Do they care about their LGBT fans?

[Felie]

I sat down this morning to watch episode 9, looking forward to finally getting some decent LGBT representation on OUAT. What I saw, on the other hand, was that they were too cowardly to even just give us Mulan admitting she was in love with Aurora!

Fine, no one had to kiss or confess their undying love for someone of the same sex, but they didn’t even allow us to have conformation that it was Aurora Mulan was in love with, so that we could finally shut all the doubters up.

What this tells me is that the people behind OUAT either don’t give a rat’s left testicle about their (apparently huge) LGBT fanbase, or, even worse; they believe LGBT representation would fall out of line with their ‘family entertainment’ classification, meaning they see people like me as too… perverted to be represented on a show aimed at families? Is that what we, and our lives, seem to them? Because it’s not like they avoid all that sloppy romantic garbage when het characters are involved. I really don’t get what their aversion to us is? Aren’t there other shows on that network with LGBT characters?

What do you guys think about this? Do you think they’d suddenly start to listen if the LGBT community decided to boycott their show, or maybe the entire network? At this rate I think this is the only way we’re ever going to get any decent representation on shows like OUAT, because it’s not like we haven’t tried to tell them with… ya know, being actual loyal fans to their show, or anything…

[RumplesGirl]

Do you think they’d suddenly start to listen if the LGBT community decided to boycott their show, or maybe the entire network?

Nope.

 

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[RumplesGirl]

I’ll just repeat myself from another thread:

they planted their seeds poorly because it felt like it was Mulan and Merida the entire episode and Ruby was just a hanger-on whom Mulan went trotting off with later. And it’s like Mike said, the pronoun game is beyond insulting! They still can’t have Mulan say that she was in love with Aurora. It’s being kept vague on purpose (so as not to offend sensibilities?). So no, I have no hope that the show will actually spend any reasonable amount of time developing a realistic LGBT relationship. The next time they visit this particular ship, it will be go about as well as this episode did: it will be obvious filler and be frustratingly vague about any actual LGBT feelings between these two women.

This is endemic of a much larger problem on OUAT: inclusion and representation. People of color crop up every now and then, and then are shuffled off either by being evil or dying. How about gays or lesbians or transgendered peoples? None. Mulan is apparently bisexual but only in the most vague way possible. The writers make Mulan play the pronoun name, never explicitly state that she was into Aurora, not Philip. They have never said nor had Mulan say, out in the open, loud and proud, that she is bisexual/pansexual/gay. It’s the 21st century! It’s 2015! We live in an age where gay boys and girls are being beat up, harassed,and are killing themselves for those they chose to love. Wouldn’t it be great–wouldn’t it be empowering–for our media to tell the LGBT people of the world that they are loved, they are equal, and that their stories deserved to be told right alongside straight peoples! But no. OUAT doesn’t have it in them. They won’t fight that battle, but they’ll take the credit for being “bold” and pushing an LGBT narrative. Heads up, Adam and Eddy. You’re part of the problem, not the solution.

I’ll get off my soapbox now but the fact that they think they are doing something good here is more insulting than the episode.

 

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[Felie]

but they’ll take the credit for being “bold” and pushing an LGBT narrative

Some shows who have had better LGBT representation than OUAT include;

3 cartoons aimed at kids (Legend of Korra, Adventure Time, Steven Universe), along with one of the silliest, most outlandish, and intellectually bankrupt family shows, in what is quite possibly the entire universe -Doctor Who has a cannon married, inter-species, lesbian couple.

Edit: How could I have forgotten Glee?! The same network that owns FOX NEWS(!!!) had a show that was literally shooting gays out of a cannon at us in every episode. There were gay characters, lesbian characters, bisexual characters, and at least one trans character. It apparently even had a lesbian wedding in one of the last two seasons (which I haven’t watched yet)?

So if the writers are taking any sort of credit for anything LGBT-representation related then it better be their complete lack of it, and the fact that they are obviously ‘queer baiting’ a large portion of their fanbase!!!

"so there’s this new show….."
"there’s lesbians in it"

[nevermore]

Dude, no, they don’t. I think the Big Mouse cares about money, and money only. If the LGBT community can boycott the network, then yes, maybe they’ll think about changing something, but chances are, they’ll just call it an acceptable loss.

OUAT is one of the more reactionary, conservative shows out there that claims to be “edgy” I guess because it has female leads. I don’t know, I don’t think that’s enough in 2015 to be counted as “progressive.”  They are as normative as they get.

Have you watched Lost Girl?

[RumplesGirl]

Have you watched Lost Girl?

YAAAAAAS. You want real progress, good mythology, fun acting, and a lot of heart. Go forth and watch Bo do her thing.

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[MatthewPaul]

3 cartoons aimed at kids (Legend of Korra, Adventure Time, Steven Universe), along with one of the silliest, most outlandish, and intellectually bankrupt family shows, in what is quite possibly the entire universe -Doctor Who has a cannon married, inter-species, lesbian couple.

The thing about Legend of Korra is that it too was done in the totally ambiguous way, most likely because Nickelodeon wasn’t going to take the full risk. The creators did confirm it was legit after the fact, but still.

[Myril]

Don’t know what they are thinking they are doing. And there are a number of shows doing better, did better before and do better at the moment. You want to see bold? Go to Netflix and watch Sense8, maybe Jessica Jones premiering this Friday. On mainstream broadcast… Grey’s Anatomy, How to get Away with Murder, and surprise, surprise both on ABC, although not fantasy fairy tale fluff, just modern life prime time drama soaps. And thinking of trailblazer Willow and Tara – 16 years ago on screen, Henry jr, wasn’t even born when that aired, and more progressive though somewhat hush-hush, but that was more than a decade ago. Boldly? Not this show, not by far, they are not bold with anything – aside creating some story telling mess. I thought they were more progressive and innovative, in season 1, but that was a mistake, they are not. I have given up hope for this show before the season began, my expectation for this episode was just a little hope that they wouldn’t totally mess up these two characters bringing them back, more curiosity than hope made me watch it. As much as I tought Mulan and Red would be a logical and good choice maybe even, I was not counting on it.

Would they care about a boycott? Doubt it. They’re five season in, can’t hurt them much. Should we keep watching the show? I am not a regular viewer anymore anyway and part of it is their ignorance towards diversity and some other things as the story telling and character mess the show has become. There are better shows to watch. Not to mention books, graphic novels to read.

¯\_(?????? ?)_/¯

[RumplesGirl]

Sense8 has two of the most beautiful, well thought out, heartfelt, loving, committed relationships in recent memory. And both of them are LGBT. Both relationships make my breath catch in my throat and I remember thinking, “yes. This is how it should look on TV everywhere.”

Nomi and Amanita. Lito and Hernando. GOOD GOD. Those relationships are a thing of beauty.

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[nevermore]

Sense8 has two of the most beautiful, well thought out, heartfelt, loving, committed relationships in recent memory. And both of them are LGBT.

Oh my goodness, yes!!! And actually, because of its general premise, it’s an incredibly gender-queer show more broadly.

And for a sci-fi show, it’s also not afraid to tackle complicated and sensitive social topics, like race, class, politics (both macro and micro), and does so with grace and intelligence, without ever sacrificing its “character driven” focus.

 

Also, Orphan Black.

thought they were more progressive and innovative, in season 1, but that was a mistake, they are not

I don’t know if this is the experience of other people on this forum, but I find myself still watching OUAT out of a misguided sense of a now 5 year investment in the promise of Season 1. The biggest problem for me is that OUAT won’t just give up and admit to what it really is by now — trashy chewing gum for the brain. And there’s totally a place for that sort of thing in one’s viewing ‘diet.’ But A&E are constantly making these claims to how they’re tackling complex, yet universal issues. They are not.

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