Discussions on Sexuality and Representation

In my telenovela Relaciones Peligrosas one of the main sub-pots focuses on a character being gay and closeted. This character (Ale) experiences a lot of insecurities and also a good amount of bullying because of this. What’s interesting about this character however is that his sexuality doesn’t seem to be an effort by the show writers to include diversity, but rather a convenient way to create tension between the characters. Ale’s best friend died and that best friend's older brother Sebastian is the guy that Ale is into. However there is somewhat of a love triangle involved because the dead brother’s girlfriend Nora, is also into Sebastian. Sebastian is a straight character and has feelings for Nora. Ale being gay allows for the show runners to create an unconventional love triangle that also touches on themes of guilt because the group dynamics changed after the death of one of the members. Ale’s character being gay opens storyline opportunities for the writers and adds layers to the possible tension. I think this is the main reason Ale’s character was written as gay, because the writers don’t do much to subvert or contradict stereotypes in the character. Ale is skinny, he’s pale, he’s not good at sports, and he dresses fancy. Ale is a stereotypical caricature of a gay man used as a convenient plot device. There’s also the added layer that many of the scenes where Ale is being bullied happen in the boys locker room, mostly because he is staring at other guys for way too long. This is one of the reasons straight people say they don't want members of the LGBTQ+ community in locker rooms or bathrooms with them, because the members of the LGBTQ+ community make them “uncomfortable.” Including these scenes feels like the writers didn’t really care about the type of representation that was shown on screen. In this sense Ale’s sexuality feels more like a plot device than a real attempt at representing the LGBTQ+ community. 

There are also mentions of our main male character (Mauricio) being gay. These happen in a different context. Mauricio’s father has been bugging him to bring a girl home because his father believes that Mauricio is of an age where he should be getting serious with someone. Mauricio has never brought a girl home to his family. Mauricio’s father starts to get increasingly impatient with him, but because Mauricio is in love with his teacher he can’t exactly bring his girlfriend home. This leads Mauricio’s father to start asking him if he’s gay. The message of these conversations is essentially that Mauricio’s father is worried that he has raised a “deviant” son and that “any gay son of his isn’t his son at all.” The typical norms of heterosexual relationships in society are reinforced in these scenes and there is really no counter-perspective presented. This adds to my perspective that the writers were not thinking about representation, but rather using sexuality as a plot device. One might argue that it’s still representation, but it’s harmful representation. It reinforces stereotypes continually and doesn’t try to be subtle about it all. For example, since Mauricio has never had a girlfriend his dad simply assumes that he’s gay. I originally thought the inclusion of Ale as a character and his struggles with his sexuality as one of the main sub-plots to be really inclusive, but then I realized that the intention was never inclusivity, it was always shock factor.