Sunday, September 29, 2013

Is the CW Bigoted?

As I've explained before, when someone ships two people together, it means they support the idea of a romantic relationship between them. As I also explained in the same post, I am an avid shipper of Dean Winchester and Castiel on Supernatural- they are my OTP. (For reference, this ship is called Destiel by the fans of the show.)  

On Supernatural, this ship is not yet canon, which means that a romantic relationship between the two hasn't been acknowledged or discussed. Dean and Castiel are not yet in a relationship together. However, for most of the fans, including myself, this ship is as real as Monica and Chandler, as Derek and Meredith, as Buffy and Angel. Please see this study for reference. We know that, if they choose to, the writers of the show could make this ship happen. 

But they haven't yet. And it seems, from the season 9 spoilers we've received so far, that they aren't planning to. I've wondered for a long time now why they haven't gone in this direction yet. Why haven't they made this relationship actual fact? Regardless of romance, Dean loves Castiel, and Castiel loves Dean. They've sacrificed for each other countless times. They've saved each other, emotionally and actually. Dean prays, and Castiel listens. So why? Why haven't the writers taken the plunge?

It only just occurred to me over the weekend that this may have nothing to do with the writers. I searched google for a list of LGBTQ characters on the CW, and here's what I found- Wikipedia. If you go through the list, you'll find that in the past five years, the CW has had maybe three main characters who are LGBTQ on their shows. 

Three in five years. 

I won't start in on the implications of what that means, but I will say that maybe, just maybe, it's not the Supernatural writers who are at fault here. It's just possible that their hands are tied by a network who cares nothing for representation. 
  

4 comments:

  1. It could also be that the actors are uncomfortable with the idea and the writers are aware of this and don't want to force them to do something they are not comfortable with. Sure, it's their job to act the part, but if I were a writer, I certainly wouldn't force anything upon my actors that they didn't want to do. Jensen Ackles has even said he's uncomfortable with the whole "Destiel" thing, I think this probably plays a large part in it as well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I don't have the statistics, but from what I've heard the CW is actually better than any other network when it comes to LGBT representation and they are actively striving for diversity. Nowadays, anyway, even if they didn't have the best history before. But these days, the money is where the LGBT audience is, so it's just good business sense. It seems clear to me that Destiel is going to become canon. The groundwork has been solidly laid in a way that indicates that the CW has signed off on it. For narrative as well as business reasons, it will probably happen around mid-season 9. And by that I don't mean they will instantly become an established couple, I just mean that the romance will go from subtext to text. They will probably have a long, drawn-out will-they-won't-they storyline for the rest of season 9, to milk this for all it's worth, because the CW is well aware that this will be a hugely popular storyline that will get loads of media attention.

    As for the actors, number one they're professional actors, and number two it's laughable to think that either Misha or Jensen would be "uncomfortable" with a little gay snogging if you know anything about them or about the way they interact on set or at cons. If you're worried about Jensen, Kat, look up his work in the mini-series Blonde.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It may also come down to Jensen's wife being uncomfortable with it, or maybe they are think about what his son might think of him... there are many factors, but that can't stop us from knowing that they do care about each other... it doesn't matter if the relationship is canon... the relationship is there...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. umm Jensen has a daughter not a son.

      Delete