Queerbaiting vs. actual queer rep
OKAYYY so pretty sure the sentiment of "why are queer-coded characters/queerbaiting usually so much more compelling than actual queer rep?" and after a LONG time I think I finally have a couple theories.
The intention isn't to make queer characters. The first thing about these characters isn't that they're queer, they're a fully developed character who just happens to be queer-coded. I feel like this results in a much more realistic portrayal. Because queer people aren't just queer. We are living, breathing, human beings who are SO much more than our sexuality. Unfortunately, a lot of canonical queer rep can kind of water down the character's personality to "just being queer" or portray it in an overly stereotyped way. As a queer person, it can sometimes get a bit awkward to watch the same story over and over again. You probably know what I'm talking about- it's the bullying to internalized homophobia to acceptance story. This is an important story to tell but it by no means encompasses the experience of being queer for everyone. We all have different stories and experiences, and characters who are just queer-coded naturally bypass this stereotypical story since it's not canon. It can't be touched on. A good analogy of this is a book series I really like- the Nero Wolfe mysteries. A staggering amount of the information in these books- character interactions, emotions, etc- is merely implied. When the original author passed away, another author continued writing them, but he made the characters say too much. The lack of subtlety results in a narrative that feels much more shallow and less compelling. I think that's quite a bit of what's going on here. (and yes, Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin are very queer-coded. And this subtlety adds a LOT of depth to them.
This is something I call the concept of "near misses," and I first started thinking about it - surprise - because of a Nero Wolfe fic. In the fic, Archie is injured and Wolfe is sitting at his bedside. Wolfe, for context, hates physical touch. There was a line about their hands both brushing the sheet- touching the same fabric. I can't quite remember, but trust me the author said it much better. Anyways we were talking about this fic on the Nero Wolfe discord and someone ( @orrrchidmilk ) mentioned that that hit way harder than their hands actually touching. I didn't really think about this until later, when I was talking with the discord about my own Wolfe fic I was writing and people were saying things like "Wolfe finally letting Archie take care of him" and as they were talking I realized that I didn't want to go that direction with the fic. Something about Archie letting Wolfe leave after a vulnerable moment, not knowing whether or not he was even okay or not, just hit SO much harder to me. There is something about near misses that is infinitely more compelling. People like doomed ships. They like the "we almost were" or "we could have been in another universe." To a lot of people, angst is much more compelling than a happy ending. Because the queerness isn't canonical, most queerbaiting/queer-coded ships are a lot of these near misses (cough "sherlock is actually a girls name" cough) & melancholy endings. That hurts. That pain is what people remember, what draws them to the characters. And again, it's just more likely to happen under non-canonical conditions.
BY NO MEANS am I trying to say that canonical rep is BAD. It can be done in a VERY compelling and interesting way. An example I really like is Sherlock Holmes in the Sherlock & Co. podcast. He's canonically queer, having had a crush on Victor Trevor in college. However, it takes a very long time for this to even come up in the series. When it was finally revealed, it wasn't a big thing- just a fact that they mentioned as part of a case and then moved on. It was quietly incorporated into his character. He is queer, but he also has such a robust and interesting personality outside of his queerness. Arcane is another AMAZING example. I don't think there's like. one mention of like a self-discovery journey in relation to queerness, all of a sudden caitvi are just making out on screen. For queer rep to be compelling in the same way as queer-coded/queerbaiting media is, the #1 priority should still be the story. This can also apply to other rep too- disability, race, etc. Yes, it's important to tell stories that highlight the experiences of marginalized groups. Those stories have their place. But it's also important to SHOW those marginalized groups being a part of the same stories and narratives as everyone else without some component of them completely taken over. We are different, but we are still people.
gah this turned into a broader analysis of representation in media-- anyways i think that's pretty much what I wanted to say??
