also i watched the netflix after party(overall wasn’t great but the s&b cast answers were worth it) but one of the hosts said that jesper was gay and i would just like to state that he’s bi/pan in cannon.
idk why but it’s bugging me a lot and i just had to get it out there
Coming out of a hiatus to share some thoughts on shadow and bone, the Netflix adaptation. Mostly representation & bisexuality.
Let me start off with saying that overall, this show is good, really good. Having an Asian lead is not something that has really happened in a high fantasy setting before. Sense8 really is the only other one that comes to mind, and that didn’t touch on the culture like S&B did. Alina is the future.
I will give them some props for having a plus size character as well. Nina Is shown as beautiful and unafraid of her body, which is uncalled for in media. My only complaint is that literally everyone else is small asf. Which obviously happens, but body diversity isn’t one person. Small victories though.
My main problem is Jesper. I love Jesper. But, let’s talk about the quirky bisexual trope. Cause it’s getting very tired.
It’s getting hard to find a bisexual character who ISNT the weird, quirky, overly friendly, very sexual one In fact, the only one I can name is the main character in The Bisexual, and she WAS STILL most of those things. They’re easy to consume, they’re cute, and they always end up with a man.
The wonderful thing about sexuality is that it’s different for everyone. Some bisexuals love everyone, some have preferences, some are ace, some are married. In fact, there’s so many queers that are married or who’s partner is the opposite sex, and have to deal with the struggle of being queer in a “straight” setting. But we have never seen that in Hollywood. If you’re on the gay spectrum you HAVE to end up in a gay relationship, because how else would people know? They might think you turned straight! And they have to be in a relationship or else they’d just keep sleeping with everyone!
So, Jesper is this again. He’s maureen from RENT, he’s Klaus from TUA. And I’m still happy with it, and that in itself makes me mad. Because I want to see bi people in my media. I WANT to be represented, and I settle, even if it’s another stereotype I’m so incredibly tired of.
