On Bechloe And Pitch Perfect 3

On Bechloe and Pitch Perfect 3

credit to lifeisbechloe on tumblr

I love Pitch Perfect. It's a female-centric film, which we get far too few of. And it's about girls who sing - with their mouths, as Chloe says. It's almost like the film was engineered in a lab for me to love. Like most things I love, there's femslash.

Let me break it down for you. A Chloe busts into Becca's shower because she hears her singing. She demands to harmonize with her. Becca compliments Chloe's body, and Chloe compliments Becca's singing,  It's one of the gayest scenes I've ever seen. The second movie continues this subtextual relationship - there's a scene where Chloe mentions "experimenting" to Becca. 

I'm truly familiar with queerbaiting. I've seen it before and I know I'll see it again. I'm talking about you, Swan Queen ("How can I get the savior to taste my forbidden fruit?"), Rizzles, etc. But the thing that excites me so much about Bechloe is that it still has the chance to NOT be queerbaiting. We still have the chance to get our happy ending. 

Anna Kendrick is fully behind Bechloe. “I mean, our characters are pretty much in a lesbian relationship. As far as we’re concerned, they’re secretly in love. We’ve joked that there will be all-out passionate lovemaking in the third movie. Too bad we still need that PG-13 rating.” Of course, the choice to make Bechloe Canon doesn't lie with Anna Kendrick, although her support is important. 

But there is good news. It looks like Skylar Astin and the Treblemakers will not be in Pitch Perfect 3. Without Becca's previous love interest, Chloe has an opening. 

Something else that must be considered is how Pitch Perfect has treated it's queer characters in the past. Cynthia Rose is the Barden Bella's only lesbian, and she's often the butt of a joke. The movies are comedies, but do they really need to joke about her being predatory towards Stacie? It's a tired trope that needs to die.

Still, I'd love to see Bechloe become canon, and it's looking like they have a chance. With so few LGBT characters in film, it would be so refreshing for these two, who have such a fanbase, to truly be in love. 

Rare Pairs

Every once in a while, you fall in love with a ship that it feels like no one else ships. Rare pairs are the bane of the existence of every shipper. There's little to no fanfic for them, and no one to talk about them with. I have had the joy and the pain of falling in love with several rare pairs. Here are a few of my favorites.

Echo/Claire Saunders-Whiskey

credit to thisseamonkey on tumblr

I'll admit, part of this ship for me is the joy of shipping character's played by Amy Acker and Eliza Dusku together. They're both women who would have chemistry with a paper bag. We got this one moment hinting at something between them on an engagement, and then BOOM, nothing ever again. Dr. Saunders was, like Echo, one of the only moral characters on Dollhouse. She truly cared for the dolls, even before she realized things. She and Echo had so much in common - Whiskey was number one once. They're both going through journeys of identity. Also - Claire Saunders would have been an infinitely better love interest for Echo than Paul friggen Ballart.

Amanda Rosewater/Jessica Berlin Rainer

credit to josscarters on tumblr

Defiance is one of my favorite shows. It's got canon femslash, and LOADS of subtext. I had any number of ships to choose from here (Amanda/Stahma, Irisa/Berlin, Yewll/Amanda, Stahma/Christie),  but Amanda/Berlin is definitely my favorite. Amanda and Berlin are both Hot Bitches in Charge. They take no shit from people. But with each other, they smile. And they get shit done. Together they are a force to be reckoned with. 

Bo and Kenzi

credit to alex-danverrs on tumblr

Here's where you learn that I am trash. I ship Bo and Kenzi. Yes, Bo and Kenzi, the holy and platonic gal pals of best friendship. Kenzi and Bo build their whole lives around each other. They are the most important relationship in each other's life. Kenzi is Bo's heart. She keeps her grounded. She keeps her sane. Maybe I just ship this in an alternate universe where Kenzi isn't straight, but I definitely ship it.

What's your favorite femslash rare pair? 

The Character Deaths that Hurt Me The Most (And How I'd Fix Them)

 The Character Deaths that Hurt Me The Most (And How I'd Fix Them)

It's no secret that lesbian and bisexual characters die and die often. It's hard not to be affected by the deaths of these characters, especially when they happen so often. Sometimes I feel that television is saying that people like me don't deserve happy endings. It has gotten to the point now where I hesitate before starting a show with queer characters. Am I going to lose these girls too? There are times when I feel it's best not to get attached. But I LOVE television, so eventually, I give in.

Some deaths hurt more than others. There are some characters I'll hold in my heart with me forever. When anyone messes with them - including their writers - well, I am not a happy woman. Here's a list of the characters whose deaths affected me most deeply.

I want her leather jacket collection

I've written a little bit about Tamsin before. She was this beautiful, complex character (when the writers didn't forget how to write her) who never caught a break. She fell head over heels for a woman who didn't love her back in the same way (I think we all can sympathize). Lost Girl's final season was awful, disjointed and badly written for many reasons, but the worst of them was Tamsin's fate. She was raped, impregnated, imprisoned, and then died in childbirth. Then the show tried to convince us we should be happy about Tamsin's death, that she was "rising" to a better place. It was a big ol' pile of bullshit.

If I had my way, Tamsin the whole rape plot would have gone out the window. Tamsin would have found someone who loved her for who she is, and continued to be best buds with the happy sunshine gang. She also would have had a bigger role in the final fight, not being hindered by the whole giving birth thing.

two guns is better than one

Oh Root, my sweet murderous child. I've talked before about my disappointment in Person of Interest, but I don't think I've said enough about my love for Root. Look, I'm contractually obligated to fall in love with any character played by Amy Acker, but Root is so much more. Seldom have I seen a character with as much development as her. She goes from thinking that humans are just bad code, to protecting them at the behest of her God. Root even finds it within herself to love a human, Shaw. And what a love that is. It's a four-alarm fire in an oil refinery, and I love to watch it burn. Person of Interest was a show where anyone could die. I understood that, mentally. But I think what hurt me is that Root died to make Harold make a decision he should have already made in the first place - to set the machine free. She didn't need to die for his man-pain.

In my alternate universe, Harold Finch dies, and Root sets the machine free. It seems more fitting - out with the old guard, in with the new. 

"Accent à droite, bitch"

I used to love Orange is the New Black.The first season was witty, funny, and intensely gay. But as the seasons went on, it seemed to lose something. In season 3, we lost Poussey in the worst way possible. I love Poussey. She was one of the sweetest inmates (and one of the better people in the prison). Her relationship with Soso was adorable. It wasn't just that she died, but the WAY she died that hurt me so much. It seemed like the show was trying to make a statement about Black Lives Matter, but they clearly also wanted us to sympathize with the guard who asphyxiated Poussey. It sent... mixed messages. Also can't you send a message about Black Lives Matter without killing a character?

In my alternate universe, Poussey is alive and happy. She eventually gets out of prison, and so does Soso. They are never reincarcerated.

Actresses I Would Love To See Play Lesbian/Bi Characters

Actresses I Would Love To See Play WLW

Somewhere in my head exists my perfect television show. It's about a group of women who race spaceships. And kiss. Often. And my perfect tv show, obviously, has a perfect cast. It includes many of the women who have played Lesbian and Bi characters before, but it also has some who have never gotten the chance. You read this list and you're seeing a little bit of my heart's greatest hope. 

First off, there's Gina Torres. I have loved her ever since I first saw her as Zoe in Firefly. There is no one in Hollywood who looks more like Wonder Woman to me (you can't tell me she's too old, the woman doesn't age!). She's had a few subtexty roles, like Cleopatra in Xena and Hel in Cleopatra 2525 (a show that must be seen to be believed), but I've never seen her play an actual bi or lesbian role. If I did I might die of joy. In my Gays in Space show, she's the galaxy's biggest bookie, in charge of bets on space races. 

Next, there's Eliza Dushku. I may be pushing things a little, as I think Eliza has played a lesbian once in a horror movie or something, but I never saw it so I'm gonna say it doesn't count. Eliza Dushku is the queen of subtext. She could have chemistry with a paper plate. Her performance as Faith Lehane resulted in my gay awakening. She's also been the biggest cheerleader of the Faith/Buffy ship. It's time we got her kissing ladies on television. On Gays in Space, she's a hotshot pilot with an addiction to drugs that keep you awake while in flight (gotta keep the angst in there somehow). 

It's no secret that I love Warehouse 13. And throughout its seasons, Joanne Kelly does an amazing job of acting like she's in love with Helena Wells. She's also incredibly supportive of the fandom. We may not be able to have canon Bering and Wells, but Joanne Kelly could totally play a wlw. On Gays In Space, Joanne Kelly is an alien spaceship racer with a secret - she's dating a human. 

Gina Rodriguez is one of the most adorable humans alive. Jane The Virgin has blessed us with the ability to see her face on our televisions. And I have good news - she's going to be playing a lesbian paramedic in a sci-fi film called "Annihilation". But since that's not out yet I'm still going to count her as an actress who hasn't played a queer character. In Gays In Space, she's a genius mechanic secretly stealing from her bosses in order to get enough to go off world.

I hope you enjoyed my weird little gay sci-fi thoughts. 

Characters I Headcanon as Lesbian/Bi

Characters I Headcanon as Lesbian/Bi

Every once in a while I see a character on television and chant in my head "one of us, one of us". It's not always a canonically queer character that catches my eye. Sometimes it's so obvious that I wonder who the writers are trying to kid by telling me that this character is straight. SURELY they can see that she likes girls. Here are a few of my favorite subtextually lesbian and bi characters currently on tv. 

look at that power lesbian stare

Lena Luthor practically OOZES gay. It's something of a joke right now on tumblr that Katie McGrath, bless her soul, can't play a straight character. The way she looks at Supergirl/Kara... it's hungry and I love it. Lena is so gay that she's in love with both Supergirl and Kara Danvers - at the same time. Like many lesbians, Lena has a family that does not see her as good enough. Throughout the season, she's been choosing Supergirl over her family. How much truer does love GET?

smol bi mess Rebecca Bunch

Rebecca Bunch's bisexuality is not immediately noticeable. She spends much of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend pining after either Josh or Greg. However, a song in season one shows us that Rebecca is totally into Valencia, Josh's girlfriend at the time.

"I wanna lock you in a basement with soundproof walls

And take over your identity.

I wanna cut the silky hair right off your head

And slurp it up, like spaghetti.

Wanna clone you and consume you,

Wanna own you and cartoon you,

Fly your dirty panties like a kite

(Kite!)

‘Cause I-I-I-I I’m feelin’‛kinda naughty tonight!"

It's clearly... really weird, but no straight woman wants another woman's dirty underwear. 

Petra is bi bi bi

Petra Solano is bi.  Every time she's around Jane, she LIGHTS UP. She cares so much about her. And not in a this-is-my-best-friend way. Jane the Virgin may already have lesbians but it does us a disservice by not letting Petra kiss Jane. 

Sometimes I just want to take these girls away from their writers and let them be who they so obviously are. 

Why Are There No Butch Women in Television?

Why Are There No Butch Women in Television?

Turn on the television and you can see a decent number of lesbians and bisexuals. There aren't enough characters, and they keep dying, but sure, they're visible. But what you do not see is the elusive butch woman. The only example of a butch woman in television I can think of is Big Boo on Orange is the New Black, and she's a horrible person. 

Kind of the Worst

I'm not butch but I'm also not femme, and it seems kind of strange to me that the only women we see on television are ultra-feminine. There's a much larger spectrum of femaleness than that which we usually get to see in media. 

So why is this? Are men unwilling to watch media with unfeminine women? Is the patriarchy so instilled in many women that they don't want to watch media with unfeminine women? I've seen first-hand women shaming other women for not wearing makeup, or not shaving their legs. Much of the same thing may be a problem here. Many women help enforce the patriarchy by shaming other women. 

You would think that with new ways of watching television, like Netflix, some of this problem might be mitigated. Netflix has some very niche shows, and if butch women began appearing in niche television and found an audience there, you might think that they could eventually find an audience in broadcast television. So far though, Netflix has nothing to offer other than Big Boo on Orange is the New Black. 

Lesbian and Bisexual Characters I Empathize With A Little Too Much

I'm a highly empathetic person. I had a difficult teenagerhood, struggling to deal with depression and chronic pain. What I looked to to help me was television. It inspired me, and in it I found kindred spirits, both in my fellow nerds and in fictional characters. 

I've always related to characters who are just a little broken. Maybe I'm a little bit of a drama queen, but I've been through some hard shit, and sometimes I feel like I'm not right, like I was built wrong. 

There are a few characters I've always really loved because I felt that in some way, they were me.

Lesbian and Bisexual Characters I Empathize With A Little Too Much

Tamsin from Lost Girl is deeply important to me,  despite the fact that her personality sometimes seemed to change depending on who was writing her. She started out as the bad guy and then became part of the team, a friend. And then, she got her heart broken by Bo. When I watched this show, I was in the middle of pining for a straight girl. I felt Tamsin's pain viscerally when Bo played with her affections (or accidentally hurt her, but honestly how oblivious can a woman really be?) I wanted to hug her, and tell her that everything would be okay. I wanted someone to do the same for me.

The way Tamsin's story ended left me furious. Death by rape baby has to be the worst possible way to go. I don't care that the show called it her "rising", there was nothing happy about that moment. Tamsin deserved happiness, not an untimely end.

Helena Wells from Warehouse 13 is my favorite character from anything, ever. This may be because of actress Jaime Murray, but quite a lot of it has to do with her storyline. She's a woman who feels so much pain from the death of her daughter that she conspires to end the world. She stares the woman she loves in the face and finds herself unable to kill her, and thus the world. She spends the next season finding redemption.

I'm about to tell you something mildly disturbing. If you're triggered by non detailed accounts of suicide, please don't read. I was an incredibly depressed teenager. I was born with chronic pain, and I haven't always dealt with it well. When I was thirteen I had my first suicide attempt. I conspired to end my world. I've dealt with the guilt from that and subsequent attempts for a good part of my life. I feel the burden of having hurt my family and friends. I guess I look at Helena's attempt to end the world as a very big suicide attempt. I can sympathize.

But what gives me hope about her is that she does move past it. She STOPS. She doesn't shoot Myka and she doesn't end the world. She moves on, and she tries to help the Warehouse agents fight Walter Sykes. And although she dies in that final battle, it is a sacrifice and not a suicide. She dies for other people, she doesn't hurt other people. And then, of course, because this is a fantasy show, she comes back. I'm very used to my favorite characters dying, so it's such a treat when they come back from the dead.

Then there's Cosima Niehaus. Now I actually haven't kept up with Orphan Black's 4th season, although I mean to at some point. Season 3 was deeply disappointing to me. The plot just didn't seem as tight, and once again the specter of Bury Your Gays entered the picture. Although it turns out the Delphine is alive now, so as said I will be coming back to the show. But Cosima has always really grabbed me. She's this incredibly intelligent woman who makes some truly terrible choices (in what world is it a good idea to get romantically involved with your monitor?) and who has to deal with a terminal illness. I am not terminal, but I have lived with chronic pain all my life. For much of my life, people have tried to make choices for me. Cosima's words, "my biology my decision" really resonate with me. I have spent enough time having other people make my medical choices for me.

I like to think that I carry with me a little piece of all of these characters.

Root, Shaw, and Disappointment

Root, Shaw, and Disappointment 

I loved Person of Interest. It was a brilliant show, with amazing acting, cinematography, and writing. But POI botched the landing when it killed Root. 

Time and time again, I get into a show. Time and time again, I begin to trust that this time, things will be different. This time, my girls will live. But for POI, this wasn't to be. When I watched season 5 episode 10, I quit the show. I refused to watch any more of it without my beloved Root. 

I had thought, after Shaw's almost-death, that Johnathan Nolan wouldn't do this to us. That we would see a happy ending for Root and Shaw - or at least an ending where they were both alive.

And I know that John Reese died too. That this was a show where anyone could die. However, it rubs me the wrong way that Harold freakin' Finch, the character who learned the least over the course of the show, the man who called Root by her dead name, Samantha Groves, got his happy ending when all Root got was a bullet. 

But let's look past all that and look at the reasons I loved Root and Shaw in the first place. Shaw is a non-neurotypical woman, which we rarely see on television. I happen to be non-neurotypical as well, although I have Nonverbal Learning Disorder and not an axis II Personality Disorder, it's still nice to see someone who thinks differently on television. She's also a POC, also rare in television's depictions of lesbians and bisexuals. 

One of the things I loved about Root and Shaw was how it started like a subtext couple. Lingering looks and innuendo filled words were common and then finally they culminated in that kiss in season 4 episode 10. 

I'll remember Root and Shaw fondly. But if Westworld has any lesbian or bi characters in its next season, I'll know not to trust Nolan with them.

Jaime Murray, Unicorn Queen

Jaime Murray, Unicorn Queen

If you don't know who Jaime Murray is, then you are missing out. It's impossible for any role this woman touches to be straight (even the straight ones are subtextually gay). 

She has been called the gayest straight woman alive. She plays a lesbian or bisexual character in Warehouse 13, Defiance, Ringer, Spartacus, The Bill, and Fright Night 2. 

Warehouse 13 has perhaps one of the greatest subtext ships in Bering and Wells, and this is due in great part to Jaime Murray and her co-star, Joanne Kelly's work. Jaime Murray says of the ship to AfterEllen"Actually, what happened on Warehouse 13 is I said to one of the writers: 'Wouldn't it be better if my character was more interested in Myka?' and he was like: 'Oh yeah. I like that.' Then as the show [sic] progressed, the fans really picked up on it [. . .] Often in drama, women are pitted against each other, so I think they enjoy these relationships, whether they're sexual or platonic. They like women loving and supporting each other."

Her fans love her, and have declared her the unicorn queen.

Recently she was on an episode of Once Upon a Time as the Black Fairy, and she has a new movie coming out called The Nanny set for 2017.

fear the black fairy's evil cleavage

Subtext vs Maintext

Subtext vs Maintext

At the beginning of my fandom journey, I was a subtext shipper. I started out with Buffy and Faith (or Fuffy as their amusing portmanteau calls them) as my OTP, or one true pairing. And subtext has stayed with me as I've grown. I've been obsessed with Cara and Kahlan, Bering and Wells (and that obsession has never truly left me), Xena and Gabrielle (although truly, those two are very-nearly-almost maintext), Glinda/Elphaba, and many more.

There's just something about subtext that draws me in. Maybe it's the eyesex, the endless, endless eyesex. Non-canon pairings just somehow seem better at it. 

Witness the Eyesex

It could be the way subtext feels like a secret between the show and I. It's mine to treasure, and mine to know. I can watch it in a room with my parents, and they won't make a snide remark about me watching another one of my "gay shows". With subtext you can fill in the blanks, make a ship personal. Only you know what those characters did in the parts of the show that aren't shown on air.

Subtext also somehow seems less able to disappoint me than maintext. Maybe I feel if they don't actually make a character a lesbian or bisexual, they can't randomly murder them for no reason. 

This is not to say I don't love maintext. I love seeing myself reflected in television. What can I say, I'm a big gay narcissist who needs representation. Seeing women kiss on television makes me feel normal. It makes me feel I can be myself. And maintext lesbian and bisexual characters actually do a lot for how people see actual lesbians and bisexuals. 

I've been obsessed with plenty of maintext ships in my life. Root and Shaw, Cosima and Delphine, Tamsin and Bo, Stahma and Kenya, Nyssa and Sara, and Nomi and Amanita all have my love. But I don't always feel that delicious sense of tension with them.

Television Tropes and the Deranged Lesbian/Bisexual

Television has improved its portrayal of lesbians and bisexuals in leaps and bounds since they first began appearing on the air. Many of the first lesbian and bisexual characters in television were villains, deranged women preying on innocent, pure women. These characters also died very often, a problem that persists to this day. Even many of Disney's villains are queer-coded (like "The Little Mermaid's" Ursula, the sea witch). The Deranged lesbian/bisexual trope persists to this day. What are some examples from television?

Television's deranged lesbians/bisexuals

"Jane the Virgin" gives us a perfect example in Rose, also known as Sin Rostro, drug lord. Rose has a long long list of people she's killed. Rose is a schemer, at the beginning of the series being married to Emilio Solano, but sleeping with his daughter Luisa Solano. Her only redeeming quality seems to be her love for Luisa. She is willing to change her identity and lie to Luisa to stay near her.

The now off-air "Warehouse 13" gives us the bisexual Helena G. Wells. HG is a gender-bent version of the writer Herbert George Wells (of War of the Worlds fame). She is so distraught at the death of her daughter that she conspires to end the world. Helena eventually got a redemption arc.

Willow Rosenburg from the classic "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" went mad when her lover, Tara Maclay, died. She pulled all the dark magic out of powerful books and went on a rampage, flaying a man alive. Revenge was not enough for her, and she, like Helena, decided to end the world, a fate only narrowly averted with the help of her best friend. Willow Rosenburg went to magical rehab and also got a redemption arc.

Evony Fleurette Marquise, leader of the Dark fae on "Lost Girl" is always depicted as deprived. She's manipulative, and she uses her supernatural talents to steal the talents of artists and musicians. She does eventually become a more sympathetic character but she can never truly be seen as good.

Why does this happen?

So what does it mean that there are so many lesbian and bisexual characters that are deprived? Why does this happen? Back in the 1930s, films adopted the Hays Code. The Hays Code was a set of rules governing what you could put in a film. These rules were moral. One of the rules was that "perverse topics" could not be discussed. They got around this by punishing "perverse" characters. Have a homosexual character in your film? The homosexual is evil, so we know that homosexuality is bad. For good measure, the character will die too.

But why should these patterns persist to this day? Are we unable to break from what we've done before? Is it so difficult to give lesbian and bisexual characters a happy ending? Is it so difficult to NOT make them evil?

I'm not saying that there shouldn't be evil lesbian and bisexual characters, but the pattern is disturbing. People internalize what they see on tv, especially people who are already biased.We need more lesbian and bisexual heroes. Let's hope that with time, the trope fades.

Introduction

Hey, I'm Maddie. Lesbian, college student, and television nerd. I've been something of an obsessive about television since the age of thirteen. That was when I first watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer. You know how every girl has that one character that makes them go "holy shit I like girls"? For me, it was Faith Lehane.

There was something about her swagger that was magnetic.When she drew that heart on Buffy's window it was like it was just for me. Of course, once she started killing people I began to go into a "WHY DO I FIND THIS HOT" panic, but at this point, I can look back on it and laugh. I've always liked the badass characters.

BTVS instilled in me an interest in shows about the supernatural and shows about women. Ever since, I've been watching sci-fi and fantasy and hoping every show holds either subtext or maintext for me. 

Sometimes people (generally straight people) tell me that it's strange for me to mostly watch shows with wlw in them. The thing is, every show I watch has straight people in it. We watch television to hold a mirror up to our world. And I want to see myself reflected in that mirror. 

So now you know a little bit about me. I'd like to know a little bit about you. 

1. What was the character that made you realize you liked girls?

2. What is your favorite queer tv show?