Article written by Dylan Bell.
Queerbaiting: a problem that exists in many television shows and films yet remains invisible to a large portion of the audience. When I say this, some people don’t understand why it is a problem (and they aren’t bad people for not understanding) so before I get into the nitty gritty of it all, a brief history lesson is needed.
In America, and to a certain extent in the UK, it was illegal to show LGBT+ characters in any medium until the early 1960’s; any attempt to show these characters up until then, and even after, was pure subtext alone. Due to this, LGBT+ people have learned to look deeper into subtext in order to find the representation they were looking for. This trend continues to this very day. The reason that LGBT+ people look into subtext as closely as they do is because for so long, we had nothing, no representation in any form. When romantic subtext appears between two characters of the same sex, it makes us eager to finally get some representation. To have that taken away, plus all that subtext ignored, is damaging to us on a level many people, particularly straight people, cannot comprehend.
Now, you may be thinking, "What does this have to do with today? After all, LGBT+ people are allowed in any media in most parts of the world." Well, unfortunately, this problem of queerbaiting is still around and going strong. The fact is, if you cannot see queerbaiting (let alone why it is a problem) then most likely, you are straight and don’t fully understand the issues that LGBT+ people face. That’s not a criticism. I am not here to blame straight people. In fact, many people I talk to both in and out of the LGBT+ community don’t fully understand the seriousness of this issue. The point is, if LGBT+ people cannot be represented in media, how on earth can we call ourselves equal to straight people? If all we are is subtext, then are we even equal to start with?
For those unfamiliar with the term, queerbaiting is when a TV series, or occasionally film (but that is rarer) teases a gay relationship with subtext around every corner, yet never goes anywhere. Sometimes this is the fault of the studio for making the aforementioned series (which is an issue but one that is uncommon, for most studios nowadays have little issue with showing such relationships). However, sometimes the writers of the show are the reason these problems continue to occur, even when they say they support LGBT+ representation.
Before I get into queerbaiting as an issue, there is one thing I must make clear; there is a big difference between a fan wanting characters of the same sex to be together (known as shipping) and to actually show subtext between the characters. Shipping is, for the most part, a fan phenomenon alone (yes, this can sometimes be supported by subtext actually in the show, and I will be talking about that) but just because fans “ship” characters together, it does not make it queerbaiting. This is a distinction you must remember, for it is surprising how many people don’t understand that.
A question you may be asking is, "Why does queerbaiting still exist?" The fact is, it comes down to one of two possibilities. The first is that writers, for the most part, are too afraid; they are scared to show LGBT+ relationships and the like because they don’t know how an audience will react, and they just want to stay safe in their sub-textual hovel (although there is some merit to that excuse, it ultimately fails when you realise that if you don’t challenge those beliefs, we lose as a society). The second possibility is that the majority of writers are straight and they simply don’t understand how to write LGBT+ characters (which is fundamentally stupid, because for the most part, they don’t need to be different from your other characters) but what do I know, I’m just a gay man.
When the writer of the TV series Sherlock, Steven Moffat, was on a panel talking about LGBT+ representation, he brought up queerbaiting as the serious problem that it is and called for writers to stop doing it. However, when he said this, many fans started to wonder, "Does that mean he is going to confirm the romance between Sherlock and Watson?" Many fans have long predicted this because the show is plagued with subtext framing their relationship, and their affection for each other goes deeper than just mere friendship. The answer to that was a hard no. When this was brought to his attention, he claimed the fans were trivialising the issue and that the fans were the problem in this instance, not him. If I need to explain why that statement was problematic, then we have a long way to go as a society.
This is an issue that can be solved, and the power to solve this issue rests with the audience. Remember the golden rule of visual media: the audience determines what is right and what is wrong. For the most part, the audience has decided that queer people deserve representation, and the writers and studios will have to either adapt to this audience or perish. Fortunately, there is progress on this issue. There are shows out there that represent LGBT+ people in upfront and real ways with no baiting of any kind (or at the very least, explore the sexual spectrum).
For example, the television series Hannibal explores the relationship between the two male leads and it is done well (different, but well). My personal favourite example, however, goes to Steven Universe. This is a TV series for kids that has the balls to show not only queer characters, but a rather playful metaphor for sex that both fans and critics have praised over and over again. If a show aimed at children can accomplish this much, then other writers have no excuse for why they cannot show LGBT+ characters. If Hannibal can explore the sexual attraction of a sociopath, then there really is nowhere left to hide.
And finally, to those who believe that LGBT+ people are just complaining and that there’s no reason for queerness to be in media at all; you are outnumbered and your time is up.
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