What's your opinion on Leia Forman?
I like her as a character. I think she's a good blend of her parents with her own personality. Her name has been discussed to (the) death(star), so I won't rehash that.
She is (unintentionally) gay or bisexual coded in T9S's first episode, and I wish the show had followed what it had put on screen. Not being straight in the early '90s would've given her misery and isolation at her Chicago school a much stronger foundation. And a stronger reason for her to want to stay in Point Place, where the friend group could've potentially had two other queer characters (Oz -- canonical -- and Gwen).
The showrunners themselves recognized what they'd built in T9S between Leia and Gwen and spoke to the audience directly through Jay's song in the last "season" of the show: "It's Jeia, not Geia." They also forced Gwen into compulsory heterosexuality and kept her and Leia separated as much as possible. It's a very mid-'90s move when networks didn't allow explicit or implicit queer relationships (except when they didn't spot them -- until they did and dictated the show knock it off).
T9S, however, only took place in the mid-'90s; it was created and produced in the early 2020s.
I don't need any specific characters to be gay or bisexual. But if it's on the screen, it's on the screen regardless of intent. I'm drawn to the most interesting chemistry (platonic or otherwise) between characters regardless of gender. Unlike Eric and Hyde's clearly platonic intimacy, Leia's first encounter of Gwen (spying on Gwen rocking out to "You Outta Know") and her reactions resemble someone who's experiencing the confusing combo of gender envy and attraction that's very common in people discovering their queerness.
Leia and Jay have little romantic chemistry. We're supposed to believe they have big chemistry because that's what's intentionally written. But the true fire exists between Leia and Gwen -- again, not because of any agenda in my head. I spotted it immediately and hoped T9S would follow the characters rather than move them around like chess pieces.
I want stories that are emotionally satisfying and surprise me (in a good way). T9S is formulaic and derivative of T7S's originality.
Still like Leia, though, as an individual.
Happy Pride! 🌈
