Queerbait
Elynor,* a high school senior, came out as gay when she was in middle school. She denies having much of a revelation, it was more of a straightforward (no pun intended) fact about her that she shared with her friends. It was a non event. Observing Elynor, it makes sense. She applied early to Smith College and got in, which was no surprise, and proudly boasts of her list of shows and movies featuring queer themes. Elynor is an enthusiastic consumer of queer media, but she does a good job using caution before falling for a relatively recent phenomenon employed by writers and producers, known to the LGBT community as “queerbaiting.”
The second definition of the term queer-baiting on Urban Dictionary uses the word “canonlogically,” which isn’t actually a word, but could probably be defined using the derivative “canon” a term employed by members of “fandoms” or fanbases of tv shows, movies, or books. “Canon” refers to the official or accepted storyline of a fictional universe, so “canonlogically” could be defined as “logical to the official plot.”
Elynor defines the term with less fandom vocabulary, for her, queerbaiting is when “some producer or writer promises an lgbt (event) that is not delivered. There’s no payoff.” She says that queerbaiting is a loose definition. Elynor is quick to emphasize that it is difficult to identify explicitly whether a show is queerbaiting or not, because one shouldn’t rule out the possibility of subtext existing within the larger plot.
While the Urban Dictionary author’s grammar could be improved upon, the definition works well. Queer-baiting, is as the definition states, an unestablished method that a book, movie, or TV series uses to attract a queer audience. The show will use queer characters or couples as something to compel LGBT individuals to consume their media, increase viewership, and hook their audience. Because TV and movies are one small part of a capitalist society, this could be seen as simply an effort for the companies to stay afloat in a carnivorous industry, but because this issue affects an already marginalized community, many find it unacceptable. Elynor is clear that queerbaiting is a negative form of discrimination, noting the example of the popular BBC show Supernatural and how the writers and actors gave “super rude and disrespectful” comments in response to fan ideas about a gay relationship between two characters.
It would follow that the queer audience would balk at or reject consuming these shows or movies, but many fans watch anyways, just to catch a glimpse or a hint of a character or couple similar to them. This is an interesting but not unusual phenomenon: a minority taking what they can get because there isn’t much out there in the first place. Minorities are often forced to settle for a smaller or lesser version of the representation that majorities take for granted, and there isn’t much they can do about it. Social media has done a lot to expose queerbaiting and call for change, but outside of lgbt friendly pages and accounts the reality is that society is still dominated by heteronormativity. Because most queer individuals face regular erasure in the media, the mere inclusion of a queer character in a show on any level is a victory, no matter how unimportant or stereotyped they may be.
Elynor also adds that while “some celebrities play gay to feed on love and adoration of fans for more clout,” but “I don’t wanna name anyone because we don’t really know the lives of any of these people.” There is also the factor of “subtext,” or subplot, an underlying but implicit theme or narrative featured in the show or movie. Elynor is a definite fan of subtext.
The term queerbaiting first was used by politicians to describe the fashion of attacking a political opponent by questioning their sexuality or details of their orientation, in similar context to “race baiting.” The meaning pertaining to media portrayal of queer characters was first coined in the 1990s by queer theorists and has come into popular culture on social media such as Tumblr in the 2010s.
Coding is how a performance will attempt to identify characters as a certain type, and historically gay characters have been easy to pick out: overly masculine as lesbians or overly feminine as gay men. Directors would play up the stereotypes of LGBT individuals to make fun of them or portray them in a single dimension, that is, their only character trait is their sexuality. Queerbaiting now is a bit different. Instead of including an openly queer character on the show, there will be a character who is canonically straight even as there are subplots that heavily hint otherwise.
Queer representation has greatly evolved within recent years. Shows like Three’s Company, Will and Grace, and Glee all featured stereotypical gay character traits including being fashionable, ditsy, and overtly feminine. But more recently, the discrimination has shifted from stereotypes into a more subtle form. In more recent media, The 100, Riverdale, Supernatural, Sherlock, and Pitch Perfect have all been accused of promising, encouraging, or suggesting the existence of a queer couple in the plot to draw a larger and more diverse audience. Fandom art and fictional stories (known as fanfics) detailing the fantastical relationships within the series have become very popular, but so has outrage and rejection of the shows due to their unsatisfying dismissal of any true queer plot lines.
The existence of queerbaiting stems from the desire for equal representation combined with the unwillingness of producers and writers to fully commit to an LGBT character or relationship for fear of losing their conservative audience. Queer representation has evolved from textual stereotypes into subtextual hints, but the overall response from the community has been push back for better inclusion.
When Disney announced they would include the first openly gay character (Lefou in the live action Beauty and the Beast), there was great excitement among the queer community. Ultimately though, the reality did not live up to the hype, as the “exclusively gay moment” that was promised ended up being so minimal that many were underwhelmed. The film was criticized for portraying LeFou as the token gay being held in an abusive friendship with Gaston, who is taking advantage of his smaller friend’s feelings.
What makes queerbaiting even more problematic is that many actors will encourage fan theories and fantasies surrounding the potential queerness of the roles they portray on screen, even as the writers of the show publicly deny the idea that their characters are anything but heterosexual while simultaneously giving hints and subtext that suggests otherwise. These mixed messages that show-runners and performers present encompasses the true struggle that the queer audience faces: straight people attempting to attract a wider audience without a care for what their audience might feel about the show.
On queer representation now, Elynor thinks that progress is being made. “It’s actually getting a lot better. Dudes have always had the spotlight, but if you watch a show with a woman or queer creator then there’s a lot more behind it. Diverse creators write better, and they write about stuff you want to see.” She revels in consuming queer created media, from comics to tv shows. The BBC show Killing Eve, which was created by English actress and writer Phoebe Waller Bridge, is Elynor’s latest obsession, which I can happily claim to enjoy as well. After interviewing her, Elynor spent four hours at my house helping me catch up on the latest few episodes of season two. Killing Eve cast Sandra Oh as Eve Polastri, an MI5 agent who is tracking Villanelle, a flashy female assassin portrayed by Jodie Comer. The show has hooked viewers and earned Oh an Emmy, making her the first Asian woman to do so. The writing is both humorous and dark, but the reason Elynor loves the show is because “it isn’t just subplot, it’s plot.” What she is referring to is the disturbing yet sexy fascination that Villanelle and Eve quickly find for each other, and the ways the writers manage to continuously ratchet up the tension between the two.
Hopefully, Killing Eve marks the beginning of a new trend: mainstream television and movies that include complex queer plots not simply to attract an audience, but to accurately reflect a growing minority. The media has historically debased or ignored LGBT actors, but as the community becomes more prominent and widely accepted, it would follow that the commercial world would adapt appropriately, and the most efficient way would include casting and hiring writers, directors, and actors. It is interesting to wonder whether the subgenre of LGBT movies and television will continue to be the main draw of queer audiences, or if bigger existing enterprises and series will add their own queer characters. Either way, it can be agreed that queerbaiting will lose its shine in favor of intersectional diversity, because the future of media production will depend on its ever expanding and changing consumer population.
Elynor recently gave me several books from her queer book collection, and she was proud to tell me that she has “many, many more from where those came from.” We both watched the newest episode of Killing Eve and will discuss the plot points later today. Elynor remains dedicated to her own queer authors and creators, and she is part of a newer and younger queer audience that will continue to demand equal and accurate representation in the media. As for Killing Eve, she is a very loyal fan. As we text about the show, she tells me: “I like the fact that it’s textual and it never actually has to happen to be there ya know? Güt tensión.”