…And we’re beyond excited 💕🌈
WORDS BY ELEANOR NOYCE, IMAGES VIA INSTAGRAM
It’s no secret that there is a chronic shortage of sapphic films and TV shows. Things are moving in the right direction, for sure, with last year’s release of The Miseducation Of Cameron Post and The Bisexual (both directed by queen Desiree Akhavan) doing wonders for lez/bi media representation, but we need more.
It’s also no secret that the LGBTQI section on Netflix is dominated by titles featuring gay and bisexual men as their protagonists: names such as God’s Own Country and Alex Strangelove top the mix. Carol and Blue Is The Warmest Colour have been on Netflix for a good while now, and Cameron Post has just been added, but still. Us sapphists are overlooked. There’s only so many times we can cry about Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara falling in love on screen. We need more, DIVAs.
Do not fear, sapphists, for Alice Wu, the lady behind Saving Face, has just announced Netflix lesbian teen romcom, The Half Of It. Charmed’s own Leah Lewis will portray Asian American high school student Ellie Chu, and Alexxis Lamire will play Aster Flores, her love interest.
So DIVAs, not only will this film increase queer representation in the media, but it will also do wonders for minority representation. Placing two women of colour as protagonists is a game-changer, following on from the 2018 release of To All The Boys I Loved Before which, again, featured an Asian American protagonist. Amazing.
Gay Twitter has, of course, been very excited by the outbreak of this fabulous news. @posiesaltz summed up our feelings:
@saltyxpark extended gratitude to Alice Wu for her efforts to expand queer and minority group representation:
…and @deputydipshitt fully freaked out at the thought of Leah Lewis and Alexxis Lemire playing love interests:
This is a game changer. Lez/bi representation on Netflix is about to get serious, and quite frankly, we can’t wait.
Only reading DIVA online? You’re missing out. For more news, reviews and commentary, check out the latest issue. It’s pretty badass, if we do say so ourselves.
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