Gaybending
Let’s see, how do I usually start these columns?
Oh yeah.
OMG you guys! New shiny! New shiny! Newshinynewshinynewshiny!
Ahem. Yes. Anyway, this particular shiny goes by the name of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Yes, as usual I’m a few years behind the learning curve on this one. Since I don’t have cable or a schedule that allows regular TV viewing, I usually catch interesting-looking series when they appear in convenient DVD box sets, which can be stopped, started or entirely put by for as long as my approximately five million deadlines require. Hey, at least this way I don’t get squirmy between seasons, like I do during the summer doldrums that interrupt South Park every year.
Geeky ones, Avatar is awesome. Hype-surpassingly awesome. It’s got engaging world building, a unique magical system (especially for one based on such a burned-over concept as the four elements), taut drama, charming romance and adolescent characters you don’t want to punch in the face every five seconds – a feat even Harry Potter couldn’t pull off. Since I am nothing if not a progressive geek, throw in complex female characters and respectful treatment of Chinese and Inuit cultures by Avatar’s (at least, I’m presuming) very white creators, and you’ve got a show that is truly what I would call family-friendly. That is, it does a good job fighting racism and sexism and its light but just dark enough to be honest storyline can be enjoyed by children and adults – especially adults like me who enjoy bright colors and several explosions per episode.
But of course, no show can be perfect, and Avatar is lacking something important. I’m pretty sure you know where I’m going with this, so say it with me:
Where are all the gay people?
Sure, it’s not surprising that Avatar doesn’t have any openly queer characters. No mainstream U.S. cartoon that I’m aware of – especially one on the Nickelodeon Network – does. I’m only yelling at the heavens this time because Avatar wins at practically everything else. Yet while we have a show about non-white people who aren’t exoticized and women who aren’t helpless objects (heck, the Avatar regularly reincarnates as female and nobody gives a damn) everyone you meet fits into the heterosexual paradigm somehow, either as a parent or a teenager in love with a teenager of the opposite sex. This, despite the fact that Avatar was heavily influenced by anime, in which gay characters have featured since the 1970s. I mean, can we say Sailors Uranus and Neptune from Sailor Moon? Actually, no we can’t here in America. Because as we all know, DIC turned them into cousins. Cousins!
Pardon me while I puke yet again. Ten years later and I’m still pissed off about that.
Geeky ones, it’s time American networks realized that this is beyond ridiculous. If we can have cartoons that feature women and people of color as fully-realized individuals, then we can damn well do the same for queer people. And no, I’m not content with after-the-fact announcements anymore. J.K. Rowling did a fine job of that with Albus Dumbledore, but really it’s time to move on.
Surprisingly, this opinion can be rather controversial in fandom – even among other gay geeks. I know because I used to be in the opposite camp. “But kids watch cartoons!” I’d say. “Besides, it’s too political. They’d accuse us of trying to recruit. The networks would never allow it!”
Well, it’s time we got over that attitude. Yes, kids watch cartoons. Some of them have gay family members. Some are even gay themselves and are at various stages of realizing it. Some of them (yes, even today) are isolated, deeply closeted and are desperate for any information about their supposedly “weird” feelings. Are they somehow less important than all the straight kids watching? Or the straight adult fans, for that matter?
And political? Puh-lease. What isn’t political? Doesn’t the inclusion of powerful, independent female characters like Katara, Toph and Azula in Avatar’s cast send a political message about women? And doesn’t the lack of any openly gay person send an equally politically charged message (albeit one the creators may not have intended)? Since we’re on the subject of heteronormativity, let’s talk a little about “recruiting.” When I do have the time to watch TV, I can’t turn more than a few channels without seeing a straight romance or sex scene. Considering how schools still hold straight-only dances and no one sees anything amiss with a grown adult teasing a child about having an opposite sex crush, I really do think the straights are protesting way too much here.
As for the networks not allowing, say, a gay waterbender to join Avatar Aang’s merry band, all I can say is: They never will unless people talk about the stupidity of not doing so. In the stylistically-challenged 1980s when I was a little geek, characters like Katara, Toph and Azula were unheard of. You would never have seen a show with Asians as main characters either – unless they were geeky tokens who were ace at ping pong. What happened in a mere two decades? People realized that there was no good reason not to portray women and Asians more honestly. And our culture – including the part of our culture regularly dismissed as “kiddy stuff” – is all the richer for it.
It would be even richer if we had a similar attitude shift for queer characters.
Because, come on. What kind of Avatar wants to reincarnate as a heterosexual every damn time? Sounds pretty boring to me.