LGBT Representation in Jamie Johnson as Compared to Other Kidsā Media
Pinned to the top of my blog because Iām quite proud of this post, and I still want newer followers to be able to see it.
From what I know, LGBT representation is relatively new in media. Not just kidsā media, but media in general. I donāt even think I knew what gay meant until I was like 11. And I didnāt know that religions didnāt exactly have the greatest opinion of gay people till my GCSEs. In that sense, I was lucky. I knew I was gay before I knew what homophobia was, so I have always been comfortable with who I am. But others didnāt have life that... Well, simple I suppose. Iāve always known who I am, but other people, well, in the worst case scenario, gay people can become homophobic themselves and grow to hate themselves. This might seem like a sidetracky introduction, but I think it shows the importance of LGBT in media. For someone like me, it can help to start to normalise gay people to my family. Even though theyāre still homophobic, at least theyāre able to watch programmes with LGBT characters in. I met someone whoās dad wouldnāt watch any shows with LGBT characters in it. And for how rare gay people used to be in media in general, theyāre even rarer in kidsā media. Why is it that Disney Channel only had their first gay main character in 2017 when homosexuality was legalised in... 2003 in the US. Wow, I canāt lie, I looked up that statistic expecting it to be way earlier. OK, but it was legalised in 1967 in the UK. So why did I never see any gay characters in my childhood? Iāve known I was gay since I was 9, but I must have first seen a gay character in, OK, it was Doctor Who. Captain Jack was pansexual. So I did have some LGBT representation. But there wasnāt much. And again, not in kidsā media. So, letās look at some of the kidsā media that changed the landscape for LGBT rep in kidsā media. Sarah Jane Adventures and Wizards vs Aliens Weāll start with what I think is probably the worst types of LGBT representation. First of all: Wizards vs Aliens. Benny came out. But I canāt remember the show ever talking about it again after he came out. Sarah Jane Adventures. Yes, itās not Russell T Daviesā fault that he never got the chance to let Luke come out in the show, and yes, he got to have Luke come out in the memorial episode for Sarah Jane on YouTube, but even before Liz had... Luke had left the main cast, so his coming out would have still meant less to audience members. Gravity Falls had a coming out at the very end of the show, and I believe so did Adventure Time, so they fit in this category too. Compare that to Dillon from Jamie Johnson. Yes, thereās a reasonable chance we wonāt see him again after this season, but if it is, he gets to leave on a high. We get to explore his coming out journey. Steven Universe Steven Universe is great for LGBT representation, and itās great for normalising LGBT representation. Youāve got a huge variety of LGBT characters, because the Gems are all gay (Except Rose). So you can understand that there are different types of gay people (Love Victor did that too, but Iām not sure how many people would watch it). Steven universe is definitely the gayest kidsā show. High School Musical the Musical the Series fits in this category too. Carlos is out and proud. And we donāt see his coming out, more his love life. Again, great rep. Normalises gay people. Jamie Johnson is nowhere near the level of gay that Steven Universe or High School Musical the Musical the Series is, but I think that itās less meaningful than other shows Iāll mention and Jamie Johnson. Itās the same reason Victor said āScrew youā to Simon at the beginning of Love Victor. We donāt want to see gay people who have it easy. We want to see gay people who are like us. Who have been through stuff and have come out the other side alive. We want hope, but that doesnāt come from seeing gay people who have it easy. I see people playing football and risking corona and Iām jealous. I want to play football again. I see gay people have it easy: Same. I wish I could have it that easy, and it makes me sad. Steven Universe is a great show, and has great rep, but I think even kidsā media should have something closer to home. Andi Mack and Diary of a Future President I love how they portrayed Cyrus and Bobby. We got to see Cyrusā story from realising he liked guys to being able to say āIām gayā to showing his crush he likes him (though homophobes can pretend the bench scene was just a friendship scene). Cyrusā arc was great, and the bench scene was perfect and the only problem with it was that it deserved a fourth season so we could see Cyrus and TJ in a relationship. Diary of a Future President though. I was heartbroken when Bobby didnāt come out to Liam. But then I found out there was a season 2 and I was OK, because itās hard to come out. Itās as if all the shows make it so easy to come out to the first person, but itās not. The first real life person I came out to, I came out at 22. And they had come out to me first. And I had to write it down on my phone. I couldnāt say it out loud. So yeah, seeing Diary of a Future President take it slow is amazing, and I love it, and itās also what they did with Dillon. Some people think that they only really intended for Dillon to be gay from season 4. But, I think that theyāve known since the beginning. I plan to do a character analysis on Dillon after my rewatch, but I think I found something that shows they must have known since at least season 2. (I expect the analysis will be a lot shorter than this. Sorry for the crazy length. And if itās a crap read. I donāt essay well). But if they knew from the beginning, that was a brilliant move on their part. The only thing that makes me unsure is how Dillon took 3 years to realise he might be gay, but itās possible that he denied it to himself until he realised Elliot was gay. Because thereās no way he wasnāt thinking he was gay in season 4 episode 5. He didnāt think he was asexual, his reaction to Rubyās foster mums suggested that he was interested because they were gay. But regardless, I love that they took it slow. Not everyone can come out as easily as others, and having someone like Bobby, or like Dillon, is so much more meaningful than Cyrus, even though Cyrus is an amazing character. Bobby and Dillon are more relatable because theyāre finding it tough to come out. The Dumping Ground I kept trying to decide whether I thought the dumping ground or Andi Mack/Diary of a Future President had better LGBT representation. In the end, I decided that I preferred the Dumping Groundās representation. Yes, in Andi Mack and Diary of a Future President, we get to see the coming out journey of Bobby and Cyrus, but even though Andi Mack touched on homophobia, a lot of people didnāt even realise Kira was blackmailing TJ, making him afraid of how people would react if they found out he was gay. A number of people just thought TJ was being an idiot. But the Dumping Ground had a gay couple wanting to foster Gus. And IIRC, Johnny thought it was wrong because they were gay. Something like that would foster (see what I did there?) potential discussion between parents and children about gay adoption. Some kids watching the show might have been gay and if they watched it with their parents, they could talk about it with them. Gage their reaction. Maybe even come out to them. The Dumping Groundās episode was great. And then May-Li came out. And we never got to see her full journey, But we did get to see her journey to being accepted by her grandmother I think. And thatās something. And Now On To Jamie Johnson Just like the Dumping Ground, Jamie Johnson has been able to tackle serious issues. I mean, season 1 dealt with Jamieās cheating father. Youāve got Zoe being a carer, Dillon getting diabetes. But in terms of LGBT representation, itās season 4 and season 5. Season 4 episode 5 was incredible. I remember telling all my friends about it, and how amazing it was that CBBC were doing this. To recap: Ruby said her heroes were her foster parents, causing Dillon to ask Ruby about it. She thought he was being an idiot, even though in actual fact, he was excited that someone else was gay and trying not to show it. Dillon told his dad that Ruby had foster mums while he was telling him how Rubyās biological parents werenāt in her life anymore. Liam, Dillonās brother, used it to rile up Rubyās sister Alba until she attacked him. She probably would have gotten expelled from the club, but Sienna filmed the incident so everyone found out what really happened, and it was Liam who got expelled. I think Alba only got excluded. What I find really awesome about the storyline though is not just that they had it. It was that the consequences of Liamās actions set the course for the rest of the season, aka Dodgy Duncan. Liamās actions caused the clubās image to go down the drain, and sponsors to leave, and thatās what made Duncan turn to the dark side. And itās a subtle way to just say āHomophobia is badā. Because Liamās homophobia caused all the problems in the rest of the season. The First Time Dillon Let Himself ābe Gayā Dillon took a long time to come out. And, like me, I think for a long time, nobody really suspected he was gay, in real life or in the audience. He never really showed it. Iām pretty sure when I was a kid, I would act super offended and upset if someone jokingly called me gay. So, yeah, itās a slow burn. And we didnāt get any hints that he was gay, but that happens. Gay people are good at hiding, I think thatās why gay kids are often portrayed as loving theater. They already have to act their whole lives. Itās not easy to be in the closet. But I think that once Dillon was able to leave his fatherās shadow, he was able to be more comfortable with himself, leading to him coming out to Elliot in episode 7. I think he had crushes before, specifically Michelle from season 2, but Elliot was the first time he felt like he could be himself. So here we have two massive points from other shows, but they havenāt been done together. The discussion of homophobia in the Dumping Ground, and the Slow Burn from Diary of a Future President. Social Media Presence Andi Mack made a huge deal about Cyrus being gay, like a week before the episode where he came out aired. HSMTMTS had Carlos be a gay stereotype from the trailer, and OK, Steven Universe was always gay. But Jamie Johnson, and the Dumping Ground didnāt make a big deal about it beforehand. They didnāt scream to the world āLook at us! Weāre woke!ā They showed it. They let people see for themselves, they let people debate for two weeks on Dillonās sexuality, and they didnāt tell everyone that this was the episode Dillon would come out (though they made sure that everyone knew they should watch this episode). They just let people see for themselves. And after the episode aired, they made their move. They had the Jamie Johnson logo in rainbow colours to celebrate pride, they had a guide on how to react if someone comes out to you, and they had a history of pride, and I expect theyāll do even more on their social media after this weekās episode. @tkstrandā reckons the Delliot post is Jamie Johnsonās most liked instagram post. I donāt know whether the other shows did this, but itās a great gesture regardless. Oh, and thereās the fact that theyāre doing a Bafta zoom conference on how they tackle issues. Choosing the Right Character and Breaking Ground for CBBC A lot of people on Instagram said that they thought it was Boggy who should be gay, and while I think either storyline would be great, I think that the writers made the right decision. 1) Boggy is an amazing person. Heās not afraid to be himself. I think, if Boggy was gay, then he wouldnāt have as much trouble coming out as Dillon is having. Of course, Boggy is going through stuff right now, but I still think he would have been a lot braver than Dillon and so we wouldnāt get the storyline weāre getting now delving into homophobia 2) If Dillon does have a minor or major role in season 6, we might get to explore homophobia in professional football, which would be super exciting 3) While Boggy is an amazing character, Iād reckon kids tend to gravitate to the coolest character as their favourite. And while Boggy radiates cool. (Seriously, check out the two posts I made on how sarcastic he is. And just look at his hat at the beginning of episode 1!
But Dillon is the more traditionally cool character, so heās more likely to be a fan favourite (that and the fact that heās the best developed character in Jamie Johnson). So for those who arenāt necessarily homophobic, but donāt really understand homosexuality, Dillon is the perfect choice to have written as gay. Because after next week, the people who donāt believe Dillon is gay might leave the episode with a new understanding of LGBT people. Itās been done with TJ, whoās also a cool character, but people who want to ignore the gay subtext can because it was never said out loud in the show. And I reckon Dillon is a groundbreaking character for CBBC. Benny left soon after he came out, Luke left before he came out, May-Li is part of an ensemble cast, so in terms of a small number of main characters (the core 4 in JJ being Dillon, Jamie, Zoe and Boggy), so I think Dillon is the first gay main character (not ensemble character) on CBBC who has gotten a major gay storyline. Could be wrong, let me know if I am! Groundbreaking in General From what it looks like, the next episode is gonna focus completely on Dillonās coming out storyline. Forget kidsā media, I donāt think Iāve seen an adultsā show that has an entire episode solely dedicated to an LGBT storyline. (Even Reunited from Steven Universe wasnāt completely focused on Garnet). Love Victor was jam packed with side stories and I think even Real OāNeals always had side stories to it. If another show has done this, Iād love to hear, but if Jamie Johnson really has the whole episode dedicated solely to Dillon, I think itās huge. I only hope it doesnāt mean that the storyline will be forgotten about in the last 4 episodes, but since the head writer of Jamie Johnson is LGBT, I have no doubt theyāll do it justice. Does Jamie Johnson Have the Best LGBT Representation in Kidsā Media? No, I donāt think it does. Andi Mack has 2 seasons where we follow Cyrus on his coming out journey and Steven Universe has a lot more LGBT people, including a non-binary character. But in the aspects Jamie Johnson does well, it excels at. The homophobia storyline(s), and Jamie Johnsonās instagram presence. And having the best developed and best defined character be the one to show kids how to treat gay people. Thursday could be a historic moment for Kidsā television if they do this right, and I think they will. So I hope that everyone enjoys the episode! No, I swear this wasnāt a long promo for the next episode. No, I am not sponsored. Yes, this post was extremely long, Iām really sorry about that. I hope itās worth the read. If not, donāt worry, this will almost definitely be my longest post. No, I donāt know how to have a ācontinue readingā button. Does anyone happen to know how? Thanks! Edit: Apparently 4 O Clock club had a gay main character first, so I got that wrong, but I still hold that Jamie Johnson is groundbreaking.
