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This past weekend saw the premiere of a new fantasy drama on the BBC, Atlantis. I was incredibly excited to watch this show, as it fills the time slot that used to be occupied by the shows Robin Hood and Merlin, both of which I very much enjoyed. So, on Saturday night I sat down at 8.25 with great anticipation and, arguably, expectations that were way too high.
It turned out to be a good show, entertaining, watchable, CGI of less than top quality, solid cast, amusingly predictable; everything I’d expected of the show; everything you’d want in a prime time Saturday night slot on BBC One. Despite all of this, and despite how much I generally enjoyed the show, I still finished the episode feeling upset, and hard done by.
As you’d expect from a show like this, there is a romantic subplot. The handsome hero, Jason, flirts with the beautiful princess Ariadne. There is romantic music: soaring violins, delicate flutes, passionate sopranos, you name it. The two of them schmaltz around in a room surrounded by wafting curtains, she helps put his armour on and gives him that one object that will allow him to complete his quest for the week successfully, they come within inches of kissing. It’s all very clichéd and obvious and set up. I was not surprised.
However, earlier in the episode our hero had run into a slightly awkward, very adorable, young man named Pythagoras (yep. The one with the triangles). When I say run into, I mean run into. Jason fell through the guy’s window and ended up on top of him. They had a moment. And I was in shock.
Now please, correct me if I’m wrong, but when in a film or TV show someone lands on top of someone else and they have a moment it is usually a girl and a guy, and when it is a girl and a guy, it is usually used as a set up for some sort of romance between the two. And there they were, two guys the subjects of a popular meet cute on prime time TV. And they continued to have little moments throughout the show. The hero even rushes off to save the life of this guy he’s only known for about two seconds.
But then along came the girl, and of course, there is always a girl.
I was fine with that, because what do you expect? I thought very little of it, until at the end of the episode I rang my parents and mentioned to my dad that I thought Jason and Pythagoras would make a cute couple. His response was one of dismissal. What? Those two guys? No. No way. No chance. And I suddenly wondered why.
Why no way? Why no chance? Why couldn’t they be a couple? Their interaction read, to me, as a little awkward, a little flirty, a little romantic, and certainly Pythagoras is written as being interested in the hero. What’s so wrong about these two men ending up together? Is it, in fact, because they are men? And a gay couple surely can’t provide the main romance on a prime time TV show? Why can’t they? Why?
Possibly one answer, in this case, is because the hero and the princess are obviously meant to be together. The romantic theme music is theirs, the near miss kisses are theirs, she is primarily in the show to be a love interest and facilitator (in case you were wondering, the episode doesn’t actually pass the Bechtel test). So then what I want to know is why would you write in the moments between the two men?
Anyone familiar with the show Merlin will tell you that during the last season, probably for longer, there was a lot of suggestive interaction between the two male leads, Arthur and Merlin. These interactions were used for comedy, amusement value, a laugh for the audience, a bit of an inside joke for the fans. They were never serious, or meant to go anywhere. We knew that the two were very close friends. The extras were unnecessary*. And I can already see Atlantis heading down the same route.
I know it is early days, but I am already worried and upset and starting to feel estranged. Until this Saturday I had never felt like that before, never so strongly. Perhaps I am overreacting, and perhaps I will be pleasantly surprised in the future, but somehow I doubt it.
No matter the equality we achieve, queer couples ‘aren’t meant’ to be romantic leads on TV shows in prime time slots on main channels. Not unless there is a heterosexual couple to offset the impact. Queer couples and LGBT individuals are still mostly restricted to special shows and special moments, statement pieces that demonstrate the equality of the world without quite being equal. And Saturday night was a painful reminder of that for me. It brought about the sharp realisation of something which is very easy to forget: that I am a queer girl lost in a heterosexual world, and that representation for me might be teased, but never entirely given.
*Those in the know about these things might use the term queer baiting to describe what was done in this show. It is a hotly debated subject.
It turned out to be a good show, entertaining, watchable, CGI of less than top quality, solid cast, amusingly predictable; everything I’d expected of the show; everything you’d want in a prime time Saturday night slot on BBC One. Despite all of this, and despite how much I generally enjoyed the show, I still finished the episode feeling upset, and hard done by.
As you’d expect from a show like this, there is a romantic subplot. The handsome hero, Jason, flirts with the beautiful princess Ariadne. There is romantic music: soaring violins, delicate flutes, passionate sopranos, you name it. The two of them schmaltz around in a room surrounded by wafting curtains, she helps put his armour on and gives him that one object that will allow him to complete his quest for the week successfully, they come within inches of kissing. It’s all very clichéd and obvious and set up. I was not surprised.
However, earlier in the episode our hero had run into a slightly awkward, very adorable, young man named Pythagoras (yep. The one with the triangles). When I say run into, I mean run into. Jason fell through the guy’s window and ended up on top of him. They had a moment. And I was in shock.
Now please, correct me if I’m wrong, but when in a film or TV show someone lands on top of someone else and they have a moment it is usually a girl and a guy, and when it is a girl and a guy, it is usually used as a set up for some sort of romance between the two. And there they were, two guys the subjects of a popular meet cute on prime time TV. And they continued to have little moments throughout the show. The hero even rushes off to save the life of this guy he’s only known for about two seconds.
But then along came the girl, and of course, there is always a girl.
I was fine with that, because what do you expect? I thought very little of it, until at the end of the episode I rang my parents and mentioned to my dad that I thought Jason and Pythagoras would make a cute couple. His response was one of dismissal. What? Those two guys? No. No way. No chance. And I suddenly wondered why.
Why no way? Why no chance? Why couldn’t they be a couple? Their interaction read, to me, as a little awkward, a little flirty, a little romantic, and certainly Pythagoras is written as being interested in the hero. What’s so wrong about these two men ending up together? Is it, in fact, because they are men? And a gay couple surely can’t provide the main romance on a prime time TV show? Why can’t they? Why?
Possibly one answer, in this case, is because the hero and the princess are obviously meant to be together. The romantic theme music is theirs, the near miss kisses are theirs, she is primarily in the show to be a love interest and facilitator (in case you were wondering, the episode doesn’t actually pass the Bechtel test). So then what I want to know is why would you write in the moments between the two men?
Anyone familiar with the show Merlin will tell you that during the last season, probably for longer, there was a lot of suggestive interaction between the two male leads, Arthur and Merlin. These interactions were used for comedy, amusement value, a laugh for the audience, a bit of an inside joke for the fans. They were never serious, or meant to go anywhere. We knew that the two were very close friends. The extras were unnecessary*. And I can already see Atlantis heading down the same route.
I know it is early days, but I am already worried and upset and starting to feel estranged. Until this Saturday I had never felt like that before, never so strongly. Perhaps I am overreacting, and perhaps I will be pleasantly surprised in the future, but somehow I doubt it.
No matter the equality we achieve, queer couples ‘aren’t meant’ to be romantic leads on TV shows in prime time slots on main channels. Not unless there is a heterosexual couple to offset the impact. Queer couples and LGBT individuals are still mostly restricted to special shows and special moments, statement pieces that demonstrate the equality of the world without quite being equal. And Saturday night was a painful reminder of that for me. It brought about the sharp realisation of something which is very easy to forget: that I am a queer girl lost in a heterosexual world, and that representation for me might be teased, but never entirely given.
*Those in the know about these things might use the term queer baiting to describe what was done in this show. It is a hotly debated subject.
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