Media Levels of Representation

𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘 𝙷𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙴𝚡𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚜

My name is Grass and I’m here to

share my experience with consuming

different media sources for lgbt

representation. I will be going from

different levels to how well I think they

did to include lgbt in their

shows with different examples.

ᒪEᐯEᒪ OᑎE

𝑩𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒈𝒃𝒕

These types of shows only have

lgbt people in the background or

as side characters. This includes

only having an lgbt couple in one

episode as a quest appearance

or making a side character who

doesn’t have an influential role

be the only lgbt rep.

ᴱˣᵃᵐᵖˡᵉ

ㅤㅤㅤೄྀ࿐ ﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀

Criminal Minds is a beloved and well

known show. It also has a big lgbt

audience that enjoys the show. Yet

out of a decade long show there is

no lgbt characters apart of the main

cast. Only a few unsub characters

who were guest appearances.

Spencer Reid was supposed to be

bisexual, but he wasn’t ever stated

to be bisexual in cannon.

No one is explicitly lgbt and anything

that is lgbt is only slightly hinted at.

There’s hardly any lgbt rep in the show.

ᒪEᐯEᒪ TᗯO

𝙌𝙪𝙚𝙚𝙧𝙗𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜

These types of shows have

their main focus put on the

what if they were gay and not

best friends storyline that goes

nowhere. Because both are

straight people who aren’t ever

going to date.

ᴱˣᵃᵐᵖˡᵉ

ㅤㅤㅤೄྀ࿐ ﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀

There are a couple good examples,

Supernatural being one of them.

But Supernatural in my opinion while

handled it horribly wrong managed to

have a love confession. Which can’t be

said for the mess of Sherlock.

Just like most queerbaiting shows

Sherlock had the troupe of friends,

family and enemies jabbing at their

feelings for each other. While they,

mainly John

In addition, only two other characters

in the series are gay. John’s sister,

who is never seen only mentioned. And

Irene Adler who actually came out as

gay on the show when she was in the

middle of telling John how can he is

in love with Sherlock ironically.

She also isn’t the best of rep considering

even though she came out as gay she

falls in love with Sherlock. I don’t know

why they didn’t have her say “I’m bisexual”

/”I’m pansexual” instead of gay which made

the audience believe she only liked women.

^ the show is known for its hidden clues

and the mystery of small details. Which

made it ridiculous that the creators were

mad that people were digging deep.

ᒪEᐯEᒪ TᕼᖇEE

𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗻 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲

𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄

Cannon outside of the show can

fall under many shows. This is

about the basic level of having

a character or ship cannon but

only because a director or

writer says so.

ᴱˣᵃᵐᵖˡᵉ

ㅤㅤㅤೄྀ࿐ ﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀

In simple it can be when

JK Rowling said Dumbledore was

gay without anything in the book

leading anyone to believe that.

Another show which does this

is with Eleanor from The Good

Place which says she’s bisexual

but aside from jokes never as of

yet explores this. She really didn’t

need to come out or date, but

to have it only be jokes kinda hurts.

It’s honestly great to have a

director, actor or writer come

out and say that a character is

lgbt but when the show/movie

doesn’t show it or explore their

sexuality or gender identity then

it can come off as pandering.

ᒪEᐯEᒪ ᖴOᑌᖇ

𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙖 𝘾𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙣

This is referring to when a show

has all the vibes of having an

lgbt couple or show but never

states it in the show and it can

get confusing sometimes. The

difference between this and

queerbaiting is the creator

usually states that they are lgbt.

It’s just never said in the show,

making it confusing sometimes.

ᴱˣᵃᵐᵖˡᵉ

ㅤㅤㅤೄྀ࿐ ﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀

Hannibal is what I would use for

this section. They have a great

cannon lgbt couple, Alana and

Margot. But the main characters

Will and Hannibal have a very

interesting relationship.

It is mentioned in the show that

there is a possibility that Hannibal

is in love with Will. And it’s never

denied that Hannibal loves Will.

The writer’s explanation is a

little confusing, with saying that

Hannibal is in love with Will but

Will is straight. While also saying

”who knows what will happen if

they’re drunk?” And then going

on about only being attracted to

each other’s souls and it’s a

deeper love and understanding.

But then joking(?) about them

being romantic and having sex.

^ Hannibal has been also referred to

as pansexual, and while Will has

been called straight he’s also been

possibility labeled as having a fluid

sexuality.

Having a creator not be clear

about a character’s sexuality

can do more harm than good

sometimes.

Especially when it’s so back and

forth on if Will and Hannibal are

in love. I try to keep up but it

keeps changing over the years.

Now a better example I would

give is Good Omens. The show

is a different level of wholesome

gay energy. And the creator and

cast all seem to agree that the

two leads, Crowley and Aziraphale

are in love with each other.

I feel they did a better job, with

following through with all of the

lover vibes that were going on

in the show. People picked up

on their love for each other and

no one tried to deny it. The two

main cast actors even said they

played them as lovers.

Even thought it’s never explicitly

stated in cannon I would never

consider it queerbaiting the way

I would say shows like Supergirl

are like.

ᒪEᐯEᒪ ᖴIᐯE

𝘾𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙣 𝘾𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙣

This is the final section which

is about shows that clearly

have their characters come

out/reveal that they’re lgbt

in the show. There’s nothing

to analyze or question, the

character is lgbt and it’s known.

ᴱˣᵃᵐᵖˡᵉ

ㅤㅤㅤೄྀ࿐ ﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀﹀

I would say the best show that does

this is Brooklyn 99. They have two

main characters, Raymond Holt and

Rosa Diaz who are both lgbt .

They are both out and proud, have

partners, and their sexualities aren’t

played for laughs.

Another good mention I would give

is the Umbrella Academy. They have

two lgbt characters Vanya and Klaus

and while neither of them explicitly

come out it’s well known that both

are lgbt. Vanya has dated both a man

and woman, and I’m pretty sure

outside of the show is labeled a lesbian.

As for Klaus he’s dated and is still

in love with a man, but outside of the

show the actor who plays him, says

that he is “pansexual or whatever you

want to call it” the actor also says

that Klaus goes by he/they pronouns

and that gender is fluid to them.

This isn’t cannonly in the show, but

I’m still putting it under this category.

TᕼᗩT’S TᕼE Eᑎᗪ!

In conclusion, I wanted to make it

clear that while I appreciate and love

when shows clearly state that a

character is lgbt I want to make clear

that it doesn’t have to be a big deal.

Characters can be complex with their

sexualities and I don’t mind exploring

in-depth conversations about sexuality

and gender identity. In fact I love it.

But I do like when it is clear and stated

within some lines so I can feel represented.

Sometimes it hurts to have a bisexual

character only taken seriously when they

date one gender. To me it’s important to

see them dating multiple genders.

Plus personally to me, there’s nothing like

hearing a character come out as trans, or

asexual on tv when it’s so uncommon to

see. It’s really nice.

#CuratorReview