Our screens have seen an increase in LGBTQ+ media in the last decade, but are all forms of representation good? Rhys James dissects queer utopias and why they’re so divisive among the queer community.
This November saw Doctor Who return to our screens to celebrate the show’s 60th Anniversary. With Russell T Davies back behind the wheel as showrunner, the first out of the three special episodes gave prominence to a trans character. Although a first in the show’s history, a trans-centered storyline comes as no surprise due to Davies’ notoriety in representing queerness on TV.
In fact, littered throughout Davies’ career are examples of queer utopias, fictional spaces that exist in an almost idyllic reality of queerness. These are typically devoid of prejudice, but in Davies’ case seem to highlight a fantastical version of queerness against the backdrop of adversity. This is clear in the special episode of ‘The Star Beast’, and other RTD shows such as It’s A Sin and Queer As Folk.
I spoke to academic and author Emily Garside on the importance of this.
“I think there’s a real need for [queer utopias] both in terms of what we see on TV and what real life offers us. Firstly in a world that is increasingly hostile to queer people, we as a group don’t always want to relive that. Yes, using TV to reflect lived experience is also hugely important, it’s also the case that when you’re living it you don’t want to see it on TV.”
During our conversation Emily highlights the history of queer media – “For a long time, the only queer stories on [the] mainstream were often very dark. Historically, we only had the negative stories – of coming out, queer-bashing, of AIDS and death.”
It’s clear why a percentage of queer viewers relish in what Emily describes as the “happy fluffy Heartstopper moments” and other escapist queer TV such as Schitt’s Creek and Sex Education. However, there are members of the community who are unsatisfied with the avoidant nature of these shows.
A victim of this trope of storytelling is Sex Education, its final season being set in a modern college, wherein the majority of the students (including the top of the social hierarchy) were queer. Utopianism here is troublesome to those who grew up in and around rural communities (like myself), where the show did most of its filming. It proves hard to conflate a queer utopia within this setting due to the prejudice that is prevalent in rustic areas like such.
Perhaps this is a reflection of the cultural shifts that have occurred in terms of queer acceptance, but is it still important to balance the joy and adversity of the stories we tell? Otherwise, these shows run the risk of adhering to the comfortability of their audiences and pandering to the boundaries of cis and straight viewership.
Nevertheless, Emily firmly believes that there’s a place for all kinds of queer storytelling, including ‘unrealistic’ and fun forms of queer media, just like their heteronormative counterparts.
“What will look like true TV equality for me is when we have a range of shows – from detective shows to sci-fi to gritty drama that reflect all nuances of queer life. It’s a contrast to the queer stories we grew up with and a chance to have what we never did.”