"Netflix has the gay": Fixing LGBT+ characters without any character traits in media

submitted by OffAndSphere from self.LGBT

This is a repost from r/ainbow.

"Please read the whole post before choosing to downvote or upvote.

Also, this post involves stuff that's not exactly relevant as of June 2020, but I think it still needs to be covered.

A few months ago, there was a pile of memes about Netflix turning characters LGBT+ to make them look like they have character traits. I am not going to talk about whether those characters have good character traits, but about whether the public was focusing on the right thing.

Given that the LGBT+ characters were actually just soulless husks or robots saying 'i'm gay' all the time—it would be ok to be angry about the show's writers making a really token attempt at LGBT+ representation. The best way to solve that problem would be to suggest additional character traits that the characters could have, but the surge of memes just focused on the character being LGBT+ and constantly dissing the writing.

I am not the greatest fan of LGBT+ stuff, but if a LGBT+ character needs to be given more character traits, simply asking for their character to be changed is a lot better than roasting the show's writers. Same goes for any other character-related changes and also for characters who aren't LGBT+.

Funnily enough, a lot of the memes champion the indifference of LGBT+ status, but they keep focusing on badly written characters' LGBT+ status instead of their status of being badly written(Note: I do not know any token LGBT+ characters that were made just for diversity; I am still making assumptions here.). Eh, it doesn't really matter to me. Everyone makes mistakes and leaps in logic, and it's important to learn from them."

So, what do you think?

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[–]BrNated 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Thanks for this.

"...they keep focusing on badly written characters' LGBT+ status instead of their status of being badly written."

This is something I haven't realized before. This may just happen because it's been a trope for LGBT characters in general, but this is a good point regardless.

I remember reading a post (I think on r/UnpopularOpinion) that said there's a conflicting split that LGBT+ characters should either be added because you know... LGBT+ simply exist VERSUS LGBT+ characters should only be put in if their sexuality is going to be a driving point of the plot or (proper) character development.

[–]OffAndSphere[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

lol the post on r/ainbow doesn't even have 20% upvoted status

at least read the post before downvoting, sheesh

or explain yourself in the comments

[–]BrNated 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Holy crap, I just searched for your post on Reddit and wow. Zero comments, only 29% upvotes as of writing this. I don't see how "sexuality isn't a personality trait" and "we could be criticizing LGBT characters better" is that controversial.

I wonder if they saw "I am not the greatest fan of LGBT+ stuff" and went "uh oh, what flaming bigot - downvote time."

[–]holy_goat 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

you should cross post this thread in the reddit one :)

[–]OffAndSphere[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

i think that basically no one will even bother to visit that thread again

[–]mongre 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Do yourself, your family and fellow mankind a favor. CANCEL YOUR NETFLIX ACCOUNT.

[–]OffAndSphere[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Nah, there's still good stuff that my parents manage to find, and there's still good stuff for kids, too, like the Captain Underpants movie. Also, I think they keep getting free trials for some reason.

[–]holy_goat 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Memes are how people voice their opinions in a fun way nowadays. It's kind of dumb to complain about people making memes. LGBT characters have been poorly written tokens for literally decades at this point, meming about it is a way of coping. I don't think anyways expects the low budget trash netflix constantly puts out to change.

Also, I feel like writing good gay characters involves, to some degree, knowing what it's like to be gay? And like... there are subtleties in writing a character who is gay. If you just take any random character and try to make them gay its going to come off as token-y. If you don't have many gay friends or aren't gay it may be difficult to write a gay character that isn't just a dumb comic relief stereotype. It's already hard to get the right mixture unless you have gay writers writing for a gay audience. And then add in that most audiences are thinking, "I am not the greatest fan of LGBT+ stuff", there is not an incentive to write fleshed out gay characters that will make them uncomfortable.

I can understand why nobody is interacting with your post on reddit because it seems a bit naive to think that this is going to change.

[–]OffAndSphere[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Ah, I see. Thanks for your opinion.