“We need more moments within TV and film which offer happiness and joy within lesbian and queer relationships”
BY CHLOE DEYES, IMAGE BY CHANNEL 4
A question that has been circling my mind for the past year, if not longer is this: “Is it time for more sapphic romcom entertainment?”
Well, the answer is yes! Of course, it is time to have more lesbian representation hitting our screens. What more do we want than to watch a lesbian-driven series after a long day at work? Or to cuddle up with our person on a weekend to get our sapphic fix?
Sapphic representation is making leaps and bounds in a positive direction. The heartwarming show Heartstopper has the ever-so-lovely couple Tara and Darcy who I think we can all agree are a couple that we wished our younger selves could have experienced something similar.
Heartstopper has made me reminisce about Naomily – Naomi and Emily in the TV series Skins – which gave a vastly different portrayal of teen life. As I experienced my teenage years in the 2000s, I remember being hooked on seasons three and four of Skins where Emily and Naomi started their relationship at a time when being a lesbian had a different level of acceptance. As we see a rise in sapphic representation in TV shows, it is noticeable that there are more shows being aired aimed at teens and younger audiences. We are now left hoping for more lesbian adult representation.
As a twenty-nine-year-old who is still trying to navigate through life, I aim to seek out as many lesbian and queer-driven TV shows and films as I can find to help me relate to as well as escape into their world. One theme that I think many people will notice is that if you find a lesbian protagonist in some form of media, you will witness obstacles for these characters. Films such as Ammonite, Carol and Portrait Of A Lady On Fire are all set between the 1700s and the 1950s and in my eyes, are just beautifully painful. However, at no point during these three films are these characters engaging in humorous conversations or essentially making the viewer have an easy watch. Instead, we are watching the uncomfortable portrayal of being in a same-sex relationship at a time when it was forbidden.
This is where A League Of Their Own comes to offer a helping hand in bringing lesbian and queer characters into the romantic and comedy genre. As many of us will have seen, this wonderfully developed season offers around eight hours of heartache, healing, joy, and tragedy. We as viewers can witness an everyday queer character representation in terms of following the ups and downs of these characters’ lives. And even though we are all heartbroken about the second season being scrapped by Amazon, we are holding a little flame of hope for something to be rectified soon.
The “Cancel Your Gays” trope is still damaging the LGBTQIA community because of its alarming rate of queer shows being pulled from the air. Shows that offer a breath of fresh air for many viewers are simply being scrapped from renewals of more seasons. People have turned to social media to express their upset and anger at the cancellation of sapphic shows. Hopefully, with time, things will change for the better.
As we head into the last part of this year, we are ready to put on our garish jumpers, drink copious amounts of hot chocolate and of course, settle down in front of the fire and watch Christmas films. As it stands, we are yet to hear whether a sequel to Clea DuVall’s Happiest Season is on Santa’s Sleigh, but one thing is for sure, we want another lesbian-fueled Christmas film and this time, with so much more happening.
Having TV shows like Heartstopper is a necessity for young people who are perhaps discovering new things about themselves. But we adults also need new and equally important, continuing series that we can binge-watch.
The last few years have brought TV series like Anne+ and Feel Good that have created an insight into modern dating within queer relationships but sadly these series have now ended. We need more moments within TV and film which offer happiness and joy within lesbian and queer relationships. We are now on the hunt for our new TV obsession and hopefully will be introduced to new and exciting characters that we can low-key obsess over.
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