season I never got a vibe that Barbara’s sexuality was erased because she was engaged to Jim, a man. Everything Else: Of course this relationship was unhealthy, with Jim expecting her to accept everything she was told and her being clingy and demanding.  Jim is meant to be the protagonist of the show (a whole ‘nother issue, in that he is incapable of personal growth and responsibility), so the show is crafted to make her seem unreasonable for wanting to know what’s going on in his life.  Eventually, they break up.  Jim moves on to another m/f relationship while Barbara, tellingly, has relationships with both two men and a woman but remains obsessed with the wonderful Jim Gordon.  Of course, she was also kidnapped and sexually tortured, which allowed her to release her “real” self.  How nice.  And JIm gave no shits about really helping her.  But this was all Gotham-typical terrible writing of women.  The relationship was shown as dedicated and mutually loving until it fell apart, at which point the bisexual character went batshit.

Relationship 2: Montoya and Barbara f/f, lesbian character, bisexual character

THe Good: Um..I guess....Montoya’s being lesbian hasn’t...affected her job?

The Rest: Montoya and Barbara had a mutually toxic relationship which involved drugs in their past.  They’ve both cleaned up.  Babs has moved on.  Montoya, however, is written as the jealous, possessive bitch who wants to get Babs away from that evil, evil man.  She dogs Jim at work and tries to tell Babs not to see him.  Tellingly, when Babs and Jim DO break up, they’re together for one night and then Montoya gives a speech about how they can’t be together and disappears from the storyline entirely.  Their relationship was written entirely as a foil to JIm/Babs, presents a lesbian character as a jealous bitch, AND was shown as mutually unhealthy.  

Relationship 3: Jim and Lee m/f, both so far presented as straight Overview:: This relationship was well-developed, they suited each other well, they were shown as loving and good for each other.  They break up, there’s Gotham-appropriate drama, Lee goes fucking batshit but whatever.  The relationship itself is treated as well-developed, interesting, and healthy, as well as long-term (still in love after breaking up).  As far as actual, believable and nuanced relationships in the show, this and Ed/Oswald are the best written.  The difference is, of course, that since JIm and Lee are a straight couple, they get a time period of actual happiness before things fall apart, instead of it being a one-sided, queerbaiting mess.  Also, Jim is obv. still in love with her two seasons later.

Relationship 4: Ed and Kristen m/f, both so far presented as straight (Ed presented as NO HOMO) Overview: This relationship is toxic and terrible, Ed is a creepy stalker, and Kristen ends up murdered.  AND YET, it manages to be treated respectfully for  few episodes, they are shown to date traditionally, people are happy for them.  Kristen is held up as Ed’s True Love despite the fact that he didn’t really know her as a person, she was horrified by his dark side, and he frikking murdered her in the end.  NO HOMO Y’ALL.  Hella unhealthy, but Love of His Life and the writers just won’t revisit this and show how terrible Ed’s behavior was throughout.

Relationship 5: Jim and Valerie m/f, both so far presented as straight Overview: Presented as a healthy short term relationship.  Ignoring the horrible treatment of Valerie as a character which stems, again, from the terrible writing and fridging of women, the relationship itself progresses along normal paths and is treated as a regular relationship until it turns out Jim is obv. still in love with Lee and they break up.  

Relationship 6: Babs and Galavan m/f. presented as straight and bisexual

HERE WE GO.  Once she goes crazy, Babs abandons her “healthy,” “normal” monogamous relationship with Jim Gordon and the writers immediately turned to the bisexuals are promiscuous stereotype (don’t tell me I’m slut shaming because I’m not; people who have responsible sex lives do you, I’m talking about representation in this show).  FOr no apparent reason, she is thrown at Galavan.  At the same time, it becomes clear she is having sex with Tabitha.  Her actions are increasingly sexual in nature without the influence of her “good man,” and she becomes more and more unstable.  Sexual only relationship, exists to make Galavan look more powerful because he’s having sex with a hot lady.

Relationship 7: Babs and Tabs vs. Relationship 8: Tabs and Butch f/f, bisexual and bisexual; bisexual and presented as straight

Okay this is the one that just....ugh.  They could have gone with happy polyamory, but instead they create a weird sort of love triangle.  Babs and Tabs have a sexual relationship that is never portrayed as a romance.  They are both HIGHLY sexualized characters by this point in both dress and actions; Tabitha has definite dominating tendencies.  ANd yet, when Tabs starts her relationship with Butch, Babs becomes the jealous one while saint Butch, our everyman, is fine with sharing.  The entire triangle reeks of “It’s awesome these two women are having sex because LOOK OUR EVERYMAN character is TAPPING THAT.”  Butch falls in love with Tabitha, there are certain indications she begins to return his feelings.  Babs, meanwhile, murders Butch out of jealousy.  Damn those women who love women and their insane jealousy.  

Relationship 9: Oswald and Ed m/m, asexual gay, NO HOMO OHMIGOSH presented as straight

The Good: RLT is proud no one made a big deal in-show that Oswald fell for a man.  That’s nice.  Shame it’s followed by the gay guy falls for straight friend cliche he said he’d never play....

Ah, the ultimate in queerbaiting and one of the most cliched of all storylines when it plays out.  Here we have one of the most nuanced, well-developed relationships in the show, the two characters knowing each other over an extended time, growing as people, and apparently learning from each other.  (OF course it’s hella unhealthy, they MURDER TOGETHER, but this is GOTHAM).  Then, Oswald falls in love, determines to tell Ed, and Isabella appears out of nowhere with her Wholesome Straight Love and it all falls to hell.  SPECIFICALLY because a woman was thrown at Ed in an astonishing move of NO HOMO.  Oswald, our gay man, becomes insanely jealous a la Babs and has Isabella killed.  Ed destroys Oswald’s life, followed by one of the most obvious COming Out parallel storylines IN HISTORY (Coming to grips with his feelings for Oswald; becoming the Riddler) which, as soon as they meet again, is completely ignored in favor of their hating each other.  Relationship becomes interesting and nuanced again in season 4; 4x15 is shameless queerbaiting; Lee is IMMEDIATELY thrown at Ed a la Isabella to make sure there is NO HOMO.   The weirdest thing about all this is canon Riddler is queer as a three dollar bill.

Relationship 10: Ed and Isabella m/f, both presented as straight What the ever loving hell.  Some of the worst writing in Gotham history, giving no introduction or interesting follow through.  I’m so proud y’all saw Vertigo, good for you.  Pat pat.  Isabella is created for no other reason than to NO HOMO Ed.  She isn’t given time to develop as a complete person, behaves in weirdly abusive ways, is obsessed with tragedy, and is willing to completely destroy her own identity to pretend to be Kristen.  Then she dies.  The end.  And yet, this is another Love of Ed’s Life, we’re supposed to believe he is deeply in love with her within two weeks (and not be suspicious how “perfect” they are together), and her Pure Straight Love saves him from the evil Oswald’s Gay Love.  Yes, I get that one can read this with layers of meaning (literature degree here), but NONE of that appears in-show, and I am no longer giving the writers the benefit of the doubt. Once again, as with Ed and Kristen but in reverse, the writers see nothing problematic with Isabella’s behavior...I guess?  So?

Relationship 11: Lee and Mario m/f, both presented as straight THEY LOVE EACH OTHER IT IS PURE AND RIGHT look at this normal, healthy relationship that ends so tragically!  AWWWWWWW!!!  No one is manipulating anyone!  Yay!  Sure, she goes batshit after, but here was a nice, healthy relationship complete with wedding and Lee standing up to Jim’s bullshit.  THANK GOODNESS THEY ARE STRAIGHT.

Relationship 12: Babs and Ra’s m/f, bisexual and presented as straight Again, bisexual Babs is having sex with Not Bashir to improve his cred because he’s tapping a hot chick.  And that’s about it. Relationship 13: Sofia and Jim m/f, both presented as straight This is one that comes out of nowhere, she is OBVIOUSLY manipulating him and he is OBVIOUSLY a moron, but we’re all supposed to accept it because we have tossed together an attractive male and an attractive female so sex obviously happens.  Naturally the relationship is a mess and destructive, but the audience is still meant to just buy into it immediately because, despite a total lack of chemistry between the actors, no emotional build up, and her Using Her Evil Feminine Sex to manipulate him, they’re straight so.  Sex.  ACCEPT IT.

Relationship 14: Ed and Lee m/f, both presented as straight WTH.  They were really interesting as friends with shared interests and then Riddler suddenly decides Ed is in love with Lee because she is Pretty and Smart, ohmigosh, and just in time for 4x15′s epic  queerbaiting.  SO the basis of this relationship is Ed Has a Type.  Lee deserves better than Ed but, hey.  Man, Woman, Sex has to happen.  Also there are hints that she’s just using him a la Sofia because we didn’t get enough of that this season but whatever.  ED IS STRAIGHT 5EVA and women can only use sex as a weapon!  Listen, it’s hella unhealthy yet again, but we are just supposed to accept it because Ed is totes straight and she’s purty and yuk yuk men are so easy to lead by their dicks.   AT LEAST They were given some background before the Sudden Romance, which could make them one of the more interesting potential couples, and I can see why people ship it, but it’s so insulting to the storyline and to the characters that it was obviously created entirely to give fallback from the queerbaiting they were going to do with Ed and Os.

IN SHORT: It is more harmful to fill your show with bisexual stereotypes and tired, cliched gay fall for straight friend storylines and bitch jealous gays and lesbians and only straight relationships are valid than to not have them there at all, and Gotham needs to be called on the carpet for it instead of being lauded as forward thinking and open.