oops

[kindkit]

I just realized, from a prompt over at queer_fest, that the bisexual H. G. Wells on Warehouse 13, whom I've been eager to meet, is not the H. G. Wells but an original character, and a woman.

I thought there was going to be an actual queer man on a US-ian sff show. How stupid am I?

*sigh* I'm disappointed. Obviously it's good to have any (non-offensive) queer representation, but a queer female character isn't as thrilling for me personally as a queer man would have been. And my disappointment isn't helped by the feeling that showrunners tend to write in bisexual women rather than lesbians or gay or bi men because they think it's the form of queer sexuality that will piss off the fewest viewers, especially straight male viewers (who as we all know are the only ones that really matter).

I haven't actually met the character yet. I don't know if she's going to be written in an offensive way, as the "hot bi chick" out of a straight man's wank fantasy. Presumably she's not, since people whose judgment I respect think she's awesome.

But I'm sick of there not being any non-straight male characters on any science fiction and fantasy shows (except Torchwood, of course, and as some of you know, I have serious issues with the way Torchwood depicted same-sex relationships in comparison to female/male relationships). I want to see gay men and bi men. And lesbians, too! Why can't shows have several queer characters? Why can't a variety of queer sexualities be included?

Why is sff, which pats itself on the back as the genre that's about exploration and breaking boundaries and going beyond the mundane, so fucking gutless?



ETA: And having now met W13's H. G. Wells, I'm afraid I would much rather have James MacPherson back.

And I'm still trying to figure out why James's original crime, using the Phoenix to save his wife while knowing that doing so would kill other people, was supposed to be so evil. It's not the most ethical of decisions, and it's certainly a decision that it's not acceptable for a W13 agent to make, but it's also one that a hell of a lot of people would make in similar circumstances. It was never sufficiently explained how we got from that James to murdering!semi-sociopath!James.

It would've been so awesome if James had got to live and be Artie's boyfriend redeemed instead of turning to dust.

Comments

[st_aurafina]

I didn't want to say HG was female - I was avoiding spoilers - but I also hadn't thought how disappointing it would have been for you, sorry. I found the whole "HG is female" thin interesting, but that's my personal sexuality represented up there on the screen, so I guess that's understandable. I really like HG, and her storyline and the relationship she has with Myka, and if they hadn't gone for (I'm attempting spoiler text, but I'm sadly very hung over, so sorry if it fails) the tacked on evil queer character storyline, I would have been 100% satisfied with the character.

It's not my pairing of choice, but there seems to be a lot of James/Artie fic out there, if that's any consolation.

Aha, spoiler text! I defeat you, even with a hangover.

[kindkit]

I found the whole "HG is female" thin interesting

I'm waiting to see what they do with that; hopefully it'll be part of giving her more characterization than "unmotivated evil." (I haven't read your spoiler text, although I fear that it says something like "a romance between H. G. and Pete." *sigh*)

Part of my problem is that, since she was introduced in the same episode that James was killed off, it really does feel like he was sacrificed to make room for her in the storyline. And since I found James fascinating, and H. G. is not yet interesting to me at all, it's not a trade-off I'm thrilled about. No doubt I'll start to find her more interesting later, but I still don't want James to be dead. (Two dead kind-of-queer-reading Jameses in two shows is two too many.)

that's my personal sexuality represented up there on the screen, so I guess that's understandable

Totally. And it's not like there's a surplus of queer women characters on TV. I stand by what I said about many shows that want to include a queer character going for "bisexual woman" as the least audience-alienating option, but the problem isn't the inclusion of bi women, it's the lack of inclusion of any other queer characters. And based on the name, I'm afraid H.G. did get my hopes up. In large measure my current disappointment is about my own desire to see something like my own personal sexuality represented on the screen, but that's not an illegitimate desire.

*sigh* Someday, before I'm too old to see the screen and hear the dialogue, I'd really like there to be a sff show with several major LGBT characters who get to save the world and kick ass and have friendships and sometimes find romance, too.

there seems to be a lot of James/Artie fic out there, if that's any consolation

It is (it's certainly an improvement over the shocking lack of Henry/Big Guy Sanctuary fic!) and it isn't. Because fanfic doesn't really fix the canon, and I don't see why a past James/Artie relationship couldn't have been canonical. It would have made a lot more sense than the real canonical backstory (with a random woman-they-both-loved introduced to triangulate their feelings for one another, but not given any kind of characterization to make her plausible) and considering Artie's not the show's Hot Leading Man, alienating the viewers wouldn't have been as much of a concern. Well, except for those viewers who are absolutely horrified by the thought of two men getting it on, but damn, I wish TV showrunners had the guts of that video game producer and would just say, "fuck it, we're not catering to homophobes."

[st_aurafina]

Totally. And it's not like there's a surplus of queer women characters on TV. I stand by what I said about many shows that want to include a queer character going for "bisexual woman" as the least audience-alienating option,

That is definitely true, and I think that part of why I liked HG so much was that they didn't go for the titillation factor that you usually see with a bisexual female character. There's no Pete/HG romance, by the way, don't even worry. The character that she has the most chemistry is Myka, so strongly that I can't help wondering if they did write a romance in and were forced to pull it back. (Or maybe that's just me - hence I'm curious to see how it comes across to you, if you choose to push on with the show.)

And based on the name, I'm afraid H.G. did get my hopes up.

I'm so sorry - it didn't even occur to me, and I feel wretched for getting your hopes up in that way. That's a total privilege fail on my part - she fits perfectly with my vision of the world, and I forget that isn't everyone's.

In large measure my current disappointment is about my own desire to see something like my own personal sexuality represented on the screen, but that's not an illegitimate desire.

No! You're absolutely right to demand representation, and to be disappointed when it's not there. I can still enjoy fic and supposition and reading between the lines, but it's really just scrabbling for breadcrumbs. None of us should have to scrabble to see ourselves in stories.

I wish TV showrunners had the guts of that video game producer and would just say, "fuck it, we're not catering to homophobes."

That was bloody amazing, that was. I cheered.

[lemposoi]

I don't have a lot of input on this show, again, just thought to mention that while Torchwood is the only SFF show I can think of with a non-straight male lead, there was a lesbian-not-a-bisexual in Dark Angel. The hot non-monosexual chick characterized as sexually frisky in Farscape is not exactly an improvement, maybe, but I hear there was a lesbian regular in Hex from day one, and obviously Willow and Tara in Buffy, as well as the (unfortunately lampooned and mostly just coded as gay) Andrew. It seems that it's not just female bisexuality that's considered unoffensive so much as female same-sex attraction in general, which ties into the idea that gayness is all about sex, male sexuality is aggressive and threatening, and female sexuality is submissive and not for her, but titillation for others, in a way. She doesn't need or demand sexual release, her sexuality is merely willingness to be fucked. The idea then is that gay men will scare straight men off a show because they will feel threatened when male aggressive sexuality that does not exclude them by virtue of their own male sex appears on screen (which is kind of an insult to the straight male demographic as well as any male who is not a rapist). This also would explain why Andrew, a beta male, would get to be queer - nobody's going to feel threatened by him.

It's kind of funny to think, considering this, that MPAA still slaps higher ratings on women on film exhibiting sexual desire and aggression than men - but that, for its part, ties into the idea that women heroes shouldn't want to have sex, or girls in the audience will turn into "sluts". It's funny that female sexuality is considered unthreatening in SFF shows and immoral on the big screen, but again that might be because SFF's assumed audience is always male, whereas a film that has a female lead in the first place is expected to have a wider female audience. So: Show men women liking sex, because it titillates them, and never show it to women, because it might titillate them. OH NO!

I could go on to the past decade's trend of showing sexy female action heroes and how their emergence has been propped up by straight male interest but how women are enjoying the empowerment too and etc etc, but I think I've written enough for one day...