MovieChat Forums > Lost Girl (2010) Discussion > Do you think this show was aimed specifi...

Do you think this show was aimed specifically at a gay audience?

posted 10 years ago by trekkie_knight
10 replies | jump to latest

Obviously they always had a LGBTQ friendly premise with a bisexual main protagonist and a female love interest for her, but I'd never really gotten the sense this was specifically trying to be something like "Buffy for a gay/lesbian audience" just an urban fantasy with it's own weird spin on things that anyone could potentially enjoy. One that just so happened to have a LGBTQ lead character. I'd even sort of had the sense they often made some effort to appeal to both a female and male demographic.

I thought that was impressive because although there are several examples of gay leads on TV, I'm not sure I could think of any that weren't in shows that were specifically about gay people.

But as of this season they now have a mostly non straight cast of characters with Hale killed off, Kenzi written out, Tamsin added and Vex given a larger role. Those are all things that have happened along the way rather than being planned from the start, but I've been wondering for a while if I had misclassified what the show was trying to be.

[–] Thomas_SC 10 years ago

No, I don't believe so. I think the show was written to be inclusive toward everyone, much like your original hypothesis. The loss of a few of the straight characters is more coincidence in my opinion, than anything else.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] nunyabiznesskay 10 years ago

Here's the thing, I don't know if Bo is bisexual. From a human standpoint in the context of the human world, she would be deemed bisexual, however in the fae world she's a succubus trying to survive. Does that same duality exist in the world of the fae, and if it does exist, can it be applied to a succubus?

[–] trekkie_knight 10 years ago

Everyone involved in the show seems to refer to her as bisexual out of universe. And for a succubus sexual preference still appears to exist. Sex is food to them, so they can presumably gain nourishment from any kind of sexual energy from any kind of sexual encounter. But based on the fact that Bo's mother appeared to have an overwhelming preference for men, presumably they can still be gay or straight or bi.

[–] Furrerd 10 years ago

With the lucky cat episode they are even being Furry friendly!

They aren't too gay friendly. I don't remember seeing any man on man kissing, passionate make-out or sex scenes. The show also uses the b-word in the most abusive form of the word. To degrade and thoroughly insult another woman; not in a playful way. That's not progressive.
Fangs For The Fantasy fantasy blog has many problems with how the show deals with women and some of the stereotypes/tropes they present about LGBT people. http://www.fangsforthefantasy.com/2014/12/lost-girl-season-5-episode-3 -big-in.html#more

Parenting books? Parenting books, I thought that..those were a joke? - Linda Belcher

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] Morbius_Fitzgerald 10 years ago

I don't think it was trying to appeal to a gay audience. It certainly has LGBTI themes but I'm not gay and I love this show.

[–] thesnowleopard 10 years ago

Well, there have been shows like Queer as Folk, Will and Grace, and The L Word, but I can't recall any genre shows with specifically bi or gay characters as the leads (though Supernatural has played with it and at least one of the recurrent leads is gay and in love with one of the leads). Not in American or Canadian shows, anyway. There might be some out of Britain. Dax on Deep Space Nine was bisexual. And there was the whole soulmate thing between Xena and Gabrielle on Xena: Warrior Princess.

There were gay characters in True Blood, but the leads were in a traditional het triangle.

As for whether Lost Girl is specifically aimed at a gay audience...I think that's an interesting question and I'm not sure it is. I think it may be more that the show is not intended for a niche GLBT audience the way, say, The L Word was, but they are quite happy to have gay fans, due to the lead being bi and one of her lovers being gay, and will perhaps listen to them a bit more closely.

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[–] Taylorfirst1 10 years ago

This show is written to appeal to every sexual preference and fetish possible. Since the writing and action are both very weak and the "universe" it has created is completely incomprehensible, the only thing the show has going for it is the sexiness and a little humor.

WE GOT MOVIE SIIIIIGN!

[–] dpcole7 10 years ago

I never got the impression it was aiming at one demographic; it treated all orientations the same - people had sex, some were monogamous, some were not, and for different reasons and only the bad guys made nasty comments and not because they were phobic but because they wanted to anger their nemesis with shame (chiefly Bo). Nobody was given special treatment and the civilized Fae (and civilized humans) were accepting of individual differences while still embracing their own.

The actress splaying Kenzi wanted to quit. Hale got so little in terms of dialogue that it's easy to see why he left. Tamsin coming onto Bo was a surprise, though. I do think these developments were not all entirely planned, and Tamsin's sexual inclusion was included more to put in drama between Bo and Lauren (since Dyson was out of the romance at the time and new conflict was needed.)

Bo needed sexual energy (chi) for the same reason we eat vegetables (to survive). Some episodes focused more on the sex than the reason FOR it, which was unfortunate... but plenty of those were hetero-centric.